History of the Timber Industry in Sweden and Women Supplying the Swedish Navy

Summary

Sweden has rich natural resources: timber, iron, copper, with established transport/trade routes, over land and water, from Viking times. Lightly populated-sufficient labor to extract these resources was a problem. Swedish timber was coveted due to slow growth rate when compared to other countries. Oak was valuable and protected by royal proclamation.

The Thirty Years War meant the loss of half of the able-bodied men in Sweden. This caused an increase of women/widows taking on patriarchal roles in order to provide for families such as those who supplied the Swedish Navy. These households could be estates, farms and/or businesses.  Supporting factor - women’s property rights supported control over family property and the tradition of a morgongåva– a gift to sustain the wife in the case of his death. One example is Brita Bååt Posse, a noble widow, who supplied over a quarter of the wood for the Vasa from her estate.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018   •
• Understanding Seventeenth Century Maritime Culture: Current Research on the Swedish Warship Vasa of 1628

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 482