GEORG HAGGRÉN University of Helsinki Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies, Archaeology Six Estate Landscapes Traces of Medieval Feudalisation in Finland? ABSTRACT: In Sweden, human geographers and medieval archaeologists have recently showed how the property boundaries around settlements and their holdings have become permanent already during the early Middle Ages. This is particularly true when speaking of large domains owned by the aristocracy. It was the time when villages and hamlets were established and the still existing base of the land ownership system was made. Most of these property boundaries are still visible today. This seems to be the case also in SW Finland, especially concerning the land owned by the medieval nobility. Combining the data from historical maps, archival sources, and archaeological record with ancient and still existing boundaries, it is possible to reconstruct a manorial landscape that was based on the of the medieval landownership. The half a dozen cases from different provinces (Askainen in Lemu, Viurila in Halikko, Prästkulla in Tenhola, Hertognäs in Helsinki, Jutikkala in Sääksmäki and Anola in Ulvila), which are discussed in this article, rep­ resent this group of approximately hundred large, medieval manorial estates, which were established in the early 15th century at the latest. KEY WORDS: Middle Ages, feudalisation, noble estate, manor, tenant farm. INTRODUCTION In the early 16th century, before the Reforma- tion, the nobility owned only 3.1% of the farms in Finland lies in the northern part of Europe, in a Finland, while 2.6% of the land was in the hands northern margin of the Western world, far from the of Church. The Crown had about 300 tenant farms continent's medieval centres of power, religion, cul- and half a dozen of royal castles (the castles of ture, trade, and economy. Much of the history of Häme, Kastelholm, Olavinlinna, Raseborg, Turku Finland has been interpreted in a context of Euro- and Vyborg), and a couple of manors. In the 1530s, pean periphery, a periphery settled by free peasants, i.e. in the beginning of the early modern era, all the a periphery, where medieval feudalism typical for rest, that is, 93% of the c. 32000 farms, were in the Western Europe never existed. As an independent hands of free peasants (Orrman 1984). nation, Finland is young, celebrating its 100th an- According to the prevailing historical under- niversary of independence in 2017. In the Middle standings, medieval Sweden, and especially Finland, Ages, as well as during the early modern era, Finland were lands of free peasants (cf. Jutikkala 1983). In was an integral part of the Swedish realm. Finland, this understanding has served as the basis Georg Haggrén for a larger narrative, in which the peasantry over- sources, such as historical maps, existing property came poverty, an unforgiving topography, and a borders and ancient monuments, the written sourc- harsh climate. According to this narrative, the free es can reveal a lot of new information of medieval peasants made the economic and political base of estates. the modern Finland in the 19th and early 20th cen- Rahmqvist (1996) analysed medieval noble es- turies. This study will challenge the foundation of tates, their structure and location in the northern this national narrative by examining the landowner- parts of the province of Uppland, one of the core ship of the nobility in Finland from the 13th to the areas of medieval Sweden. Similarly to Finland in 15th centuries. Was the role of nobility as minimal the early Middle Ages, large-scale colonisation took as it has been stated? Was the development of land- place in northern Uppland. Colonisation was not ownership in Finland so different from the rest of the only parallel between this area and southwest- Western Europe? ern Finland. In both areas, the freeholders became the majority of the landowners. However, in some parishes a great part of the land was taken over by A NEW PERCEPTION OF THE MEDIEVAL the nobility. Rahmqvist (1996) shows that original- NOBILITY'S ROLE IN SWEDEN ly the nobility had large estates consisting of a man- or and a number of tenant farms and crofts. Many In Sweden, archaeologists and human geographers of these noble landowners were aristocrats but some have recently discovered that the medieval nobility's were members of local gentry. role as land owners was much more important than During the Late Middle Ages, most of the large previously thought. Older research concentrated on estates dissolved. As a result, it is a challenging task the noble landowners in the end of the Middle Ages for scholars to reconstruct these early estates today. or the beginning of the early modern era. In the ear- Rahmqvist's (1996) results have inspired other hu- ly 16th century, the majority of land owned by the man geographers and medieval archaeologists in nobility consisted of scattered properties. Coher- analysing the medieval landownership in other parts ent large contiguous estates were rare (cf. Lönnroth of Sweden. When researching the medieval nobility 1940). in the province of Småland, Martin Hansson (2001) However, this mosaic of fragmented landown- got results similar to those of Rahmqvist. Both Jo- ership was a result of at least two or three hundred han Berg (2003) and Alf Ericsson (2012) demon- years of development. In the 13th and early 14th strated that this was also the case in Östergötland. centuries, the situation seems to have been rather There the aristocracy and the relatives to the royal different. Both the aristocracy and the regional low- family of Bjälbo played a significant role among the er nobility had previously owned numerous large owners of the early noble estates. Ing-Marie Petters- estates. Based on a thorough analysis in 1996, Sig- son proved that in the parish of Norberg in Bergsla- urd Rahmqvist demonstrated this structure of the gen the aristocracy and nobility also had some larger early landownership in Uppland. He also showed estates, even if most of the land in this district was how most of the early estates had scattered dur- owned by mining peasants called bergsman (Petters- ing the late Middle Ages (Rahmqvist 1996). Since son Jensen 2013). then, similar development has been noticed in sev- eral other Swedish provinces. The old paradigm was constructed by historians, who relied almost entire- INTERPRETING BORDER LINES ly on written sources. Historical record from the Middle Ages is fragmentary, and trying to get a large Until lately, the research of noble landownership overview the historians have usually been forced to has been mainly based on surviving archival sourc- settle for the systematic series of records produced es, such as medieval charters and early modern ca- by King Gustav Vasa's bailiffs and officers in the dastral or tithes records. Only in extremely rare cas- middle of the 16th century. Completed with other es private ledgers made by medieval noblemen have 70 MASF 6 • 2018 • 69–85 Six Estate Landscapes been available. Recent results by Swedish authors Beginning from this case from 1324, disputes would have hardly been possible if they had only re- of borders between property owners, peasant vil- lied on the traditional historical sources. The mod- lages, as well as some institutions, like monaster- ern methods in the research of the medieval land- ies or noble landowners, were common cases in ownership are based on a thorough analysis of the courts. Obviously, the borders between settlements written sources combined with other source mate- based originally on agreements between the neigh- rials, such as the archaeological record, the existing bouring property owners. This seems to be an old property boundaries, and analyses of both historical existing practice. Only when some disagreement and modern landscapes. rose, the landowners went to court. Almost al- A significant attribute for noble estates is a ways these disagreements concerned minor details. contiguous land property. This kind of large scale Most typical were quarrels about a single bounda- landownership has resulted in wide estate land- ry marker or some strip of woodland. This practice scapes. In 1999, when analysing medieval land- continued until the middle of the 18th century, ownership in Småland, Clas Tollin (1999) showed when the Great Parcelling of the villages and ham- how the property boundaries around occupations lets began in Sweden (and Finland). An excep- and their holdings became permanent already dur- tion was made by some noblemen, who already in ing the early Middle Ages. He also verified Rahm- the 14th century began to acquire confirmation qvist's observations of the relevance of the prop- of the borders of their estates. The affirmations erty boundaries when reconstructing early noble strengthened their landownership and helped when estates. On the base of these results, other human buying and selling properties. However, these no- geographers and medieval archaeologists in Swe- blemen were an exception, the peasants did not den have made similar observations (Berg 2003; need such affirmations nor were they willing to pay Ericson 2012). This was especially the case when for them. speaking of large domains owned by the aristocra- Obviously, when the Land Law issued by King cy. Early Middle Ages was the time when villages Magnus Eriksson was legislated in the early 1350s, and hamlets were established and the base of the most of the borders between old settlements were land ownership was founded. Most of these prop- already existing and confirmed between the neigh- erty boundaries still exist today. This also seems to bours themselves. Based on this state of the organi- be the case in southwestern Finland. sation of the landownership, it is possible to recon- In August 1324, the border between the peas- struct early estates in southwestern Finland. By com- ants in Skäggböle in the parish of Raisio, and their bining archaeological, historical, geographical and neighbours Nicolaus Haertoga and Petrus Maeko- genealogical research, it should also be possible to na were affirmed by the court.