Swedish Life

Many thanks to Per Carlzon of Sweden for contributing the following information about the history of life in ancient Sweden.

Last weekend Karin, I and Tassa went to our ancestors’ area in Torsås parish. We walked the same roads as our ancestors did in the 16, 17 and 18 centuries. We passed their farms which they cultivated for generations. The name of the village is Hallasjö. The attached photo shows where our ancestor was born in 1752. (Leigh-Wilbur-Almo-Olaus-Lars-Gertrud-Per). Per’s older brother (Nils b.1749) took over the farm. The house is rather old and has traces back to 18 and early 19 centuries. Our family could be trace back here to 1535. The first farmer was Holme Bildt (1535-1537), then Anders Bildt (1539), Lasse Bildt and Anders Bildt (1540), Anders Bildt (1543-1553), again Holme Bildt and Sone Bildt (1553), Holme Bildt (1558-1562) and Sone Bildt (1558). How the Bildt’s were related I dont know. But Holme Bildt was one of our ancestors. Holme Bildt was succeeded by his son Bonde Holmesson (a brother to our ancestor Jon Holmesson). Bonde Holmesson was a farmer in Hallasjö from 1569 to 1613. He was succeeded by his son Anders Bondesson. He was farmer from 1615 to 1652. He was succeeded by his son Bonde Andersson and who was the farmer from 1644 to 1660. Then his sons came Olof Bondesson (farmer from 1667 to 1673) and Håkan Bondesson (farmer from 1668 to 1671). Håkan Bondesson then became soldier and military boatswain. In 1669 he didn't need to pay tax, since he was a soldier. From 1667 there was another branch in the family who lived in Hallasjö. Their names were Lars Svensson and Kirstin Månsdotter. The farm was then divided between four of Lars Svensson’s children. On December 21, 1664, Lars Svensson so severly wounded a guy that he later died. I have an extended description of the whole case which I can send you. There will be more photos and information later.

I was in Torsås and took some photographs, which might be of interest for you. The attached photo shows the church in Torsås, a place where some many of our ancestors and relatives have been at baptisms, funerals and weddings etc over the years. The church, as it looks today, was built 1777-1778. I have gotten in touch with a relative, Craig Freeberg, who had visited your website. He has some photos which you might find interesting. Have you been in contact with them?

Here are some notes about how the life was for common Swedish people in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. I think it’s more valuable to be able to put the relatives in their historical context. But this is just a very short summary. The main source is Peter Englund’s Ofredsår. It might also be translated to English, but the title is not available at this time.

Food. What did the ordinary people eat in the 17th century? They ate soup, porridge, gruel, peas, cabbage, turnips, berries and fish. Another important part of the diet was dry dark bread. It may have been baked every other month, made by rye or barley and in the best cases flavored with wort or fennel. Along with all this everyone (even the children) drank beer. Meat and light bread were considered to be luxuries. If they ate meat, it was often sprinkled with salt. There was way to preserve the food. In fact they preserved fish with salt, too.

Clothing. How were they dressed? The farmers wore simple, home made trousers and coats in rough homespun (or you may call it frieze and/or russet), which often was grey and thick sheep’s wool.

Family. Wedding and the family. When a child was born, it was often a matter for the immediate family. One example was when the child was to be baptized. The child was given a name to honor one of the dead ancestors. You can see it in your own family tree. For example, Lars Pehrsson was probably named Lars to honor his grandfather, Lars Andersson. Since there was no child welfare program, the grandparents took care of the child. To become accepted as an adult, the youths had to prove certain things. In several villages there were special stones that the young men had to carry or throw. They had to steer the plow or carry a sack of corn. In the next stage, after being accepted as an adult, it was time for marriage. Again, it was a matter for the family. Without any doubt the family played a role in deciding who was going to marry who, even though the church declared that the marriage was an agreement between man and woman. But in the 17th century love more and more played a bigger role. For the bride, the marriage changed a few things. Since she was married she had to cover her hair with a so-called “female hood”. Before marriage she could show her hair. It was forbidden for people who weren’t married to have any physical love. People were punished, either with whipping or fine, or in some cases both. Sometimes even worse penalties waited.

Death. It was a matter for the neighbor as well as for the family. The neighbors were responsible for the death knell and grave opening and followed the family to the burial and to the funeral feast. It was often magnificent, sometimes even elaborate. After this the heir and heiress decided together about what to do with the deceased’s belongings. We shall remember that until 1845 the women inherited only 50 percent of what the men inherited. But in 1845 they inherited equally. In 1858, an unmarried woman over 25 year could be "of age" after a court decision. If she got married she was again "under age". It was not until 1921, the same year that women were allowed to vote, that women were "of age".

Alcohol. The view of alcohol in the history. Servants had the right to take a dram. It was a glassful of Scandinavian vodka which was taken six o’clock in the morning, often on an empty stomach. At noon, it was not uncommon to take another dram. You can then understand that there were many drunken people in the country. In the mid 18th century, the countess Eva de la Gardie came upon the idea of making Scandinavian Vodka from potatoes. Before then it had been made from corn. We shall keep in mind that people made their own Scandinavian Vodka. In the late 18th century the government tried to stop home distilling, but they had to retreat. But as the year passed on something alarming happened in Sweden. The drinking increased in an alarming and uncontrollable extent. The population was close to “drinking themselves to death”. Home distilling was gradually forbidden, and to control the alcohol distribution the government created a state-controlled company for the sale of wines and spirits. To take even more control, the liquor ration book was introduced. It was used from 1914 to 1955. People had to make application to get the liquor ration book. After approval of the applicant’s order, thereafter he or she was given a large amount of alcohol to buy per month. Every purchase was registered in the book. If there was abuse of alcohol, the book could be withdrawn. Home distilling for household use, as it was called, was first forbidden in 1718 but was made lawful in 1731 for farmers if they paid a fee to the State. After 1776 it was forbidden from time-to-time. It was permanently forbidden in 1860. Today only people age 20 and over are allowed to buy liquor.

Religion. The church was very important for the people in Sweden. It was from the pulpit they got the news. In some cases the church was some sort of propaganda central for the State, especially in times of war. Sweden decided in 1593 to formally leave Catholicism and go over to being Lutheran. In centuries to come it was forbidden to have any other religion. People who practiced against this could be executed. The church was in sole control, but was an instrument for the State.

Military. When the enlistment in the early 17th century took place in the church, the state realized that it had to have some sort of control system knowing who could be of current for military service. That was the first step for the Swedish parish registration. In the early 17th century the State decided to reorganize the armed forces. In the 16th century the army had consisted of mercenary soldiers. Even though the soldiers were professional, there was a huge problem. It was expensive and cost a lot of money. The State realized it wasn’t worth it and they had to find other solutions. The solution became a domestic army. The soldiers were men over 15 years old, in the theory that there was no “top” age. So in principle all men over 15 years old could be enlisted. But in practice men between 18 and 40 were selected first. In fact, they didn’t choose all men. There was a system where out of ten men, one was chosen. This enlistment, which is not a good word since they didn’t get paid and they had not volunteered, took place in the church. But there were loopholes in the system. People, often rich people, could pay anyone to take their place in the armed forces. Many poor young men came this way into the army. People in general realized what the war meant...a sure death. There were people who wouldn’t accept this and escaped into the forests. They were considered to be outlaws and could therefore be killed. But those in the army all died on the battlefields that were sent to the far-away places where Sweden fought. Many soldiers died in the garrison stations. The hygiene was bad and diseases spread quickly and with devastating result and extent. Very few survived the wars. Conscriptions increased and more soldiers were sent to the front. But in the long run the situation became precarious. The State started to fill the gaps with mercenary soldiers again. Again problems came. The mercenaries were professional and skillful soldiers, but their only loyalty was money. If they didn’t get money, they didn’t fight. It wasn’t more difficult than that. Once again the State had to reorganize the armed forces. This time the solution was an army built on professional, domestic and volunteer soldiers. But again it wasn't 100 percent voluntary because vagabonds and the unemployed could be forced to join the army. Even so, it was more voluntary than before. In peacetime the soldiers were ordinary crofters. They had a crofter’s holding. It was regulated. The farmers living in the area, I think you will call it a "file", paid the soldier’s house. They paid reparations of the house too. In exchange the farmers didn’t have to enter the war. The same system existed for the navy’s personnel. But as the years passed by, the war changed step-by-step. The armies of the world became bigger and bigger. Napoleon the First created an army of compulsory military service. All-in-all, around 2 million men. Even though it took time, Sweden changed gradually from a professional army to an army like Napoleon’s. In 1901, Sweden formally went over to an army of compulsory military service. But for some decades before, young men did some sort of military service. I am convinced that your great-grandfather, Olaus Larsson, did too. But it came step-by-step.

From Dick Harrison’s Jarlens Sekel, freely translated from Swedish to English

Wedding. Weddings were often held in the autumn since the food supply was the greatest after the harvest.

Some of us maybe believe that the stag party for the groom-to-be and the hen party for bride-to-be are quite new phenomena. But they aren’t. They have existed for centuries. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the bride was led by female friends to a bathing cottage, where they drank and had fun. After the bath they went out from the cottage, where the virgins were wearing wreaths in their hair. They ate the evening meal and some of the participants stayed the whole night together. Meanwhile, the bridegroom and his fellows feasted and sometimes it was a real roughhouse when the beer was abundantly flowing.

The climax during the wedding after the bride's journey, however, was the party. They ate and drank in huge amounts during the evening and night and the host's did their best so everyone had fun; so much fun that they would talk about the event for years to come, praising the good beer (or mead), and the fat meat. Between the turns, jolly dances occurred. One famous in all of Scandinavia was the so-called “stabbedansen”; where the bridal couple was placed in the middle of the hall and the guests were dancing all around them.

After all had enough partying, it was time for the end of the wedding and the most important part from a juridical perspective. The bride and the bridegroom were removed to bed. They marched or staggered to the “bride room”, followed by relatives and friends with candles and torches. Normally the woman and her company went first, then the man and his group. When the march was over and the couple safely had come together in the bed, the others returned to the party, which wasn’t over just because the leading figures had left the scene. All this was worldly and open. Beer drinking, jokes, gormandize and rough sexual illusions. The church had nothing to do with it.

Hi, Evan, Gordon, Leigh and Velma! Here comes more criminals and a brutal crime, where one of our relatives took part in. His name was Lars Olufsson. I will write more about him later, when he have finished translating all his crimes. Because he was a notorious criminal in the Torsås area in the 17th century.

Best regards, cousin Per

A great problem in 17^th century was the many highwaymen and bandits who operated in the borderlands between Småland and Blekinge. Stealing, fights, killings and other crimes were frequent. Thick-skinned and indecent fellows who ranged in the forests committed these crimes. Such bandits were Anders Smålänning, Joan Styckie, Lowa-Jonn, Bastare-Håkan etc. Most notorious of them all were Håkan Trulsson (called Tjuva Håkan=thief Håkan) and Lars Olofsson (called Lönbo-Lasse).

In 1686, the Sunday after Midsummer Day, came Håkan Tyggesson together with Lönbo-Lasse and Tjuva-Håkan to Jöns Nilsson in Glosebo. But he was in the church at the moment, so they could easily fish pikes in the mere near to the farm. When Jöns Nilsson came home, they started to argue about the fishing earlier that day. Tjuva-Håkan and Lönbo-Lasse mingled in the fight, and Tjuva-Håkan went forward to Jöns and said that he (Jöns) had spoken badly about Tjuva-Håkan to the parson. Jöns denied that, but Håkan took a few steps back, raised the rifle and shot Jöns. The criminals fled from the scene of their crime, and the next day Jöns died.

Håkan Tyggesson was judged for the participation in the murder. But in front of judge he told a story of how the day of the killing of Jöns, had done innocent pleasures. Fishing of pikes and hunting wild-ducks. He managed to convince the judge that he was innocent. He was set free, but he was judged to pay fine for trade with stolen properties (another crime not related to the killing of Jöns Nilsson). Tjuva-Håkan was judged for the murder, but he managed to flee. Soldiers were sent after him, but it took nearly two years before the justice caught him up. In May 1688 Tjuva-Håkan visited Amund in Skälstången. Amund gave him food and Scandinavian vodka. When Tjuva-Håkan swaggered about all crimes he had done, Amund lost his temper and with an axe-head hit him twice in the head. Tjuva-Håkan died, but Amund wasn't charged for the killing. The legality in the killing of Tjuva-Håkan was never questioned.

Hi, Leigh! Thanks for the attached files. I have put in some in the data about Christina and August and their children. In fact I was in contact with Andrew Peterson, and he thought that August Norlin's first wife Louise was a sister to Christina. But I don't believe that, because I haven't found any evidence for that theory, and now on the pages you send me I saw he had written a John Anderson as Louise Norlin's father. Anyway, have you got in contact with Andrew Peterson? I haven't heard anything from Jörgen Danielsson yet. He wrote that he was busy this week, but that he at the end of the week will try to send some pictures. I look forward to see them. When I get them I will send them to you. Maybe it will take some time. I noticed you have changed a little bit on your homepage. Are you preparing for more picture of Wilbur Larson's offsprings? I have thought of a couple of questions, I want to ask you. Have Peter I:son Fröberg been in contact with you? I gave him the address to your homepage. But in fact I don't know if he has Internet at all. Then I wonder whether someone other Lars Pehrsson relative have been in contact with you. You had written the names of Clara Johanna Lewis and Henry Lewis, but still there were no information, only their names. I also notice that you haven't got all information of the crimes, so I send you the next part of "Lönbo-Lasse" crimes.

Best regards, Per

People was satisfied and calmed down when Tjuva-Håkan was executed. Earlier that year Lönbo-Lasse had also been condemned to death and was now in safe custody on Kalmar castle. They just awaited the court of appeal to ratify the death sentence. But they shouldn't be rid of him that easy.

His origin name was Lars Olsson/Olufsson. In his youth he served four years as a soldier. Even then he had stolen things and had to run the gauntlet six times in Vassmolösa. Later he joined the band of highwaymen, who lived in the forests. During a few years he had operated together with Tjuva-Håkan, who had been a loyal servant to him. The second intercession day 1686, they went to Anders Larsson in Buskabod, Fridlevstad. He was away on the morning service. Every man was in the church, so the thieves could operate undisturbed. A few women were left but Lasse and Håkan got rid of them by lock them up in a cottage on the farm. It was the hope chest they wanted. Håkan kept watch while Lasse in peace and quiet could take the expensive articles: 9 silver belt, 16 silver chains, 5 silver spoons, 2 silver rings, 2 pair of leather breeches, 10 chamois leather, 1 coat with silver buckle, skirts, shoes, trousers, sweaters, gloves, caps, various jewelry in silver etc. In "Danska Flyen" they unlawfully had taken silver and clothes, and in Elmbo, Konga jurisdictional district, they had stolen one silver spoon and on cheese, while the owner watched. But Lasse had much more than these crimes on his conscience, and the jury and the peasantry in Torsås and Vissefjärda parishes complained miserable about his and his fellow's indecent robberies, which filled the people with terror. But now he was jailed in Kalmar castle, in safe custody. They all believed.

The court of appeal changed the verdict, from death to run gauntlet twice and then work the rest of his life with iron collar in Marstrand. After he had ran gauntlet he managed to escape twice from those who should take him to Marstrand. Soon he was back in his home districts, but he didn't dare/risk to stay at his wife's house. Instead he lived in the forests between Lönbo and Glosebo. He hoped to get pardon from the king so he kept quiet for a year without making any people any hurt. There were many that were accused in front of the judge because they during this time had housed or given him food and drink. It was worst for Maria Persdotter in Öjebomåla who had let him in while the manservants tried to catch him. She denied, but was convicted when they found Lasse's coat hanging in her hall. Then she confessed that she had helped him escaped from the window when they sheriff entered. For her offence she was whipped. But it didn't take long time before Lasse was back in the game again. Six weeks before Easter in 1690, he met Ingier Åkesdotter in Långemåla in Tvings parish. She became a loyal companion. The day after Easter they went north on false passport. According to Lars the meaning was that he should get work in Kopparberget and by that save his own life. Outside Linköping they were caught and removed to Kalmar castle. In June 1690 pro tempore district court-session was held in Vassmolösa to hear Lars Olsson. The session continued in two days, during which Lasses whole register of his sins passed in review before a big public. Except for stealing, he was accused of various faults. In Kroksmåla while the people was in church, he had frightened the old man Jon Persson and his wife (who were at home and watched the farm) so they were forced to flee to the forest. Whereupon he undisturbed could grabb whatever he wanted. At Tygge in Skruvemåla, Gumme in Petamåla and Per in Hägemåla, he had stolen silver. In Torhult he had hit Per Germundsson, taken food and drink, barked on his wife and fired his rifle, so the wad had fallen on a maid carrying Per's child. Boatswain Hindrich Malm was hit with the rifle under the left ear.

A purse, which Lasse had when they captured him, consisted of silver (which had stolen from Johan Svensson in Långasjö). A leather purse contained with witchcraft articles, among these a snakehead, a fetal membrane, rowan, a raven heart etc. He had been given the things on the way to Marstrand, but he said that he didn't know what the purpose with the things was or the name of the man who had given him these things. It was illegal to devote to black magic.

Many people came to the judge and accused Lars for thefts, they believed Lars had done. Lasse answered them by saying they shouldn't accuse him for things he hadn't done. Lasse told that there were people who committed crimes. He continued to say that Per Löf's wife in Bungamåla, had asked him to get her arsenic to kill her stepson. Lasse also knew what Gertrud Jonsdotter in Stålberg should mix in the drinks to get rid of an uncomfortable witness. Lars Olsson was exorted consider his eternal souls blessedness and truthful confess what more he had done those years he spent in the forest. But he claimed that he had nothing more to admit and applied for pardon. The Judge for second time condemned him to death. This time the sentence was carried out. He was hanged October 1, 1690.

SOURCE: Laurentius Larsson

Date: Sunday, November 05, 2006 1:59 PM

Hello, Evan, Gordon and Leigh!

How are you? I’ve written before about changes when it comes to the names in the family. Olaus Larsson kept his name but some of his brothers didn’t. Gustav Larsson wasn’t the only in the family who changed name. He had two brothers (Peter and Sven) who also did it. I’ll provide you with some information about the family that you might find interesting. Sven changed his name from Larsson to Freeberg. Sometimes when people are changing from one name to another its because they want to escape from something, in some cases – the police. To the best of my knowledge this wasn’t the situation when Sven decided to use Freeberg instead of Larsson. But not every one of Sven’s ancestors had followed the law. One of your ancestors Karin became widow (around) 1650. She moved to her daughter Gertrud who lived in Rödeby parish. At that time it was Denmark (since 1658 Rödeby belongs to Sweden), but Gertrud died in 1652. Then Karin decided to move back to Sweden and to the place that she lived before she went to her daughter. She was then accused of smuggling her cattle across the border. I don’t know the verdict, but the relations between Denmark and Sweden was, at the time, pretty complicated. It was peace, but it didn’t change much. Denmark and Sweden were archrivals, seldom allies. But nothing last forever, between 1657 and 1660 Denmark and Sweden fought a war against each other. The border area was hard affected not so much of the regular troops but the paramilitary units. Torsås (where our ancestors lived) was situated at the border to Denmark. People like Karin always had the war threat hanging over them, but still life had to go on. Suddenly the peace could change into war and they had to choose between stay at the farm (and hope for the best) or hide in the forest. It was peace again, between 1660 and 1675, but when Karin died in 1676, there was another war between Denmark and Sweden. When she died she was described as “an old lady”. She was, as far as I am concerned, not a victim of the war, but most likely by old age. But wars weren’t the only problem for our ancestors. Between 1695 and 1697 there was a devastating failure of crops. There was a long and cold winter which stopped the sowing right until midsummer. The rest of the summer became cold and rainy and the night frost came early and ruined the small harvest that they had hoped on. People died on their farms and on the roads. They have estimated that 100 000 people died as a consequence, it was 10 % of the Swedish population. In Finland, which belonged to Sweden from around 1100 to 1809, nearly 1/3 of the population died. The infant mortality was extremely high during the period. It never rains but it pours. In 1700 and to 1718 Sweden was in war, at the same time, with Denmark, Poland and Russia. Between 1710-1711 the plague hit Sweden, and 1716-1718 there was a new failure of crops. The exact figure is impossible to tell, but in 1697 (according to one source) Sweden had 1 363 000 inhabitants and in 1718 1 205 000 inhabitants. Its an reduction of 158 000 people. According to one estimation only the plagued killed 100 000 people; for example 1/3 of the population in Stockholm died. But many of our ancestors and relatives also died because of the plague. A doctor, named Magnus Bromell, suggested people to “mix fresh cow dung with vinegar and
then press the sap from it and drink it to some bowls of a spoon”.

If I shall return to where I started this email, the name Freeberg was probably inspired by the home village Fröbbestorp and Sven’s brother Peter Fröberg. This Peter Fröberg studied at upper secondary school, which at that time was unusual for children whose parents were farmers. Maybe his father wanted to show the rest of the community that he was in cash. Peter Fröberg worked at the county sheriff’s office (and for eleven months as county sheriff), then later at the auctioner’s office, the post office and county secretariat. On November 21, 1868, he became prosecutor in the Swedish navy at one naval base in the city of Karlskrona. At his spare time he was also a barrister. I have attached a picture of Peter Fröberg, which I have received from his great grandson Peter I:sson Fröberg. I don’t know from where Gustav took his name, but there was certainly nothing that had anything to do with his home district in Sweden. Maybe he just “grabbed” a name that happen to pop up in his head. Here its pumpkin time, but we have a Swedish tradition that is much older than Halloween. This weekend is ornamentation of graves. We have been doing this in Sweden for almost 50 yrs, before that the ornamentation took place on Christmas instead. You can see lights placed all over the cemetery. It’s beautiful in the evening. I have found out that it might not have been a coincidence that you served in the military. Our ancestors belonged to the Löf family. One of our ancestors was Hans Larsson Löf. He must have been born around 1510 and was farmer between 1535 and 1575. His widow cultivated the farm in 1578. But as the society looked back then the names of the women were seldom mentioned in the documents, so we don’t know her names. Anyway, a couple of their descendants were soldiers in the Swedish army in the end of 16th century and early 17th century. One (Lars Svensson Löf) was a cavalryman, another (Oluf Svensson Löf) was a foot soldier (armed with a pike). Lars Svensson Löf served in the military between 1618 and 1619, and then in 1624. Oluf Svensson Löf was in the military from 1623 to 1624. Sweden was in the 1620’s engaged in war in the Baltic States. At the time Latvia was a part of Poland-Lithuania. Sweden was successful in the war and in 1629 (the armistice in Altmark, Poland) Latvia became Swedish.

Best regards, Per

The house and work take up much of my time, but don’t think I have forgotten you. I haven’t.

How are you? I have attached material about your heritage in southeast Sweden. I have tried to sum up some of the extended material that I have. There’ll be more to come, but it takes time to translate.

It was built around 1250. It was a dramatic and violent period in southeast Sweden’s history. The coastal area was hard affected by Estonian pirates and churches at the coast were built from both a religious and defence perspective. They were called ”defence churches”. The material was stone. In some area the church was the only building made by stone and the purpose was to rescue the whole surrounding population if the enemy came. But Torsås church has going through changes over the years. There was a conversion in the late 17^th century. Our relatives took part in the renovations. One of them worked with the roof. Other contributed economically. Radical changes were made 1777 to 1778. Attached is a drawing from 1749 showing what the church looked like back then. There is an altar screen from the 1470’s.

The church was the key place in Sweden in the 16^th, 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries. This was the State’s propaganda central. They used the priests as their megaphones. They were especially necessary in turbulent times, when Sweden was in war etc. In some of the churches there were loopholes as well.

Southeast Sweden, where our ancestors lived, was for centuries a battlefield. Wars and civil wars replaced each other. There was a civil war 1542-1543 and a war 1563-1570. That war was devastating for the population in southern Sweden. Around 5 000 farms were and some cities had been affected. When our ancestor Sveno Nicolai (Sven Nilsson) came to Torsås in 1566 the vicarage was ravaged. Sven Nilsson was born in 1540 in Stora Väcklinge, Reftele parish. He was married to Unknown in 1579. Maybe her name was Sigrid. I don’t know anything about Sven Nilsson’s background before he came to Torsås in 1566. I can only assume that his father was a priest, a wealthy farmer or maybe nobility who could afford sending his son to education, in Sweden or maybe even France or Germany. As other priests Sven Nilsson changed his name to sound more Latin. Sven became Sveno and Nilsson became Nicolai. It was very common among priests in Sweden to do so. From that we can draw the conclusion that his father’s first name was Nils. We can further assume that he must have been born around 1510. Sveno Nicolai was born in a borderarea to Denmark. Reftele parish, as well as Torsås, had also been hard affected by wars and civil wars, so he was probably used with what he saw when he came to Torsås. But even if his starting position, from an economical perspective, wasn’t good he managed to make a small fortune within a couple of years. In 1571 he was the wealthiest man in Torsås parish and in 1574 he was a member of the Swedish parliament. He attended the queen’s funeral in Uppsala 1584. For that he got tax relief. In 1593 in Uppsala he signed the document that officially made Sweden Lutheran.

In the Kalmar war, fought 1611 to 1613, the entire Torsås parish was burned down. The population was forced to spend the winter in the forest. Kalmar castle, a key in the Swedish defence system, was occupied by Danish forces. Kalmar was burned down too. Wars, as all wars now and then, were brutal. The Kalmar war was no exception. The Danish city of Kristianopel was invaded by Swedish forces on June 26, 1611. Not much to brag about but it appears as at least one of our relatives/ancestors played a leading role in that military operation. The Swedes blew up the gate with a petard (which was an explosive charge that was hanged on fortress gates) and pressed into the city. The Danish army woke up under confusion and was soon wiped out. Only women, children and other “defenceless people” were spared. After that the city was plundered. Big stores and supplies and a huge war chest fell into the hands of the Swedes. As a La Grande Finale the city was then burned down (including the church). Kristianopel existed as a city between 1599 and 1677. The Swedes finally destroyed the city in 1677 in another war with Denmark. In 1606 there was 700 people (1/3 was Danish soldiers) living in Kristianopel. The city had been built on an island surrounded by up to 9 metres high walls. Some of the walls are still there in Kristianopel.

Kristianopel replaced Avaskär. Avaskär was a medieval Danish city which was plundered and burned down by the Swedish on September 15, 1563. Avaskär was also important for our Swedish ancestors. They brought horces, butter, hides and bullocks to Denmark, because they got better paid for them there than in Sweden. There was a huge demand for these products in Denmark. Stock farming was Torsås’ principal industry back then. Avaskär is mentioned, first, 1350. Around 1540 Sweden had 1 000 000 people of whom 90 000 lived in Småland (the province where our ancestors came from). Most of them lived on the 12 000 farms in the province. There were big differences between the farmers. Of the 12 000 farms about 30 % was cultivated of tenant farmers with the exception of the southeast part of the province. There were instead the tenant farmers in majority. Because of the increasing population the competition about available state- or nobility tenancies was tough. The price for hire forced up the price. They who where hardest affected were the small farmers in the wooded districts. In the social pyramid there were even people under the small farmers and in the bottom of it were servants and the crofters. The flat country’s villages could consist of up to 20 farms. Some of them contained between 12 and 15 acres. They cultivated mainly barley and rye. The arable lands, outside the flat country, were small and stony and seldom went beyond 3 acres. There were also woodlands which were grazed by the cattle. Småland, alone, stood for ¼ of Sweden’s “herd of cattle”. They fed up beef and milk was import in the diet. A cow, however, was not bigger than a fattened year-calf today. There were also many laws for our ancestors to follow. They weren’t allowed to cut down oak and beech or hunt moose, roe deer and red deer. But poaching was at the same time common. A wounded roe deer costed one ox in fine. Another important duty was beer brewing. A daily consumtion could be 3 litres.

The people on both sides of the border didn’t care much about the nationalities. For them it made no difference whether they were Danes or Swedes. They married each other and they warned each other if the war was coming etc. They traded with each other. There were so many similarities between them. The only thing that separated them was that they had separate capitals. But the Swedish king, Gustav Vasa, wanted to control the trade. From 1526 oxes and horses were not allowed to be sold in Denmark. The merchants were forbidden to make business with the farmers in the rural districts. The Torsås area had, before Gustav Vasa became king, been wealthy. The wealth was built by extended cattle breeding. From horses and neat cattle they got by-products as hides and tallow. At the same time they had tar and lumber from the pasture. The people in the Torsås area didn’t pay much attention to Gustav Vasa’s laws. They continued the trade. The ox- and horsetrade were punished with the death penalty, but since the trade apparently was extended (maybe the whole population in the area was involved) Gustav Vasa changed the penalty in 1541. Instead the criminals had to be a fine. Gustav Vasa suspected that some of the men who were to control this trade were corrupted. He thought them to be wealthier than they should have been.