250-person Grand Embassy entourage
Peter the Great travelled incognito across Europe on his Grand Embassy with an entourage of 250 people.
Snapshot · Fin vs History
The Timeless Comedy of Baking Dwarves Into Pies | Peter The Great
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Jul 27, 2026
Where this was said
Horatio's Entourage
At 33:13 · chapter starts 30:09
Peter's famous Grand Embassy is laid out in full: aged 25, he sets off in 1697 on an 18-month European fact-finding mission under the alias Sergeant Peter Mikhailov, except that he travels with 250 people and gets actively annoyed when Europeans fail to recognise him. He works as a common laborer at the Dutch East India Company shipyards, absorbing everything about Western technology, science, shipbuilding and medicine. The hosts note that Japan did something similar before World War II — sending people out to copy the best of the West — which is exactly what Peter is doing. Horatio launches into a heartfelt defence of massive entourages as a lost cultural institution. 'I wouldn't mind like a huge financially draining entourage. It is quite funny.'
Peter's Grand Embassy: 18 months in disguise
In 1697, aged 25, Peter the Great spent 18 months travelling Europe incognito under the pseudonym Sergeant Peter Mikhailov.
The Grand Embassy: A Tsar in Disguise
In 1697, aged 25, Peter the Great embarked on an 18-month European tour under the alias 'Sergeant Peter Mikhailov' — with 250 people in tow. He was disguised but still expected everyone to know who he was, and got annoyed when they didn't.
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