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TheSound Dues (orSound Tolls;Danish:Øresundstolden) were atoll on the use of theØresund, or "Sound" strait separating the modern day borders of Denmark and Sweden. The tolls constituted up to two thirds ofDenmark's state income in the 16th and 17th centuries. The dues were introduced by KingEric of Pomerania in 1429 and remained in effect until theCopenhagen Convention of 1857 (with the sole exception of Swedish ships between 1658 and 1720). Tolls in the Great Belt had been collected by theDanish Crown at least a century prior to the establishment of the dues by Eric of Pomerania.[1]
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All foreign ships passing through the strait, whetheren route to or from Denmark or not, had to stop inHelsingør and pay a toll to the Danish Crown. If a ship refused to stop, cannons in both Helsingør andHelsingborg could open fire and sink it. In 1567, the toll was changed into a 1–2% tax on thecargo value, providing three times more revenue. To keep the captains from understating the value of the cargo on which the tax was computed, the right to purchase the cargo at the stated value was reserved.
In order to avoid ships simply taking a different route, tolls were also collected at the two other Danish straits, theGreat Belt and theLittle Belt; sometimes non-Danish vessels were forbidden to use any other waterways but theØresund, and transgressing vessels were confiscated or sunk.
The Sound Dues remained the most important source of income for the Danish Crown for several centuries, thus making Danish kings relatively independent of Denmark'sPrivy Council andaristocracy. However, the dues were an irritant to nations engaged in trade in theBaltic Sea, especiallySweden. Sweden had initially been exempted from the dues at the time of their introduction because it was then in theKalmar Union along with Denmark. However, after theKalmar War and theTreaty of Knäred in 1613Denmark-Norway introduced dues on cargoes from Sweden's Baltic possessions and on non-Swedish ships carrying Swedish cargo. The friction over the Dues was an officialcasus belli (reason for war) of theTorstenson War in 1643.
In 1658, at theTreaty of Roskilde, Denmark-Norway had to cede her provinces east of the sound (Scania,Halland,Blekinge,Bohuslän, and the island ofVen) to Sweden as a consequence of theSecond Northern War. Swedish shipping also became exempt from the Sound Dues by the terms of this treaty. The exemption was withdrawn after Sweden's defeat in theGreat Northern War and theTreaty of Frederiksborg of 1720, although the eastern shore of the Sound was now Swedish.
| Year | Ships passing through the Sound[2] |
|---|---|
| 1479 | 795 |
| 1537 | 1897 |
| 1560 | 2731 |
| 1581 | 4262 |
| 1583 | 5400 |
The Copenhagen Convention,[3] which came into force on 14 March 1857,[4] abolished the dues and allDanish straits were madeinternational waterways free to all commercial shipping.[5]
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)55°47′23″N12°45′03″E / 55.78972°N 12.75083°E /55.78972; 12.75083