Podcast Summary

Podcast: New Books Network

Episode: Clare Griffin, "Mixing Medicines: The Global Drug Trade and Early Modern Russia" (McGill-Queen's UP, 2022)

Host: Erica Monahan

Guest: Claire Griffin

Date: January 11, 2026

Overview

This episode features historian Claire Griffin discussing her book Mixing Medicines: The Global Drug Trade and Early Modern Russia, which explores the medical, cultural, and global forces that shaped the pharmaceutical practices of early modern Russia. The conversation delves into how the Russian court sourced, regulated, and conceptualized medicines, highlighting the surprising global networks that brought African and American ingredients to Muscovy. Griffin also addresses complex intersections of religion, culture, and science, offering insights into the documentation and authority surrounding medical practices of the time.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Claire Griffin’s Path to History

• Griffin shares her accidental journey into Russian history, sparked by the random availability of Russian language at her state school in the UK.
  • “It was very much kind of a series of coincidences, which turned out to be happy coincidences, I hope.” (03:47, Griffin)
• She credits her interest in history and research to encouragement from professors and a fortuitous academic environment.

2. Origins and Motivation for the Book

• The project began with Griffin’s fascination for archival documents, particularly the unusually detailed lists of ingredients in the Apothecary Chancery records.
  • “My particular process is to look at various documents… and I stumble across things and think this is interesting and kind of weird. And I don't know immediately what to do with this.” (05:24, Griffin)
• These lists led her to question why ingredient details were more meticulously recorded than intended medical outcomes.

3. The Apothecary Chancery: Russia’s Medical Powerhouse (08:10)

• Griffin details the role of the Apothecary Chancery, a central institution responsible for court, military, and broader public health in Russia.
• Comparison to modern equivalents: Simultaneously acted as CDC (disease control), FDA (regulation), and CVS (dispensing medicines).
  • “One of the interesting things about the Apothecary Chancery is it kind of does everything about official medicine in the 17th century.” (10:58, Griffin)

Who Worked in the Apothecary Chancery? (11:53)

• Initially, foreign physicians (mainly from Protestant Europe) dominated due to concerns about loyalty and the dangers of poisoning.
• Gradually, Russians were trained as medics and pharmacists, but the diplomatic aspect persisted.
  • “It really does seem to be fitting into a diplomatic exchange of trust, actions of various kinds, rather than being solely about expertise.” (15:34, Griffin)

4. Ingredients: Botanical, Chemical, and Flesh-Based Medicines

Botanical and Chemical Worlds (16:22)

• The Muscovite worldview saw the universe as purposefully created, with plants and chemicals classified according to perceived functions—helpful, harmful, or neutral.
• Botanicals were widely used; reactions to chemicals like mercury were cautious due to their powerful effects.
  • "We kind of have to be more careful with chemicals. We're not quite sure where they might go, given how powerful they can be." (19:44, Griffin)

Flesh-Based Medicines and Religious Taboos (20:27)

• Russians were explicitly opposed to “mummy powder” (ground mummified flesh, often from Egyptian mummies) and other flesh medicines common in Western Europe.
• These prohibitions were rooted in Orthodox Christianity’s dietary codes and religious anxieties about consumption of human remains.
  • “We are not to use…mummy powder or to use evil snake poison… If you haven't read early modern medical documents before, where snakes are coming from in Moscow is unclear.” (21:18, Griffin)
• Western European practices, like using human fat and blood, were far more widespread, sometimes even prestigious, as attested by ornate pharmacy jars.
  • "You also get rather fabulous storage jars for displaying in pharmacies… and they say in Latin, human fat." (31:42, Griffin)

5. The Global Drug Trade: African and American Commodities (33:55)

• The presence of African (mummy powder) and American (sassafras, sarsaparilla) ingredients in Russian medicine highlights Russia’s surprising entanglement in early modern global trade.
• Notably, American botanicals appeared in Russian prescriptions decades before Russian colonization in North America or acceptance of products like tobacco or potatoes.
  • “From the early 17th century onwards, we see sassafras… something which are very specifically American. And this is actually useful to historians because we can track where this thing is from.” (35:14, Griffin)

6. Surprises and Expectations in Research (38:06)

• Most surprising: The casual and early use of uniquely American ingredients (sassafras) in Muscovy, which contrasts modern assumptions about when and how global commodities circulated.
  • “Sassafras in 17th century Moscow is the thing I found most surprising.” (39:44, Griffin)
• Expected: The meticulous documentation of who made what medicine in the court, reflecting the culture of paranoia about poisoning and the importance of traceability for assigning blame.
  • “These recipes… are about who to blame if someone gets ill.” (41:04, Griffin)

7. Textual Authorities & Material Culture (43:00)

• Griffin reflects on the importance of books and lists as “objects” through which both historical actors and modern scholars access the medical world.
  • “We are not actually accessing the object itself. We are accessing it via a text… So we want to consider all of these aspects of the text itself as object because it's so important for us to access other objects.” (44:12, Griffin)

8. New Research Directions (46:06)

• Griffin previews her next project: examining how the Apothecary Chancery handled battlefield injuries—focusing on the bureaucratic, less empathetic attitude towards pain and physical trauma.
  • "There is almost no mention of pain in what are some really gnarly descriptions." (46:39, Griffin)
  • “I'm going to move on from the cheery subject, subject of ground up human body parts into the much nicer subject of people being shot.” (48:29, Griffin)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "The past is a foreign country. But honestly, I think possibly 17th century Muscovy is just a different planet." (38:13, Griffin)
• “It totally makes sense… that you want to know who put the thing together in case it all goes horribly wrong.” (41:48, Griffin)
• “If you are the physician of the Tsar, you are in an unparalleled position of poisoning the guy if you feel like it.” (12:09, Griffin)
• On unexpected American imports: “Something that's really surprising to us, sassafras in 17th-century Moscow seems totally normal to them.” (38:56, Griffin)
• “The past—not rated PG, is what I always tell my students.” (48:35, Monahan)

Timestamps by Topic

• Claire Griffin's Academic Path – 03:23–04:57
• Motivation for the Book – 05:06–07:19
• The Apothecary Chancery Explained – 08:10–11:12
• Personnel & Diplomatic Concerns – 11:53–15:41
• Botanical vs. Chemical Ingredients – 16:22–20:02
• Flesh-Based Medicines and Religion – 20:27–32:34
• African and American Commodities in Muscovy – 33:55–36:46
• Most Surprising Findings – 37:56–40:01
• Court Paranoia and Documentation – 40:01–42:31
• Textual Authorities and Materiality – 43:00–45:06
• Next Research Project – 46:06–48:35

Conclusion

This episode offers an in-depth look at the surprising ways early modern Russia engaged with the global drug trade, navigated medical and religious taboos, and constructed medical authority. Griffin’s research demonstrates how historical medical practices were deeply intertwined with global commerce, religious beliefs, and court politics—pushing listeners to rethink the boundaries of Russia’s early modern world. The conversation also highlights the challenges and fascinations of working with archival material that is as strange to us today as it was routine for Muscovites nearly four centuries ago.