URQUHART, SHARL [SSNE 4062]

Surname

URQUHART, ERHART

First name

SHARL, CHARLES

Title/rank

GENERAL

Nationality

SCOT?

Social status

OFFICER

Text source

"Generalissimo Sharl Erhart" served in Muscovy for three years from 1659-1662. His identity remains a mystery.

On 20 January 1659, one "Sharl Erhart" signed a 3 year contract as "generalissimo" of the Tsar's forces. Several sources claim this to be Charles Seton, Lord Urquhart and 2nd Earl of Dunfermline (1608-1673). He was a leading Covenanter and Royalist. After the Restoration he obtained the Lord Privy Seal. 

However, evidence suggests Seton never left Scotland during the Cromwellian Usurpation, and involved in a legal dispute in Scotland in 1659 meaning he could not have been in Muscovy. Thus the identity of "Sharl Erhart" awaits substantiation.

Sources: D. Fedosov, The Caledonian Connection (Aberdeen, 1996), p.105; C. Brennan and M. Frame (eds), Russia and the Wider World in Historical Perspective: Essays for Paul Dukes (Springer, 2000), p.71. For the legal action see National Library of Scotland, Judicial act between James, 1st Earl of Callendar, and Charles Seton, 2nd Earl of Dunfermline., 1659.

Service record

RUSSIA, RUSSIAN ARMY

Arrived 1659-01-01, as GENERAL

Departed 1661-12-31, as GENERAL

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY