In 1645, the dying Tsar Mikhail Romanov was examined by his German
doctors, and prescribed, via Latin instructions, Chinese rhubarb,
Alexandrine Senna, local Juniper berries, unicorn horn, and American
sassafras, a treatment recorded in exacting detail by Russian
bureaucrats in Russian. Such a circumstance might seem odd. Works on
early modern science and medicine commonly present the Russian empire as
isolated, if they devote any space to the region at all. On the
contrary, the Russian court imported its official medicine from Western
Europe, recruiting experts and sourcing texts and supplies from its
major diplomatic and trading partners. The treatment of Mikhail
Fedorovich demonstrates Russia’s wider medical links. Indeed, the
combination of medicaments from across the early modern world, and the
use of multiple languages in this case was an entirely normal occurance
at the early modern Russian court.
https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/en/research/projects/DeptII_Griffin_RecipesDrugs
