American Geographical Society

Finland in the Sixteenth Century Author(s): W. R. Mead Source: Geographical Review, Vol. 30, No. 3 (Jul., 1940), pp. 400-411 Published by: American Geographical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/210238 Accessed: 19/10/2010 01:59
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FINLAND IN THE SIXTEENTH

W. R. Mead
IN

CENTURY

the history of Finland the sixteenth century stands out as a

great formative period in which the frontiers of the country began to assume their approximate outlines and the seeds that were to determine future cultural orientations were being sown. Russia was a vast, incoherent power remotely slung about the center of the mezhdu,rechie ("between two rivers") and challenged by Tartar incursions from the south. Sweden and Denmark were contestants for an empire in Northern Europe. The centralized power of the Sweden of the Vasas enabled progressive expansion to the east, which reached a maximum with the Treaty of Stolbova in I617. Simultaneously Denmark extended its influence around the southern shores of the Baltic Sea, where the heterogeneous principalities of Germany were unable to resist the superior force of a maritime power. In the ensuing conflict between Denmark and Sweden for the proud right of dominium Maris Baltici Sweden emerged victorious. As the oldest Swedish colony and an integral part of the Swedish Empire, Finland shared in the prosperity and reverses experienced by Sweden in the sixteenth century. It was elevated to the rank of grand duchy, and Abo (Turku), its political focus, became a satellite of the Swedish metropolis. Finland, impregnated with the ideas of the west, added to its function as a buffer of the Swedish Empire that of a bastion of Western European civilization.
OLAUS MAGNUS' "CARTA MARINA

A graphic picture of Finland at the time of the Renaissance has been left by Olaus Magnus, a prelate of the cathedral of Uppsala. He stands among the greatest of the Scandinavian cartographers and is the most important, after Claudius Clavus, of the early northern geographers.' His "Carta Marina," compiled after extensive travels in Northern Europe and backed by an intimate knowledge of pree~xistOlaus Magnus och hans framstdllning af Nordens geografi, Uppsala, I895; 1 See K. Ahlenius: geografi och kartografi under 1500-talets senare halft, the same: Till kannedomen om Skandinaviens i Upsala, Vol. 6, No. 5, i9oo; Leo Bagrow: A. Ortelii Velenskaps-Samfundet Skrifter K. Humanistiska Part 2, Petermanns Mitl. Ergdnzungsheft No. 2IO, 1930, pp. 4I-45. Catalogus cartographorum, terrarum. " of Olaus Magnus' " Carta marina et descriptio septemtrionalium FIG. I (opposite)-Part The exaggerated peninsularity accorded to Finland by early cartographers was probably the result of The peaceful movement across the a closer acquaintance with water than with land relationships. Finland Sixteenth-century Gulf of Bothnia contrasts with the warlike army on the Gulf of Finland. the its to face to cultural face the east. its southwest, political turned Not until the discovery of the Northeast Passage to Muscovy by way of Archangel in the late sixIn Richard Hakluyt's collection teenth centuLry was any great interest displayed in the Arctic littoral. of voyages colorful descriptions of Lapland at that time are given. Although Olaus Magnus traveled into the hinterland of Tornea, the heart of Finnish Lapland remained a terra incognita for many generations. (Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum.)

400

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402

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ing maps, was published in 1539.2 The map covers the whole of Scandinavia proper together with Finland and the other borderlands of the Baltic. It is a landmark in the cartographical history of Northern Europe, because it shows signs of escape from the trammels of the Ptolemaic tradition, with which the forerunners of Scandinavian map making had been imbued.3 How great was the advance made by Olaus Magnus can be appreciated by comparing his map with the peripli, or written directions for navigation, describing the salient features of the coast line, that had formed the incipient cartography of Northern Europe in previous generations and were also used long after his time in charting the Baltic Sea.4 The map of Olaus Magnus, the product of an age when maritime discovery was at its apogee, is an attempt to clarify the contours of the Baltic region. Both the increased volume of trade moving on the Baltic Sea and the activities of northern empire-building powers promoted interest in this sphere. The title, " Carta Marina," is indicative of the stress the author placed on maritime values. Yet, although it enabled Baltic-going merchantmen to orient themselves in relation to the outlines of the inland sea, the Carta Marina was supplementary to, rather than a substitute for, the old Idskartbocker. The treacherous skerry coasts of the Scandinavian peninsulas, for example, are drawn only in bold outline, with a complete lack of accurate detail. The Carta Marina, as a typical portolano or projectionless map, naturally offers a picture of Scandinavia differing from those derived from modern geographical co6rdinates (see Fig. 2). Disregarding minor inconsistencies in latitude and contour, we find that Olaus Magnus revealed for the first time with approximate accuracy the true shape of the northeastern Baltic basin and the land masses tributary to it and that the great cartographers of the Renaissance-Mercator and Ortelius, for example (Fig. 4)-who followed in his wake derived much from the Carta Marina. As to Finland, the relationship between the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland and the situation of the country as regards the Arctic Sea (Oceanus Scithicus) and the White Sea (Lacus Albus) are interpreted with moderate correctness. The peninsularity of Finland is exaggerated, and the location of the Arctic Circle places the country too far
2 It was planned The original map, in chiefly during his residence in Danzig from 1526-1533. (formerly the K6nigliche Hof- und Staatsnine sheets, is at present in the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek bibliothek), Munich. 3 The servility to Ptolemy is clear in Claudius Clavus' map of the north, which was published more than a century earlier. For illustration see A. A. Bjornbo and C. S. Petersen: Fyenboen Claudius Claussdn Swart (Claudius Clavus), Nordens aeldste Kartograf. K. Danske Videnskab. Selsk. Skrifter, pp. 43-302. Jacob Ziegler, the immediate precursor Hist. og Filosofisk Afd., Ser. 6, Vol. 6, I900-I907, of Olaus Magnus, represented for the first time the north-south elongation of Scandinavia but still The relationship of the two cartographers is discussed by depicted Finland as a pointed peninsula. Hans Hildebrand: Olaus Magni och hans historia, Historisk Tidskrift, Vol. 4, Stockholm, I884, pp. reference on pp. 315-317. 307-342; 4 For example, H. Richter, edit.: Een sio-book, som innehaller om si6farten i Ostersi6n, Namn och Bygd, Vol. I3, Uppsala, I925.

FINLAND

IN THE SIXTEENTH

CENTURY

403

poleward. The Gulf of Finland trends too much to the north; the White Sea is divorced from the Arctic Sea; and the proportions of hyperborean Finland are swollen. Lake Ladoga is not shown. Al0 o
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FIG. 2-The outlines of Finland according to Olaus Magnus' "Carta Marina" compared with those derived from a modern map. Compare with Figures 4 and 5. FIG. 3-The eastward march of the Finnish frontier and the location of the principal fortresses. The distinction between the eastern Finnish culture and the western Finnish culture stressed by E H. Kranck (Finlands geografiska sardrag, Svensk Geogr. Arsbok, Vol. I4, I938, pp. I4I-I54) is a legacy of the Renaissance. Peninsular Finland as depicted by Olaus Magnus (Fig. 2) was populated by Finno-Swedish stock. The heartland of pure Finnish stock, in direct contact with Russian territories, was the buffer that resisted the impact of Muscovy. As the Swedish Empire expanded eastward, the indigenous peoples were accorded increased security. (The I940 boundary is from a photostatic copy of the map attached to the Finnish-Soviet Peace Treaty of March I3, I940, lent by courtesy of the Associated Press, New York.-EDIT.)

though he was cognizant of the wealth of inland lakes and the great venous system of waterways that threads the Finnish countryside"cum similibus infinitis lacubus, stagnis, fluviis et altis venis" Olaus Magnus reduced the lakes of the Finnish plateau to nine main interconnected water bodies draining to the Baltic basin. The long, wooded range that stretches in a southwesterly direction across the country is intended to represent the Maanselka. Three main facts about the geography of Finland emerge from the Carta Marina: the location of the country as a marchland between

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FINLAND

IN THE SIXTEENTH

CENTURY

405

Sweden and Russia; the great extent and significance of the forest cover; the part played by water in the life of the people. Most of the data illustrated on the map are associated with these facts.
FINLAND AS A BUFFER STATE

The nature of Finland as a border territory is shown in Figure 3. The growing power of Sweden, by reducing the threat from the east, enabled a rapid integration over the greater part of Finland during this period. Northward, territory was annexed peacefully by trappers who penetrated into the forests and brought Arctic Finland under Swedish suzerainty.5 In the southeast the clash of battle accompanied the slow eastward extension of the marchlands of the Scandinavian world. A line of fortresses marked the outposts of European culture, chief among which were Viborg (Viipuri) and Olofsborg (Olavinlinna). Viborg, at the head of the Gulf of Finland, was the guardian of the narrow Karelian land bridge and was exposed to attack by the forces of Muscovy.6 Olofsborg guarded a constriction in the eastern lake system of Finland. The geography of the country as a background for military operations was of vital importance throughout the sixteenth century. Olaus Magnus demonstrated this fact clearly in his pictorial illustrations and devoted a considerable part of his "Compendious History" to the state of war with Russia. In their struggle against outsiders the Finns seem always to have co6perated with natural forces to the maximum and to have transformed apparent disadvantages into advantages. The campaigns on the ice against Muscovy may be instanced. Says Olaus Magnus:
The Ice at beginning and middle of Winter is so strong and tenacious, that at the thicknesse of two fingers a man may walk upon it, and when it is three fingers thick, a Horseman in Armour: when it is a hands breadth and a halfe, whole Troops and Companies of Souldiers; when it is three or four hands breadth, a whole legion of thousands of people.7 Where they fought in Summer most fierce navall battails, in the very same places, when the Ice is frozen, they set their armies in battail array, and place their Canons, and fight horribly [Fig. 71. So firm is the Ice to bear troops of horsemen at a distance or drawn up close in a body.8
-'Rudolf Kjell6n: Inledning till Sveriges geografi (Populart vetenskapliga forelasningar vid Goteborgs Hogskola, No. 13), Goteborg, 1900, p. 44. 6 Olaus Magnus: A Compendious History of the Goths, Swedes, and Vandals, and Other Northern " The Moscovites for the most part go forth not so much to war as to Nations, London, I658, p. I3I. plunder, keeping either very little or no military order at all; especially those that enter the borders . . .of the great Dukedone of Finland to fight or pillage; as it is recorded in the Annals of the same Kingdome, especially in the year of our Lord I495, when they came with 60000 men." 7 Op. cit., p. o. 8 Ibid., p. 13 I FIGS. 4 and 5 (opposite)-On Figure 4, Ortelius' map of Scandinavia and Northern Europe, the contours of Finland follow closely those of Olaus Magnus (Fig. i). The "Theatrum orbis terrarum" of Ortelius was published in I570. Figure 5, Map of Finland from Blaeu's Atlas (published I667), although later than the period under consideration, illustrates the rapid advance made in both cartographical and geographical knowledge as the divide of the sixteenth century was crossed. The political and provincial boundaries are shown for the first time, with the eastern frontier of the Swedish Empire at its farthest extent (compare Fig. 3).

406

THE GEOGRAPHICAL

REVIEW

Individual protection against the rigors of the climate seems to have been obtained from the very ice itself:
The same Finlanders use also, for to defend their bodies, partly corslets of Sea Calves skin, tanned with lime; and some use Elks skins with the hair on: and this they suffer to freeze, if they war in Winter, by pouring cold water on it; nor will that Ice that sticks to the hairs without, melt by the sweating of him that carrieth it, when it is once frozen.9

The fat of sea calves was spread on the waters to lay traps for enemies and was used with equal success in time of peace to maintain an open fairway for shipping.10 Besieged cities poured water on their walls, which, when frozen, formed a veritable "Frontier of Ice" to defy assault. As a buffer of the Swedish Empire, the Finnish duchy, throughout the long winters, was literally a frontier of ice, where waters and rocks united in one icy barrier to check would-be aggressors.
FORESTS OF FINLAND

In the economic life of the country the forest was then, as now, the principal source of wealth. The manifold uses and virtues of the timber of Finland were summarized by Olaus Magnus. Of the trees he wrote:
Those that grow nearest the Sea, are made use of for Masts and Fore-yards for great Ships, and chiefly the Pine-Trees; which by reason of the Rosin and Pitch in them, are wont to last long against Rayn, and they will not soon corrupt. But the Fruits of Firr or Pine-Trees are for no use as they are in Italy, where they make pleasant Medicaments with them. The Pine-Trees being sawed, are made fit for Boards to cover the ships. Also the Inhabitants feed on the sweet Pith in the top of them (which they call the Marrow) especially the Laplanders, gathering them in Summer, eat them for bread, as the Parthians do Dates. The Boughs of Firr-Tres serve for Hoops about Vessels, and to make fences for fields, and for Cross-Bows; so do the Larch Boughs that are more flexible. But Firr-Tree Rafters are highly esteemed, because the Tops of Churches are covered with them, being strong to last, and leight, and they grow the taller, the more gravelly the ground is they grow upon: but they have slender bodies, because they are nourished but little by Sandy Nutriment; from whence that most fat juyce which sends forth Rosin or Pitch seems to
proceed."

From the forests were also derived the valuable skins so keenly sought by the merchants of the Hanse towns and the Netherlandssquirrel, marten, sable, fox, lynx, and bear. Agriculture was the mother industry in sixteenth-century Finland; but the close relationship between agriculture and forestry that prevails today was apparent even then. In contrast with the Finnish economy of recent times, however, that of the sixteenth century was essentially a Raubwirtschaft. Existence was primarily a process of extraction and exploitation. Today agriculture and forestry are
9 Ibid., p.
10 Ibid., I 37.
14I. I50.

p. 11 Ibid., p.

FINLAND

IN THE SIXTEENTH

CENTURY

407

complementary activities, though circumstances still occasionally make them competitive; at that time they were dominantly competitive. Stands of timber along the Finnish littoral were ruthlessly destroyed by the process of "burn beating" (svedjebruket)in order to make way for the settler, who, when the fired land no longer yielded its expected returns, quitted his settlement for another site.
AGRICULTURE AND THE METAL INDUSTRY

Agriculture derived its great importance from the fact that in the sixteenth century Finland was much more isolated from the rest of the world than at the present time. Except for occasional sledge transport across the frozen Gulf of Bothnia to Sweden, communications with the rest of Europe came to a standstill with the descent of winter. The Finnish economy had, therefore, to be virtually selfsupporting. The climatic regime weighed the scale in favor of animal husbandry, and cereal production was undertaken with a degree of success varying with the incidence of the summer frosts. Dairy products constituted a substantial part of the total export trade, and large quantities of butter found their way to Germany. Olaus Magnus speaks of " the greatnesse and goodnesse of their cheese." Cattle also were assembled at Viborg, for example-for export abroad and were moved to the same markets as those dispatched from Danish ports. Of the conditions under which cattle were raised and tended and of their products much is to be learned from the cantos of the "Kalevala, "12 the national folk epic, which seems to have its roots largely in this period. In the agricultural economy the reindeer played a much greater part than at present. With the more widespread distribution of the horse and the evolution of forest management, the reindeer was pushed steadily northward to Lapland.'3 Another sixteenth-century Finnish industry, which was associated with the forests and the swamplands (suomamaata), was the metal industry. It rested on a bog ore-charcoal complex and was an essentially rural industry. Of the importance of the smith as a craftsman in Finland we may learn from the " Kalevala. " Early localization was principally in Nyland and Finland proper; and production was intended chiefly to meet the needs of the army.'4
WATERWAYS, FISHING, AND SHIPBUILDING

The great importance of water in the life of Finland, expressed in the Kalevalan concept of an all-embracing "Water Mother," is
" Kalevala, " translated by W. F. Kirby (Everyman's Library) 2 vols., London, I907. Olaus Magnus, op. cit., p. I77. The presence of deer and cattle in forests seriously interferes with the natural reproductive processes of the trees. 14 Cf. Henrik Ramsay: Huvudlinjerna i den finska industrins utvekling, Helsingfors, I925, pp. 22 el sqq.
12

13 See

408

THE GEOGRAPHICAL

REVIEW

also made clear by Olaus Magnus. The rivers and lakes were the principal lines of intercourse in summer-broad highways for transport when the forest covering was still a primary obstacle to communication. Settlements clung to the waterways in the sixteenth century and penetrated into the interior lake plateau along these natural arteries.15 As the overwhelming part of Finland's foreign trade has always been carried by water, the configuration of the coast line has stimulated contacts. The concentration of population in southwestern Finland, where the onus of the winter freeze is least, is in no small measure a result of easier contacts there with the outer world. On the Carta Marina the relative freedom of the coasts of peninsular Finland from ice flows indicates a less exacting climate than that nearer to the inner ends of the gulfs. In addition to contacts across the sea, many Finns drew their living from the sea. At present, fishing has become a subsidiary industry, and seal hunting has disappeared. In the sixteenth century both were sources of wealth. Olaus Magnus wrote of "such abundance of excellent Fish, that it sufficeth abundantly to barter for all necessary Commodities" among the inhabitants of the Bothnian littoral.16 Fish, including salmon, and also seals, were transported to Tornea (Tornio), where they were exchanged for goods brought by foreign merchants. Thus the Muscovites, at the summer solstice, moved across Finland to the Bothnian Gulf, carrying their boats over the watersheds (Fig. 6), in order to buy fish salted or dried in the sun. Stockfisk was also carried to Germany and, in Flanders vessels, as far afield as the Spanish ports.'7 As a result of these maritime activities and of the accessibility and abundance of constructional materials, the Finns even in the sixteenth century had a reputation as boatbuilders (Fig. 6). Their vessels were used chiefly for coasting, though Olaus Magnus paid them the tribute of being "Galleys as strong and good, or better than they were, as I have seen some made with excellent skill amongst the

Venetians.'18
Although Olaus Magnus wrote little concerning trade, he was, upon occasion, engaged as commercial ambassador by Gustavus I in the negotiation of agreements; for example, transactions with the A brief survey of the commercial geography Netherlands in 1527.19 of sixteenth-century Finland may not, therefore, be inappropriate. Of the two principal ports, Abo and Viborg, the former, as the natural
Finnlands folkmangd och bebyggelse i borian av I6oo talet, Stockholm, I93I. 15 See S. Sundquist: It is interesting to correlate the distribution of population as depicted by the author with the distribution of settlement apparent on the Carta Marina.
16 Op. Cit., p. 207.
18

17 Ibid., p. 2I8. Ibid.. p. 127. Om Sveriges forhindelser med Nederlanderna . . . , Historisk Tidskrift,

19 See Carl Sprinchorn: Vol. 5, i885. pp. 105-I6o.

FINLAND

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FIG. 6-Woodcuts reproduced from J. B. Fickler's German edition of Olaus Magnus' "Compendious History": "Olai Magni, Historien der midnachtigen Lander," Basel, I567. Shipbuilding (left-hand cut) was favored in Finland by the configuration of the coast line and abundance of constructional materials-timber, pitch, tar, etc. The small size of the vessels seems to indicate construction chiefly for coasting or for navigation on the interior waterways. Portage (center) was a common practice in Northern Europe in the sixteenth century. Ease of travel in summer in conjunction with watersheds that could be readily crossed facilitated use of the interior waterways of Finland. It was a common practice in Scandinavian countries to turf the roofs of houses in the country and, apparently. to hoist animals upon them to graze (right-hand cut). This covering prevented the penetration of the melting snow.

capital of the duchy, was a settlement of some 5500 persons and the latter, one of about 1200.20 Both had a resident population of Germans, who retained the monopoly of the greater part of the Finnish trade well into the sixteenth century. German was for a long time the most important language of Viborg. Helsingfors (Helsinki), Rauma, Bjorneborg (Pori), Vasa (Vaasa), and UleAborg (Oulu) were the other ports with populations of more than 500. Helsingfors was not founded until the fifties and therefore is not shown on the Carta Marina. Its founding was an expression of the mercantilist policy of Sweden, which desired the transference of the transit trade with Russia from Reval (Tallinn) to a port on the Finnish coast. By 1560 it was the third port of the country.2' Scandinavian campaigning had intercepted the flow of commerce through the Baltic provinces and reduced
20

21

Sundquist, OP.cit. K. Grotenfeldt: Suomen kaupasta ja kaupungeistaensimaisten Vaasa-kuninkaitten aikoina,

I887, p. I47.

Helsingissa,

FIG. 7-- Where they fought in Summer most fierce navall battails, in the very same places, when the Ice is frozen, they set their armies in battail array." Finland was destined by geographical fate to be the scene of wars and invasions. (From same source as Figure 6.)

4IO

THE GEOGRAPHICAL

REVIEW

the accessibility of Novgorod and Moscow. Viborg therefore became an outport and entrepot of the Russian trade.22 The position enjoyed by Viborg in Russian commerce was almost unrivaled in the latter part of the sixteenth century, for the proportion of Russian trade diverted to Arctic waters by the discovery of the sea route to Archangel was very small. Except for Scandinavian contacts, the ports of Finland were most closely bound to the Wendish ports of the Hanse; to Danzig, the metropolis of the eastern Baltic; and to the world emporiums of the Low Countries. About a dozen ships a year plied between Abo and Viborg and Danzig ;23 and the number of vessels moving through The Sound to Finland (for the circumnavigation of The Skaw was now regularly undertaken by merchantmen) mounted in some years toward the close of the century to an equally high figure.24 The exports of sixteenth-century Finland may be summarized as timber and wood products, including "naval stores" (tar, pitch, turpentine, etc.), agricultural products and live animals, dried fish and fats, furs and skins. The principal imports fell into two main groups, the necessaries and the luxuries. The chief necessaries were salt and grain to supplement the home crop. Salt was obtained both from the Mediterranean countries and from Lubeck. Absence of salt boiling in Finland was explained by Olaus Magnus as due to the cheapness of the imported commodity.25 Cereals were drawn principally from Danzig, the great grain exchange of the Baltic. Luxury goods comprised spirits, wines, and beers; flax; linen and other manufactured cloths; metal products and the manufactures of the nascent industry of Western Europe. Of the trade of the Ostrobothnian ports Olaus Magnus wrote:
They get from Spain and Portugal the best Wine and Salt; from England, and Flanders, pretious Cloth; from Germany much Houshold-stuff of divers sorts; besides their Ornaments they have at home: from Swedland and Gothland, Wheat, Rye, Barley, and all kinds of Pulse necessary.26

The balance of trade as a whole bore an essentially "passive" complexion, but it was the policy of Sweden in the sixteenth century to transform this into an active balance.
SIXTEENTH-CENTURY FINLAND AS A HUMAN REGION

Let us summarize these facts and obtain a concentrated geographical picture of Finland as a human region in the sixteenth century. It was a frontier province in process of integration after generations of
22

See J. Ruuth:

23 Grotenfeldt,
24

Viborg stads historia, Helsingfors, I906. op. cit.. pp. 30-33. N. E. Bang: Tabeller over Skibsfart genem 0resund, 1497-I660,
p. I56.
207

Copenhagen,

1922.

25 Op. cit.,
26

Ibid., p.

FINLAND

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border warfare, the principal component of an expansive Swedish Empire and a reservoir of material assistance. It contained a people responsive to the elementary controls of nature, adapting themselves to its stern discipline. It had a robber economy. Raw materials of a lakeland and forest environment were exploited to exchange for complementary and supplementary products through the intermediacy of foreign merchants. It was a country still largely unexplored, separated from the outer world during months of winter frost and retaining the germs of a distinct nationality.27 Changing geographical relationships in the world at large had their pale reflection in Finland, which at this period felt the impulse of intensified maritime communications, slight though it was in comparison with that felt in the greater and more favorably located countries. The divide in economic life that was crossed during the sixteenth century had its counterpart in the art of map making. In the gradual unfolding of the mystery of the outlines of Northern Europe, Olaus Magnus gave to the pictorial representation of this terra incognita a reasonable form and symmetry. His delineation of Finland reveals the extent to which cartography was escaping from its incunabula period and interest in the physiography of the Baltic hinterland was increasing. Olaus Magnus did more than this in his Carta Marina. He was a child of his time, and in his colorful depiction of sixteenthcentury Finnish economy artistic embellishment may too often be an indication of geographical ignorance; but he displayed abundant interest in all that made that period an age of discovery. Despite his lack of scientific accuracy, Olaus Magnus was a forerunner of the modern economic and political geographer. He illustrated cartographically the distribution of the most important natural resources of the country and hinted their movements. He also suggested political orientations and lines of motion prompted by military strategy. His interpretation of sixteenth-century Finland gives to us an illuminating picture of an obscure corner of Europe on which the attention of the world has too often been insufficiently focused.
27

See J. H. Wuorinen:

Nationalism

in Modern Finland,

New York, I93I.