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Skåneland
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- This region should not be confused with Skånland in Norway.
class="toccolours" border="1" cellpadding="4" style="float: right; margin: 0 0 1em 1em; width: 20em; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; clear: right;"> | Skåneland
Halland Skåne Blekinge | Sweden and part of Denmark, with the historic region Skåneland (the Scanian Provinces) in brown, consisting of the Swedish provinces Blekinge, Halland and Scania, and the Danish island Bornholm | Flag of Skåneland, registered with Scandinavian Roll of Arms as a cultural symbol for the region, in official use by Skåne Regional Council since 1999, and used almost exclusively in the Swedish province Scania.
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Encyclopedia
- This region should not be confused with Skånland in Norway.
Skåneland, or Skånelandskapen, (Scanian Provinces in English) are Swedish scientific denominations, used in historical contexts for the historical Danish land in southern Scandinavia, which as the autonomous polity Scania joined Zealand and Jutland in the formation of a Danish state in the early 800s. As a cultural and historical region, it consists of the provinces Scania, Halland, Blekinge and Bornholm. It became a Danish province, sometimes referred to as the Eastern Province, after the 12th-century civil war called the Scanian Uprising. The region was part of the territory ceded to Sweden in 1658 under the Treaty of Roskilde, but after an uprising on Bornholm, this island was returned to Denmark in 1660, under the Treaty of Copenhagen, in exchange for the ownership of 18 crown estates in Scania. Since the Treaty of Copenhagen the Dano-Swedish border has remained unchanged.
The still Danish part of the historical region, the island of Bornholm, is sometimes excluded in modern popular usage of the terms.
Skåneland or Skånelandskapen are the Swedish equivalents to the Danish term Skånelandene. The terms have no political implications as the region is not a geopolitical entity but a cultural region, without officially established political borders. In some circumstances, the term Skåneland, as opposed to the terms Skånelandskapen and Skånelandene, can also be used as a figure of speech for the province Scania, which has the only administrative entities connected to the name, namely Region Skåne and Skåne County, both created in the late 1990s.
Official status
When Skåneland was an official entity, in its original Danish province configuration, its status was determined by the Danish king and the administrative authority under which it was governed, namely the Scanian Thing. Each of the four provinces of Skåneland had representation in the Scanian Thing, which, along with the other two Things of the Danish state (Jutland and Zealand), elected the Danish king.
Skåneland's four provinces were joined under the jurisdiction of the Scanian Law, dated 1200–1216, the oldest Nordic provincial law. In the chapter "Constitutional history" in Danish Medieval History, New Currents, the three provincial Things are described as being the legal authority that instituted changes suggested by the elected king. The suggestions for changes submitted by the king had to be approved by the three Things before being passed into law in the Danish state.
Status today
Skåneland has no political representation, but is strictly a historic and cultural region. Even though the Danish term Skånelandene is still used in official contexts in Denmark, the use of the term in Sweden is not universally accepted, although it has long appeared as a term used in historical contexts in a variety of sources. With the exception of Region Skåne and Västra Götalandsregionen, the Swedish provinces are not officially divided into regional units or referred to as regions; instead, the names of the individual provinces are used in official contexts. The southern part of Sweden, including Skåneland, is considered to be included in Götaland, one of three historic "lands of Sweden". The "land" Götaland bears the same name used for the historic province Götaland (a province referred to as "Gothia" on the 17th-century maps); the inclusion of Skåneland is described as "historically inaccutare" by the Swedish Nationalencyklopedin.
The term "Skåneland" is sometimes resisted in Sweden as being an expression of regionalism. As in other cultural regions, regionalism in Scania sometimes has a base in regional nationalism and sometimes in a more general opposition against centralized state nationalism or expansionist nationalism. In Scania, Swedish nationalism, which often alludes to slogans such as "Keep Sweden Swedish", is resisted by many regionalists as being intolerant of Scania's cultural diversity and Danish history, and as being non-inclusive of cultural expressions originating in areas outside the capital region. As noted about regionalism in Norway, Scandinavian regionalism is not necessarily separatist.
Origin of the name
"Skåneland" is an abbreviation of the Swedish frase "Skånelandskapen" ("the Scanian provinces") or the Danish "Skånelandene", which is collective term referring to more provinces, one being Scania. The Swedish Academy lists examples of the usage of Skåneland in documents from as early as 1719, and from 1759 (by Carl von Linné), meaning the province of Scania. In many later examples of Swedish usage, Bornholm is no longer included. The Swedish term "Skåneland" has thus been used since at least the 1700s, but it was popularized by the Swedish historian and Scandinavist Martin Weibull in his political appeal Samlingar till Skånes historia in 1868 in order to illuminate the common pre-Swedish history of Skåne, Blekinge, and Halland. The term is basically a translation from the medieval Latin terra Scaniæ ("land of Skåne" or "Scania Land"). Weibull used the term as a combined term for the four provinces where Skånelagen ("The Scanian law", the oldest provincial law of the Nordic countries) had its jurisdiction, as well as the area of the archdiocese of Lund until the Reformation in 1536, later the Danish Lutheran diocese of Lund. This form of Skåneland was then used in the regional historical periodical Historisk tidskrift för Skåneland, beginning in 1901, published by Martin's son, Lauritz Weibull.
Modern usage
The collective terms Skåneland or Skånelandskapen for the provinces are uncommon in daily speech, but are in general use among historians focused on the centuries immediately before and after 1658, and are often used in professional, peer-reviewed journals and history magazines aimed at the general public.
The term Skåneland (here called "Scania", which in English normally refers to one of the provinces) is also used to denote the area accepted as an unrepresented nation into UNPO (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation) and FUEN (Federal Union of European Nationalities), and in order to differentiate it from the historical province Scania proper (Skåne), the now Swedish province Scania (Skåne) and from the administrative Scania County (Skåne län), established in 1998 after having been split into Malmöhus County and Kristianstad County between 1719 and 1997.
In UNPO, Scania, like many other historic regions, is currently represented by a NGO, in the case of Scania, the minor private foundation Stiftelsen Skånsk Framtid (Scania Future Foundation).
The modern usage is mostly found in historical research as a way to refer to the common culture, language and history of Skåne, Blekinge, Halland and Bornholm before the Swedish acquisition of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland, as a way to stress the culturally unique features of the region. Although the term is rarer in official contexts, recent interest has spurred the national broadcaster Sveriges Television to examine the concept and the word is therefore becoming more familiar in Sweden.
History
Early history
From 1104 the Danish archbishop had his residence in Lund; and it was also here the first Danish university was founded, the Lund Academy (1425–1536).
The earliest Danish historians, writing in the 12th and 13th century, believed that the Danish Kingdom had existed since king Dan, in a distant past. Eighth century sources mention the existence of Denmark as a kingdom. According to 9th century Frankish sources, by the early 9th century many of the chieftains in the south of Scandinavia acknowledged Danish kings as their overlords, though kingdom(s) were very loose confederations of lords until the last couple medieval centuries saw some increased centralization. The west and south coast of modern Sweden was so effectively part of the Danish realm that the said area (and not the today Denmark) was known as "Denmark" (literally the frontier of the Daner). Svend Estridsen (King of Denmark 1047 – ca. 1074), who may have been from Scania himself, is often referred to as the king who along with his dynasty established Scania as an integral, and sometimes the more important, part of Denmark.
However, historians also argue that in the loose conditions of medieval kingdom-building of the 10th and 11th centuries, Scania sometimes attached itself to the Swedish kingdom instead of the Danish. In 1330s–1360s, Scania was held as the "third kingdom" by Magnus VII of Norway and Sweden, as a result of temporary dissolution of Danish central government. He was, from 1335, titled rex Suecie, Norwegie et Scanie or regnorum svechie et norwegie terreque scanie rex.
From the Kalmar Union to Denmark's Loss of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland
When the Kalmar Union was formed in 1397, the union was administered from Copenhagen. By 1471 Sweden rebelled under Sture family leadership. In 1503, when Sten Sture the Elder died, eastern Sweden’s independence from Denmark had been established.
In 1600 Denmark controlled virtually all land bordering on the Skagerrak, Kattegat, and the restricted Sound (Øresund). The current Swedish provinces of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland were still Danish and the province of Båhuslen was still Norwegian. Skåneland became the site of bitter battles, especially in the 16th, 17th and 18th century, as Denmark and Sweden confronted each other for control of the Baltic and of Swedish access to western trade. Danish historians often represent this as a period of unending Swedish aggression during which Sweden was continuously at war, while Swedish historians often represent this as "Sweden's Age of Greatness".
Sweden intervened in the Danish civil war known as the Count's Feud (1534–1536), launching a highly destructive invasion of Skåneland as the ally of King Christian III. Subsequently, in the period between the breakup of the Kalmar Union and 1814, Denmark and Sweden fought 11 times in Skåneland and other border provinces: 1563–70, 1611–1613, 1644–1645, 1657–1658; 1659–1661, 1674–1678, 1700, 1710–1721, 1788, 1808–1809, and 1814.
- During the Northern Seven Years' War, attacks were launched on Sweden from Danish Halland in 1563, and Swedish counterattacks were launched against Danish provinces of Halland and Skåne in 1565 and 1569. In 1570 peace was finally agreed when the Swedish king withdrew the claims to Danish Skåne, Halland, Blekinge and Gotland, while the Danes withdrew their claims to Sweden as a whole.
- During the Thirty Years' War extensive combat took place in the Danish provinces of Skåne, Halland, and Blekinge. By the Peace of Brömsebro (1645) Denmark ceded the Norwegian provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen and agreed Sweden was to occupy the Danish province of Halland for 30 years as a guarantee of the treaty provisions.
- During what has been described as the Northern War (1655–1658), Danish attempts to recover control of Halland ended in a serious defeat administered by Sweden. As a result, in the Treaty of Roskilde (1658) Denmark ceded the provinces of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland (i.e., Skåneland).
Vilhelm Moberg, in his history of the Swedish people, provides a thoughtful discussion of the atrocities which were committed by both sides in the struggle over the border provinces, and identified them as the source of propaganda to inflame the peoples’ passions to continue the struggle. These lopsided representations were incorporated into history text books on the respective sides. As an example, Moberg compares the history texts he grew up with in Sweden which represented the Swedish soldier as ever pure and honorable to a letter written by Gustavus Adolphus celebrating the 24 Scanian parishes he had helped level by fire, with the troops encouraged to rape and murder the population at will, behavior that may well have been mirrored equally on the Danish side. Skåneland was a rather unpleasant place to dwell for an extended period.
Assimilation with Sweden
Following the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658 – but in direct contradiction of its terms – the Swedish government in 1683 demanded that the elite groups (nobility, priests and burghers) in Skåneland accepted Swedish customs and laws. Swedish became the only language permitted in the Church liturgy and in schools, religious literature in Danish was not allowed to be printed, and all appointed politicians and priests were required to be Swedish. However the last Danish bishop, Peder Winstrup remained in charge of the Diocese of Lund until his death in 1679. To promote further Swedish assimilation the University of Lund was inaugurated in 1666; the inhabitants of Scania were not allowed to enroll in Copenhagen University until the 19th century.
The population was initially opposed to the Swedish reforms, as can be ascertained from church records and court transcripts. The Swedes did encounter civil revolts in some areas, perhaps most notably in the Göinge district, in dense forest regions of northern Scania. The Swedish authorities resorted to extreme measures against the 17th-century rebels known as the "Snapphane", including the use of impalement, in which a stake was inserted between the spine and the victim's skin, the use of wheels to crush victims alive, as well as the nailing of bodies to church doors. In that way, it could take four to five days before the victim died.
The transformation of age-old customs, commerce and administration to the Swedish model could not be effected quickly or easily. In the first fifty years of the transition, the treatment of the population was rather ruthless. Denmark made several attempts to recapture the territories – the last in 1710, during which it almost recovered the entire Skåneland.
Before 1658, one of the provinces of Skåneland, Scania proper, had consisted of four counties: the counties of Malmöhus, Landskrona, Helsingborg and Kristianstad. When Skåneland was annexed by Sweden, one of the counties of the Scania proper, Kristianstad County, was merged with Blekinge to form one of a total of three Blekinge counties.
Bornholm Rebellion
In 1658, shortly after the Swedish general Printzenskiold was sent to Bornholm to start the "Swedification" process, the population of Bornholm rebelled against their new masters. Led by Jens Kofoed and Poul Anker, the rebellion formed in the town of Hasle, north of the largest city, Rønne. Before the rebel army reached the Swedish headquarters in Rønne, Printzenskiold was shot by Willum Clausen in the street of Sølvgade, in central Rønne.
The Swedish fled the island as a result of the confusion and fear amongst the conscripts; Jens Kofoed installed an intermediate rule and send a message to King Frederick III of Denmark that Bornholm had liberated itself, and wished to return to Danish rule. This was confirmed in the 1660 peace settlement between Denmark and Sweden.
Swedish administration
Sweden appointed a Governor General, who in addition to having the highest authority of the government, also was the highest military officer. The first to hold the post of Governor General was Gustaf Otto Stenbock, between 1658 to 1664. His residence was in the largest city, Malmö.
The office of Governor General was abandoned in 1669, deemed unnecessary. However, when the Scanian War erupted in 1675, the office was reinstated, and Fabian von Fersen held the office between 1675 to 1677, when he died in the defence of Malmö.
He was replaced by Rutger von Ascheberg, in 1680, who held it to his death in 1693. It was during Ascheberg's time in office that the stricter policy of Swedification was initiated, as a reaction to the threats of war and possible Danish repossession.
Following the death of Ascheberg, the Governor Generalship was dismantled into a separate county governor for each of the Swedish provinces Blekinge, Halland and Scania. However, a Governor Generalship was reinstated in the province of Scania during the Napoleonic War, when Johan Christopher Toll became the last Governor-General in the region, a post he held 1801–09.
Recent history
The complete history of Skåneland was not taught for a long time in schools in Skåneland, especially during periods with the immediate threat of revolt. Instead a Swedish-centric history was taught, and the Scanian history before 1658, for instance concerning the list of monarchs, was disregarded as a component of Danish history. In reaction, a movement began in the late 19th century to revive awareness of the history and culture of Skåneland. The renewed focus resulted in the publication of several books about Scanian history.
It is still disputed whether children of the Scanian provinces should learn the local Danish-era history or the Swedish history for the period before 1658. Proposals from representatives of the Scanian constituencies in the Swedish parliament to include Scanian history in the curriculum of Scanian schools have not been accepted in the decision-making plenary meetings at the Swedish Riksdag in Stockholm.
See also
External links
- - Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation - an international organization for unrecognized regions
- - Scania Future Foundation, a regionalist organization in Scania
- - a history site
- - a history site
- - a cultural, regionalist organization in Scania
- - a cultural, regionalist organization in Denmark
- - links to various Scanian regionalist websites
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