Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov and Andrey Yakovlevich Shchelkalov were two influential diplomats and heads of the Posolsky Prikaz during the reigns of Ivan the Terrible, Feodor I, and Boris Godunov in Russia.
Andrey Yakovlevich Shchelkalov
The name of Andrey Yakovlevich Shchelkalov first appeared in 1550, when he was entered in the so-called Book of a Thousand. The book contained genealogicalinformation on noble Muscovite families and their land allotments around Moscow. In 1560, Andrey Shchelkalov was assigned to the Lithuanian ambassadors as a police officer. Two years later, he became a dyak. In 1566, Andrey Shchelkalov was promoted to the rank of duma dyak. He also took part in the Zemsky Sobor that same year and put his signature under its resolutions. Andrey Shchelkalov rose to power during the Oprichnina period of mass executions of well-known government officialsin the summer of 1570. He was appointed head of the Posolsky Prikaz, Razryadny Prikaz, Pomestny Prikaz, Kazan Palace Prikaz and one of the regional offices of the Chetvertnoy Prikaz. In 1581, Andrey Shchelkalov conducted negotiations with a papal legateAntonio Possevino, and with the EnglishambassadorJerome Bowes in 1583, which would write in a personal letter from August 12, 1584 that Andrey Shchelkalov and Nikita Romanov "considered themselves the tsars". Foreign envoys, especially the English ones, didn't like Andrey Shchelkalov, as well as his brother Vasili Yakovlevich, for their constant striving to eliminate trade privileges for foreign merchants. Boris Godunov praised Andrey Yakovlevich for his wit and diplomatic dexterity. However, Andrey Shchelkalov would soon fall into disgrace for his willfulness. Andrey and Vasili were known to have misrepresented family records of noble families and influenced the local administrative hierarchy. Andrey Shchelkalov left diplomatic service in 1594, took monastic vows and assumed the name of Theodosius.
Vasily Yakovlevich Shchelkalov
In 1566, Vasili Yakovlevich took part in the Zemsky Sobor. A year later, he was sent by Ivan the Terrible to sign a peace treaty with Sigismund II of Poland. Later on, Vasili Shchelkalov was put in charge of the Razboyny Prikaz in the 1560s, Razryadny Prikaz, Chetvertnoy Prikaz of Nizhny Novgorod, Kazansky Prikaz, and Streletsky Prikaz. He was then appointed head of the Posolsky Prikaz in the mid-1594 and tsar's stamp bearer in 1595. In 1601, Vasili Yakovlevich fell into disgrace for his willfulness and retired. He was rehabilitated during the reign of False Dmitriy I, who made him his okolnichiy.
