Richard Chancellor (died 10 November 1556) was an English explorer and navigator; the first to penetrate to the White Sea and establish relations with the Tsardom of Russia. Life Chancellor, a native of Bristol, was brought up in the household of Sir Henry Sidney, an influential English gentleman. In 1550 Chancellor sailed as an apprentice pilot to the eastern Mediterranean in the bark Aucher commanded by Roger Bodenham. He acquired additional geographical and maritime proficiency from the explorer Sebastian Cabot and the geographer John Dee. Cabot had always been interested in making a voyage to Asia through the Arctic, and for this purpose an association of London merchants chartered the Company of Merchant Adventurers in 1552–1553, with the Duke of Northumberland as principal patron. They hoped not only to discover a north-east passage but also to find a market for English woolen cloth. Sir Hugh Willoughby was given three ships for the search, and Chancellor went as chief navigator and second-in-command. Their orders from Cabot included behaving peaceably towards any people they met and keeping a regular journal. According to David Howarth contrary winds delayed the expedition seriously but they eventually arrived off the North Cape as autumn set in, and were separated by a violent storm; Willoughby, with two ships, sailed east and discovered Novaya Zemlya but died during the winter with all his men on the Kola Peninsula some distance east of Murmansk. The bodies and journals were discovered by Russian fisherman in the spring. Meanwhile, Chancellor noted and named the North Cape and with his ship Edward Bonaventure called at the Norwegian port of Vardø, the last town in Scandinavia before the inhospitable arctic coast of Russia; here they met Scottish fishermen who warned them of the dangers ahead. However continuing eastwards they found the entrance to the White Sea and after obtaining directions from local people dropped anchor at the mouth of the Dvina River, where the port of Archangel now stands. When Tsar Ivan the Terrible heard of Chancellor's arrival, he immediately invited the exotic guest to visit Moscow for an audience at the royal court. Chancellor made the journey of over 600 miles (over 1000 kilometres) to Moscow by horse-drawn sleigh through snow and ice-covered country. He found Moscow large (much larger than London) and primitively built, most houses being constructed of wood. However, the palace of the tsar was very luxurious, as were