Danish-Norwegian Sailors During the Great Northern War, 1700-1721: a portrait based on the available archaeological and historical sources. Master’s thesis submitted to the Maritime Archaeology Programme University of Southern Denmark Edgar Wróblewski 2013 Acknowledgements During the period in which this thesis was written I came across many people who shared their knowledge, advice and support with me. First, I would like to thank Jakob Seerup, the museum inspector of the Royal Danish Naval Museum (Orlogsmuseet), whose forthcoming article ‘ Absence of Shipwrecks’ inspired me to direct my research towards common sailors and as the result to write this thesis. I would also like to thank few people without whom dealing with the archaeological material in this thesis would remain impossible. For the information about the shipwreck and the finds from the frigate Lossen, I would like to thank Jørgen Johannessen from the Norwegian Maritime Museum (Norsk Maritimt Museum). For allowing me the access to the finds from the shipwreck of Dannebroge, I shall like to thank the director of the Køge Museum, Flemming Rieck, and the head of the conservation department Simon Botfeldt. For the information about the shipwrecks and the finds from Marstrand I would like to send many thanks to Thomas Bergstrand and Delia Ní Chíobháin from the Bohusläns Museum. For information and photos of the finds from the Swedish Naval Museum (Marinmuseum), I would like to thank Johan Löfgren. I am also grateful to Mrs Katrin Auer, for her help with deciphering early 18th-century handwriting. I would also like to thank Charlotte Haaber Pettersen for her dedication and time spent on helping me with sources in all Scandinavian languages. I would also like to thank for her support, and patience in listening about Danish-Norwegian sailors during the Great Northern War for last half a year. Lastly, and I think most importantly, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Jens Auer. His supervision and guidance together with the discussions were inspirational and motivational. As this thesis concludes two years of my Maritime Archaeology education at the University of Southern Denmark, I would like to express my gratitude to Thijs J. Maarleveld, Bo Ejstrud and again to Jens Auer, for their knowledge, experience and passion they shared with me and other students for last two years. PonaНto cСcТałbym poНzТękować moТm roНzТcom, AlТnТО Т GТОНymТnowТ Wróblewskim, bez którycС wsparcТa (przede wszystkim finansowego) ukończОnТО moich stuНТów byłoby nТОmożlТwО. ii Abstract Although the Danish Navy of different periods has been a subject of many historical studies, it seems that the human element of the fleet has been neglected by many of the researchers. It appears that common sailors, without whom even the mightiest navy would be forced to stay in the harbour, were usually hidden behind the numbers of statistics. The following thesis attempts to change this picture of the navy and bring to attention the lives of common sailors. The study focuses on the period of the Great Northern War, 1700-1721. In the analysis, it uses the available archaeological material from the contemporary shipwrecks and compares it with the historical documents found in the State Archives in Copenhagen. The process shows the benefits of incorporating historical sources in the archaeological research, and more importantly the need for historians to do the same. It also examines the parallels and contradictions that can be seen in the materials. As the result, out of the combination of this different types of sources a more accurate portrait of an average sailor is created. It shows his dress and equipment, and, where possible, relates to his life on board of an early 18th-century ship of the Danish-Norwegian Navy. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................... iv 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. - 1 - 1.1. Literature review ................................................................................................................. - 1 - 1.2 Archaeological source review ............................................................................................. - 4 - 1.2.1 Frigate Lossen .............................................................................................................. - 4 - 1.2.2 Frigate Mynden ............................................................................................................ - 5 - 1.2.3 Ship-of-the-line Dannebroge....................................................................................... - 6 - 1.2.4 Frigate Schleswig ......................................................................................................... - 7 - 1.2.5 Ship-of-the-line Prinsessan Hedvig Sophia ................................................................ - 7 - 1.2.6 Frigate Fredricus ......................................................................................................... - 8 - 1.2.7 List of the ships ........................................................................................................... - 8 - 1.3 The review of the historical sources .................................................................................. - 10 - 1.4 Aim, objectives and the structure ...................................................................................... - 15 - 1.5 Methodology ..................................................................................................................... - 16 - 1.6 Terminology and usage ..................................................................................................... - 18 - 2. Historical background ............................................................................................................... - 19 - 2.1 Brief history of the conflict from the perspective of the Danish-Norwegian Navy .......... - 19 - 2.2 Administration – drafting system ...................................................................................... - 22 - 2.2.1 Danish-Norwegian Navy ........................................................................................... - 22 - 2.2.2 Swedish Navy ............................................................................................................ - 24 - 2.3 Hierarchy on a naval ship .................................................................................................. - 27 - 2.4 Organisation of work aboard - Watch system ................................................................... - 31 - 3. A sailor seen through the historical sources .............................................................................. - 33 - 4. Sailors in the archaeological context ......................................................................................... - 49 - 4.1 Sailors’ chests .................................................................................................................... - 49 - 4.2 Wooden boxes ................................................................................................................... - 53 - 4.3 Clothing ............................................................................................................................. - 55 - 4.3.1 Shoes ......................................................................................................................... - 55 - 4.3.2 Shoe buckles .............................................................................................................. - 59 - 4.3.3 Buckles ...................................................................................................................... - 59 - 4.3.4 Buttons and other fasteners ....................................................................................... - 60 - iv 4.3.5 Socks and stockings ................................................................................................... - 63 - 4.4 On duty .............................................................................................................................. - 64 - 4.5 Off duty ............................................................................................................................. - 71 - 4.5.1 Sailors’ food and cutlery ........................................................................................... - 71 - 4.5.2 Tobacco consumption ................................................................................................ - 75 - 4.5.3 Sewing ....................................................................................................................... - 81 - 4.5.4 Handcrafts ................................................................................................................. - 83 - 4.5.5 Games ........................................................................................................................ - 83 - 4.5.6 Reading ...................................................................................................................... - 85 - 4.5.7 Writing......................................................................................................................