TheSwedish colonisation of Finland took place during theNorthern Crusades from the 12th century until the 1350s. Sweden's colonisation efforts focused on the Finnish archipelago and some of its coastal regions and broughtSwedish-speakers to Finland. The settlers were from central Sweden. It has been estimated that there were thousands of settlers.[1]: 420–421 [2]
Sebastian Münster took notice of the Swedish-speaking population in Finland in his 1544 bookCosmographia. Other than this, the Swedish-speaking population in Finland attracted less interest among the writings of academics.Mikael Wexonius who served as a professor at theRoyal Academy of Åbo in the 17th century took notice of the Swedish-speaking population of the coastal areas of Ostrobothnia and Nyland in his study of the Swedish realm. Wexonius considered these people as descendants of Swedes, but he did not mention the Swedish-speaking population in Åboland. The question of the origin of the Swedish-speaking population in Finland started attracting academic interest in the 18th century and it became an important question in the 19th century when it was important to the concept of national self-understanding.[3]: 78–84
The reason behind the colonisation was the pursuit of theRoman Catholic Church to spread its faith to pagan lands around theBaltic Sea. The settlers were Christians and they arrived to lands that were still in major parts underFinnish paganism. Besides the Catholic Church, the colonisation was supported by the still primalSwedish Kingdom who granted four years of tax exemption to any Christian Swede who settled the areas ofSouthwest Finland,Uusimaa,Åland,Tavastia orSatakunta.[4]: 111–115
The colonisation was also affected by the favorable climate phase in Europe. The warm climate phase of 980–1250 had led to population growth, which led to the need for emigration. At the same time Swedes also emigrated to northern Sweden and westernEstonia (seeEstonian Swedes). In the 14th century Swedes also colonisedMedelpad andÅngermanland.[4]: 143–147
Besides the violence of the crusades, the colonisation led to several conflicts between the settlers andFinns. The settlers needed support from Sweden in many areas against the Finns.[4]: 46 The native inhabitants in many coastal areas also lost their fishing and farming rights, which led to conflicts.[4]: 134–136 In 1348,Hemming of Turku, Bishop of Turku and the head of theTurku Castle, gave a letter of protection to the settlers in the area of theGulf of Bothnia.[4]: 114–115 As a result of the colonisation, some of the pagan inhabitants who refused to receive the new Catholic religion from Tavastia andSatakunta started to move to the northern parts of Finland.[1]: 420–421
In the first phase, Swedish colonisation reachedÅland at the time of theFirst Swedish Crusade in the 1150s. Swedish place names seem to have been born in one single wave during the settlement of the archipelago. There are still some preserved Finnish place names in Åland. Presumably the outer islands of Åland were colonised later than the large main islands. Place names with thebolstad suffix have lead to theories that the colonists were fromUppland and they met deserted ruins of houses in the area.[4]: 104–109 Old cemeteries disappeared from Åland around the year 1000, giving rise to theories that the islands were deserted. According to this interpretation, the area changed into a wilderness hunting area for people from southern Finland with sporadic events of trade.[1]: 299–300
In the second phase, Swedish colonisation reached the islands ofFinland Proper and the coastal areas ofSatakunta. On the islands of Finland Proper, colonisation reached the towns ofIniö,Houtskari,Nauvo,Korppoo,Parainen,Hiittinen,Kemiö,Dragsfjärd andVästanfjärd and also to the area ofSärkisalo. All Swedish place names in Finland Proper date to Medieval Finland.
The colonists first settled onto the arable lands of Parainen and Kemiö, and late to the eastern islands of Åland and the western islands of Finland Proper and finally to thekongsgårds in continental Finland, presumably of military security reasons. Kemiö was already populated when the Swedish colonists came to the area and it is possible that this led to a conflict with the original Finnish population. Judging by the partial continuity among the place names there had been Finnish-speaking population also in other areas colonised by the Swedish.[4]: 111–115
In the third phase, the colonists gradually moved along the coast eastwards to Nyland, moving first to western Nyland.Gunvor Kerkkonen has claimed that the Danish itinerary described the situation of Swedish colonisation in the 13th century. According to this, place names started appearing in Finnish slightly to the east of Hanko.[4]: 122–125 Thus Swedish colonisation had not reached Nyland when the itinerary was written.[5]: 15
Colonisation of Nyland is possibly connected to the so-calledSecond Swedish Crusade against theTavastians from 1249 to 1250. As a consequence, Swedish colonists who had previously moved to Finland Proper also moved to theKarjaa islands judging by the place names.[4]: 122–125 On the coast of Nyland, Swedish colonists encountered Tavastians and Proper Finns living in the area.[5]: 25–26 The largest groups of colonists settled into the towns ofPohja andInkoo as well as the eastern parts of Helsinge andPernaja, from where they continued to the southern parts ofKarjalohja andLohja as well asTuusula,Askola andMyrskylä.[5]: 32
In honour of the Swedish colonisation of Nyland,Johannes Bureus designed the coats-of-arms of Nyland and Helsinki in 1599, depicting a ship travelling on the waves of the seas, representing the arrival of Swedish colonists to Nyland.[4]: 47–49
In western Nyland, the colonists first arrived atTenhola andKarjaa and settled among the old Finnish population.[5]: 28–29 The birth of Karjaa has been estimated to have been in 1326, that ofKirkkonummi in 1330,Inkoo in 1337 andLohja in 1382. The Karjaa area seems to have been fully colonised by the Swedish around the year 1400. In the 14th century, colonisation also reachedRaseborg where the construction of the castle possibly attracted Swedish population.[4]: 122–125
Eastern Nyland was populated in one organised settlement ofPorvoo. It was led from above and the colonists were transported to Finland aboard sturdy ships from all areas ofSvealand. The colonists were rewarded with grain, cattle and four years of exemption of tax. They served as workforce in construction of thekongsgårds and had a duty to upkeep the military. The arable lands of the coast of eastern Nyland and the river valleys were quickly populated, from where population later spread in many directions.[4]: 134–136 The oldest Swedish population in eastern Nyland mentioned in historical sources is from Stensböle in Porvoo in 1327.[5]: 16
An important phase in Swedish colonisation concerns theThird Swedish Crusade against theKarelians in 1293. The riverKymijoki appears to have served as the border ofTavastian and Karelian population and Swedish colonisation crossed it somewhere around the late 13th or early 14th century. Very little information of this last phase of Swedish colonisation remains. Its traces disappeared already in the 16th century except for some place names. Many place names translated to Finnish on the coast are known in the areas ofVehkalahti andVirolahti. The colonisation has been seen as having been organised and supported by the Swedish upper class. The further away colonisation spread from central Sweden, the harder it was for peasants to move to the areas on their own.[4]: 136–139
The Swedish place names in Ostrobothnia are Christian and date back to Medieval times. It has been suggested that Swedish colonisation to Ostrobothnia started in the late 13th and early 14th centuries along with the colonisation in eastern Nyland and Kymenlaakso. Colonists in Ostrobothnia were supported from Sweden and fishing bays and harbours in inland Finland inhabited by Finns were given to their use.[4]: 143–147
The Swedish historianJohannes Messenius lived in Vaasa in 1616 in order to find out how Swedish colonists had arrived in the area. He studied old documents and met with the local Swedish-speaking population. Based on his research, he saw thatBirger Jarl had stepped ashore in Ostrobothnia on his way to Tavastia, conquering local resistance and having Swedish colonists settle in the area. Based on this research, Messenius concluded: "Where the local population was driven away from, Swedish colonists were allowed to settle among Finnish peasants. As inhabitants of every second village, that's why there are still Swedes living there. Their churches were built in Mustasaari and Pietarsaari and the ancient idols were no longer worshipped there. There are markets being held on the church grounds, often every year."[3]: 80
Sources about the Crusades to Finland as well as Swedish traditional stories depict battles and other conflicts between the Swedes and the Finns. Ostrobothnian stories tell how military reinforcements from Sweden were required to help the colonists. AlsoMikael Agricola wrote in the 16th century how paganist Finns harassed Swedish colonists, so they had to ask for help from their relatives in Sweden, which they also received. One story tells that the people that arrived from Sweden were mostly criminals and other troublemakers, arriving to Finland in order to battle the native Finns.[4]: 46 In 1303 colonists arriving in the Kristiinankaupunki area were given permission to settle in the "Tavastian area" because of theSecond Swedish Crusade. The mayor of HelsinkiAnders Larsson Ehredt wrote toPer Brahe the Younger in 1639 that the name of Helsinki should not be changed when the city was moved because the name was "a memory of the victorious weapons of our forefathers".[4]: 47–49 The original Finnish population of Kemiönsaari disappeard from the area when the Swedish colonists arrived, which can be seen as one of the conflicts between the groups.[4]: 114–115
Conflicts between Finns and the Swedish colonists also rose regarding the rights to the areas. Several letters about these conflicts are known. For example on 1 June 1303 the Swedish colonists in Satakunta had gone into conflict with the native Finns when their lands had been on the old slash-and-burn lands of the Finns. In 1347 an order was given to transfer the fishing rights inHelsinki from the Finns to the coastal Swedes.[4]: 143–147 A protection letter from the bishopHemming of Turku and the Turku castle commander is known from 1348, concerning protecting the Swedish colonists on the coast of theGulf of Bothnia against the Finns.[4]: 114–115
Because of Christian colonisation from Sweden, population from Tavastia and Satakunta travelled to the north, because they refused to accept the new religion brought to their old homelands.[1]: 420–421