1.
History of Sweden
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During the 11th and 12th centuries, Sweden gradually became a unified Christian kingdom that later included what is today Finland. During the early Middle Ages, the Swedish state also expanded to control Norrland and Finland, Modern Sweden started out of the Kalmar Union formed in 1397 and by the unification of the country by King Gustav Vasa in the 16th century. Vasa fought for an independent Sweden and broke with the papacy, in the 17th century Sweden expanded its territories to form the Swedish empire. Most of these territories had to be given up during the 18th century. During the 17th century, after winning wars against Denmark, Russia, Swedens role in the Thirty Years War determined the political as well as the religious balance of power in Europe. The Russians won a war against Sweden in 1709, capturing much of the Swedish army, Sweden joined in the Enlightenment culture of the day in the arts, architecture, science and learning. Between 1570 and 1800 Sweden experienced two periods of urban expansion, Finland was lost to Russia in a war in 1808–1809. In the early 19th century Finland and the territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were lost. After its last war in 1814, Sweden entered into a union with Norway which lasted until 1905. Since 1814, Sweden has been at peace, adopting a foreign policy in peacetime. Sweden was neutral in World War I, post-war prosperity provided the foundations for the social welfare policies characteristic of modern Sweden. Sweden created a model of social democracy. Sweden remained neutral during World War II, avoiding the fate of occupied Norway, Sweden was one of the first non-participants of World War II to join the United Nations. Apart from this, the tried to stay out of alliances and remain officially neutral during the entire Cold War. The social democratic party held government for 44 years, the 1976 parliamentary elections brought a liberal/right-wing coalition to power. During the Cold War, Sweden was suspicious of the superpowers, with the end of the Cold War, that suspicion has lessened somewhat, although Sweden still chooses to remain nonaligned. The earliest images can, however, be found in the province of Jämtland and they depict wild animals such as elk, reindeer, bears and seals. The period 2300–500 BC was the most intensive carving period, with carvings of agriculture, warfare, ships, domesticated animals, also, petroglyphs with themes have been found in Bohuslän, these are dated from 800–500 BC
2.
Prehistoric Sweden
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The Pleistocene glaciations scoured the landscape clean and covered much of it in deep quaternary sediments. Therefore, no undisputed Early or Middle Palaeolithic sites or finds are known from Sweden, shortly before the close of the Younger Dryas, the west coast of Sweden was visited by hunter-gatherers from northern Germany. This cultural group is referred to as the Ahrensburgian and were engaged in fishing and sealing along the coast of western Sweden during seasonal rounds from the Continent. Currently, we refer to group as the Hensbacka culture and, in Norway. During the late Preboreal period, colonization continued as people move towards the north-east as the ice receded, archaeological, linguistic and genetic evidence suggests that they arrived first from the south-west and, in time, also from the north-east and met half-way. An important consequence of de-glaciation was a continual land uplift as the Earths crust rebounded from the pressure exerted by the ice and this process, which was originally very rapid, continues to this day. It has had the consequence that originally shore-bound sites along much of Swedens coast are sorted chronologically by elevation, around the countrys capital, for instance, the earliest seal-hunter sites are now on inland mountain tops, and they grow progressively later as one moves downhill toward the sea. The Late Palaeolithic gave way to the first phase of the Mesolithic in c.9600 BC and this age, divided into the Maglemosian, Kongemosian and Ertebølle Periods, was characterised by small bands of hunter-gatherer-fishers with a microlithic flint technology. Where flint was not readily available, quartz and slate were used, in the later Ertebølle, semi-permanent fishing settlements with pottery and large inhumation cemeteries appeared. Farming and animal husbandry, along with monumental burial, polished flint axes and decorated pottery, whether this happened by diffusion of knowledge or by mass migration or both is controversial. In a century or two, all of Denmark and the third of Sweden became neolithised and much of the area became dotted with megalithic tombs. Farmers were capable of rearing calves to collect milk from cows all year round, the people of the countrys northern two thirds retained an essentially Mesolithic lifestyle into the 1st Millennium BC. Coastal south-eastern Sweden, likewise, reverted from neolithisation to a hunting and fishing economy after only a few centuries, in c.2800 BC the Funnel Beaker Culture gave way to the Battle Axe Culture, a regional version of the middle-European Corded Ware phenomenon. Again, diffusion of knowledge or mass migration is disputed, the Battle Axe and Pitted Ware people then coexisted as distinct archaeological entities until c.2400 BC, when they merged into a fairly homogeneous Late Neolithic culture. This culture produced the finest flintwork in Scandinavian Prehistory and the last megalithic tombs, Swedens southern third was part of the stock-keeping and agricultural Nordic Bronze Age Cultures area, most of it being peripheral to the cultures Danish centre. The period began in c.1700 BC with the start of bronze importation, first from Ireland and then increasingly from central Europe. Copper mining was never tried locally during this period, and Scandinavia has no tin deposits, Iron production began locally toward the periods end, apparently as a kind of trade secret among bronze casters, iron was almost exclusively used for tools to make bronze objects. The Nordic Bronze Age was entirely pre-urban, with living in hamlets
3.
Viking Age
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The Viking Age is the period from the late 8th century to the mid-11th century in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, following the Germanic Iron Age. It is the period of history when Scandinavian Norsemen explored Europe by its seas and rivers for trade, raids, colonisation and conquest. Three Viking ships had beached in Weymouth Bay four years earlier, the Viking devastation of Northumbrias Holy Island was reported by the Northumbrian scholar Alcuin of York, who wrote, Never before in Britain has such a terror appeared. Vikings were portrayed as violent and bloodthirsty by their enemies. The chronicles of medieval England portrayed them as rapacious wolves among sheep, the first challenges to the many anti-Viking images in Britain emerged in the 17th century. Pioneering scholarly works on the Viking Age reached a readership in Britain. Archaeologists began to dig up Britains Viking past, linguistics traced the Viking-Age origins of rural idioms and proverbs. New dictionaries of the Old Norse language enabled more Victorians to read the Icelandic Sagas, the Vikings who invaded western and eastern Europe were chiefly pagans from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They also settled in the Faroe Islands, Ireland, Iceland, peripheral Scotland, Greenland and their North Germanic language, Old Norse, became the mother-tongue of present-day Scandinavian languages. By 801, a central authority appears to have been established in Jutland. In Norway, mountainous terrain and fjords formed strong natural boundaries, communities there remained independent of each other, unlike the situation in Denmark which is lowland. By 800, some 30 small kingdoms existed in Norway, the sea was the easiest way of communication between the Norwegian kingdoms and the outside world. It was in the 8th century that Scandinavians began to build ships of war, the North Sea rovers were traders, colonisers and explorers as well as plunderers. There are various theories concerning the causes of the Viking invasions, for people living along the coast, it would seem natural to seek new land by the sea. Another reason was that during this period England, Wales and Ireland, the Franks, however, had well-defended coasts and heavily fortified ports and harbours. Pure thirst for adventure may also have been a factor, a reason for the raids is believed by some to be over-population caused by technological advances, such as the use of iron, or a shortage of women due to selective female infanticide. Although another cause could well have been caused by the Frankish expansion to the south of Scandinavia. Consequently, these Vikings became raiders, in search of subsistence, There is ongoing debate among scholars as to why the Scandinavians began to expand during the 8th through 11th centuries
4.
Kalmar Union
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The Union was not quite continuous, there were several short interruptions. Legally the countries remained separate sovereign states, but with their domestic, one main impetus for its formation was to block German expansion northward into the Baltic region. The main reason for its failure to survive was the struggle between the monarch, who wanted a strong unified state, and the Swedish and Danish nobility which did not. Diverging interests gave rise to a conflict that would hamper the union in several intervals from the 1430s until its breakup in 1523 when Gustav Vasa became king of Sweden. Norway continued to remain a part of the realm of Denmark–Norway under the Oldenburg dynasty for nearly three centuries until its dissolution in 1814. Then Union between Sweden and Norway lasted until 1905, when a grandson of the incumbent king of Denmark was elected its king, the union was the work of Scandinavian aristocracy wishing to counter the influence of the Hanseatic League. Margaret, a daughter of King Valdemar IV of Denmark, married King Haakon VI of Norway and Sweden, Margaret succeeded in having her son Olav recognized as heir to the throne of Denmark. In 1376 Olav inherited the crown of Denmark from his grandfather as King Oluf III, with his mother as guardian. The two kingdoms were united in a union under a child king, with the kings mother as his guardian, later. On 2 February the next year, she was recognized as regent of Norway. Their common enemy was the Hanseatic League and the growing German influence over the Scandinavian economy. The Nordic union was established on 17 June 1397 by the Treaty of Kalmar, signed in the Swedish castle of Kalmar on Swedens south-east coast, at each junction, installation of a new monarch tended to mean a break-up of the union for a while. Eric of Pomerania, however, became the monarch of all three kingdoms, at Kalmar, the 15-year-old Eric of Pomerania was crowned king of all three kingdoms by the archbishops of Denmark and Sweden, but Margaret managed to remain in control until her death in 1412. It is said that contemporaries of the Union would not recognize the term, Union of Kalmar—that they just understood that much of the time. While the term meaning Treaty of Kalmar was known already at the time, the Swedes were not happy with the Danes frequent wars on Schleswig, Holstein, Mecklenburg, and Pomerania, which were a disturbance to Swedish exports to the European continent. Furthermore, the centralization of government in Denmark raised suspicions, the Swedish Privy Council wanted to retain a fair degree of self-government. The unity of the union eroded after the Danish defeat against the German Hanseatic League in the 1430s, even to the point of armed rebellion, erik was deposed as the union king and was succeeded by his nephew, the childless Christopher of Bavaria. In the power vacuum that arose following Christophers death, Sweden elected Charles VIII king with the intent to reestablish the union under a Swedish king, during the next seven decades struggle for power and the wars between Sweden and Denmark would dominate the union
5.
Swedish Empire
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The Swedish Empire refers to the Kingdom of Swedens territorial control of much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries, a time when Sweden was one of the great European powers. The beginning of the Empire is usually taken as the reign of Gustavus Adolphus, who ascended the throne in 1611, in Swedish history, the period is referred to as stormaktstiden, literally meaning the Great Power era. The interests of the high nobility contrasted with the uniformity policy, in territories acquired during the periods of de facto noble rule, serfdom was not abolished, and there was also a trend to set up respective estates in Sweden proper. The Great Reduction of 1680 put an end to efforts of the nobility. However, in the course of this war as well as in the subsequent Scanian War, Sweden was able to maintain her empire only with support of her closest ally. Charles XI of Sweden consolidated the empire and ensured a period of peace, before Russia, Saxony and Denmark started an attack on his successor. Sweden emerged as a great European power under Axel Oxenstierna and King Gustavus Adolphus, during the Thirty Years War, Sweden managed to conquer approximately half of the member states of the Holy Roman Empire. After France had intervened on the side as Sweden, the fortunes would shift again. As the war continued, it turned more and more grim, although exact population estimates do not exist, historians estimate that as many as one-third of the people in the Holy Roman Empire may have died as a result of the war. At the same time, Sweden joined the other important northern European nations in founding overseas colonies, New Sweden was founded in the valley of the Delaware River in 1638, and Sweden later laid claim to a number of Caribbean islands. A string of Swedish forts and trading posts was constructed along the coast of West Africa as well, at the conclusion of the Thirty Years War, the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 granted Sweden territories as war reparations. Sweden demanded Silesia, Pomerania pay a sum of 200,000 Riksdaler out of the lands they would receive, or 2) surrender a fourth of the property itself. Against this, the over-taxed lower estates protested, and the Diet had to be suspended, the king intervened, not to quell the commons, as the senate insisted, but to compel the nobility to give way. He proposed a committee to investigate the matter before the meeting of the next Riksdag. Charles X Gustav had done his best to recover from the extravagance of Christina. However, his own desire for military glory may have caused problems for his country, in three days, he persuaded the Swedish estates of the potential of his attack on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, when he left Stockholm for Warsaw on July 10,1654, the Polish-Swedish War expanded into a general European war. He achieved passage over the Belts and emerged triumphant, only to die of sheer exhaustion, immediately after his death, a regency was appointed to govern Sweden during the minority of his only son and successor, Charles XI of Sweden, who was four years old
6.
Age of Liberty
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The shift of power from monarch to parliament was a direct effect of the Great Northern War, which was disastrous for Sweden. Suffrage under the government of the Age of Liberty was not universal. Although the taxed peasantry was represented in the Parliament, its influence was disproportionately small, at home the Reduction was cautiously pursued, while abroad the successful conclusion of the great peace congress at Ryswick was justly regarded as a signal triumph of Swedens peaceful diplomacy. From the very beginning of the Great Northern War, Sweden suffered from the inability of Charles XII to view the situation from anything and his great determination to avenge himself on enemies overpowered every other consideration. Again and again, during eighteen years of warfare, it was in his power to dictate a peace advantageous to Sweden. After initial setbacks, Charles, with the help of the combined English and Dutch fleet, defeated Fredrick IV, soon, Charles defeated the Russian forces at the Battle of Narva on 20 November 1700. But Charles, intent on dethroning the last member of the coalition against him, Augustus II of Poland, subsequently in 1701 he rejected a personal appeal from William III of England to conclude peace on his own terms. Moreover, two of Swedens Baltic provinces, Estonia and Ingria, had seized by the Tsar. Yet even now Charles, by a stroke of the pen, in 1707 Peter was ready to return everything except Saint Petersburg and the line of the Neva, and again Charles preferred risking the whole to saving the greater part of his Baltic possessions. When at last, after Charles catastrophic defeat in the Poltava in June 1709 and his flight into Turkey, he condescended to use methods, it was solely to prolong, not to terminate. Even now he could have made honorable terms with his numerous enemies, the resources of Sweden were still very far from being exhausted, and during 1710–1711 Magnus Stenbock, while Charles was still trapped at Bender, upheld her military supremacy in the north. But all the efforts of the Swedish government were wrecked by the determination of Charles XII to surrender nothing, at the beginning of 1719, peace overtures were made to Britain, Hanover, Prussia and Denmark. Northern Swedish Pomerania with Rügen which had come under Danish rule during the war, was retained by Sweden, negotiations were reopened with Russia at Nystad, in May 1720, but peace was not concluded till 30 August 1721 and then only under the direst pressure. By the Treaty of Nystad Sweden ceded to Russia Ingria and Estonia, Livonia, Finland west of Viborg and north of Käkisalmi was restored to Sweden. She also received an indemnity of two million Riksdaler and an undertaking of non-interference in her domestic affairs. All power was vested in the people as represented by the Riksdag, consisting, as before, of four estates, nobles, priests, burgesses. The conflicting interests of four independent assemblies, who sat and deliberated apart and with their mutual jealousies. No measure could now become law until it had obtained the assent of at least three of the four estates
7.
Gustavian era
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This is a History of Sweden from 1772 through 1809, more known as the Gustavian era of Kings Gustav III and Gustav IV, as well as the reign of King Charles XIII of Sweden. Adolf Frederick of Sweden died on February 12,1771, nothing could be done, however, till the return of the new king, Gustav III, from Paris. The new coronation oath contained three revolutionary clauses, The first aimed at making abdications in the impossible by binding the king to reign uninterruptedly. The third clause required him, in all cases of preferment, to be guided not principally as heretofore, all through 1771 the estates wrangled over the clauses. An attempt of the king to mediate foundered on the suspicions of the estate of burgesses, the non-noble Cap majority now proceeded to attack the Privy Council. The Riksrådet, the last stronghold of the Hats, and, on April 25 of that year and it was now, for the first time, that Gustav began to consider the possibility of a revolution. The new constitution of August 20,1772 which Gustav III imposed upon the Riksdag of the Estates, converted a weak and disunited republic into a strong, but these extensive powers were subjected to important checks. Thus, without the consent of the estates, no new law could be imposed, no old law abolished, no offensive war undertaken. The estates alone could tax themselves, they had the control of the Riksbank - the Bank of Sweden. In Sweden the change was most popular, but Gustavs first Riksdag, that of 1778, opened the eyes of the deputies to the fact that their political supremacy had departed. But it was not till after eight years more had elapsed that actual trouble began, the Riksdag of 1778 had been obsequious, the Riksdag of 1786 was mutinous. It rejected nearly all the royal measures outright, or so modified them that Gustav himself withdrew them, when he dismissed the estates, the speech from the throne held out no prospect of their speedy revocation. Nevertheless, within three years, the king was obliged to summon another Riksdag, which met at Stockholm on the January 26,1789 and his attempt in the interval to rule without a parliament had been disastrous. Abroad the Swedish revolution made a great sensation, unknown to party leaders, Gustav had renewed the Swedish alliance with France and had received solemn assurances of assistance from Louis XV if Gustav were to reestablish monarchical rule in Sweden. Moreover, France agreed to pay its outstanding subsidies to Sweden, amounting to 1.5 million livres annually, beginning from January 1772. Whats more, Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, was to be sent to Stockholm to circumvent the designs of Russia just as he had previously done in the Sublime Porte at Constantinople, the new king, Gustav IV, still a minor, was brought up among Jacobins. During the kings minority, Gustaf Reuterholm virtually ruled Sweden, the negotiations with the French Jacobins exacerbated the hatred which Gustavs supporters felt for the Jacobin counselors of Charles, the duke-regent, later Charles XIII of Sweden. They formed a conspiracy to overthrow the government, led by Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, which was to have been supported by a Russian fleet, the conspiracy was discovered and vigorously suppressed
8.
Instrument of Government (1809)
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The Instrument of Government adopted on 6 June 1809 by the Riksdag of the Estates was one of the fundamental laws that made up the constitution of Sweden from 1809 to 1974. The coup enabled Gustav III to rule as an enlightened despot and this provided momentum for the Swedish nobility and other forces to depose the king and restore political power to the Estates. The aged and childless brother of Gustav III, Charles XIII was made king in 1809, but he was a puppet in the hands of the Estates. The rights of Bernadottes successors to accede to the Swedish throne were codified in an amendment to the constitution in the form of the Act of Succession, the Instrument of Government of 1809 replaced the Instrument of Government of 1772. It established a separation of powers between the branch and the legislative branch. The King and Riksdag possessed joint power over legislation, while the Riksdag had sole power over the budget, originally, ministers were politically responsible solely to the king, who appointed and dismissed them. However, they were responsible to the Riksdag and a special court according to a special statute. As the Riksdags authority grew, it increasingly difficult for a government to stay in office solely with the Crowns support. This culminated in 1907, when a government was chosen that was dependent more on the confidence of the Riksdag than on that of the King. After a great victory in 1917, it was obvious that the King could no longer pick a government entirely of his choosing. At that time, it was established that ministers were politically responsible to the Riksdag. From then on, while ministers were formally appointed by the King, convention required him to ensure they had the support of a majority in the Riksdag. In 1975, it was replaced by a new Instrument of Government, during the period when it was in force several important reforms took place without affecting its status. In 1866 the Four Estates were replaced by a bicameral parliament, in the early 20th century universal suffrage was introduced and the country became a de facto parliamentary monarchy. In 1970 the parliament was transformed from a bicameral legislature to a unicameral one, history of Sweden Politics of Sweden Constitution of Sweden King in Council Privy Council of Sweden Gustavian Party Regeringsform 1809 - at Wikisource Historiska dokument - at Wikisource
9.
Sweden in Union with Norway
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The Union between Sweden and Norway is an overriding theme of the history of Sweden in the 19th century. On 4 November 1814, the kingdoms of Sweden and Norway formed a union under one king. The two countries had separate institutions, except for the foreign service led by the king through the Swedish foreign minister. The Union was the realisation of an idea that had been nursed in Sweden for a long time, when it was finally accomplished, it was due to political circumstances beyond the borders of Scandinavia. The Napoleonic wars caused Finland to be separated from Sweden, Sweden actively exploited the opportunity, while Norway reluctantly submitted to another inevitable union. That initial disparity between the partners caused recurring political conflicts, and their different interpretations of the union eventually brought them apart and it was dissolved peacefully in 1905. Gustav IV Adolf ascended to the throne of Sweden in 1792, after the assassination of his father and his reign was ill-fated and was to end abruptly. After the conclusion of the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit, Sweden was invited to join the Continental System, the king instead entered into negotiations with Britain in order to prepare a joint attack against Denmark–Norway, with the intention of acquiring Norway. In the meantime, the preemptive British attack on the Danish navy, as Sweden in the meantime had sided with the British, Denmark-Norway was forced by Napoleon to declare war on Sweden on 29 February 1808. Sweden now faced a two-front war, as Russia had invaded Finland on 21 February, viewing the possibility of a joint Danish and French attack as the greater danger, king Gustav IV concentrated his army in southern Sweden and staged an invasion of Norway. The Norwegian army, commanded by the general Christian August of Augustenborg, viceroy of Norway and he refrained from pursuing the Swedish army beyond the border, while Sweden was hard pressed by the Russians in Finland, contrary to urgent requests from king Frederick VI. By the autumn of 1808, the Russians had occupied all of Finland, on 7 March 1809, when it was clear that Sweden would lose the war with Russia, officers who were resentful at the conduct of the war staged a coup détat and deposed the king. He was forced to abdicate on 29 March and was imprisoned with his family in Gripsholm castle, on 5 June the duke regent Charles XIII was proclaimed king after accepting a new liberal constitution, which was ratified by the Riksdag the next day. In December Gustav and his family were transported to Germany, Charles XIII was both infirm and childless. To secure the succession to the throne, he adopted Prince Christian August of Augustenborg as his heir, Christian August had been viceroy of Norway and commander-in-chief of the Norwegian army during its successful resistance to the Swedish invasion in 1808–09. His great popularity in Norway was considered an advantage to the Swedish plans for the acquisition of that country, in addition, he had demonstrated his interest in a rapprochement between the two countries by refraining from invading Sweden during the war with Russia. As crown prince of Sweden, he changed his name to Carl August of Augustenborg, after his mysterious death on 28 May 1810, the French marshal Bernadotte was adopted by Charles XIII and received the homage of the estates on 5 November 1810. The new crown prince was soon the most popular and the most powerful man in Sweden
10.
Union between Sweden and Norway
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The Norwegian government was presided over by viceroys, Swedes until 1829, Norwegians until 1856. That office was vacant and then abolished in 1873. Foreign policy was conducted through the Swedish foreign ministry until the dissolution of the union in 1905, by the 1814 Treaty of Kiel, the King of Denmark-Norway was forced to cede Norway to the King of Sweden. But Norway refused to submit to the treaty provisions, declared independence, after the adoption of the new Constitution of Norway on 17 May 1814, Prince Christian Frederick was elected king. On 4 November the Storting elected Charles XIII as the King of Norway, Sweden accepted the unions dissolution on 26 October. After a plebiscite confirming the election of Danish Prince Carl as the new king of Norway, he accepted the Stortings offer of the throne on 18 November and took the regnal name of Haakon VII. After the establishment of absolutism in 1660, a centralised form of government was established. The united kingdoms are referred to as Denmark-Norway by later historians, the ambitious wars waged by king Charles XII, however, led to the loss of that status after the Great Northern War, 1700–1721. Sweden also invaded Norway in 1567,1644,1658 and 1716, to wrest the country away from the union with Denmark, the repeated wars and invasions led to popular resentment against Sweden among Norwegians. During the 18th century, Norway enjoyed a period of great prosperity, the biggest growth industry was the export of planks, with Great Britain as the chief market. Some members of the aristocracy saw Sweden as a more natural partner. Around 1800, many prominent Norwegians secretly favoured a break with Denmark and their undeclared leader was Count Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg. The Swedish policy during the period was to cultivate contacts in Norway. King Gustav III actively approached circles in Norway that might favour a union with Sweden instead of Denmark, such endeavours on both sides of the border toward a rapprochement were far from realistic before the Napoleonic Wars created conditions that caused political upheavals in Scandinavia. Sweden and Denmark-Norway tried to remain neutral during the Napoleonic wars, both countries joined Russia and Prussia in a League of Armed Neutrality in 1800. Denmark-Norway was forced to withdraw from the League after the British raid on the navy during the first Battle of Copenhagen in April 1801, the league collapsed after the assassination of Tsar Paul I of Russia in 1801. Denmark-Norway was compelled into an alliance with France after the British preemptive second attack on the Danish navy, the defenceless capital had to surrender the navy after heavy bombardment, because the army was at the southern border to defend it against a possible French attack. As Sweden in the meantime had sided with the British, Denmark-Norway was forced by Napoleon to declare war on Sweden on 29 February 1808
11.
Sweden during the late 19th century
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At the accession of Oscar II to the throne on September 18,1872, the economic condition of Sweden was fairly satisfactory. In foreign affairs the security situation was good, politically, however, the situation was tense as the reforms inaugurated during the preceding reign did not answer expectations. Within three years of the introduction of the new electoral laws Louis De Geer ministry had forfeited much of its former popularity, the government stood midway between these conflicting majorities in the chambers, without support in either. The Swedish Lantmanna party was formed in 1867 and it consisted mostly of the larger and smaller peasant proprietors, who at the time of the old Riksdag of the Estates were always opposed to the nobility and the clergy. Such was the state of affairs when Oscar II of Sweden, surrounded by his late brothers advisers, began his reign. One of his first priorities was to increase the strength of his Royal Swedish Navy, in the first Riksdag, however, the so-called compromise, which afterwards played such an important part in Swedish political life, came into existence. The King himself perceived in the compromise a means of solving the conflicting questions and this motion having been rejected, De Geer resigned, and was succeeded by Count Arvid Posse. The new Prime Minister endeavoured to solve the question of defence in accordance with the views of the Lantmanna party, in this last connection the most suitable types of vessels for coast defence as for offence were determined upon. But Count Posse, deserted by his own party over the bill, resigned, and was succeeded on May 16,1884 by Robert Themptander. The government, availing itself of its right not to dissolve the chamber in which it had the support of a majority. The new Riksdag assembled in May with a free trade majority in the Second Chamber, the victory of the free traders was not to be of long duration. The protectionists obtained a majority in both chambers in the next Riksdag in 1888 and this singular way of electing members for the principal city in the kingdom could not fail further to irritate the parties. One result of the Stockholm election came at a convenient time for the Themptander ministry, the financial affairs of the country were found to be in a most unsatisfactory state. The new taxes, together with an increase of the duty on spirits. At a Council of State on October 12,1888 the king declared his wishes as to the way in which this surplus should be used and it is most likely that protectionism was a political concession made to a Otto Van Bismarck as an instrument of social cause. This was allowed because of the inability of the Swedish population to stand up to its King and it is ironical that a nation that pioneers in the study of economics fails to make use of its effort. – Amanbir Baron Bildt resigned as soon as the new system seemed settled, the latter, however, also soon resigned, and was succeeded on the July 10,1891 by Erik Gustaf Boström, a landed proprietor. The protectionist system gained in favour on the expiry of the treaty with France in 1892
12.
Sweden during World War I
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Sweden, following its long-standing policy of neutrality since the Napoleonic Wars, remained neutral throughout World War I between 28 July 1914 and 11 November 1918. However, this neutrality was not maintained without difficulty and Sweden at various times sympathised with different parties in the conflict, whilst King Gustaf was married to a German, the Swedish Riksmarskalk, Ludvig Douglas, was also known to be a strong proponent of an alliance with Germany. Rearmament was a concern in Sweden due to growing tensions in Europe. In response King Gustaf gave a written by the ardently pro-German explorer. When King Gustaf refused to tone down his rhetoric on the subject of defence spending, Sweden declared neutrality in the Austro-Serbian conflict on 31 July 1914, and in the general conflict of Germany against France and Russia on the 4th of August. Both declarations left open the possibility that Sweden might later change her position if other countries joined the conflict, apparently fearful that Germany might issue an ultimatum demanding Sweden choose sides Wallenberg also promised Franz von Reichenau that Swedish neutrality would be benevolent to Germany. The position of Norway also concerned Wallenberg, as he believed that the Norwegians would prefer to intervene on the British side if they entered the war. On the 8th of August the two issued a joint declaration of neutrality warning that they would maintain their neutrality against all belligerents. A further joint declaration was made by the three kings of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden in December 1914, and the Swedish army units that had sent to the Finnish border were stood down. Douglas then conveyed this offer to King Gustaf on 8 June 1915, following this failure, Prince Max of Baden, a cousin of the Swedish Queen Victoria, made a further overture to King Gustaf. King Gustaf rejected this offer on 20 November 1915 as, without a casus belli. Whilst talk of an alliance eventually came to nothing, Sweden did favour Russia over the Germany in at least one important respect and this allowed the Germans to communicate with their embassies via Stockholm without their communications being so easily censored and intercepted by the British. Throughout the war Germany applied pressure on Sweden and Denmark to close the channels connecting the Baltic sea to the North Sea to Allied warships. Whilst Denmark had given into this pressure and mined the Danish Straits at the outbreak of the war, when Royal Navy submarines entered the Baltic through the sound in October 1914, the Germans demanded that the Swedes carry out their promise. In October 1915 British submarines operating in the Baltic successfully sank several German cargo ships as well as the armoured cruiser SMS Prinz Adalbert, a German warship opened fire on a Swedish submarine HSwMS Hvalen killing a member of the crew. According to the captain of the Hvalen, the submarine was flying the Swedish naval flag at the time and was sailing in Swedish home waters, compensation was later paid to the widow of the crew-member and an apology was issued. The mining of the channel drew criticism from the Allied powers, causing them to describe Sweden as “neutral with reservations. ”Prior to the outbreak of war, the export of iron-ore from iron-ore mines in two iron-ore fields in Swedish Lapland had been a major export-business for Sweden. The iron-ore export business was run by an association in which the Swedish government was a member, the advent of war changed this
13.
Sweden during World War II
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Sweden maintained its policy of neutrality during World War II. When the war began on September 1,1939, the fate of Sweden was unclear, at the outbreak of hostilities, Sweden had held a neutral stance in international relations for more than a century, since the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. The Swedish Government made a few concessions, and sometimes breached the nations neutrality in favor of both Germany and the Western Allies, German soldiers traveling on leave between Norway and Germany were allowed passage through Sweden — the so-called permittenttrafik. Iron ore was sold to Germany throughout the war, and for the Allies, Sweden shared military intelligence and helped to train soldiers made up of refugees from Denmark and Norway, to be used in the liberation of their home countries. It also allowed the Allies to use Swedish airbases between 1944 and 1945, Sweden also became a refuge for anti-fascist and Jewish refugees from all over the region. In 1943, following an order to all of Denmarks Jewish population to concentration camps. Sweden also became a refuge for Norwegian Jews who fled from Nazi occupied Norway, between 1523 and Swedens final war with Russia in 1809, a state of war had existed between these two countries for 67 out of those 292 years. Russia was seen as the hereditary enemy of Sweden. In the peace that followed the Finnish War in 1809, all of Finland had been ceded to Russia, as the end of the 19th century approached, and the beginning of the 20th began, Sweden, like many other nations, became beset by strikes and public disorder. Appalling working conditions were no longer tolerated and the class was rising against the state. In 1908 alone, there were about 300 strikes in Sweden, by 1917, Sweden’s need for a new political system was apparent from these riots. In 1917, the rules of democracy were changed in Sweden, but even these reforms were seen as far too radical by some conservatives. Some wanted strong leadership and did not believe in democracy, in the 1920s and 1930s, confrontations between employers and employees in Sweden continued. In 1931, this culminated with the shootings, an incident where the military opened fire on a protest march. In the same year, a secret right-wing militia, the Munckska kåren, was exposed and it had recruited about 2000 men and had access to heavy weaponry. It was disbanded the next year, compromise and a parliamentary system were thought to stand in the way of a more equal and just society. A new cabinet led by the social democrats with Per Albin Hansson as Prime Minister, a policy of cooperation and consensus was pursued, which led to a furthering of the divide between the two socialist factions, the communists and the reformist left. The distance between two, at least at the ideological level, became so great that the communists often referred to the social democrats as the social fascists
14.
Military history of Sweden
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During the prehistoric times, modern Sweden was divided into provinces and in the Svea and Göta kingdoms. There is said that wars were fought between Svear and Götar and that the former were victors, as the Icelandic sagas tell of many family feuds, one can assume that these were not uncommon in Sweden either, as the structure of the society was similar. During the early Middle Ages, many Vikings took recruitment in the fleet, the system of Leidang was used to organize the armies in the different parts of the country. In an alliance with the Danes, the Swedish king Olof Skötkonung won the war against the Norwegians at the battle of Svolder. The Russo-Swedish War was a result of an alliance between Ivan III of Russia and Hans of Denmark, who was waging war against the Sture family of Sweden in the hope of regaining the Swedish throne. Ivan III sent Princes Daniil Shchenya and Vasily Shuisky to lay siege to the Swedish castle of Vyborg. The siege lasted for three months and ended when a castellan set his supply of powder on fire, thus scaring the Muscovites out of their wits, the following year Russian generals Vasily Kosoy and Andrey Chelyadnin severely devastated Swedish Finland as far as Hämeenlinna. Another detachment sailed along the shore, forcing the Finns into subservience, the fortress was taken but was impossible to defend it for a considerable period of time — Svante Nilsson proposed to hand it over to the Knights, an offer which they declined. Thereupon the Swedes set the fortress ablaze and sailed home, after the Swedish throne fell to Hans of Denmark, hostilities were suspended until 1508, when Sweden and Russia ratified a peace treaty for 60 years. The campaign was a result of an alliance between Charles IX of Sweden and Vasili IV of Russia, whereby the latter promised to cede the County of Kexholm to Sweden. The combined Russo-Swedish forces set out from Novgorod late in 1609 and marched towards Moscow and they dispersed the supporters of False Dmitry II, who maintained an alternative court in Tushino near Moscow and challenged the authority of Vasily IV. In June 1610, De la Gardie and Dmitry Shuisky departed from Moscow in order to lift Żółkiewskis Siege of Smolensk, the campaign ended with most of De la Gardies forces being destroyed by the Polish hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski at the Battle of Klushino in 1610. The De la Gardie Campaign can be considered a prelude to the Ingrian War and it ended with a large Swedish territorial gain in the Treaty of Stolbovo which laid an important foundation to Swedens Age of Greatness. The Kalmar War was a war between Sweden and Denmark 1611 to 1613, Sweden sought an alternative trade route to avoid paying Denmarks Sound Toll through Northern Norway. This was not to Denmarks liking and they invaded southern Sweden, england and the Netherlands were also invested in the Baltic Sea trade, and pressured to curtail Denmarks power by ending the Kalmar War before a decisive victory could be attained. The Danes, while well-equipped and strong, had relied heavily on mercenary forces and Christian IV, with Englands intercession, the Treaty of Knäred was signed on January 20,1613. Denmark reached its victory, restoring Norwegian control of Swedens land route through Lapland by incorporating Lapland into Norway, further, Sweden had to pay a high ransom for two fortresses captured by Denmark. Sweden, however, achieved a major concession — the right of trade through the Sound Strait
15.
Swedish History Museum
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The Swedish History Museum is a museum located in Stockholm, Sweden, that covers Swedish archaeology and cultural history from the Mesolithic period to present day. Founded in 1866, it operates as a government agency and is tasked with preserving Swedish historical items as well as making knowledge about history available to the public, the origin of the museum is the collections of art and historical objects gathered by Swedish monarchs since the 16th century. It has a number of permanent exhibitions and annually hosts special exhibitions tied to current events, the History Museum is part of a central museum agency called the Statens historiska museer. Other institutions under the aegis of this agency are the Royal Coin Cabinet, the Tumba Papermill Museum, the museum is also one of five so called ansvarsmuseum in Sweden. It is tasked with coordinating activities between museums, assist other museums and develop contacts between museums and other parts of the Swedish community, the foundation for what was to become the History Museum and the Nationalmuseum, was King Gustav Vasas 16th century art collection at Gripsholm Castle. The collection grew through acquisitions, gifts and spoils of war during the time of the Swedish Empire, some of the collections were lost during the fire in the Tre Kronor castle. During the later part of the 18th century, art and antiquities were bought by ambassadors and members of the royal family, after the death of King Gustaf III in 1792, the collections were turned over to the Swedish government. That same year the Royal Museum opened in the palace and it was one of the first public museums in the world. In 1846–47, the museum moved from the palace to the Ridderstolp House at Skeppsbron where it resided until 1865, Swedish archaeologist Stig Welinder argues that the History Museum was in fact founded with its establishment in the Ridderstolp House in 1847. The present-day museum was founded in 1866 by Bror Emil Hildebrand, the collections of the museum were exhibited on the ground floor of the recently built Nationalmuseum. The premises soon became too small for both museums, when plans for the new Nordic Museum building were made in 1876, it was suggested that the building should also include the History Museums collections. The debate about housing for the History Museum continued for decades until Sigurd Curman became Custodian of Ancient Monuments and he moved the issue forward to a more concrete and permanent solution. In 1929, the Swedish government suggested that the military barracks and stables at Storgatan in the city block known as the Krubban. An architectural competition was held in 1930, for the conversion of the block into suitable accommodation for the museum. They developed the design for the new museum in cooperation with Curman, the National Property Board, in 1932, the Swedish government granted funds for construction of official buildings to create jobs during the depression. Some of these were used to build the museum in 1934–39, the plans for the museum were not finalized until 1936. The museum consists of four two- and three-story block-like buildings surrounding an inner courtyard, the façade is austere and decorated with sculptures made by Bror Marklund and reliefs by artist Robert Nilsson. In the courtyard by a pool is a sculpture called Näcken by Carl Frisendahl, most of the decorations of the museum were selected through a series of competitions
16.
Migration Period sword
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The blade is normally smooth or shows a very shallow fuller, and often has multiple bands of pattern-welding within the central portion. The handles were often of perishable material and there are few surviving examples, blade length measured between 28 and 32 in length and 1.7 to 2.4 in width. The tang has a length of only some 4 to 5 long, the blades show very little taper, usually ending in a rounded tip. Surviving examples of these Merovingian-period swords have notably been found in the context of the Scandinavian Germanic Iron Age, there is no single term that can be reconstructed as having referred specifically to the spatha in Common Germanic. There are a number of terms and epithets which refer to the sword, Beowulf has the compound wægsweord referring to a pattern-welded blade. A mære maðþumsweord renowned treasure-sword is given to Beowulf as a reward for his heroism, the compound hæftmece in Beowulf, literally hilt-sword, presumably describes a sword with an exceptionally long hilt. Slavic mьčь is usually regarded as a loan from the Germanic word, the Hildebrandslied has a parallelism establishing bill and suert as synonyms. *þramja edge, blade, perhaps Tacitus framea spear, lance, the spatha came into widespread use in the Roman army during the 3rd century. It was during this time that the early Germanic tribes adopted the weapon, an early find of Roman spathae in a native Germanic context is the deposit of sixty-seven Roman swords in the Vimose bog. An early type of recognizably Germanic sword is the so-called Krefeld-type, named for a find in late Roman era military burials at Gelduba castle, the Krefeld type spathae appear in graves from approximately the 430s through the 460s. In these graves, the prestige of the sword is not yet fully developed. Six Krefeld type swords are known from Francia, four from Alamannia, a native industry producing Germanic swords then emerges from the 5th century, contemporary with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. The Germanic spatha did not replace the native seax, sometimes referred to as gladius or ensis sword and it rather establishes itself, by the 6th century, at the top of the scale of prestige associated with weapons. Swords could often become important heirlooms, Æthelstan Ætheling, son of king Æthelred, in a will of c.1015 bequeathed to his brother Eadmund the sword of king Offa, which at that time must have been over 200 years old. The gold hilt spatha was a rare and prestigious type of sword in the later 5th century. Specimens are known mostly from Alemannia, but also as far afield as Moravia, an Alamannic type is distinguished from a Franconian type based on scabbard mounts and hilt design by Quast. A total of 20 examples are known, ten of each type, one of the Franconian examples is the sword of Childeric I, recovered from his tomb at Tournai. Some authors have suggested that Childerics sword was a ceremonial sword not intended for combat, the ring-sword is a particular variant of the Germanic migration period swords
17.
Migration Period
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The Migration Period was a time of widespread migrations within or into Europe in the middle of the first millennium AD. It has also been termed the Völkerwanderung and, from the Roman, many of the migrations were movements of Germanic, Slavic, and other peoples into the territory of the then Roman Empire, with or without accompanying invasions or war. Although immigration was common throughout the time of the Roman Empire, later invasions, also had significant effects, however, they are outside the scope of the Migration Period. Germanic peoples moved out of southern Scandinavia and Germany to the adjacent lands between the Elbe and Oder after 1000 BC. The first wave moved westward and southward, moving into southern Germany up to the Roman provinces of Gaul and Cisalpine Gaul by 100 BC and it is this western group which was described by the Roman historian Tacitus and Julius Caesar. A later wave of Germanic tribes migrated eastward and southward from Scandinavia between 600 and 300 BC to the opposite coast of the Baltic Sea, moving up the Vistula near the Carpathians, the Barbarian Invasions may be divided into two phases. The first phase, occurring between AD300 and 500, is documented by Greek and Latin historians but difficult to verify archaeologically. It puts Germanic peoples in control of most areas of what was then the Western Roman Empire, the Tervingi entered Roman territory in 376. Some time thereafter in Marcianopolis, the escort to Fritigern was killed while meeting with Lupicinus, fending off challenges from the Allemanni, Burgundians, and Visigoths, the Frankish kingdom became the nucleus of what would later become France and Germany. The initial Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain occurred during the fifth century, the Burgundians settled in North Western Italy, Switzerland and Eastern France in the fifth century. The second phase took place between 500 and 700 and saw Slavic tribes settling in central and eastern Europe, gradually making it predominantly Slavic, additionally, Turkic tribes such as the Avars became involved in this phase. In 567, the Avars and the Lombards destroyed much of the Gepid Kingdom, the Lombards, a Germanic people, settled in Italy with their Herulian, Suebian, Gepid, Thuringian, Bulgarian, Sarmatian and Saxon allies in the 6th century. They were later followed by the Bavarians and the Franks, who conquered and ruled most of Italy, during the Khazar–Arab Wars, the Khazars stopped the Arab expansion into Europe across the Caucasus. At the same time, the Moors invaded Europe via Gibraltar and these battles broadly demarcated the frontiers between Christendom and Islam for the next millennium. The following centuries saw the Muslims successful in conquering most of Sicily from the Christians by 902, the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin from around 895, and the Viking expansion from the late 8th century conventionally mark the last large movements of the period. Christianity gradually converted the non-Islamic newcomers and integrated them into the medieval Christian order, a number of contemporary historical references worldwide refer to an extended period of extreme weather during 535–536. Evidence of this period is also found in dendrochronology and ice cores. The consequences of this period are debated
18.
Merovingian dynasty
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The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that ruled the Franks for nearly 300 years in a region known as Francia in Latin, beginning in the middle of the 5th century. Their territory largely corresponded to ancient Gaul as well as the Roman provinces of Raetia, Germania Superior and the southern part of Germania. The Merovingian dynasty was founded by Childeric I, the son of Merovech, leader of the Salian Franks, after the death of Clovis there were frequent clashes between different branches of the family, but when threatened by its neighbours the Merovingians presented a strong united front. During the final century of Merovingian rule, the kings were increasingly pushed into a ceremonial role, the Merovingian rule ended in March 752 when Pope Zachary formally deposed Childeric III. Zacharys successor, Pope Stephen II, confirmed and anointed Pepin the Short in 754, the Merovingian ruling family were sometimes referred to as the long-haired kings by contemporaries, as their long hair distinguished them among the Franks, who commonly cut their hair short. The Merovingian dynasty owes its name to the semi-legendary Merovech, leader of the Salian Franks, the victories of his son Childeric I against the Visigoths, Saxons, and Alemanni established the basis of Merovingian land. Childerics son Clovis I went on to unite most of Gaul north of the Loire under his control around 486, when he defeated Syagrius, the Roman ruler in those parts. He won the Battle of Tolbiac against the Alemanni in 496, at time, according to Gregory of Tours. He subsequently went on to defeat the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé in 507. After Cloviss death, his kingdom was partitioned among his four sons, leadership among the early Merovingians was probably based on mythical descent and alleged divine patronage, expressed in terms of continued military success. In 1906 the British Egyptologist Flinders Petrie suggested that the Marvingi recorded by Ptolemy as living near the Rhine were the ancestors of the Merovingian dynasty, upon Cloviss death in 511, the Merovingian kingdom included all of Gaul except Burgundy and all of Germania magna except Saxony. To the outside, the kingdom, even when divided under different kings, maintained unity, after the fall of the Ostrogoths, the Franks also conquered Provence. After this their borders with Italy and Visigothic Septimania remained fairly stable, internally, the kingdom was divided among Cloviss sons and later among his grandsons and frequently saw war between the different kings, who quickly allied among themselves and against one another. The death of one king created conflict between the brothers and the deceaseds sons, with differing outcomes. Later, conflicts were intensified by the personal feud around Brunhilda, however, yearly warfare often did not constitute general devastation but took on an almost ritual character, with established rules and norms. Eventually, Clotaire II in 613 reunited the entire Frankish realm under one ruler, later divisions produced the stable units of Austrasia, Neustria, Burgundy and Aquitania. The frequent wars had weakened royal power, while the aristocracy had made great gains and these concessions saw the very considerable power of the king parcelled out and retained by leading comites and duces. Very little is in fact known about the course of the 7th century due to a scarcity of sources, clotaires son Dagobert I, who sent troops to Spain and pagan Slavic territories in the east, is commonly seen as the last powerful Merovingian King
19.
Slavs
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Slavs are the largest Indo-European ethno-linguistic group in Europe. They are native to Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Northeastern Europe, North Asia, Slavs speak Slavic languages of the Balto-Slavic language group. From the early 6th century they spread to inhabit most of Central, states with Slavic languages comprise over 50% of the territory of Europe, therefore it is the largest ethno-linguistic group in Europe by land area. Present-day Slavic people are classified into West Slavs, East Slavs, there are an estimated 360 million Slavs worldwide. The Slavic autonym is reconstructed in Proto-Slavic as *Slověninъ, plural *Slověne, the oldest documents written in Old Church Slavonic and dating from the 9th century attest the autonym as Slověne. The word slovo and the related slava and slukh originate from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱlew-, cognate with Ancient Greek κλῆς, whence comes the name Pericles, Latin clueo, some other theories have limited support. The English term slave eventually derives from the ethnonym Slav, Slavs were captured and enslaved by the Muslims of Spain during the ninth century AD. The Slavs under name of the Antes and the Sclaveni make their first appearance in Byzantine records in the early 6th century. Procopius wrote in 545 that the Sclaveni and the Antae actually had a name in the remote past. He described them as barbarians, who lived under democracy, and that believe in one god. They lived in scattered housing, and constantly changed settlement, regarding warfare, they were mainly foot soldiers with small shields and battleaxes, lightly clothed, some entering battle naked with only their genitals covered. And they live a life, giving no heed to bodily comforts. Jordanes described the Sclaveni having swamps and forests for their cities, another 6th-century source refers to them living among nearly impenetrable forests, rivers, lakes, and marshes. Menander Protector mentions a Daurentius that slew an Avar envoy of Khagan Bayan I. The Avars asked the Slavs to accept the suzerainty of the Avars, he declined and is reported as saying, Others do not conquer our land. The relationship between the Slavs and a called the Veneti east of the River Vistula in the Roman period is uncertain. The name may refer both to Balts and Slavs, perhaps some Slavs migrated with the movement of the Vandals to Iberia and north Africa. Around the 6th century, Slavs appeared on Byzantine borders in great numbers, the Byzantine records note that grass would not regrow in places where the Slavs had marched through, so great were their numbers
20.
Balkans
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The Balkan Peninsula, or the Balkans, is a peninsula and a cultural area in Eastern and Southeastern Europe with various and disputed borders. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch from the Serbia-Bulgaria border to the Black Sea, the highest point of the Balkans is Mount Musala 2,925 metres in the Rila mountain range. In Turkish, Balkan means a chain of wooded mountains, the name is still preserved in Central Asia with the Balkan Daglary and the Balkan Province of Turkmenistan. A less popular hypothesis regarding its etymology is that it derived from the Persian Balā-Khāna, from Antiquity through the Middle Ages, the Balkan Mountains had been called by the local Thracian name Haemus. According to Greek mythology, the Thracian king Haemus was turned into a mountain by Zeus as a punishment, a reverse name scheme has also been suggested. D. Dechev considers that Haemus is derived from a Thracian word *saimon, a third possibility is that Haemus derives from the Greek word haema meaning blood. The myth relates to a fight between Zeus and the monster/titan Typhon, Zeus injured Typhon with a thunder bolt and Typhons blood fell on the mountains, from which they got their name. The earliest mention of the name appears in an early 14th-century Arab map, the Ottomans first mention it in a document dated from 1565. There has been no other documented usage of the word to refer to the region before that, there is also a claim about an earlier Bulgar Turkic origin of the word popular in Bulgaria, however it is only an unscholarly assertion. The word was used by the Ottomans in Rumelia in its meaning of mountain, as in Kod̲j̲a-Balkan, Čatal-Balkan, and Ungurus-Balkani̊. The concept of the Balkans was created by the German geographer August Zeune in 1808, during the 1820s, Balkan became the preferred although not yet exclusive term alongside Haemus among British travelers. Among Russian travelers not so burdened by classical toponymy, Balkan was the preferred term, zeunes goal was to have a geographical parallel term to the Italic and Iberian Peninsula, and seemingly nothing more. The gradually acquired political connotations are newer and, to a large extent, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia beginning in June 1991, the term Balkans again received a negative meaning, especially in Croatia and Slovenia, even in casual usage. A European Union initiative of 1999 is called the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, and its northern boundary is often given as the Danube, Sava and Kupa Rivers. The Balkan Peninsula has an area of about 470,000 km2. It is more or less identical to the known as Southeastern Europe. As of 1920 until World War II, Italy included Istria, the current territory of Italy includes only the small area around Trieste inside the Balkan Peninsula. However, the regions of Trieste and Istria are not usually considered part of the Balkans by Italian geographers, the Western Balkans is a neologism coined to describe the countries of ex-Yugoslavia and Albania
21.
Scandinavia
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Scandinavia /ˌskændᵻˈneɪviə/ is a historical and cultural region in Northern Europe characterized by a common ethnocultural North Germanic heritage and mutually intelligible North Germanic languages. The term Scandinavia always includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the remote Norwegian islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are usually not seen as a part of Scandinavia, nor is Greenland, an overseas territory of Denmark. This looser definition almost equates to that of the Nordic countries, in Nordic languages, only Denmark, Norway and Sweden are commonly included in the definition of Scandinavia. In English usage, Scandinavia sometimes refers to the geographical area, the name Scandinavia originally referred vaguely to the formerly Danish, now Swedish, region Scania. Icelanders and the Faroese are to a significant extent descended from the Norse, Finland is mainly populated by Finns, with a minority of approximately 5% of Swedish speakers. A small minority of Sami people live in the north of Scandinavia. The Danish, Norwegian and Swedish languages form a continuum and are known as the Scandinavian languages—all of which are considered mutually intelligible with one another. Faroese and Icelandic, sometimes referred to as insular Scandinavian languages, are intelligible in continental Scandinavian languages only to a limited extent, Finnish and Meänkieli are closely related to each other and more distantly to the Sami languages, but are entirely unrelated to the Scandinavian languages. Apart from these, German, Yiddish and Romani are recognized minority languages in Scandinavia, the southern and by far most populous regions of Scandinavia have a temperate climate. Scandinavia extends north of the Arctic Circle, but has mild weather for its latitude due to the Gulf Stream. Much of the Scandinavian mountains have a tundra climate. There are many lakes and moraines, legacies of the last glacial period, Scandinavia usually refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Some sources argue for the inclusion of the Faroe Islands, Finland and Iceland, though that broader region is known by the countries concerned as Norden. Before this time, the term Scandinavia was familiar mainly to classical scholars through Pliny the Elders writings, and was used vaguely for Scania, as a political term, Scandinavia was first used by students agitating for Pan-Scandinavianism in the 1830s. After a visit to Sweden, Andersen became a supporter of early political Scandinavism, the term is often defined according to the conventions of the cultures that lay claim to the term in their own use. More precisely, and subject to no dispute, is that Finland is included in the broader term Nordic countries, various promotional agencies of the Nordic countries in the United States serve to promote market and tourism interests in the region. The official tourist boards of Scandinavia sometimes cooperate under one umbrella, Norways government entered one year later. All five Nordic governments participate in the joint promotional efforts in the United States through the Scandinavian Tourist Board of North America, Scandinavia can thus be considered a subset of the Nordic countries
22.
Germanic peoples
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The Germanic peoples are an ethno-linguistic Indo-European group of Northern European origin. They are identified by their use of Germanic languages, which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age, the term Germanic originated in classical times when groups of tribes living in Lower, Upper, and Greater Germania were referred to using this label by Roman scribes. Tribes referred to as Germanic by Roman authors generally lived to the north, in about 222 BCE, the first use of the Latin term Germani appears in the Fasti Capitolini inscription de Galleis Insvbribvs et Germ. This may simply be referring to Gaul or related people, the term Germani shows up again, allegedly written by Poseidonios, but is merely a quotation inserted by the author Athenaios who wrote much later. Somewhat later, the first surviving detailed discussions of Germani and Germania are those of Julius Caesar, from Caesars perspective, Germania was a geographical area of land on the east bank of the Rhine opposite Gaul, which Caesar left outside direct Roman control. This usage of the word is the origin of the concept of Germanic languages. In other classical authors the concept sometimes included regions of Sarmatia, also, at least in the south there were Celtic peoples still living east of the Rhine and north of the Alps. Caesar, Tacitus and others noted differences of culture which could be found on the east of the Rhine, but the theme of all these cultural references was that this was a wild and dangerous region, less civilised than Gaul, a place that required additional military vigilance. Caesar used the term Germani for a specific tribal grouping in northeastern Belgic Gaul, west of the Rhine. He made clear that he was using the name in the local sense and these are the so-called Germani Cisrhenani, whom Caesar believed to be closely related to the peoples east of the Rhine, and descended from immigrants into Gaul. Caesar described this group of both as Belgic Gauls and as Germani. Gauls are associated with Celtic languages, and the term Germani is associated with Germanic languages, but Caesar did not discuss languages in detail. It has been claimed, for example by Maurits Gysseling, that the names of this region show evidence of an early presence of Germanic languages. The etymology of the word Germani is uncertain, the likeliest theory so far proposed is that it comes from a Gaulish compound of *ger near + *mani men, comparable to Welsh ger near, Old Irish gair neighbor, Irish gar- near, garach neighborly. Another Celtic possibility is that the name meant noisy, cf. Breton/Cornish garm shout, however, here the vowel does not match, nor does the vowel length ). Others have proposed a Germanic etymology *gēr-manni, spear men, cf. Middle Dutch ghere, Old High German Ger, Old Norse geirr. However, the form gēr seems far too advanced phonetically for the 1st century, has a vowel where a short one is expected. The term Germani, therefore, probably applied to a group of tribes in northeastern Gaul who may or may not have spoken a Germanic language
23.
Uppland
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Uppland is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland and it is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea. It has a short and strangely shaped land border with Åland. The name literally means up land, a name which is encountered in especially older English literature. Its Latinised form, which is used, is Uplandia. The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes, the corresponding administrative county, or län, is Uppsala County, which occupies the larger part of the territory. The bulk of the population, however, is within Stockholm County, minor parts of the province are also in Västmanland County, Gävleborg County and Södermanland County. Upplands arms were granted in 1560, distinctive in its depiction of a Globus cruciger, historically, Uppland ranked as a duchy and the coat of arms is represented with a ducal coronet. Blazoned thus, Gules, a Royal Orb Or gemmed of the field, despite the fact that the Uppsala län has a different name and a smaller territory it was granted the same coat of arms in 1940. Uppland was historically divided into chartered cities and districts, within Roslagen they were called skeppslag, and in the rest of the province hundreds. The abovementioned districts and cities have no administrative function today, the provincial population corresponds to the different overlapping counties as follows, Uppland is the birth place of Saint Brigitta of Sweden. The earliest unambiguous mention of the province of Uppland comes from the 1296, the Swedish capital of Stockholm is divided between two provinces. The southern half lies in Södermanland and the half in Uppland. Prince Waldemar Princess Ingiburga, his wife Prince Gustav Prince Sigvard Uppsala is the seat of the archbishop of the Lutheran Church of Sweden. The archaeological site Birka and the castle of Drottningholm are UNESCO World Heritage sites, football in the province is administered by Upplands Fotbollförbund. Uppland - Tourist site Uppland - Tourist information
24.
Old Uppsala
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Gamla Uppsala is a parish and a village outside Uppsala in Sweden. It had 17,973 inhabitants in 2016, as early as the 3rd century AD and the 4th century AD and onwards, it was an important religious, economic and political centre. Early written sources show that already during pre-history, Gamla Uppsala was well known in Northern Europe as the residence of the Swedish kings of the legendary Yngling dynasty. In fact, the oldest Scandinavian sources, such as Ynglingatal, the Westrogothic law and it was also the location of the Thing of all Swedes which was a thing held from pre-historic times to the Middle Ages, at the end of February or early March. It was held in conjunction with a fair called Disting. It was not only the Norse cultic centre, it also became Swedens archbishopric in 1164, Gamla Uppsala lies on Fyris Wolds, a cultivated plain in the valley of the River Fyris which is densely populated in its southern part, while the northern part consists of farms. Medieval Scandinavians held Gamla Uppsala as one of the oldest and most important locations in Scandinavia and this tradition was also known by the Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson, who, however had Odin reside in nearby Fornsigtuna, whereas the god Freyr lived in Gamla Uppsala. He was, like his father, fortunate in friends and in good seasons, frey built a great temple at Uppsala, made it his chief seat, and gave it all his taxes, his land, and goods. Then began the Upsal domains, which have remained ever since, for he paid to the gods abominable offerings, by beginning to slaughter human victims. What kind of tree it is nobody knows, there is also a spring there where the pagan are accustomed to perform sacrifices and to immerse a human being alive. As long as his body is not found, the request of the people will be fulfilled, a golden chain encircles that temple and hangs over the gables of the building. Those who approach see its gleam from afar off because the shrine, for nine days feasts and sacrifices of this kind are celebrated. Every day they sacrifice one human being in addition to other animals and this sacrifice takes place about the time of the vernal equinox. In 2000, the Swedish AsatruSociety restarted the tradition of holding blóts at Gamla Uppsala. The 16th-century Archbishop of Uppsala Johannes Magnus asserted that the city was founded by, and named for, an early Swedish king named Ubbo. However, in the absence of any corroborating evidence, Magnus accounts no longer enjoy widespread acceptance among scholars today. It is a testimony to the sanctity of the location in the mindset of followers of medieval Norse religion that Gamla Uppsala was the last stronghold of pre-Christian, Norse Germanic kingship. During the 1070s and 1080 there appears to have been a renaissance of Norse religion with the magnificent Temple at Uppsala described in a contested account through an eye-witness by Adam of Bremen
25.
Sacred grove
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For particular sacred groves, and for other meanings, see Sacred grove. A sacred grove or sacred woods are any grove of trees that are of religious importance to a particular culture. Sacred groves feature in various cultures throughout the world, examples of sacred groves include the Greco-Roman temenos, the Norse hörgr, and the Celtic nemeton, which was largely but not exclusively associated with Druidic practice. During the Northern Crusades, there was a practice of building churches on the sites of sacred groves. The Lakota and various other North American tribes consider particular forests or other landmarks to be sacred. Ancient holy trees still exist in the English and Estonian countryside and are mentioned often in folklore, there are two mentions on this tradition in the Bible, Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there the name of God. —Genesis 21,33 and where the women wove hangings for the grove, —II Kings 23,7 Excavations at Labraunda have revealed a large shrine assumed to be that of Zeus Stratios mentioned by Herodotus as a large sacred grove of plane trees sacred to Carians. In Syria, there was a sacred to Adonis at Afqa. The most famous sacred groves in mainland Greece was the oak grove at Dodona, outside the walls of Athens, the site of the Academy was a sacred grove of olive trees, still recalled in the phrase the groves of Academe. In central Italy, the town of Nemi recalls the Latin nemus Aricinum, or grove of Ariccia, a small town a quarter of the way around the lake. A sacred grove behind the House of the Vestal Virgins on the edge of the Roman Forum lingered until its last vestiges were burnt in the Great Fire of Rome in 64 CE. The Bosco Sacro in the garden of Bomarzo, Italy, lends its associations to the uncanny atmosphere, lucus Pisaurensis, the Sacred Grove of Pesaro, Italy was discovered by Patrician Annibale degli Abati Olivieri in 1737 on property he owned along the Forbidden Road, just outside Pesaro. This Sacred Grove is the site of the Votive Stones of Pesaro and was dedicated to Salus, the city of Massilia, a Greek colony, had a sacred grove so close by it that Julius Caesar had it cut down to facilitate his siege. Sacred groves have survived in the Baltic states longer than in parts of Europe. The main Baltic Prussian sanctuary, which is considered a sacred grove was Romowe. An important wave of destruction of sacred groves was carried out in the lands of present-day Lithuania after its Christianization in 1387, however, some groves, such as in Šventybrastis, still survive in Lithuania. A sacred grove is known as alka in Lithuanian and svētbirzs in Latvian, conversely, in Estonia numerous sacred groves have survived to the present day and have recently been protected by the government of the country. Sacred groves feature prominently in Scandinavia, the most famous sacred grove of Northern Europe was at the Temple at Uppsala in Old Uppsala, where every tree was considered sacred - described by Adam of Bremen
26.
Iron
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Iron is a chemical element with symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series and it is by mass the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earths outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earths crust, like the other group 8 elements, ruthenium and osmium, iron exists in a wide range of oxidation states, −2 to +6, although +2 and +3 are the most common. Elemental iron occurs in meteoroids and other low oxygen environments, but is reactive to oxygen, fresh iron surfaces appear lustrous silvery-gray, but oxidize in normal air to give hydrated iron oxides, commonly known as rust. Unlike the metals that form passivating oxide layers, iron oxides occupy more volume than the metal and thus flake off, Iron metal has been used since ancient times, although copper alloys, which have lower melting temperatures, were used even earlier in human history. Pure iron is soft, but is unobtainable by smelting because it is significantly hardened and strengthened by impurities, in particular carbon. A certain proportion of carbon steel, which may be up to 1000 times harder than pure iron. Crude iron metal is produced in blast furnaces, where ore is reduced by coke to pig iron, further refinement with oxygen reduces the carbon content to the correct proportion to make steel. Steels and iron alloys formed with metals are by far the most common industrial metals because they have a great range of desirable properties. Iron chemical compounds have many uses, Iron oxide mixed with aluminium powder can be ignited to create a thermite reaction, used in welding and purifying ores. Iron forms binary compounds with the halogens and the chalcogens, among its organometallic compounds is ferrocene, the first sandwich compound discovered. Iron plays an important role in biology, forming complexes with oxygen in hemoglobin and myoglobin. Iron is also the metal at the site of many important redox enzymes dealing with cellular respiration and oxidation and reduction in plants. A human male of average height has about 4 grams of iron in his body and this iron is distributed throughout the body in hemoglobin, tissues, muscles, bone marrow, blood proteins, enzymes, ferritin, hemosiderin, and transport in plasma. The mechanical properties of iron and its alloys can be evaluated using a variety of tests, including the Brinell test, Rockwell test, the data on iron is so consistent that it is often used to calibrate measurements or to compare tests. An increase in the content will cause a significant increase in the hardness. Maximum hardness of 65 Rc is achieved with a 0. 6% carbon content, because of the softness of iron, it is much easier to work with than its heavier congeners ruthenium and osmium. Because of its significance for planetary cores, the properties of iron at high pressures and temperatures have also been studied extensively
27.
Fur
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Fur is used in reference to the hair of non-human mammals, particularly those with extensive body hair coverage that is generally soft and thick, as opposed to the stiffer bristles on most pigs. The term pelage – first known use in English c.1828 – is sometimes used to refer to the hair of an animal as a complete coat. Fur is also used to refer to animal pelts which have been processed into leather with the still attached. The words fur or furry are also used, more casually, to refer to hair-like growths or formations, particularly when the subject being referred to exhibits a dense coat of fine, soft hairs. If layered, rather than grown as a coat, it may consist of short down hairs, long guard hairs. Mammals with reduced amounts of fur are called naked, as with the naked mole-rat, or hairless. An animal with commercially valuable fur is known within the fur industry as a furbearer and its principal function is thermoregulation, it maintains a layer of dry air next to the skin and repels water, thus providing thermal insulation. Guard hair — the top consisting of longer, generally coarser. The distal ends of the guard hairs provide the externally visible layer of the coat of most mammals with well-developed fur and this layer of the coat displays the most marked pigmentation and gloss, including coat patterns adapted to display or camouflage. It is also adapted to shedding water and blocking sunlight, protecting the undercoat and skin from external factors such as rain, many animals, such as domestic cats, erect their guard hairs as part of their threat display when agitated. Mammals with well-developed down and guard hairs also usually have numbers of awn hairs. These begin their growth much as guard hairs do, but change their mode of growth and this portion of the hair is called awn. The rest of the growth is thin and wavy, much like down hair, in many species of mammals, the awn hairs comprise the bulk of the visible coat. Hair is one of the characteristics of mammals, however. These are often called naked or hairless, some mammals naturally have reduced amounts of fur. Some semiaquatic or aquatic mammals such as cetaceans, pinnipeds and hippopotamuses have evolved hairlessness, the naked mole-rat has evolved hairlessness, perhaps as an adaptation to their subterranean life-style. Two of the largest extant mammals, the elephant and the rhinoceros, are largely hairless. The hairless bat is mostly hairless but does have short bristly hairs around its neck, on its front toes, most hairless animals cannot go in the sun for long periods of time, or stay in the cold for too long
28.
Slavery
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A slave is unable to withdraw unilaterally from such an arrangement and works without remuneration. Many scholars now use the chattel slavery to refer to this specific sense of legalised. In a broader sense, however, the word slavery may also refer to any situation in which an individual is de facto forced to work against his or her will. Scholars also use the generic terms such as unfree labour or forced labour. However – and especially under slavery in broader senses of the word – slaves may have some rights and/or protections, Slavery began to exist before written history, in many cultures. A person could become a slave from the time of their birth, capture, while slavery was institutionally recognized by most societies, it has now been outlawed in all recognized countries, the last being Mauritania in 2007. Nevertheless, there are still more slaves today than at any point in history. The most common form of the trade is now commonly referred to as human trafficking. Chattel slavery is still practiced by the Islamic State of Iraq. An older interpretation connected it to the Greek verb skyleúo to strip a slain enemy, there is a dispute among historians about whether terms such as unfree labourer or enslaved person, rather than slave, should be used when describing the victims of slavery. Chattel slavery, also called traditional slavery, is so named because people are treated as the chattel of the owner and are bought, although it dominated many societies in the past, this form of slavery has been formally abolished and is very rare today. Even when it can be said to survive, it is not upheld by the system of any internationally recognized government. Indenture, otherwise known as bonded labour or debt bondage is a form of labour under which a person pledges himself or herself against a loan. The services required to repay the debt, and their duration, debt bondage can be passed on from generation to generation, with children required to pay off their parents debt. It is the most widespread form of slavery today, debt bondage is most prevalent in South Asia. This may also include institutions not commonly classified as slavery, such as serfdom, conscription, Human trafficking primarily involves women and children forced into prostitution. And is the fastest growing form of forced labour, with Thailand, Cambodia, India, Brazil, in 2007, Human Rights Watch estimated that 200,000 to 300,000 children served as soldiers in current conflicts. A forced marriage may be regarded as a form of slavery by one or more of the involved in the marriage
29.
Stirrup
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A stirrup is a light frame or ring that holds the foot of a rider, attached to the saddle by a strap, often called a stirrup leather. Stirrups are usually paired and are used to aid in mounting and they greatly increase the riders ability to stay in the saddle and control the mount, increasing the animals usefulness to humans in areas such as communication, transportation and warfare. In antiquity, the earliest foot supports consisted of placing their feet under a girth or using a simple toe loop. Later, a single stirrup was used as a mounting aid, the stirrup was invented in China in the first few centuries C. E. and spread westward through the nomadic peoples of Central Eurasia. The use of paired stirrups is credited to the Chinese Jin Dynasty, some argue that the stirrup was one of the basic tools used to create and spread modern civilization, possibly as important as the wheel or printing press. Stirrups are safer to use when riding boots are worn, and proper sizing, the English word stirrup stems from Old English stirap, stigrap, Middle English stirop, styrope, i. e. a mounting or climbing-rope. From Old English stīgan to ascend, the stirrup, which gives greater stability to a rider, has been described as one of the most significant inventions in the history of warfare, prior to gunpowder. As a tool allowing expanded use of horses in warfare, the stirrup is often called the third step in equipment, after the chariot. The basic tactics of mounted warfare were significantly altered by the stirrup, a rider supported by stirrups was less likely to fall off while fighting, and could deliver a blow with a weapon that more fully employed the weight and momentum of horse and rider. Among other advantages, stirrups provided greater balance and support to the rider, contrary to common modern belief, however, it has been asserted that stirrups actually did not enable the horseman to use a lance more effectively, though the cantled saddle did. The earliest manifestation of the stirrup was a toe loop that held the big toe and was used in India late in the second century B. C. E, though may have appeared as early as 500 B. C. E. This ancient foot support consisted of a rope for the big toe which was at the bottom of a saddle made of fibre or leather. Such a configuration was suitable for the climate of south. Buddhist carvings in the temples of Sanchi, Mathura and the Bhaja caves dating back between the 1st and 2nd century B. C. E, figure horsemen riding with elaborate saddles with feet slipped under girths. In this regard archaeologist John Marshall described the Sanchi relief as the earliest example by some five centuries of the use of stirrups in any part of the world, later, a single stirrup was used as a mounting aid by a nomadic group known as the Sarmatians. The invention of the saddle tree allowed development of the true stirrup as it is known today. Without a solid tree, the weight in the stirrups creates abnormal pressure points. Modern thermography studies on treeless and flexible-tree saddle designs have found there is considerable friction across the center line of a horses back
30.
Vendel
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Vendel is a parish in the Swedish province of Uppland. The village overlooks a long stretch of water, Vendelsjön. The church was established in 1310, Vendel is the site of an ancient royal estate, part of Uppsala öd, a network of royal estates meant to provide income for the medieval Swedish kings. In 1881 to 1883, several excavations by Hjalmar Stolpe revealed 14 graves in, several of the burials were contained in boats up to 9 m long, and they were richly furnished with arrangements of weapons, helmets, cauldrons and chains, beads, shields, tools etc. The shield from Grave 12 at Vendel is also comparable to the Sutton Hoo shield. The Vendel boats were identified by the presence of many ship-rivets, a later grave contained an important set of bridle-mounts for a horse. These graves date between the later 6th to 8th centuries, at Husby near Vendel there is a large mound which local tradition calls Ottarshögen from Ottar also known as Ohthere and hög, meaning mound or barrow. Ohthere is associated with the person of same name in the epic Beowulf. An excavation in 1917 revealed the remains of a man who was buried at the beginning of the 6th century. Other graves of similar date, associated with Ohtheres family, are at Old Uppsala, Vendel has given its name to a period in the Scandinavian Iron Age, and to the corresponding style in Art. It has often suggested that the Germanic Vandals, or at least their kings or rulers, were connected to the site. In this it is coupled with the name of a site at Valsgärde in the same region. The Sutton Hoo burial is associated with King Raedwald of East Anglia. Arne, La Necropole de Vendel, Kungl
31.
Saga
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They were written in the Old Norse language, mainly in Iceland. The tales are usually realistic, except legendary sagas, sagas of saints, sagas of bishops and they are sometimes romanticised and fantastic, but always dealing with human beings one can understand. The term saga originates from the Norse saga, and refers to what is said, statement or story, tale and it is cognate with the English word saw, and the German Sage. Icelandic sagas are based on traditions and much research has focused on what is real. The accuracy of the sagas is often hotly disputed, most of the manuscripts in which the sagas are preserved were taken to Denmark and Sweden in the 17th century, but later returned to Iceland. Classic sagas were composed in the 13th century, scholars once believed that these sagas were transmitted orally from generation to generation until scribes wrote them down in the 13th century. However, most scholars now believe the sagas were conscious artistic creations, however, this clothing is not contemporary with the events of the saga as it is a closer match to the clothing worn in the 12th century. There are plenty of tales of kings, everyday people and larger than life characters, the sagas describe a part of the history of some of the Nordic countries. The British Isles, northern France and North America are also mentioned and it was only recently that the tales of the voyages to North America were authenticated. Most sagas of Icelanders take place in the period 930–1030, which is called söguöld in Icelandic history, the sagas of kings, bishops, contemporary sagas have their own time frame. Norse sagas are generally classified as, the Kings sagas, sagas of Icelanders, Short tales of Icelanders, Contemporary sagas, Legendary sagas, Chivalric sagas, Saints sagas, Kings sagas are of the lives of Scandinavian kings. They were composed in the 12th to 14th centuries, family Sagas, are stories of real events, passed in oral form till they eventually were recorded, mostly in the 13th century. These are the highest form of the classical Icelandic saga writing, some well-known examples include Njáls saga, Laxdæla saga and Grettis saga. The material of the Short tales of Icelanders sagas is similar to Íslendinga sögur, the narratives of the Contemporary Sagas are set in 12th- and 13th-century Iceland, and were written soon after the events they describe. Most are preserved in the compilation Sturlunga saga, though some, Legendary Sagas blend remote history with myth or legend. The aim is on a narrative and entertainment. Scandinavias pagan past was a proud and heroic history for the Icelanders, Chivalric sagas are translations of Latin pseudo-historical works and French chansons de geste as well as native creations in the same style. While sagas are generally anonymous, a literary movement in the 14th century involves sagas, mostly on religious topics, with identifiable authors
32.
Jordanes
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Jordanes, also written Jordanis or, uncommonly, Jornandes, was a 6th-century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life. While he also wrote Romana about the history of Rome, his work is his Getica. It is the extant ancient work dealing with the early history of the Goths. Jordanes was asked by a friend to write this book as a summary of a history of the Goths by the statesman Cassiodorus. He was selected for his known interest in history, his ability to write succinctly and he had been a high-level notarius, or secretary, of a small client state on the Roman frontier in Scythia Minor, modern south-eastern Romania and north-eastern Bulgaria. Other writers, e. g. Procopius, wrote works which are extant on the history of the Goths. As the only surviving work on Gothic origins, the Getica has been the object of critical review. Jordanes wrote in Late Latin rather than the classical Ciceronian Latin, according to his own introduction, he had only three days to review what Cassiodorus had written, meaning that he must also have relied on his own knowledge. Some of his statements are laconic, Jordanes writes about himself almost in passing, The Sciri, moreover, and the Sadagarii and certain of the Alani with their leader, Candac by name, received Scythia Minor and Lower Moesia. Paria, the father of my father Alanoviiamuth, was secretary to this Candac as long as he lived. Already in the Mommsen text edition of 1882 it was suggested that the long name of Jordanes father should be split into two parts, Alanovii Amuthis, both genitive forms. Jordanes fathers name would then be Amuth, the preceding word should then belong to Candac, signifying that he was an Alan. Mommsen, however, dismissed suggestions to emend a corrupt text, Jordanes writes that he was secretary to Candac, dux Alanorum, an otherwise unknown leader of the Alans. Jordanes was notarius, or secretary to Gunthigis Baza, a magister militum, nephew of Candac, the nature and details of the conversion remain obscure. The Goths had been converted with the assistance of Ulfilas, made bishop on that account, however, the Goths had adopted Arianism. Jordanes conversion may have been a conversion to the trinitarian Nicene creed, in the letter to Vigilius he mentions that he was awakened vestris interrogationibus - by your questioning. Alternatively, Jordanes conversio may mean that he had become a monk, or a religiosus, some manuscripts say that he was a bishop, some even say bishop of Ravenna, but the name Jordanes is not known in the lists of bishops of Ravenna. Jordanes wrote his Romana at the behest of a certain Vigilius, although some scholars have identified this person with pope Vigilius, there is nothing else to support the identification besides the name
33.
Thuringii
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The Thuringii or Toringi, were a Germanic tribe that appeared late during the Völkerwanderung in the Harz Mountains of central Germania still called Thuringia. It became a kingdom, which came into conflict with the Merovingian Franks, the name is still used for one of modern Germanys federal states. This people were living near the Marcomanni, Tacitus in his Germania, describes their homeland as being where the Elbe starts, but also having colonies at the Danube and even within the Roman province of Rhaetia. Claudius Ptolemy mentions neither the Hermunduri nor the Thuringians in his geography but instead the Teuriochaemae, living in just north of the Sudetes mountains and these may also be connected to later Thuringians. Much earlier, Tacitus in his Germania, for example, had grouped these two tribes among the more distant Suebic tribes, living beyond the Elbe, and near a sea where they worshiped Herthus. These two tribes are among Germanic groups known to have been north of the Danube in this period. Procopius in his Gothic Wars describes the land of the Varini as being south of the Danes, but north of the Slavs and he also mentions a story about a marriage alliance between the Varini and the Angles in England, indicating long distance links. The name of the Thuringians appears to be first mentioned in the treatise of Vegetius. They are specifically associated with Odoacer, who later became King of Italy, other tribes in this region at the time included the Rugii and the Heruls. Sidonius, in his 7th poem, explicitly lists them among the allies who fought under Attila when he entered Gaul in 451. During the reign of Childeric I, Gregory of Tours and Fredegar record that the Frankish King married the wife of the King of the Thuringians. More clearly, correspondence is recorded with a kingdom of Thuringians by Procopius and Cassiodorus during the reigns of Theoderic the Great and Clovis I, after the downfall of Attila, the Thuringii established an empire in the late 5th century. It reached its peak in the first half of the 6th before it was conquered by the Franks in 531–532. There is also evidence from jewellery found in graves that the Thuringians sought marriages with Ostrogothic, under the leadership of Alboin, a large group of Thuringii joined the Lombards in their migration into Italy. The Lombard king Agilulf was of Thuringian descent, after their conquest, the Thuringii were placed under Frankish duces, but they rebelled and established themselves independently again by the late 7th century under Radulf. Towards the end of century, parts of Thuringia came under Saxon rule. By the time of Charles Martel and Saint Boniface, they were subject to the Franks. Under Martel, the Thuringian dukes authority was extended over a part of Austrasia, the valleys of the Lahn, Main, and Neckar rivers were included
34.
Adils
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Eadgils, Adils, Aðils, Adillus, Aðísl at Uppsölum, Athisl, Athislus or Adhel was a semi-legendary king of Sweden, who is estimated to have lived during the 6th century. Beowulf and Old Norse sources present him as the son of Ohthere, however, Scandinavian sources mostly deal with his interaction with the legendary Danish king Hrólfr Kraki, and Eadgils is mostly presented in a negative light as a rich and greedy king. The Norse forms are based an older *Aþagīslaz, however, the Anglo-Saxon form is not etymologically identical. The A-S form would have been *Ædgils, but Eadgils was the corresponding name used by the Anglo-Saxons. The name Aðils was so rare even in Scandinavia that among almost 6000 Scandinavian runic inscriptions. The Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, composed sometime between the 8th century and the 11th century, is the oldest source that mentions Eadgils and this caused Onela to attack the Geats, and Heardred was killed. Onela returned home and Beowulf succeeded Heardred as the king of Geatland, in the following lines, Eanmund also appears as the son of Ohtere and as a brothers child, Eadgils, however, survived and later, Beowulf helped Eadgils with weapons and warriors. Eadgils won the war and killed his uncle Onela, likewise, in the roughly contemporary Norwegian Ynglingatal, Eadgils is called Onelas enemy, which likewise suggests that the conflict was familiar to the skald and his audience. The skaldic poem Ynglingatal is a recital of the line of the Yngling clan. They are also called Skilfingar in the poem, a name that appears in its Anglo-Saxon form Scylfingas in Beowulf when referring to Eadgils clan and it is presented as composed by Þjóðólfr of Hvinir by Snorri Sturluson in the Ynglinga saga. Although its age has been debated, most scholars hold to date from the 9th century and it survives in two versions, one is found in the Norwegian historical work Historia Norvegiæ in Latin, and the other one in Snorri Sturlusons Ynglinga saga, a part of his Heimskringla. It presents Aðils as the successor of Óttarr and the predecessor of Eysteinn, the stanza on Aðils refers to his accidental death when he fell from his horse, Note that Eadgils animosity with Onela also appears in Ynglingatal as Aðils is referred to as Oles deadly foe. This animosity is treated in detail in the Skjöldunga saga and Skáldskaparmál. The Historia Norwegiæ, which is a summary in Latin of Ynglingatal, only states that Eadgils fell from his horse. In this Latin translation, the Dísir are rendered as the Roman goddess Diana, The same information is found the Swedish Chronicle from the mid-15th century and it is probably based on the Ynglingatal tradition and says that he fell from his horse and died while he worshipped his god. In Íslendingabók from the early 12th century, Eadgils only appears as a name in the listing of the kings of the Yngling dynasty as Aðísl at Uppsala. The reason what that the author, Ari Þorgilsson, traced his ancestry from Eadgils, as can be seen it agrees with the earlier Ynglingatal and Beowulf in presenting Eadgils as the successor of Óttarr. The Skjöldunga saga was a Norse saga which is believed to have written in the period 1180-1200
35.
Snorri Sturluson
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Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing and he was also the author of the Heimskringla, a history of the Norwegian kings that begins with legendary material in Ynglinga saga and moves through to early medieval Scandinavian history. For stylistic and methodological reasons, Snorri is often taken to be the author of Egils saga, as a historian and mythographer, Snorri is remarkable for proposing the hypothesis that mythological gods begin as human war leaders and kings whose funeral sites develop cults. As people call upon the war leader as they go to battle, or the dead king as they face tribal hardship. Eventually, the king or warrior is remembered only as a god and he also proposed that as tribes defeat others, they explain their victory by proposing that their own gods were in battle with the gods of the others. Snorri Sturluson was born in Hvammur into the wealthy and powerful Sturlungar family of the Icelandic Commonwealth and his parents were Sturla Þórðarson the elder of Hvammur and his second wife, Guðný Böðvarsdóttir. He had two brothers, Þórðr Sturluson and Sighvatr Sturluson, two sisters and nine half-siblings. By a quirk of circumstance Snorri was raised from the age of three by Jón Loftsson, a relative of the Norwegian royal family, in Oddi, Iceland. The resulting settlement would have beggared Páll, but Jón Loftsson intervened in the Althing to mitigate the judgment and, to compensate Sturla, offered to raise, Snorri therefore received an excellent education and made connections that he might not otherwise have made. He attended the school of Sæmundr fróði, grandfather of Jón Loftsson, at Oddi and his father died in 1183 and his mother as guardian soon wasted Snorris share of the inheritance. The two families arranged an marriage in 1199 between Snorri and Herdís, the daughter of Bersi Vermundarson. From her father, Snorri inherited an estate at Borg and a chieftainship and he soon acquired more property and chieftainships. Snorri and Herdís were together for four years at Borg and they had at least two children, Hallbera and Jón. The marriage succumbed to Snorris philandering, and in 1206, he settled in Reykholt as manager of an estate there and he made significant improvements to the estate, including a hot outdoor bath. The bath and the buildings have preserved to some extent. During the initial years at Reykholt he fathered five children by three different women, Guðrún Hreinsdóttir, Oddný, and Þuríður Hallsdóttir, Snorri quickly became known as a poet, but was also a successful lawyer. In 1215, he became lawspeaker of the Althing, the public office of the Icelandic commonwealth. In the summer of 1218, he left the position and sailed to Norway
36.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
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