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Trade and markets in northern Fenno‐Scandinavia A.D.1550–1750Lars Ivar Hansen aa Tromsø Museum , University of TromsøPublished online: 24 Jun 2008.
To cite this article: Lars Ivar Hansen (1984) Trade and markets in northern Fenno‐Scandinavia A.D. 1550–1750, Acta Borealia:A Nordic Journal of Circumpolar Societies, 1:2, 47-79, DOI: 10.1080/08003838408580312
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ACTA BORE ALI A 2-1984 £7
Trade and markets in northern Fenno-Scandina-via A.D. 1550-1750.
By Lars Ivar HansenTromsø Museum
University of Tromsø
Generally, two main opinions have been maintained concerning the age ofthe markets in northern Fenno-Scandinavia: One asserting that the marketshave their origins well before A.D. 1600, and possibly are dating from theMiddle Ages; and the other suggesting that the markets may be constructionsof the 18th century. The majority of studies relevant to the question of themarkets have, however, been confined within strict geographical limits. Fewefforts have been made to view the markets in a broader context, comprisingthe totality of the trade relations of northern Fenno-Scandinavia. Whilegiving the written evidence a critical and chronological sifting, the authorof this paper stresses this perspective on the markets, as instruments ofmediation between what is conceived as the three great trade systemsembracing the northern part of Fenno-Scandinavia.
1. Introduction
Within the memories and traditions of thepeoples of Northern Fenno-Scandinavia,the markets hold a place for themselves.They stand out with a certain glory and anair of enchantment. The intense activitieson the market-place, restricted to only afew days, but with many participants, - themany-sided bartering and exchange bet-ween local residents and visitors, andamong the visitors themselves, - the higg-ling-haggling over prices and valuation ofvarious offers, appear to have made a las-ting impression in people's minds.Thetrade which took place at the markets isusually held in higher esteem than the ordi-nary trade, mediated through more regu-lar, every-day channels.
Most of the activities which were unfol-
ded at the markets, had such a nature thatthey have made only quite defective reflec-tions in the written evidence - at leastdirectly. We are therefore led to believethat this evidence permits us to reconstructonly very imperfect pictures of the total setof activities of the markets. This will appearvalid, even if we confine ourselves to theprimarily economic aspects, and view themarkets as solely economic institutions.Nevertheless, we are inclined to believethat the markets at times played an impor-tant role in the economic life of northernFenno-Scandinavia. To the extent that weare able to draw a picture of the markets aseonomic institutions on basis of the availa-ble written evidence, this picture wouldappear to be consisting of primarily qualita-tive features, with a minimum of quantita-tive information, as for instance trade volu-
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me, etc. At least this will have to be thecase for earlier periods, that is to say beforethe middle of the 19th century.
The majority of the old markets in nor-thern Fenno-Scandinavia seems to havelost their importance during the 19th centu-ry, although some variations can be obser-ved, according to the regional focus of con-sideration. According to Paulaharju(1975:68pp.), several markets of the inte-rior disappeared as early as the first part ofthe 19th century, resulting in a concentra-tion among a few remaining ones. Whereasin contrasts several markets in the nor-thernmost parts of the Norwegian littoralexperienced a new prosperity in the latterhalf of the same century.1 In fact, the mostlasting ones among the Norwegian marketskept on into the 20th century, and werefirst deprived of all economic importanceas late as in the inter-war years. As a matterof curiosity it may be mentioned that themarket at Bossekop, Alta, e.g., formallywas suspended by a départemental order aslate as 1958.2
2. Main viewpoints in the literature
Shifting the focus of attention towards theother chronological delimitation, one mayask: How far back is it possible to trade themarkets - taken primarily as economicinstitutions, in about the same sense andwith the same connotations that have beenpassed on to us, through tradition? Do themarkets expose the same forms and con-tents, and serve the same functions,unchanged from «olden times» to our cen-tury?
2.1. Turning to the relevant research litera-ture, three or four main views can be discer-ned. Firstly, these opinions can be groupedin two: Those who argue that the the mar-kets - or at least some of them - have their
origins before A.D. 1600, and partly evenin the Middle Ages. And those who keepopen the possibility that some of the mar-kets may be constructions of the 18th centu-ry, due to tactical governmental considera-tions. The latter view is seemingly held byKolsrud (1947), who implicitly questionsthe validity of the evidence of markets«existing from olden times», in the innerparts of Ofoten, given by Major PeterSchnitler in the Border Examinations of1743. Kolsrud shows that Schnitler regar-ded the markets in the interior as being ofgreat value to Sweden, because they combi-ned extensive trade with the nomadic Sami,tax-collecting and administration of justice.Schnitler was promoting similar arrange-ments on the Norwegian side, and maytherefore have been biassed in his descrip-tion of earlier forms of trade. (Kolsrud,1947:176pp.)
The former view, pushing the origins ofthe markets back to the 16th century, orpossibly even earlier, may be broken downinto three more diversified opinions, accor-ding to level of generality, and the regionswith which their main interest and focus lie:
a) The opinion that the markets in theNorwegian provinces of Finnmark and(northern) Troms are of great age, is heldby Johnsen(l923:225, 228.) and Paine(1957). Johnsen appears to be generalizingon basis of the Varanger market, which heclaims to have found evidence of in a royalcharter of 1571.3 (As will be shown later,serious doubt can be raised as to whether«the trade at Eastern seas/east of the sea»,as the charter reads, can be identified withthe Varanger market.)
In his dissertation on «Coast LappSociety» (Paine, 1957), Paine touches onthe question of markets in connection withthe description of the historical aspect. Incomparison with the other topics of hisdissertation, the question is not given a
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very thorough examination, and the authordraws primarily on information given byQvigstad (1921) and Johnsen (1923), toget-her with written evidence (Lilienskiold,Leem). On this basis he concurs in theopinion that the markets in Finnmark havehad a long history, «perhaps as long as thepolitical history of north Scandinavia».(Paine, 1957:47.)
b) A similar, but more implicitly statedview is expressed by KM (1935), who confi-nes himself to the northern part of theprovince of Nordland, together withTroms. He writes:
«Hver vår kom Iappene flyttende over fjell-ene ned til «Vestersj0en» med reinflokkenesine ...
Inne i fjordbotnene, på de steder hvor degamle flyttveiene f0rte ned til sj0en, komder, sikkert meget tidlig, op lappemarkeder.Slike lappemarkeder blev bl.a. holdt i Vefsnog Rana omkring Olsok, I T0rfjord i Sprfollaog i M0rsvikfjorden i Nordfolla ved mikkels-messe tider, i Grundfjord i Tysfjord og iSkjomen i Ofoten i oktober, i Skibotn iLyngen og Str0msfjord i Nordreisa og i Bad-deren i Kvaenangen ca. 4 uker f0r jul.
Enda så sent som i det 16. årh. spilte skinn-varene en ganske stor rolle i denne hande-len...» (s..132-133.)
«Every spring the mountain Sami movedacross the mountains to the «West Sea» withtheir reindeer herds...
In the innermost parts of the fjords, atplaces where the old migration routes rea-ched down to the sea, there came into exi-stence Sami markets, surely at a very earlydate. Such Sami markets were arranged atSt. Olav's day in Vefsn and Rana, - atMichaelmas in T0rfjord in S0rfolda andMorsvikfjorden in Nordfolda, - in Octoberat Grundfjord in Tysfjord and at Skjomen inOfoten, - and approximately four weeksbefore Christmas at Skibotn in Lyngen,Str0msfjord in Nordreisa and Badderen inKvaenangen. The furs played a rather impor-tant role in this trade as late as in the 16thcentury.... (p. 132-133.)
Since Kiil's principal source of evidence forenumeration of the various markets isSchnitler's examinations, and the evidenceconcerning the role of the fur trade datesback to the 1560'ies, Kiil's implicit state-ment seems to be that the markets as depic-ted by Schnitler can be traced back to themiddle of the 16th century. Furthermore, itshould be noted that Kiil implicitly attachesthe markets to the migration routes of thenomadic Sami, without further efforts toestablish any chronology.
c)Relating to the Norwegian markets inNorthern Nordland and Southern Troms,Fjellström (1962:271-286) takes much thesame view as Kiil, but does not hesitate inplacing the origins of these markets wellbefore A.D. 1600. To this end, she drawsindiscriminately on evidence from as late asthe middle of the 18th century, as well asevidence from the 14th century (concerningthe medieval town Vågan).
«Ovanstående citerade uppgifter äro visserli-gen sena (från 1753). Likväl synes det rimligtatt uppfatta denne 1700-talets fjordhandelsåsom vilande på en månghundraårig tradi-tion.» (s. 273.)
«The above cited statements are indeeddating from a late period (from 1753). Itdoes, however, seem reasonable to conceiveof this 18th century fjord trade as founded ona tradition of many hundred years.» (p.273.)
Along the course of the Lule river in theinterior, she also points out a number ofmarket-places, whose origins are to be tra-ced back before A.D. 1600. In addition,Fjellström mentions a number of marketsboth in Norway and Sweden, which alle-gedly are to be of later origin. Amongthese, she also includes the Varanger mar-ket.
Finally, Fjellström emphazises the sea-sonal aspect of the market trade: While themarkets of the Norwegian littoral primarilytook place in summer and in autumn, the
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Swedish markets of the interior were visitedin mid-winter.
Bergung (1964:131-250) adopts a viewthat coincides with Fj ellström in the over-all picture, but gives the used evidence amore critical sifting. Although he admitsthat several of the markets in Nordlandmay have old roots (referring to statementsof the provincial governor Hartvig Bille in16094), he confines his enumeration of mar-ket-places in the Norwegian littoral before1600 to just those markets which actuallyare mentioned in sources prior to this date.With regard to the Swedish side, Berglingis able to point out a few more markets inthe southern part of the interior (viz. in theprovince Jämtland and in the Swedish litto-ral along the Gulf of Bothnia), which dateback to the period before A.D. 1600.
In agreement with Fjellström, Berglingalso stresses the seasonal distribution of themarket activities: Markets on the Norwe-gian side were held midsummer, at St.Olav's day and at Halloween, while mar-kets on the Swedish side, in the interior,were arranged during winter, i.e. fromChristmas to Easter.
2.2. Not quite as easy to subsume into thisattempted sorting-out of different opinionsconcerning the origins of the markets innorthern Fenno-Scandinavia, are the view-points of Qvigstad and V orren. Qvigstadtouches upon the question in the introduc-tion to his dissertation on the Finnish immi-gration to northern Norway (Qvigstad,1921:4pp.). Vorren gives a brief sketch ofthe markets in the broad presentation ofSami culture by Manker and himself (Vor-ren & Manker, 1976:101pp.) - in connec-tion with a description of the coastal Samiand their forms of trade. The concern ofboth these authors lies mainly with the mar-kets and trade of Finnmark and northernTroms. They seem to adapt a reserved neu-tral position, primarily referring the con-
tents of the sources of evidence (Quigstad,1921:6), or the preceding literature (Vor-ren, 1976:100pp.). Since Vorren obviouslybases himself partly on Johnsen (1923), healso quotes the alleged evidence of theVaranger market from 1571.
3. Stating of the problems
This brief summary of the different view-points at hand, may serve as a point ofdeparture for a more precise formulationof the problems concerning the develop-ment of markets in Fenno-Scandinavia, -taken as economic institutions:
- How far back are we able to trace theseinstitutions? Are the markets primarily a con-struction of the 18th century, or are they tobe placed chronologically well before A.D.1600? - In turn, the answers to these ques-tions depend on the contents of these pheno-mena, and the definition which is adapted.Does it go without saying that such pheno-mena in the past as we would like to callmarkets, also were referred to as «markets»by the contemporaries? Which was the con-tent of the different trade meetings, withregard to the exchange of goods, types oftransactions and the various participantsinvolved?
It is a striking fact that just one of theauthors mentioned above, gives an explicitdefinition and discussion of the concept«market», in relation to the phenomena ofnorthern Scandinavia (Bergling,1964:131pp.) This lack of definitions createsa possibility of interpreting otherwise isola-ted statements about trade and commercialcontacts, in terms of institutionalized mar-kets. - Statements about Swedish merchants(«birkarler») who operate in the Norwegianlittoral, could serve as an example, if thesestatements are cited in favour of market tra-ding, without any further analysis of the con-text. On the other hand, similar and contem-porary operations of the «birkarler» in theinterior, which are connected to the Samiwinter quarters, are seldom classified as«markets», - at least not until the reforms ofKarl 9., who ordered regular markets at someof these Sami winter sites. In these cases, a
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royal order obviously is taken as a necessarycondition for defining the meeting as a «mar-ket».
- Viewing the markets in a broader per-spective, one may also ask: Which are thefunctions of these institutions in respect ofthe total set of trade relations embracing nor-thern Fenno-Scandinavia? Do these func-tions possibly remain unchanged through thetimes; so that we may conclude that the mar-kets virtually show the same patterns ofexchange, participation and functions fromthe first time they appear in the records, andonwards? Or do they, on the contrary, passthrough considerable changes and transfor-mations? In case, how are such changes to beexplained?
- Are there possibly any regional contraststo be observed - when it comes to contents,participation and functions of the variousmarkets? Do these insitutions emerge at adifferent date in the different regions?
- Finally, may such transformations andregional contrasts account for the widespectre of viewpoints, which we have foundin the research literature? Are the variousconclusions of the cited authors to be explai-ned by the fact that they have been focusingdifferent regions, at different times?
4. Definition, approach and method
Concerning the general characteristics of adefinition of «markets», one might assumeagreement with the following:
«Markets are regularly recurring meetings,at a particular place, and at fixed intervals,with the purpose of bartering, or selling andbuying of various products.»
To grasp the pecularities of the markets ofnorthern Fenno-Scandinavia, while delimi-ting them from other, related phenomena,I will suggest that it should be added two(alternative) presuppositions:
1) The trade meeting must be frequented byother groups of producers, in additon to theproducers permanently settled in the vicinityof the market-place, or those who have the
market-place incorporated in their seasonalcycle of movement. - Or alternatively:
2) The trade meeting must be frequented bymore than one organized group of professio-nal merchants.
In my opinion, we are justified in calling atrade meeting in northern Fenno-Scandina-via a «market», if just one of these require-ments is fulfilled. The aim of the additionalconditions is twofold:
In the first place, they will serve toexclude any possible redistributive arrange-ments that may occur within the Sami su-das, while the siida is assembled at thewinter site. Such redistribution may wellhave taken place during winter, after thedispersed activities in different parts of thesiida-territory during the other seasons.However, it does not seem fruitful to sub-sume these redistribution activities as such,to the concept of «markets».
Secondly, the presuppositions introducean element of competition, to justify thetalk of «markets». The connotations ofvarious contacts and alternative offers, as abasis for bargaining, seem so well rooted inthe general conception of «markets», thatany attempt of denying this, or of includingcases which do not comprise such competi-tion, seems pointless. This does not implyany underestimation of the role played bymore simple forms of trade contacts. But tosuch other trade forms, I will not put thelabel «markets».
According to this, the regular tradetaking place between one local, residentmerchant in a fjord and the fjord popula-tion, will not be termed «market», althoughit otherwise may satisfy the requirementsof the definition. Nor will the trade contactsbetween one Sami siida of the interior andone group of «birkarls» be classified as a«market».6 To do this, we will have todemand the involvement of others; eithermore siidas, or different groups of profes-
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sional merchants.However, it is worth noting that the
above stated conditions do not necessarilypresuppose any involvement from theCrown or other authorities. The trade mee-tings do not have to be officially sanctionedor approved of, by the authorities, to becalled «markets». In this way, if the otherconditions seem to be present, we mayspeak of «markets» in the interior of Fenno-Scandinavia, even before Karl 9. declaredthem as such, in the years 1602-05.
As institutions instrumental to theexchange of goods and mediation betweenthe existing trade systems of northernFenno-Scandinavia, the markets shouldpreferably be studied and analysed withreference to this wider context. Theyshould be viewed against the backgroundof the totality of the trade relations embra-cing northern Fenno-Scandinavia at thetimes concerned.
The approach of this paper will, howe-ver, have to be more limited: I shall haveto confine myself to the task of charting afew of the main features of the markets,taken as intemediary institutions in thetotal web of trade relations. To this end, Ihave undertaken a reexaminaron of thewritten evidence, sorting out the variousreports of trade meetings chronologicallyand according to the definition suggestedabove; and eventually analysing the remai-ning markets along the following guideli-nes:
- Who were the agents that engaged in thiskind of trade? Did it primarily involve produ-cers, whose main tasks lay elsewhere, butwho engaged in exchanging a part of theirsurplus production, because they thought itwell worth while, considering the potentialuse of the obtained goods? - Or did it prima-rily involve professional merchants, whomade their living, serving the role of interme-diaries?
during the markets? Who engaged in barte-ring goods with whom? Did the producersand merchants primarily trade with othermembers of their own groups, or were theprincipal trade relations those between pro-ducer and merchant? - Moreover, whichwere the market periods'! Which possibilitiesand which obstacles did the fixation of themarket periods make to participation?
- Finally, which functions may the variousmarkets have had to the over-all mediationbetween the existing trade systems of nor-thern Fenno-Scandinavia?
In order to expose possible transformationsthat were taking place, this reexaminationof the evidence will focus upon two distinctperiods of time; viz. the latter half of the16th century and the first half of the 18thcentury. By contrasting these two periods,I hope to get a better grasp of the possiblechanges. -The results of this reexaminationwill also be shown in two maps, summari-zing the predominant features of eachperiod.
5. General background: The trade systemsof northern Fenno-Scandinavia
To get an understanding of the functions ofthe markets in a wider context, some briefremarks should be made about the threegreat trade systems that encompassed nor-thern Fenno-Scandinavia at the time. Infact, the total set of trade relations embra-cing this area, may be conceived of as orga-nized on the basis of three great tradesystem, each with their separate centresand peripheries.
- The littoral along the North Sea and theArctic Ocean was dominated by the Dano-Norwegian system, being an offspring of themedieval Hanseatic system, and based pri-marily upon the exchange offish against grainover the port of Bergen.
- What kind of trade transactions took place _ T h e i i t t o r a l o f t h e Gulf of Bothnia, and vast
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ACTA BOREALIA 2-1984 .53
parts of the interior were dominated by theSwedish trade system, with its foremost centrein Stockholm, but also with regional points ofsupport, consisting of the export ports alongthe Gulf of Bothnia.
- Finally, Russian trade linked great parts ofnorthern Fenno-Scandinavia to the Russiantrade system, with its extensive waterways,serving as a means of communication east-wards, southwards and even to Central Euro-pean markets. (Poznan, Wroclaw (Breslau),Krakow, Lvov, Leipzig.) After the turn ofthe 16th century the ports of the White Seawere regularly visited by merchants fromWestern Europe. Among the regional cent-res of the north figures such ports and riverjunctions as Velikij Ust'ug, Kholmogory andArkhangel'sk (- the latter founded 1584,after the Swedish seizure of the export townNarva in the Baltic.)
The basis organizing principles of these
trade systems varied greatly: In itself, theDano-Norwegian system contained a num-ber of institutional arrangements, differen-tiated regionally as well as by origin. Untilthe 1530'ies, local representatives of thearch-episcopate of Trondheim (the socalled«setesveiner») had been engaging in buyingup stockfish; - another arrangement wasboats (yachts) owned and manned byresourceful members of the local district(«bygdefarjekter»), which biannually ral-lied to the seasonal trading activities inBergen, and served as an intermediary linkbetween the local country people and thesuppliers in Bergen. - Bergen citizens alsoplayed an active part, some of them atten-ding the fishing districts during summertime, while others even stayed in the fishingdistricts through the winter, as «utliggere».
Map I. Trade systems of northern Fenno-Scandinavia A.D. 1550 - 1600
D Institutionalized ports of export("laga hamnar")
O Fishing stations and villages
V Visited by "foreign"merchants/'burghers"in summer SVJATOJ NOS
(HELGENES,GESJA
ARKHANGELSKÍ
HOLMOGORY:
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In some parts, as in Finnmark, there alsoexisted resident, local merchants operatingas intermediaries to the Bergen citizenry,with a varying degree of independence;some of them being freeholders, and othersbeing authorized agents or servants towealthy Bergen merchants.
The traffic on the Gulf of Bothnia waspartly taken care of by rural merchants(«Landsköpmenn») and travelling mem-bers of the local, resident farming popula-tion («bonde-farmenn») of the littoral ofthe Gulf of Bothnia. These groups constitu-ted the socalled «Bothnian Fleet» («Bott-naflotten») which each year rallied to sea-sonal trading activities in Stockholm duringsummer; - not dissimilar to those of Ber-gen. Besides, citizens of Stockholm andother towns in southern Sweden, also tooka great share in this trade.7 In the north, thenorthernmost representatives of the Swe-dish trade system were the socalled «birkar-ler», - the majority of whom seems to havebeen people of Finnish ethnicity (descent,language), and an original agrarian adapta-tion, who successively had specialized intrading.
The Russian system displayed a doublestructure, - partly based on professionalmerchants/citizens residing in towns (suchas Kola, Kandalaksa, Kern, Suma, Khol-mogory and Kargopol'), - and partly basedon various monasteries, which had beenfounded in Karelia and at the Kola penin-sula during the 15th and 16th centuries, andwhich by the middle of the 16th centuryformed a widely dispersed network in thenorthern regions. (Kandalaksa, Umba,Ponoj and Pecenga.) The monasteries ofthe Kola peninsula were not only centres ofadministration and mission work amongthe Sami. They also combined importanteconomic functions, engaging in variousforms of productive ativities (e.g. fishingand salt production) with hired labour. Fur-hermore, they were doing trade with the
Sami population in vast hinterlands, whichthe monasteries dominated economically,being granted privileges by the czar, orsimply having bought the rights of exploita-tion of natural resources from the localSami.8 One prime object of exploitation inthis area was the abundant catch of salmonin the rivers. This constituted a traditionalresource of livelihood to the Sami. -Analy-sis of tax accounts concerning the Sami,indicates that regular trade relations withthe Russians have been maintained by theSami as far west as Porsanger along thelittoral, and Guovdageaidnu in the inte-rior.9
The activities of merchants belonging todifferent trade systems, and tax-collectorsoperating on behalf of the various nationstates, frequently brought them into con-flict with each other, as well with the Samipopulation. The result at times being risingsand outbursts of violence. (E.g. the con-frontation between Russian tax-collectorsand merchants and the Ohcejohka Sami in1526, which formed a part of the conflictsbetween czar Vasilij (III) Ivanovic andGustav Vasa. Or the resistance offered bythe Tysfjord Sami against Swedish tax-col-lectors later in the 16th century.111) But tosome extent cooperation and mutual tradealso took place. Judging from measurestaken by the Swedish state, the «birkarler»- though primarily operating within theSwedish system, nevertheless must havesold considerable quantities of furs to Rus-sian merchants travelling in the interior."
Along the coast of the North Sea and theArctic, the competition between agents ofdifferent systems assumed another charac-ter. The motivating force behind the visitsof the «birkarler» to the coastal region,seems to be the purchase of furs and fish, toan equal extent.12 In this region the littoralSami therefore became the focus of atten-tion and rivalry, and the contending partiesof merchants issued mutual complaints.
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Map II. Trade meetings,('markets') A.D. 1550 - 1600
G winter
v winter or springO summer or atumn
VARANGER
KJORVÂG fc
KILDIN
Swedish merchantsDano-Norw. merchantsRussian merchantsEnglish, Dutch and Germanmerchants
HERGOTTEN
/GRUNNFJOI
claiming that the littoral Sami primarilyhad been provided with supplies from theirsystem, and that the stockfish produced bythe Sami accordingly was owed to them.(Complaints against Swedish merchantscited by the Dano-Norwegian king Chri-stian IV in a letter of 1594 to Sigismund,Swedish king. - Complaints against Swe-dish bailiffs and merchants delivered by theNorwegian bailiff of Vard0hus, AndersSimonsen, during the negotiations betweenDano-Norwegian representatives and theSwedish investigating commission inVaranger, 1595; as well as the reply fromNils Oravainen, Swedish bailiff and tax-col-lector.13)
Map I shows the extension of these diffe-rent trade systems respectively, and outli-nes the areas where they overlapped, andwhere supposedly the most intensive con-flict between the systems are to be found.
6. Trade meetings in period I: A.D. 1550 -1600
Apart from the permanent or recurring pre-sence of merchants in the various littoralparts of northern Fenno-Scandinavia, themost outstanding feature of the over-allorganizational set-up of the trade in thisfirst period, was the activities of travellingmerchants, - the «birkarler» and the Rus-sians (and/or Karelians). These travellingmerchants sought out the various Sami su-das at their winter quarters. As such, thesebilateral gatherings will not, however, meetthe requirements of our definition.
But there are some trade meetings ofthis period that will correspond to this defi-nition, and which appear to be rather-self-grown», without any inducement or orde-ring from the authorities. (Cfr. map II.)
These markets may conveniently be divi-
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ded into four groups:I. In the more southern inland regions of
the Sami dwelling area, markets took placepartly in mid-winter, and partly late in win-ter, or at Easter. Nomadic Sami fromvarious inland siidas are reported to havemet the bailiffs of the Swedish crown, aswell as representatives of the Swedish tradesystem, at suitable meeting places. It isworth noting that the majority of thesemeeting places were located outside andbelow the line which later was to be stipula-ted by the state as the border of the «Lapp-marken», - although they quite definitelywere inland. Thus, all participants wereobliged to travel some distance. Anothernoteworthy fact is the linking betweentrade and tax-collecting, which is well-known also from later times.
A number of the written sources indica-tes that the Sami often visited the marketsaccompanied by the whole household. Theproduce offered to exchange by the Samimainly consisted of furs and fish. Besides anumber of handicraft goods reflected anincipient reindeer nomadism: Varioustypes of reindeer skins, pesks, leggings(«bellinger»), Sami brogues («lappesko»).The goods that were purchased by the Samiwere primarily supplies provided by the«birkarler»: Grain, flour, bread, butter,salt, hemp, linen cloth and other textiles:Frieze, coarse linen, «nersk» (originally:cloth from the town Naarden), and«engelsk» (= English cloth).14 Besides theSami demanded copper kettles and variousiron objects, partly tools for hunting andcatching. This amounted to axes, hammers,knives, fishing sinkers, fox traps, locks,etc. This assortiment reflected the exten-sive Swedish iron production of the times.In addition, the «birkarler» also broughtwith them silver to these barter meetingswith the Sami.
Summing up, we may conclude thatthese markets were trade meetings between
producers on the one hand, and representa-tives of one trade system on the other.l5 Assuch, they did not have any intermediaryfunctions for the trade in a wider context.
II. In this period, nomadic Sami havingwinter quarters in the interior, are alsoreported to be visiting the littoral along theNorth Sea in summer, and/or in autumn.That is to say, they were coming down tothe innermost parts of the fjords. BeforeA.D. 1600, only three such visiting placeshave been mentioned: Namdalen in Tr0n-delag, Grunnfjorden in Tysfiord in Nord-land, and the farm Hergotten of Rombaks-fjord, Ojoten in Nordland.16
The goods which the Sami are reportedto have been offering on these occasions,likewise show that they have started outwith reindeer herding, though not havingdevelopped this adaptation very far, yet.Judging from the goods offered, their pro-duction seems to be quite complex, basedon a great variety of resources. Producefrom hunting, catching and gathering makeup the supply, as well as products from thereindeer herding. Thus various types offurs, gloves, feathers and feather-beds(«benkedyner») are mentioned. - togetherwith slaughtered reindeer, reindeer skins,leggings and brogues.
The goods that are purchased by theinland Sami during their stay in the littoral,are more or less identical with the onesbought at the markets on Swedish side:Flour, butter, salt, as well as cloth andsilver.
The inland Sami also engage in a certainintermediary trade: They buy up certainfurs (particularly foxes and otters,) fromthe littoral Sami, and pass them on to the«birkarler» on Swedish side.17 Judging fromthe preserved tax registers, - where thesekinds of furs often occur as payment fromthe littoral Sami,18 - this seems to be fursthat the coastal region was well endowedwith. The Sami from the interior are also
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reported to have been selling various itemsthat they had bought from the «birkarler»:Small copper kettles, axes, traps and scyt-hes.19 All in all, this second group of trademeetings appear to be meetings betweentwo groups of producers, each with theirseparate ecological adaptation. Althoughno professional merchant participates,these markets nevertheless serve interme-diary functions with regard to the Dano-Norwegian and Swedish systems.
Such a mediation between the systems isof course also carried out by the yearlyvisits of the «birkarler» in winter time, evento this region.20 But, as stated above, we donot include this trade activities among the«markets» as such.
The Levanger market, situated on thesouthern fringe of the area of investigation,has obviously served substantial interme-diary functions with respect to the Swedishand Dano-Norwegian systems. For the lit-toral along the Atlantic and Arctic Ocean,this mediation had repercussions throughthe further middleman activity carried outby those Trondheim «burghers» who weretrading with Northern Norway. E.g. it is afair suggestion that a considerable amountof the iron transported northwards by theTrondheim merchants, had been importedfrom Sweden via Levanger.
The earliest written evidence of activitiesattached to the Levanger market datesfrom the last decades of the 15th century.21
As the market is regularly mentioned in thesources throughout the 16th, 17th and 18thcenturies - apart from an apparent inter-lude from 1645 to the 1680'ies - conditionsfor fulfilling the intermediary functionsappear to have been present in both the "periods studied in this paper. - However,the Levanger market will not be discussedany further in this paper, as considerationsof space forbid me to give full attention ofthe various aspects of this market, and as itis geographically situated in the periphery
of the area investigated.III. In the third group I will place the
trade activities that were going On in suchcentres as Tornea and Kola. One seemsjustified in conceiving these ports primarilyas turnover centres.
The activities located to Tornea tookplace in mid-summer, when navigation waspossible in the Gulf of Bothnia. The earliestaccounts of this mid-summer market seemto date back to the beginning of the 16thcentury.22 In addition to the trading activi-ties of rural merchants («landsköpmen»),farmers and citizens from the towns ofSouthern Sweden, the Tornea marketswere attended by Russian merchants. Anumber of measures taken by the Swedishking also served the purpose of centralizingthe trade with the Russians to Tornea, - inso far as Russian trade was allowed at all.
The charting of the flow of goods south-wards from Tornea, presents us with specialproblems, since the dominant part of thetraffic was taken care of by Stockholm citi-zens, and since these citizens as such weresubject to a special customs clearance (ta-riffs) at the arrival at Stockholm. Hence, inthe accounts of the Norrland customs, thegoods transported by Stockholm citizensare not found specified in the ordinary way,by port of embarkation, but are insteadaccounted for together with each citizen'spossible shipments from other ports as well.
Specified, identifiable accounts do,however, exist for the other ports of Vest-robothnia. Using these accounts as basis,one may draw the following conclusions:23
- Firstly, fish products of every kind hold apredominant position among the goods regi-stered by the customes.
- Secondly, the greater part of this fish exportis made up by fish catched and produced inthe littoral of the Gulf of Bothnia. The shareof fish coming from the coasts of the NorthSea and the Arctic Ocean, is of minor impor-tance, in comparison.
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- Thirdly, among the fish products from thelittoral of the Gulf of Bothnia, salmon playsan outstanding role.
These observations seem valid, whether theflow of goods is studied purely quantitative-ly, or whether the relative distribution isestimated according to value.
With the necessary modifications andreservations, - mainly due to the roleplayed by Russian trade in the town, - theprimary features of this picture must holdtrue for Tornea as well. The main modifica-tion must be made for the/urs coming fromthe interior of Fenno-Scandinavia, and pas-sing eastwards to the Russian trade system,- partly directly from the inland areas, andpartly by way of Tornea. An indication ofa part of this flow of furs can be made onbasis the socalled 'merchant's penny'(«köpmannspenningen»), a fee levied bythe Swedish crown on trade with Russianmerchants in Tornea24 (- in so far as it wasallowed at all). Estimates on the basis ofthis fee, gives at hand that the value of theRussian trade in Tornea in the second halfof the 1550'ies may have been approxima-tely three times the amount that the Swe-dish crown simultaneously collected astaxes from the Sami in «Torne lappmark»,as well as the littoral Sami of the regionOfoten - Varanger.25
However, it is necessary to keep in mindthat considerable quantities of furs foundtheir way eastwards without ever passingTornea. According to a famous, often citedconfiscation case from 1556, the stock ofone Russian merchant may have amountedto approximately 1800 lispounds of hemp ,26
that is to say 5-6 times as much as the taxincome from the above mentioned regionsto the Swedish state.
A formidable quantity of the furs seemto have flowed eastwards. However, theSwedish crown took a great interest in thefur trade as well. This gives an explanation
to the recurrent efforts made by the Swe-dish king, to control this trade, and at timesto shut it off.
In addition to the trade carried out byprofessional merchants for their ownaccount, a considerable amount of furs wasalso bought up by representatives of theSwedish crown. (The borderline betweenprofessional merchants acting on their ownaccount, and as the representatives and«Sami-bailiffs» of the Swedish crown, beingrather diffuse at times.) As Steckzén hasshown, formidable quantities of furs wereexported through the Royal Fur Chamberin Stockholm during the latter half of the16th century, with an exceptional «boom»in the 1570'ies.
Among the goods transported north-wards, should be mentioned: Victuals asgrain and flour, cloth (frieze and linen coth)and hemp.29 Moreover iron goods. TheRussians provided hemp and frieze, linencloth, tallow, wax, soap, hides and tannedleather.30
The transit function, serving this broadscope of trade connections, appears to havebeen the primary function of the mid-sum-mer market in Tornea. The trade seems tohave been dominated by resourceful, greatmerchants operating within spheres andsystems. This does not exclude a participa-tion on a minor scale of the local, residentpopulation of the adjacent farming dis-tricts.
But summing up, one seems justified inconcluding that the activities of the Torneamarket must have been characterized pri-marily by the meeting of professional mer-chants, belonging to different tradesystems, even though producers from thevicinity also played a part. The mid-sum-mer market in Tornea must have contribu-ted greatly to mediation between the Swe-dish and Russian trade systems.
According to reports dating from the1580'ies, a yearly market was held at Kola,
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at Petermas, i.e. June 29th. Here too, tran-sit seems to have been the main function.31
The principal relations seem to have beenthose between the visiting merchants fromWestern Europe (above all from Englandand Netherlands,) and Russian (and Kare-lian) merchants, - both those dwelling inKola, and those coming from the towns ofthe Dvina outlet (Kholmogory and Ark-hangelsk), or other White Sea towns, asSuma and Kern.
In this way, Kola alone may have servedthe same functions that Tornea and Stock-holm together filled with respect to theSwedish system. Commercial navigation inthe Gulf of Bothnia was reserved fordomestic traders, by socalled «Bothniancommercial compulsion» («Bottnisk han-delstvång»); so that no foreigner shouldsail to other ports than Stockholm. Whe-reas Kola both served as a port of shipmentand reloading for Western merchants, andsupposedly for storaging furs that werebeing purchased from the Sami of the Kolasiidas.
To even greater extent than the mid-summer market in Tornea, the trade mee-ting in Kola may therefore be characteri-zed as a meeting of professional merchantsbelonging to different systems. The pri-mary intermediary functions seem to havebeen those relating to Western Europeantrade systems.
IV. The fourth group comprises theVaranger market, as well as the markets atKj0rvaglAiddegoppelVajdagubalVaitolah-ti. (Fisher Peninsula/Rybacij Poluostrov),and at the island of Kildin. These threetrade meetings are characterized by thefact that several groups of professional mer-chants, - operating within different tradesystems - have dealings with each other,and with several groups of producers. Hen-ce, conditions for a certain «competition»appear to have been present, on the produ-
cers' side, as well as on the buyers'.The Varanger market, held from one to
four-five weeks after Christmas,32 wasattended not only by the littoral Sami ofVaranger, but likewise of the Sami of thefjords Laksefjord and Tana, and possiblyalso those of Porsanger.33 Evidence fromthe latest part of the 17th century further-more points out that even the Norwegianpopulation of the fishing villages of Vard0,Kiberg and Vads0, visited the market.34
This may well have been the case in earliertimes as well. The same applies to the litto-ral Sami of the Njávdám (Neiden) and Báh-ceveaj (Pasvik) siidas. But in addition,sources from the second half of the 17thcentury record that the Njávdám Sami hadconnections with the Dano-Norwegiantrade station of Vads0, whereas the Báhce-veaj and Beahcám (Pecenga) Sami tradedwith the merchant furnishing Vard0 andKiberg.35
Among the purchasers, the Varangermarket was attended by «birkarler» fromthe Swedish system, Russian merchantsand representatives of the Dano-Norwe-gian trade.
Also to this coastal area as well did theSwedish merchants transport and offer vic-tuals as grain and butter, along with neces-sary equipment for fishing and hunting(hemp e.g.), a large number of iron pro-ducts, certain textiles and liquor.
In return, the Swedish merchants appearto have demanded fish and furs in equalextent. (The Swedish Crown, however, onits hand seems to have preferred furs in thetaxation.)
As stated above, Johnsen (1923) andsome other authors assert that the existenceof the Varanger market is reported in 1571.The piece of evidence cited in support ofthis position, is a royal charter granting thefief of Finnmarken (or Vard0hus, as it iscalled,) to the Danish noble Mads Skeel.36
Inter alia, it is determined that he shall:
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«... bruge vor Handel og Kj0bmandskab paadet ryske Marked udi Finmarken ved Varde-huus og 0stenhavs; hvis Omkostning derpaagj0res, derudi skal han staae den fjerde Partmed os, og hvis Fordeel og Vinst deraf igjenkomme kan, deraf skal han den fjerde Partfor sig nyde og beholde og de andre tre Parterat komme os aleñe tilbedste med gode ogklart Regnskab,... »
«... be in charge of Our trade and commerceat the Russian market in Finnmarken by Var-d0hus (castle) and at the East Sea (alt.: to theeast of the sea?). If they come out with a loss,he shall be responsible together with us for afourth part; if there can be made profit, heshall retain and benefit from the fourth part,and the other three fourths shall be Oursalone, according to accounts that shall beclearly set out...»
The task and privilege of managing thistrade is thus conferred to the holder of thefief, against his taking over a fourth part ofthe trade for his own account. This repre-sented an encroachment on the originalroyal prerogative concerning pre-emptionin these regions, as far as Finnmark fief wasconcerned. By the simultaneous grantingof Helgeland fief to the same holder, MadsSkeel, the king, however, explicitly reser-ved this right of pre-emption for himself.37
The formulation concerning the trade«0stenhavs» is repeated in an announce-ment to the public about the tasks andrights conveyed to Mads Skeel.38 Anotherpublic announcement some years later(1577)39, states a prohibition for all whovisit «... the Russian market by Vard0husin Our realm Norway ...» («... det ryskemarked ved Vard0hus udi vort Rige Norge...») to use violence against or do any inju-stice to the Russians there.
These formulations may now be compa-red to the mode of expression in someother documents from the same period, aswell as other information about the traderelations in the region:
In the spring of 1528, the governor of
that time, Vincents Lunge, writes to hisbailiff at Vard0hus castle, and states that:
«... Achter ieg och at ffare 0stenhaffs ochhandle met the Rysser ...»
«... I intend to travel to the East Sea (alt.: tothe east of the sea?) and do trade with theRussians ...»4(l
In 1533, he informs his staff at the castlethat the archbishop of Trondheim diocese,Olav Engelbrektsson, has been permittedto:
«...mwe haffue noghen Handell, vandeli ochforkeringh mett vdsalle och anden ki0ff-mandskaff y mett leenn Findmarchen ... ochbesyndherligen 0stenhaffs hoss the Ryttzereoch Kareler ...»
«... may have any trade, dealings and traffic,with sales and other commerce in my fiefFinnmarken ... and particularly at the EastSea (alt.: to the east of the Sea?) at theRussians' and Karelians' ...»4I
Quantitative information about such orga-nized trade with the Russians, carried outby the governor of Finnmarken, or his bai-liffs at Vardohus castle, is reported for thefirst time in the accounts of Finnmarkenfief, from 1593/94 and onwards.42 2-4 bar-rels of salmon are bought from the Russianseach year - as supplies for the garrison ofthe castle - and the transactions are expli-citly located to Kj0rvaglAiddegoppelVajda-guba at the Fisher Peninsula. The tradeactivities at this place are well documentedin other evidence as well; e.g. the report ofthe English traveller Steven Burrows,dating from 1557.43
On the basis of this evidence, it appearsfairly reasonable to assume that the expres-sion «the East Sea» or «to the east of thesea» (»0stenhavs») refers to the watersbetween Varangerfjorden and FisherPeninsula (Rybacij Polustrov) at the Mur-man coast of Kola, in other words a part of
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the Barents Sea, - in older times alsoknown as «Dumbshaf», with reference tothe mountain «Domen» near Vard0.44
In the light of this other evidence, itseems more justified to put the referencesfrom the 1570'ies in connection with thetrade activities at Kj0rvaglAiddegoppelVaj-daguba. At this place, there was in factgoing on a trade with the Russians, and theletters from the 1570'ies are explicitly refer-ring to such a trade, for which it was requi-red a certain permission. Some of the evi-dence cited also indicates that the tradewith the Russians took place during sum-mer, which actually was the season for theKj0rvag market, while the Varanger mar-ket as it is known, took place in wintertime, immediately after Christmas. All thisseem to lead to the conclusion that theexpressions of the charter of 1571 and theother following letters of the 1570'ies, forma very poor foundation for assuming theexistence of a market situated in the innerparts of Varangerfjorden.
However, there exists another piece ofevidence which seems to indicate the exi-stence of such a market in Varanger, at aneven earlier date. In a letter of March 6th,153045, addressed to the Archbishop OlavEngelbrektsson - who actually was holdingthe fief by this time - Hans Eriksson (pro-bably bailiff at Vard0hus) writes:
«... Jtem maa edhers maade wethe adt ieghffor aff slotthet dagen nest effther viij dagjwll met ij aff radmennerne och xl aff werrye-mennerne och bynde dagh met Rysserne komther ingen aff Rysserne ffortj baade skatmen-nerne wore ffarne tiill kongen aff Rysselandssom beffalingen hade och war ther wffriidty mellum the kriisne Kariille och the heidneKariille, staar ther aen nw y then samme daghsom tülff0rn war bunden. The Hwener somther plege kommae thae vorae ther met iijc
reynar och banth iegh dag met them somsyduenie war.»
«... Likewise may Your Grace know that I
left the castle the day after the 8th Day ofChristmas, together with two of the chiefofficers («Radmennerne») and 40 villageinhabitants («Werryemennerne»), to dobusiness/negotiations/reach an agreement(«bynde dagh») with the Russians. None ofthe Russians met, while both the tax-collec-tors had left for the king of Russia, who were(alt.: was?) in command, and strife was goingon between the christened and the heathenKarelians. The same agreement as previouslyreached, still stands. Those quains («Hwe-ner» = «Birkarler») who usually are comingthere, were at the place together with 300reindeer, and I made agrément with them, ascustomary.»
This not clearly defined meeting that HansEriksson was referring to, was obviously tobe attended by the two Russian officialscharged with the tax-collecting among theSami of the Kola peninsula46, and the adja-cent regions of Eastern Finnmark (in Rus-sian: Koncanskaja Lop'), - as well as thequains or «birkarler». The latter did in factshow up, together with 300 reindeer. Thismeeting took place on the snow, a littlemore than a week after Christmas. Hence,it is a fair suggestion that this number ofreindeer was intended for transport purpo-ses, and that considerable amounts ofgoods were involved. Similar visits of thelater Torne «burghers» at the Varangermarket, accompanied by a great number ofreindeer, are well documented in latersources. E.g. about 1690, in the socalled«matricul» of Nils Knag:47
«... and there is arranged a yearly market incomformity with the most gracious royalorder of August 11th 1688 ... The Sami fromVaranger are coming there, and some of theSami from Tana and Laksefjord, and Swe-dish-border Sami from Arritzbye (= Ohce-johka) and other siidas; Russian-Sami fromNeiden and Pasvik, Russians from the townof Kola, that is Malmis, ay well as a considera-ble number of merchants from the town ofTornea in Sweden, together with some hun-dred reindeer, with which they are driving,and carrying their merchandize to and fro.»
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The point of time given in Hans Erikssonsletter, for the arrangement of the meeting,also coincides with what is later knownabout the Varanger market. All in all, itwould appear as a plausible conclusion thatHans Eriksson in fact was referring to ameeting of similar character and about thesame localization as the Varanger market,as it is known from later times.
The market at Kj0rvaglAiddegoppelVaj-daguba is recorded in several accounts fromthe middle and second half of the 16thcentury.48 In the first place, this market wasvisited by the Beahcam (Pecenga) Sami,who carried out semi-nomadic migrationsand who in summer moved to the FisherPeninsula (Rybacij Poluostrov), for thepurpose of fishing and letting the reindeergraze, but also in order to engage in tradeactivities.
Furthermore, the market was attendedby hunters and fishers of Russian descent,whose stay likewise was seasonal. Thesepeople came from the whole region sur-rounding the White Sea.
On the side of the purchasers, this mar-ket was frequented by Russian and Kare-lian merchants, English and Dutch mer-chants, representatives of the Dano-Nor-wegian trade, and - as we have alreadymade clear - the captain of Vard0hus cast-le, or other representatives of the holder ofFinnmarken fief.
On the one hand, the visiting merchantsmade deals with the producers (i.e. thesemi-nomadic Sami and the Russian fisher-men and hunters, as well as others); - onthe other hand they engaged in trade withother professional merchants.
The buyers delivered similar kinds ofsupplies as has been reported for the othermarkets, involving merchants from Swe-dish and Dano-Norwegian side. But theEnglish are explicitly told to be providingcloth, and an eyewitness describes how theSami bartered stockfish for various objets
of made silver from Dutch merchants: Dis-hes, plates, ornaments for buckles andbrooches.49 The Dutch bought seal-oil,coalfish and stockfish.
The markets at Kildin island seems tohave elapsed in much the same manner,with analoguous participation: The onlymodification being that in this case it wasthe Sami of the Kild siida (or Russian:MunomaSsk) who moved to the Kildinisland, according to a similar, semi-noma-dic migratory pattern.
In other words, all the markets belongingto this fourth group are characterized bythe fact that several groups of professionalmerchants have contact with each other,and with several different groups of produ-cers. In this way, conditions must haveexisted for a wide scope of many-sided rela-tions. These markets must therefore havehad important intermediary functions forthe various systems, though not all of thetrade systems are equally represented atevery market.
7. Trade meetings in period II: A. D. 1700-1750
Turning to the second period of investiga-tion, and analysing the features displayedby the trade meetings of this period, onecan make the following observations:(Maps III and IV.)
I. In the inland regions south of «Tornelappmark»,- where the trade meetings ofearlier times actually were located outsidethe «lappmarker», as it was successivelydefined, - the markets has now been drawninto the «lappmarker». Within each «lapp-mark» (administrative unit), the marketactivities now were attached to one centralmeeting place, where the Sami from allover the «lappmark» congregated and metwith burghers, travelling up from the litto-
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Map III. "Sami markets" and "burgher (auain) markets" A.D. 1750.
KV/ENANGENNORDREISA
SKIBOTNBALSFJORD
AURSFJORD I MALANGEN
ASTAF JORD
HERGOTTEN I ROMBAKSFJORD
SKJOMEN I OFOTEN
GRUNNFJORDEN I TYSFJORD
SOMBIQ
BKEMIKYLA
HIKUOLIJÄ
MORSVtKBOTN I NORDFOLD
TORRFJORD I SORFOLD
ROGNAN I SALTDALEN
'Sami markets held in summer(St. Olafs Day) or autumn(Michaelmas. Seg. 29J
'Sami markets' held 4-5 weeksbefore Chrlstmaa (HaHoween).'Saml markets' held after Christmas(JanJFeb.).
GAMLAKARLEBY/KOKKOLA;
JAKOBSVAD/PIETARSAARI '•••.
A Markata visited by Swedish 'burghers'('oualns') 4-5 weeks before Chrlstmss.
• Markets visited by Swedish 'burghers'Cousins') 4-5 weeks sfter Christmas.HÄRNÖSAND
UNDSVALl Towns with privilege-helding citizenry.
ral of the Gulf of Bothnia. («Pite lapp-mark» seems to make up an exception,having two market-places.) The markets ofthese regions now regularly took placeduring the first 3-5 weeks after Christmas,i.e. from January 6th to February 2nd(Candlemas), whereas the former trademeetings partly had been arranged atChristmas time, and partly at Lady Day(March 25th).50
II. This pattern, consisting of markets heldat central places immediately after Christ-mas, appears to have been adapted in«Torne lappmark» as well, even thoughthis «lappmark» counted several market-places. Thus, the unchecked, unhamperedtravelling activities of the «birkarler»,where they might freely seek out the Samiat their various winter quarters, have beendone away with, and replaced by a much
more regulated system, restricting the tradeactivities to the market-places at certainintervals. It should be noted, however, thatthe new market-places were chosen amongthe localities formerly serving as Sami win-ter quarters. The intervals at which themarkets were held in «Torne lappmark»,were approximately the same as in the moresouthern part of the interior. (As will beelaborated in the following, this may beseen as direct consequences of the policycarried out by Karl 9th in the inlandregions.)
The same pattern is observed in thefjords Porsanger and Laksefjord, by theArctic Ocean. This area was still being visi-ted by Swedish merchants during wintertime. All in all, it would appear that theSwedish merchants were able to continuetheir unrestricted travelling activities to amuch greater extent in this littoral region.
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In 1705 e.g., the «quaener» («quains») arereported to have «come down with theircommerce («kj0penskap»)».51
III. This same pattern was also adapted inthe fjords further west, but here it formedpart of a double structure. Evidence datingfrom the first half of the 18th century pointsout that markets occurred twice a year inthe fjords of Alta, Kvaenangen, Nordreisaand Lyngen: A socalled «Sami market»(«Lappemarked») 4-5 weeks before Christ-mas, and a socalled «burgher-» or «kvaen-»market 4-5 weeks after Christmas.52 Theimplication apparently being that the for-mer was dominated by the trade activitiesof the nomadic Sami from the interior, andthat the primary transactions were thosetaking place between nomads and residentpopulation, or between nomads and local,resident merchants.53 During the lattermarket, held after Christmas, the profes-sional Swedish merchants - now appearingas privileged «burghers» (citizens) of thetowns situated along the Gulf of Bothnia, -would be the main point of focus, with thegoods they could offer. - At the same time,participation at the markets of professionalmerchants belonging to the Dano-Norwe-gian system appears to be increasing in thisregion, - inter alia manifesting itselfthrough merchants who establish trade sta-tions close to the market-places, or even onthem.54
IV. Finally, it would appear that this pat-tern also was adapted in «Kemi lappmark»,- the market periods being the same. Dueto the presence of Russian and/or Karelianmerchants in this region, the scope of rela-tions is more varied than in the purelySwedish-controlled areas. However, consi-dering the past trade activities in «Kemilappmark», one has to take into accountthe progressive agrarian settlement of theFinnish. Old Sami sudas, like Maanselkä
and Kitka, had almost completely beentaken over by Finnish people, by the middleof the 18th century.55
Moreover, the trade activities of thisregion were also influenced by the changingSwedish policy towards the Russian trade.In the early 17th century Swedish authori-ties considered establishing a special mar-ket, particularly designed for the trade withthe Russians. In 1669 attempts were madeto ban the Russian trade, but after 1733Russian trade was free in the town of Tor-nea.56 During the middle of the 18th centu-ry, the quest for free trade with the Rus-sians appears to be relatively widespreadamong the population, - the claimantsreferring to insufficient supplies from themerchants of Tornea.57
V. Further south, in the littoral of southernTroms and Nordland, markets now comeinto existence at periods similar to those ofthe previous trade meetings between inlandSami and littoral Sami. Hence, the old pat-tern is continued in this area too, and ismade even more persistent, as these mar-kets now appear throughout the region,and new participants are integrated to someextent. Here too, the connections with theDano-Norwegian trade system wouldappear to have been strengthened. Occa-sional evidence contains information aboutlocal, resident merchants now travellinginto the fjords in summer, to participate atthe «Sami markets». Thus a yacht captainby the name of Ole Pedersen, is reportedto have travelled together with the brother-in-law of Jens Kildal, to a market in Tys-fjord, where the «eastern Sami came downto the Sea.»58
VI. In Varanger, the market is continuedin the same way as beforehand at the sameintervals, - now having got approbation bythe central authorities, through a royalcharter of August 11th, 1688.59 - At the
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Map IV. Trade meetings ("markets") A.D. 1700 - 1750.
l winter
spring
(_) summer or autumn
I Swedish merchants
I Dano-Norw. merchants
I Russian merchants
assize proceedings of Varanger in Novem-ber 1691, it was emphasized that no tradeor commerce was to take place with theSwedish or Russian merchants, until theirarrival had been reported to the provincialgovernor («amtmannen») by the «finne-lensmannen» (local official, charged withtax-collecting among the Sami).60
Summarizing these outwardly expressedchanges, and trying to confront them withthe above stated problems, as to the contentof the various trade meetings, and theirrole with regard to mediation between thetrade systems, we may draw the followingconclusions: (Cfr. map IV.)
1. In the southern inland regions there stillexist trade meetings between producers(the Sami of various siidas,) and represen-tatives of one trade system. The only new
features being that the trade meetings nowtake place within the different «lappmar-ker», and at partly altered periods. Thechanges seem to affect solely localizationand period, neither form nor content.
2. Likewise, in the inland region further tothe north, -«Torne lappmark» - one stillhas to do with a meeting between the Samiin the capacity of producers, and representa-tives of the same trade system. But thisregion experiences a change inform, as thevoluntary travelling activities of the «bir-karler» have been restricted; and fixed,regularly occuring markets have been esta-blished. In part, this has also affected achange in localization, but not in content.
. 3. The same appears to have relevance forfjords of Porsanger and Laksefjord, in so
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far as regards the activities of the Swedishmerchants. (Of course, these fjords had apermanently residing representation of theDano-Norwegian trade system.)
4. Further to the east and south, continuitywould seem to have been prevalent in«Kemi lappmark» too, as there still weretaking place meetings between producersand representatives of two trade systems:The Swedish and the Russian. One should,however, keep in mind that formidablechanges were taking place on the producerside, successively replacing the Sami byagrarian-based Finns, and resulting in pro-found structural changes.
Traditional Sami livelihood was gravelyafflicted, and this resulted in greater effortsattributed to agriculture and fishing, evenon the part of the Sami. All things conside-red, this must have had great implicationsfor the content of the trade.
5. In Varanger, on the contrary, continuityseems to be solidly founded. Different pro-ducers (- varying both according to ethnici-ty, culture and ecological adaptation -) metwith representatives of various tradesystems. Content, form and localizationpersisted.
6. Moving on to the fjords of Western Finn-mark and Northern Troms (Alta, Kvae-nangen, Nordreisa and Lyngen), one findsa transition to a double structure: While theold relation between the local, littoralpopulation as producers and the travellingSwedish merchants persisted, and took onthe form of markets, there appeared a newrelation between producers of differentecological adaptation. In a way, the oldrelation between the coastal populationand the Swedish professional merchants gota supplement, similar to the contacts nouris-hed by littoral Sami and inland Sami insouthern Troms and Nordland at an earlier
period. In addition, and possibly as a conse-quence of this, market participationbecame more attractive to Dano-Norwe-gian merchants as well, and the contactsand mediation appear to have grown wider.- The areas in focus thus seem to haveexperienced changes in content, form (asmarkets were more firmly established,) andmore fixed localization. The new, additio-nal features are clearly related to the expan-sion of reindeer nomadism to these regionsand the adjacent area of the interior.
7. In the littoral of southern Troms andNordland, inland Sami, who were in thebeginning of taking up nomadism, and litto-ral Sami had previously been meeting atregular intervals in the bottoms of thefjords, in summer or in autumn. In additionthe various groups of littoral Sami had beensought out by Swedish merchants comingover the mountains in winter, and travellingthe fjords by boats. (Ás emphasized above,we will not include the latter activities as«markets» as such.) These regions nowexperience a reduction in the trade rela-tions, as the regular visits of Swedish mer-chants in winter time are put to an end.However, the loss of this relation over themountains, may to some extent have beenreplaced by a strengthening of the connec-tions to the Dano-Norwegian trade system.Even though the content of the relationsthus is restricted, the formal structure ofthe remaining markets activities may havebeen double. For instance, the Swedishauthor Samuel Rheen stresses that twoyearly markets were held, according to sea-son: One at St Olav's Day, and one atHalloween.61 The main differences bet-ween the two should apparently consist inthe transactions carried out by the nomads.
Though the scope of the trade relationsthus may have been altered, the develop-ment of fixed markets in the littoral mayalso be seen as a generalization in this
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region of the old pattern regarding marketsheld in summer or autumn, which had beenconfined to a few places in Nordland andTr0ndelag.
This examination gives at hand that themost profound changes related to the medi-ation between the trade systems, occuredin the littoral of the Arctic and North Sea,from Western Finnmark (Alta fjord) andfurther west and south. (Another change,also afflicting the littoral, was the furtherexpansion of the Russian trade system -further to the west and south than was thecase in period I. This expansion has oftenbe referred to as the rise of the «Pomortrade». Partly in contrast to this view, I havehere wanted to emphasize the continuity tothe Russian trade as described in period I.However, it must be admitted that periodII saw a geographical expansion of thistrade, as well as a broadening of the scope.)- There certainly occurred changes concer-ning trade and exchange of goods elsewhereas well: In «Torne» and «Kemi lappmark»in the interior, and in the fjords of Por-sanger and Laksefjord further to the east.From a viewpoint concerned with the inter-mediary aspects, these changes do, howe-ver, appear primarily as changes oí form, -in so far as fixed, regular markets wereinstitutionalized. The link with the Swedishtrade system, brought about by the «birkar-ler», had been in existence there previouslytoo, but was now regulated.
However, the littoral was no homoge-nous region with regard to changes. Thenorthern part, consisting of western Finn-mark and northern Troms, experienced anexpansion of the scope of trade relations,due to the fact that nomadic Sami from theinterior started attending the «Sami mar-kets» in the littoral. Whereas the southernpart, being southern Troms and Nordland,witnessed a development in the oppositedirection, with reduction and confinementof the trade relations, due to the fact that
the travels of the »birkarler» were disconti-nued in this area. The nomadic Sami werehere left alone, as intermediaries betweenthe two systems. An analysis of the «tradeprofiles» of these two groups may shedsome light on the consequences regardingthe mediation:
Buying fish and fish products is still oneof the prime factors behind the visits of theTorne citizens («burghers») in the littoral,where these are continued. (Dried cod andcoalfish, halibut and salted salmon.) Jud-ging form complaints made on the Dano-Norwegian side towards the end of the 17thcentury, the buying of furs also played animportant role; but these complaints mightas well reflect an increasing demand forfurs within the Dano-Norwegian systemitself.62 Moreover, the Tome burghers per-sist in bringing with them about the sameselection of goods as in previous times,when they were called «birkarler»: Butter,hemp, various textiles, a wide assortimentof iron objects and tools. Thus, in so far asthe trade by professional Swedish mer-chants is continued at all, there also appearsto be a high degree of continuity in thecontent.
Regarding the exchange carried out bythe nomadic Sami, their trading activitiesare now distinguished by two features,compared to their function in previoustimes:
Firstly, the selection of goods offered bythem reflect an increasing specialization inreindeer herding. Products offered now,are: A long range of reindeer skins, ofvarying kinds and qualities, slaughteredreindeer, pesks, reindeer milk and cheese.In addition, they still sell certain kinds offurs (squirrel) and birch bark.63
Secondly, a new situation has emerged,both with regards to the relation betweenthe nomads and the littoral population, andto the relation between the nomads and thetrade system on Dano-Norwegian side.
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The relation to the littoral populationseems to have broadened in scope, as agreater variety of goods seems to beexchanged. This producer - produceraspect of the relation is shown inter alia inthe bartering of a number of products pro-vided by the littoral population: Stockfish,herring, flatfish, cod-liver oil, sheep, goatsand cattle to be slaughtered, «grener» (wo-ven rugs), and certain kinds of textiles.64 Inexchange for these goods the nomads givereindeer (to be slaughtered), reindeerskins, reindeer cheese.
In those areas of the littoral where thevisits of the Swedish professional mer-chants were discontinued, the nomads havenow taken over part of the trade previouslycarried out by the merchants, thus engagingin a new form of intermediary trade. As in
• previous times, they still engage in an inter-mediary trade with furs from the littoral(now specializing in black foxes and otters).In addition they develop further the tradein iron goods and other metal objects: Ironpans, axes, guns, needles and variousobjects made of brass and copper.6S Theseitems are bought from professional mer-chants on the Swedish side, and sold to thelittoral population. Furthermore, a greatdeal of the fish that the nomads get hold ofduring their stay in the littoral, is disposedof to Swedish merchants on markets in" theinterior.66 Even in the north (Kvasnangen),where Swedish merchants still were visitingthe coast themselves, the nomads alsoengage in fishing on their own account, -not only to meet household needs, but alsoin order to sell the catch to Swedish mer-chants in the interior.67
It should, however, be emphasized thatthe nomads did not have the capacity totake on the legacy as intermediary over thewhole spectrum of goods provided by the«birkarler» in previous times. They couldnot on any. larger scale provide typical mer-chandise like grain (flour), butter, hemp,
certain textiles, as well as liquor.Quite contrary, the nomadic Sami are
now partly obliged to buy such goodsduring their stay in or by the littoral, wherethe goods have been furnished by the Dano-Norwegian trade system. In other words,the relations between the nomadic Samiand the Dano-Norwegian system are get-ting stronger; and this trade system expe-riences a new factor of demand. This newdemand is primarily directed against salt,certain metals, certain textiles (linen cloth),as well as gunpowder and lead.68
Hence, for the southern regions we mayconclude that part of the stream of goodsover the mountains («Kj0len») takes theopposite direction of what it did in the clas-sical era of the «birkarler».
Even though the scope of exchange bet-ween the nomads and littoral population ina certain sense was broadened, the extentof this trade should not be exaggerated.The nomads were not able to offer anyalternative supplies of grain/flour, hempand textiles, - all products that were essen-tial to the livelihood of the littoral popula-tion.
Seen from their point of view - andtalking exclusively about the littoral ofsouthern Troms and Nordland - the conclu-sion has to be that the changes in mediationbetween the trade systems made the littoralpopulation more dependent on suppliesfrom the Dano-Norwegian system.
There are two factors that mainly seemto account for the observed changes:
- Firstly, the struggle between the nationstates to get control over territories, resour-ces, population and surplus from the resourceexploitation that was taking place in northernFenno-Scandinavia. This struggle becameaggravated towards the end of the 16th centu-ry, ensuing in armed conflicts and wars aswell; inter alia «Kalmarkrigen» («The Kal-mar War») 1611-13.
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- Secondly, there is the further developmentand extension of reindeer herding as an eco-nomic foundation for the Sami, - those of thelittoral, as well as those of the interior. Ofdecisive importance seems to be the fact thatreindeer herding after A.D. 1600 was takenupon a broader scale by the former «huntingand fishing»-siidas of Guovdageaidnu, Avjo-varre, Tenoby and Ohcejohka, all situated inthe interior.
According to the reindeer census of Karl9th of 160569, reindeer herding - as a ratherspecialised way of living - had been establis-hed to some degree only as far north as thesiida of Rounala, comprising part of thelater parish of Enontekis. The process oflaying the stress more one-sidedly on thereindeer qua resource, seems to have rea-ched the siidas further to the east and northat a later date. As the littoral region adja-cent to these siidas experiences the deve-lopment of the double market structure inthe latter period (1700-50), also integratingthe nomadic Sami as trading agents, thiswould seem quite understandable and time-ly, viewed on the background of the pro-found changes taking place in Sami liveli-hood and resource exploitation at this time.
Concerning the nation states' struggleand its implications for the carrying out oftraditional trade activities, one must firstlytake into account the various measurestaken on Swedish side by the beginning ofthe 17th century, by Karl 9th. His regula-tion of the activities of the «birkarler», byan order of July 22nd, 1602, and simulta-neous stipulation of two yearly markets ineach «lappmark»70 have had lasting impacton the development of trade and trade cen-ters in the interior of northern Fenno-Scan-dinavia.
The establishment of central market-pla-ces within each «lappmark» was furtherpromoted by other measures, as orders forconstructing storage buildings at the mar-ket-places, and installment of officially cer-
tified «weighers» at the markets etc.71
Another measure, working togetherwith this economic ones, was the founda-tion of a number of churches at certainchosen sites among the market-places.72 Inthis way, the rather thorough policy carriedthrough by the Swedish Crown, createdwithin each «lappmark» permanent cen-ters, which combined economic, religious,jurisdictional as well as administrative func-tions.
This policy of Karl 9th may be lookedupon as a continuation of the former «state(realm) household policy» of Gustav Vasa,but may also be viewed as a policy of itsown, with the aim of channelling goods andresources for military purposes. However,that part of the traditionally free tradingactivities of the «birkarler» which compri-sed the littoral of the west and north, wasalso regulated and restricted through aseries of measures taken by Dano-Norwe-gian authorities. During the first years ofthe 17th century, a number of royal orderswere issued to the effect of prohibiting thetraffic of the «birkarler», as well as thenomadic inland Sami, across the moun-tains.73
By the Kalmar War, Denmark-Norwaygot hold of the exclusive right of taxation ofthe littoral Sami from Varanger to Ofoten/Tysfjord. The peace treaty did not, howe-ver, contain any provisions regarding thetrade across the mountains. But followingthe Swedish king's granting of privileges tothe town of Tornea and the other portsaround the Gulf of Bothnia, the Dano-Nor-wegian government adopted an even morerestrictive attitude towards this trade. Theactivities of Swedish merchants on Norwe-gian side were again banned, as conflictingwith the privileges bestowed upon Bergenand Trondheim by the Dano-Norwegiangovernment.74 In the peace treaty following«Hannibalsfeiden»/«Torstenssonkriget»(1644-45), a provision was included, stating
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that:
«... I lijka måtte skall alt Svenskt Köpmanns-lopp med sina varur öfver grentzen i Dan-marek och Norge och de Danskes och Nors-kes köpmannslopp med sine varur öfver grent-zen i Sverige vara förbudet, så på landet somi lands- eller upstäderna ...»
«... likewise shall all Swedish merchants' traf-fic with their,goods across the border intoDenmark and Norway, and the merchants'traffic of the Danish and the Norwegian withtheir goods across the border into Sweden,be prohibited, in the countryside, as well asin towns ...»75
However, institutionalized markets, withparticipation of foreigners, are documen-ted on Dano-Norwegian side shortly afterthe conclusion of this peace. Obviously,time has not been long before the Dano-Norwegian government has found itselfobliged to permit this kind of trade to acertain extent, and redefine/interpret theunconditional prohibition, as stated in thepeace treaty. The idea of establishing suchmarkets where foreign trade should be allo-wed to a minor extent, appears to have beenmentioned for the first time in a royal orderto the vice-regent Hannibal Sehested in1646.76 The designs are further developpedin orders given the governor of the fief Iddand Marker in January 1653.77 The gover-nor of «Nordlandene» (That is to say: Thefief of northern Norway, exclusive Finn-marken), Preben von Ahnen, gets similarinstructions, which allegedly assert thatsuch markets have existed «from oldentimes» («fra Arilds tid»-).78 The final out-come is that Swedish merchants and noma-dic inland Sami are forbidden to cross theborder for trading purposs, «with the excep-tion of their coming to the ordinary mar-kets».
Thus, from 1653 and onwards, the stateof law within both nation states appears tohave been that trade carried out by Swedish
merchants with the Sami was allowed onlyin connection with certain, institutionalizedmarkets, established and authorized byroyal sanction.
8. Conclusion
In the main, this reexamination of the evi-dence has proven those authors to be right,who argue that certain markets in the litto-ral of Nordland in Norway, as well as somemarkets in the central and southern inlandregion, were in existence before A.D. 1600.In general this view is held by Fjellströmand Bergling. However, when it comes tothe concrete, detailed enumeration of theseparate markets being in existence at diffe-rent points of time, Bergling's view seemsto get the best corroboration by the eviden-ce. Several of the markets in Nordland,which Fjellström includes as dating backbefore A.D. 1600, are in fact not mentio-ned in written sources until much later. -On the other hand, she excludes from thisearly period the Varanger market, whereasthis examination has rendered fairly solidgrounds for assuming that this market wasin existence already in the first half of the16th century. (Hans Eriksson's letter of1530.)
The reexamination has further given athand that the occurence of markets wentthrough considerable changes during thetwo periods which has been studied. Inshort, the development can be said to havemoved towards a greater degree of institu-tionalization, through a broader extensionof patterns that originally were specific formore limited areas, or a few markets. Thus,one main pattern appears to have been «ge-neralized» for the inland regions, while thelittoral of the west and north saw the gene-ralization of two distinct patterns, -respec-tively in the north (northern Troms andFinnmark), and in the south (southern
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Troms and Nordland). Among otherthings, this development is manifested inthe establishment and institutionalizationof a series of new markets in the secondperiod, A.D. 1700-1750. As the primaryfactors, which can account for this develop-ment, we have underlined the developmenton a wide scale of reindeer herding as asource of livelihood among the Sami, aswell as the measures taken by the nationstates in their competition and rivalry forterritories, resources and people in nor-thern Fenno-Scandinavia, with ensuingefforts to control and channel the tradeactivities.
The objections raised against Fjellströmand Johnsen, for pushing the origin fartherback than the evidence allows, may also bemade against Kiil, to the degree that hereally is to be read as asserting that thesemarkets played a role prior to the middle ofthe 16th century. As we have noted, hismode of expression is rather implicit. Anot-her difficulty that confronts us by readingKiil, is the implicit connection he simulta-neously draws between the «Sami markets»as such, and the migratory routes attachedto reindeer nomadism. While the connec-tion between the development of reindeernomadism on one hand, and the occurenceof markets and market trading on the other,has been heavily stressed in this paper too;this applies to the later period. Most scho-lars now also agree that reindeer nomadismwas developped on a broader scale fromthe late 16th century and the beginnings ofthe 17th, and onwards. This obviouslycomes into conflict with Kill's assertion thatmarkets of this character and as documen-ted by Schnitler should have played a roleeven in the middle of the 16th century.
The warning implicitly stated by Kols-rud, that not all the markets in Nordlandnecessarily have to be as old as asserted bySchnitler, therefore seems quite justified.However, one should not go to the opposite
extreme, assuming that all these marketswere constructions of Schnitler and thegovernment, made to facilitate control, tax-collecting and administration of the Sami.Quite a number of markets in Nordland arewell supported by other evidence from thefirst half of the 18th century - from timesprior to Schnitler's examinations and thegovernments' efforts to establish the bestfoundations for the negotiations aiming atdrawing up the border between the twonation states.79
As to the markets of northern Tromsand Finnmark, this examination has provenJohnsen (and those authors who are basingthemselves on him), to be generalizing tooheavily on the basis of what is supposed tobe known about the Varanger market.However, this would appear more than out-weighed by the evidence of the letter of1530, which indicates a trade meeting inVaranger qualifying as a market in ourterms, - not unlikely known as the «Va-ranger market» later. The central questionis whether this evidence of the Varangerarea can be made valid for the other fjordsof Finnmark and northern Troms as well.According to the opinion put forth in thispaper, this cannot be done. This goes backto the definition of «markets» proper, assuggested above.
In my opinion, Johnsen and the authorsfollowing him, do not have any clear con-cept of «markets», specifying which condi-tions have to be fulfilled, for classifying atrade meeting as a market. As a consequen-ce, they are not able to distinguish betweenthose meetings that qualify as «markets»,and other, bilateral forms of trade, invol-ving only one group of producers and onegroup/representative of professional mer-chants. By stressing this, I do not wish tounderrate the importance of such trade;e.g. the annual visits of the «birkarler» tothe littoral region, or the more or less per-manent representation of the Dano-Nor-
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wegian trade system in many parts of thelittoral, - but I will question the usefulnessfor further research to subsume these phe-nomena under the notion «markets».
Notes:
1) Østlyngen 1977: 170,230; Reports by«lensmenn», as e.g.quoted in «Menne-ske og miljø i Nord-Troms, Årbok forNord-Troms 1978, p. 10-11.
2) Østlyngen 1977: 296.3) NRR I: 698-699.4) «Hartvig Billes erklæring» av 22. juli
1609, NRA, Danske kanselli, Norskeinnlegg 1574-1615.
5) Regarding the definition of a «mar-ket», vide inter alia: Max Weber, TheCity, New York - London 1966 (1968),p. 66; Karl Polanyi, The Great Trans-formation. The Political and EconomicOrigins of our Time, Boston 1957,p.58; Aksel E. Christensen, «Dansktorve- og markedsvæsen i middelalde-ren», Nordisk Kultur XVI, Oslo -Stockholm - København 1934, p. 181-190; Orla Vestergaard, «Marked»,KLNM, vol. 11, col. 445; Börje Hans-sen, Österlen. Allmoge, köpstafolk &kultursammanhang vid slutet av 1700-talet i sydöstra Skåne, 1952, new editionÖstervåla 1977, particularly p. 270-301; Bergling 1964: 131-132.
6) Nor will the fact that the «birkarler»had established storage buildings andhouses («bodar och huusz») by theLyngen fjord about 1600, be construedas evidence of an existing «market» atthis time. The evidence do however,demonstrate that the «birkarler» hadestablished a point of support in thelittoral, for their travels along thecoast, as they also had done inVaranger, and were trying to do in
Tysfjord. (NRA, Danske kanselli,Skapsaker, Skap 15, pk.125; cfr. EmilLarsen, Lyngen bygdebok I, Tromsø1976, p.62, 418; and Johnsen 1923: 40.
7) ÖNH I: 319-342; I. Hammarström,Finansförvaltning och varuhandel1504-1540, Studier i de yngre sturarnasoch Gustav Vasas statshushållning,Uppsala 1956, 72 pp.; N. Friberg, G.Kerkkonen, A. Luukko, V. Mattila,H. Yrwing, «Bondeseglation»,KLNM, vol. 2, col. 104-113; N. Fri-berg, «Norrbottenshandel», KLNM,vol. 12, col. 348-354.
8) Storå 1977; Nickul 1977.9) Analysis of the trade relations of
various groups of Sami, made by theauthor in the unpublished manuscript:«Handelssamkvemmet på Nordkalot-ten ca. 1550-ca. 1750», Del IV. Dettotale systemet i fase 1: ca. 1550-1600,chapter 1 (Figure 1), and section 3.2,67 pp.
10) Fellman IV: 361-362; HSH: 231-237.11) Fellman I: 455; ÖNHI: 334 pp. ; Tegen-
gren 1952: 27; A. Luukko, «Ryska köp-män», KLNM, vol. 14, col. 518-521.
12) HSH: 126 pp.13) Fellman IV: 48-55.14) Hoppe 1945:60; Steckzén 1964: 344;
Bergling 1964:146, 152 (note), 216.15) Bergling 1964: 146-156, with the evi-
dence quoted there.16) Vide «Nommedals leens beskriffuelse»
(«Description of the fief of Namda-len»), Hist.-Top. :166.
«Men hinne willde lapper, som holder till widfieldenne pleyer 2 gange eller 3 huertt aar attkomme hid ned med deris Finde skat, ochdaa førrer de dyne war, som ere giorde afrenshuder, och Finde Sko, och Findehandske ned och selge for mad, for sølff ochfor klede, men helst wille de haffue giordtsølff, som er sølff skeder, kaabe spender ochandit saadant giordt sølff.»
«But those wild Sami, who are living by the
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mountains, usually come down two or threetimes every year with their tax («finneskatt»),and then they bring down quilt covers, madeof reindeer skins, and Sami brogues, andSami gloves, and barter for food, silver andcloth; but they prefer made silver, which issilver spoons, coat buckles and other madesilver.»
Vide moreover: «Claus Urnes erklæring(statement)» of august 1599, NRA, Danskekanselli, Skapsaker, Skap 15, pk. 125B:
«... Thydtzfiordt begøndis wed thydtznes ogSt(recker) Sig 2 store vgesøe ind thill thiør-ness, huilke(t) finderne Berether adt wereRett skiueienn huor Laperne kommer nederAff fieldene mz theris kiøbmandskaff...»
«... Tysfjord takes its start at Tysnes andextends 2 great «vgesøe» (= measure of dis-tance, in northern Norway approximatelyequal to 8 nautical miles; originally the dis-tance one could be rowing a boat withoutintervals at the oars,) inwards to Kjårnes,which the Finns (= littoral Sami) report asbeing the right way to the sea, where theLapps (= inland Sami) come down from themountains with their commerce ...»
«... Offoden begøndis wed enn gaardt hederskarstadt fieldt, och Streker sig lengst ind paabotnen i Øster, 2. vgesøes till enn gaardtheder Hergotten, huilket er Rett skiueienn,der finderne komer neder mz dieris kiøb-mandtzskap, och er en stoer dags Reigssetherfraa thill Chøllenn, eller field røgenn...»
«... Ofoten takes its start at a farm calledSkarstad (fjell), and extends into the inner-most parts in the east, 2 «vgesøes» to a farmcalled Hergotten, which is the right way tothe sea, where the «finner» (=Sami) comedown with their commerce, and from thereto Kjølen or the mountain ridge, is a goodday's journey ...»
17) Qvigstad & Wiklund II: 227; FellmanIV: 55 (Complaints made by the Rou-nala Sami against Niels Oravainen),99.
18) SRA, Kammararkivet, Landskaps-handlingar, Västerbottens fogderi och
Norrlands Lappmarker, microfilmsnos. CD 2057-2059 and CD 2087-2093(1551-1607); NLR V: 244-252.
19) Steckzén 1964: 378.20) Ræstad 1928:227.21) DN XIV: 117, 141; E. Bull, Jemtland
og Norge, (new edition) Östersund1970, p. 85-88, 187-191; N. Hallan,Jemter på Levangsmarknaden i 1680-årene, Trondheim 1966.
22) Olaus Magnus, Historia om de Nord-iska Folken, IV. Delen, Roma 1555 -Uppsala & Stockholm 1925, 20. boken,166 pp.
23) Cfr. note 7. - Unpublished estimatesmade by the author, in: «Handelssam-kvemmet på Nordkalotten ca. 1550-ca.1750, Del III: De «nasjonale» handels-systemene, Chapter 3: Det svenskehandelssystemet, section 3.4.1.4: Norr-landstollen. (Manuscript.)
24) ÖNH I: 265 pp., 334; Enequist 1937:40.
25) Hoppe 1945:57; Enequist 1937:27 pp.;- Unpublished estimates made by theauthor, in: «Handelssamkvemmet påNordkalotten ca. 1550-ca. 1750, DelIII: De «nasjonale» handelssystemene,Chapter 3: Det svenske handelssyste-met, sections 3.4.1.1. and 3.4.2.1., par-ticularly table 8, and figures 2-9.
26) Inter alia quoted by Tegengren 1952:26 pp.
27) Cfr. note 25.28) Steckzén 1964: 352-362.29) Gustaf den förstas Registratur 1550, p.
57; ÖNH I: 326.30) A. Luukko, «Ryska köpmän», KLNM,
vol. 14, col. 518-521, Tegengren 1952:27-28.
31) HSH: 103; G. Fletcher, TheAmbassage of M.G.F., sent from hermaiestie to Theodor the Emperor ofRussia Anno 1588, Hakluyt, The Prin-cipal Navigations, Voyages and Disco-veries of the English Nation, I, London
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1599, (Facsimile Reprint, Cambridge1965.), p. 429.
32) DN VIII: 642-643 (March 6th, 1530).33) Cfr. note 9. Moreover, The «Matricul»
of Niels Knag 1694, and «Joerde-Boegog Mandtal ofuer Nordmend og Finnerudj Ost og West Findmarchen ...»,NNS I, 1. hefte, Oslo 1932, p. 22 and34.
34) Ibid.35) Assize minutes for Finnmark, No. 11,
fol. 54b et seq. (Sept. 10th, 1677);Royal decree of Dec. 10th, 1698, quo-ted by Lilienskiold, NNS IV, 4. hefte,Oslo 1943, p.291 and 293; Chr. B.Harøe, «Findmarchens Beschrifuelse»,NNS I, 2. hefte, p. 67.
36) NRR I: 698-699.37) NRR I: 700.38) NRR I: 697-698.39) NRR II: 243.40) DN VIII: 582-583 (Spring? 1528.)41) DN XIV: 731-732.42) NRA, Rentekammeret, county
accounts, Vardøhus, pk. 1, accountsfor 1593/94, 1595/96 and 1596/97.
43) Hakluyt, The Principal Navigationsetc., I, p. 294.
44) E.g. «Finnmarkens Beskrivelse afErkebiskop Erik Walkendorf», publis-hed by Gustav Storm in: Det NorskeGeografiske Selskabs Aarbog XII,1900-01, Kristiania 1902, particularlynote 6, p. 16-17.
45) DN VIII: 642-643.46) Vide instructions for the tax-collecting
among the Sami (particularly of theKola peninsula) issued by czar Vasilij(III) Ivanovič 1517, quoted by Lilien-skiold, Speculum Boreale II, NNS VII,Oslo 1945, 185 pp. and Schnitler III:151.
47) NNS I, 1. hefte, Oslo 1932, p. 22.48) Inter alia by Fletcher 1588, and Steven
Burrow 1557, both in: Hakluyt, ThePrincipal Navigations etc., I, p. 294,
429.49) Steven Burrow 1557, ibid.50) The Statement of Daniel Thordsson
Hjort, issued at Hornötorp, April 28th.1606, HSH: 189 pp.; Bergling 1964:152-156.
51) Assize proceedings at Kjelvik 1705,quoted by Qvigstad 1921: 6. Assizeproceedings in Teno and Utzioki (=Ohcejohka), February 10th and 11th,1538, rendered by Fellman I: 495 pp.;«Excerpts of the Magistrate Protocolof Torneå City», March 19th, 1754,rendered by Fellman I: 244 pp.
52) Hans Skankes Epitomes Historiæ Mis-sionis Lapponicæ, Pars IV, NNS V, 1.hefte, Oslo 1943, p. 10-11; Schnitler I:211, 383, 472, 474; Schnitler II: 346-347, 368, 380; Qvigstad & Wiklund II:31-32; Hans Hammond, Den nordiskeMissions-Historie, København 1787, p.747.
53) Østlyngen 1977: 52-55, 69.54) Emil Larsen, Lyngen bygdebok I,
Tromsø 1976, 102 pp.55) Tegengren 1952: 137.56) Fellman I: 472, 493.57) Fellman IV: 394; Fellman I: 244 pp.58) Qvigstad & Wiklund I: 491.59) Lilienskiold, Speculum Boreale, «Om
Negocien», NNS IV, 4. hefte, Oslo1943, p. 313-314.
60) Assize minutes of Finnmark.61) Rheen: 57 pp.62) Lilienskiold, Speculum Boreale, NNS
IV, 3. hefte, Oslo 1942, p. 217. - Agreater Dano-Norwegian interest forfurs is possibly reflected in Swedishevidence from the beginning of the 17thcentury: «Lappska fogdarnes relationaf år 1614 angående bristen på skinnva-ror i Lappmarken», Fellman I: 457 pp.;Royal decree, referred at the assizeproceedings in Varanger, February10th, 1657 (Assize minutes of Finn-mark); and assize proceedings in
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autumn, at Kiberg, Sept. 10th, 1677:Knud Nielsen, the servant of OlufOlsen Blachstad, was taken to court oncharge of disloyalty to his master.While he had been trading with theBáhčeveaj Sami, he had received fursof foxes and otters.
63) Rheen: 57-60; Schnitler II: 145, 203,379; «Om Lappernis Væsen i Leve-maade og Afgudsdyrckelse i Nordlan-dene fra forrige Tiider», NNS V, 2.hefte, Oslo 1945, p. 159-160; Qvigstad& Wiklund I: 452-453; Qvigstad & Wik-lund II: 31-32, 45.
64) Rheen: 57-60; Schnitler II: 203, 379;«Om Lappernis Væsen etc., NNS V, 2.hefte, Oslo 1945, p. 159-160; Qvigstad& Wiklund I: 479; Qvigstad & WiklundII: 31-32, 45.
65) Rheen: 57-60; Schnitler II: 203.66) Rheen: 57-60; Qvigstad & Wiklund II,
31-32.67) Schnitler II: 379.68) Cfr. note 63. Moreover: A. Helland,
Norges Land og Folk topografisk-statis-tisk beskrevet, Finmarken amt, I, p.773.
69) Analysed by Hultblad 1968: 59 pp.70) Fellman IV: 92-93.71) HSH: 189 pp.72) HSH: 207 pp.; Fellman IV: 132 pp.73) NRR IV: 300-301, 436-437; «Instruc-
tions for Negociations concerning themountain Sami 1613», quoted by Qvig-stad & Wiklund II: 288-293.
74) NRR VI: 167-168; the prohibition alsoreferred at the assize proceedings atVardøhus (castle), June or July 16th,1630, assize minutes of Finnmarken,No. 2, fol. 79 et seq.
75) L. Laursen, Danmark-Norges traktater1523-1750, med dertil hørende aktstyk-ker, vol. IV, 1626-1649, København1917, 418 pp.
76) NRR VIII: 417-418.77) NRR X: 555 pp.
78) NRR XI: 78.79) Vefsn/Halsøy: The notes of A.C. Dass
1731-32, quoted by Schnitler II: 79;Melchior Ramus' map of northern Nor-way, about 1690, NRA, Grensearki-vet; Rana: According to Coldevin,Rana bygdebok, p. 326, officially aut-horized in 1730; Rognan in Saltdalen:«Hans Skankes Epitomes ..., Part IV»,NNS V, 1. hefte, Oslo 1943, p. 22;Tørrfjord in Sørfolda: Carl Linnaeus:Lapplands resa, år 1732.
References:
Bergung 1964 = Bergung, Ragnar, Kyrk-staden i Övre Norrland, SkytteanskaSamfundets Handlingar, No. 3 - 1964,Umeå 1964.
Enequist 1937 = Enequist, Gerd, NedreLuledalens byar. En kulturgeografiskstudie. Geographica, Skrifter frånUpsala Universitets Geografiska Institu-tion, Nr. 4, Uppsala 1937.
Fjellström 1962 = Fjellström, Phebe,Lapskt silver. Studier över en föremåls-grupp och dess ställning inom lapskt kul-turliv. Skrifter utgivna genom Lands-måls- og Folkminnesarkivet i Uppsala,Ser. C:3, Uppsala 1962.
Hoppe 1945 = Hoppe, Gunnar, Vägarnainom Norrbottens Län. Studier över dentrafikgeografiska utvecklingen från1500-talet till våre dagar. Geographica,Skrifter från Upsala Universitets Geogra-fiska Institution, Nr. 16, Uppsala 1945.
Hultblad 1968 = Hultblad, Filip, Övergångfrån nomadism till agrar bosättning iJokkmokk socken. Nordiska Museet:Acta Lapponica XIV, Lund 1968.
Johnsen 1923 = Johnsen, Oscar Albert,Finmarkens politiske historie. Viden-skapselskapets Skrifter II, Hist.filos.Klasse, 1922, No. 31, Kristiania 1923.
Kiil 1935 = Kiil, Alf, Nordlandshandelen i
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det 17. århundre, Svorkmo 1935.KLNM = Kulturhistorisk leksikon for
nordisk middelalder, 1956-1978.Kolsrud 1947 = Kolsrud, Knut, Finnefol-
ket i Ofoten. Nordnorske samlingerutgitt av Etnografisk Museum, VIII, Oslo1947.
Nickul 1977 = Nickul, Karl, Skoltsitansarkiv, in: Samenes og sameområdenesrettslige stilling historisk belyst, Institut-tet for sammenliknende kulturforskning,Serie A: XXVIII, Oslo - Bergen -Tromsø 1977.
Paine 1957 = Paine, Robert, Coast LappSociety, I, A study of Neighbourhood inRevsbotn Fjord. Tromsø MuseumsSkrifter, vol. IV, Tromsø 1957.
Paulaharju 1975 = Paulaharju, Samuli,Hågkomster från nordliga nejder (Van-haa Lappia ja Peräpohjaa), Uddevalla1975.
Qvigstad 1921 = Qvigstad, Just, Denkvænske indvandring til Nord-Norge.Tromsø Museums Årshefter, 43 (1920)no. 1, Tromsø 1921.
Ræstad 1928 = Ræstad, Arnold, Lappe-skatten og lappenes rettigheter i Norgefør 1751, in: Festskrift til rektor J. Qvig-stad, Tromsø Museums Skrifter, vol. II,Tromsø 1928.
Steckzén 1964 = Steckzén, Birger, Birkarleroch Lapper. En studie i birkarleväsen-dets, lappbefolkningens och skinnhan-delns historia. Kungl. Vitterhets, Historieoch Antikvitets Akademiens Handlingar.Historiska Serien 9, Stockholm 1964.
Storå 1977 = Storå, Nils, De ryska klostrenoch Kola-samernas rätt till jakt ochfiske, in: Samenes og sameområdenesrettslige stilling historisk belyst. Institut-tet for sammenliknende kulturforskning,Serie A: Forelesninger XXVIII, Oslo -Bergen - Tromsø 1977.
Tegengren 1952 = Tegengren, Helmer, Enutdöd lappkultur i Kemi Lappmark. Stu-dier i Nordfinlands kolonisationshisto-
ria. Acta Academiae Åboensis, Huma-niora XIX, 1, Åbo 1952.
Vorren & Manker 1976 = Vorren, Ørnulvog Manker, Ernst, Samekulturen,(Tromsø Museums Skrifter, vol. V,Tromsø 1958), ny utgave: Tromsø-Ber-gen - Oslo 1976.
ÖNH = Övre Norrlands Historia, utgivenav Norrbottens och Væsterbottens länslandsting. Del I: Tiden till 1600, Umeå1962, - Del II: Tiden 1600-1721, Umeå1965.
Østlyngen 1977 = Østlyngen, Guri, Bosse-kop marked 1600-1880. Fra lappemar-ked til offisielt marked. (Ms., Cand.phi-lol. dissertation, University of Trond-heim, 1977.)
Printed documents
DN = Diplomatarium Norvegicum, vol.I-XXI, Christiania/Oslo-Bergen, 1847-1972.
Fellman = Handlingar och Uppsatserangående Finska Lappmarken och Lap-parne, samlade och utgifna af Isak Fell-man, vol. I-IV, Helsingfors 1910-1915.
Hist.-Top = Historisk-topografiske Skrif-ter om Norge og norske Landsdele, for-fattet i Norge i det 16de Aarhundrede,publ. by Gustav Storm, Christiania 1895.
HSH = Handlingar rörande SkandinaviensHistoria, 39. Delen, Stockholm 1858.
NLR = Norske Lensrekneskapsbøker1548-1567, vol. I-VI, Oslo 1937-43.
NNS = Nordnorske Samlinger, utgitt avEtnografisk Museum, vol. I-VIII, Oslo1932-47.
NRR = Norske Rigs-Registranter, utg. forKildeskriftfondet, vol. I-XII, Christiania1861-91.
Qvigstad & Wiklund = Qvigstad, J. ogWiklund, K. B., Dokumenterangaaende flytlapperne m.m. samlede
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efter renbeitekommissionens opdrag,vol. I-II, Kristiania 1909.
Rheen = Rheen, Samuele, En kortt Rela-tion om Lapparnes Lefwarne och Sed-her, wijdSkiepellsser, sampt i mångaStycken Grofwe wildfarellsser. Bidragtill kännedom om de Svenska Landsmå-len och Svenskt Folkliv, XVII, 1, Upp-sala 1897.
Schnitler = Major Peter Schnitlers gren-seeksaminasjonsprotokoller 1742-1745,utgitt av Kjeldeskriftfondet, Vol. I-III,Oslo 1929-85.
Sammenfatning
Artikkelen drøfter utviklingen av, og funk-sjonene til ulike markeder på Nordkalotteni eldre tid, gjennom å fokusere på to perio-der, henholdsvis 1550-1600 og 1700-1750.
Alment har det i forskningslitteraturenvært hevdet to hovedoppfatninger vedrø-rende markedenes alder og oppkomst: Ensom går ut fra at markedene er gamle fore-teelser, som klart strekker seg bakenfor1600, og kanskje helt tilbake til middelalde-ren (Johnsen 1923, Paine 1957, Kiil 1935,Fjellström 1962 og Bergling 1964); og enannen som vil antyde at i hvert fall noenmarkeder kan være nyskapninger på 1700-tallet, som er kommet i stand som følge avtaktiske overveielser fra nasjonalstatenesside, i deres dragkamp om befolkning, res-surser og landområder på Nordkalotten(Kolsrud 1947). Behandlingen av markederi litteraturen har forøvrig i stor grad værtpreget av at andre problemstillinger harstått i første rekke (unntatt Østlyngen1977), og at undersøkelsene er avgrenset tilenkelte deler av Nordkalotten. Ofte harulike kilder som omtaler handels-kontakteller -relasjoner vært tolket som vitnebyrdom markedshandel som sådan, uten at dethar blitt lagt til grunn noen nærmere angittdefinisjon av «marked», og uten at en har
spurt seg om menneskene bak disse kildenevirkelig har lagt det samme i den typenhandel de omtaler, som det vi kjenner fraseinere tiders tradisjon om «markedshan-del».
Opp mot dette stiller artikkelforfatterenfor det første en klar definisjon (avsnitt 4)som går ut på at «markeder er regelmessigtilbakevendende møter, på et bestemt stedog til bestemte tider, i den hensikt å drivebytte, eller kjøp og salg av ulike produk-ter». - Forfatteren foreslår dessuten at defi-nisjonen utvides med to alternative tilleggs-forutsetninger, hvor minst én må væreoppfylt for at en skal kunne tale om etmarked på Nordkalotten i det aktuelle tids-rom: «1) Handelsmøtet må bli oppsøkt avandre grupper produsenter enn de sompermanent er bosatt på, eller i tilknytningtil vedkommende markeds-sted, - eller hardet som en sesong-boplass innenfor en flyt-tesyklus; eller 2) handelsmøtet må bli opp-søkt av mer enn én gruppe profesjonellehandelsfolk.» Hensikten med disse tilleggs-forutsetningene er å ivareta et element av«konkurranse» som synes å ligge i markeds-begrepet, og på den ene siden holde utenforulike redistributive arrangement som kanforekomme mellom ulike grupper innenforen samisk siida i løpet av oppholdet på denfeiles vinter-boplassen. På den andre sidenekskluderes også permanente handels-forbindelser mellom én gruppe produsen-ter og én handelspartner. (Eksempelvismellom en lokal handelsmann og befolk-ningen i en fjord, eller mellom én gruppe«birkarier» og én same-siida på vinter-boplassen.)
Dernest understreker forfatteren beho-vet for å betrakte markedene i egenskap avinstitusjoner på bakgrunn av det totale han-delssamkvemmet på Nordkalotten, og sær-skilt for å fokusere på de formidlings-funk-sjonene som markedene ivaretok, mellomde tre omfattende «nasjonale handelssyste-mene» som dominerte Nordkalotten: Det
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dansk-norske (tradisjonelt kalt Nordlands-handelen, Finnmarkshandelen), 'detsvenske (herunder innbefattet finske han-delsmenn i nord), og det russiske. Marke-dene drøftes med utgangspunkt i spørsmå-lene: Hvem handlet og sto i forbindelsemed hvem? Var aktørene hovedsaklig pro-dusenter eller profesjonelle handelsfolk?Hva slags transaksjoner foregikk? Hvilkefunksjoner tjente markedene med henblikkpå formidlingen mellom handelssysteme-ne?
På bakgrunn av en kortfattet gjennom-gang av strukturen til de tre «nasjonale»handelssystemene (avsnitt 5), skisseres det4 hovedgrupper markeder i periode 1(1550-1600): a) en gruppe handelsmøter iden sørlige innlandsregionen, som erkjennetegnet av at innlandssamer står ikontakt med representanter for det svenskesystemet; b) et møte mellom innlandssamer,- som såvidt har tatt til å flytte ut på fjellpar-tiene på halvøyene langs kysten av Nord-land og Sør-Troms - og kystsamer, som hversommer reiser innover i fjordene, på som-mersete; c) handelsaktivitetene i betydeligeregionale sentra som Torneå og Kola, somkarakteriseres som omlastnings-Aitskip-nings-havner og omsetnings-sentra, hvorprofesjonelle handelsfolk fra flere systemerer dominerende; og endelig d) markedsakti-viteter i Varanger, i Aiddegoppe (Kjørvåg)på Fiskerhalvøya, og på Kildinøya, somalle tre er kjennetegnet av at flere ulikeprodusentgrupper (med ulik tilpasningsåvel økologisk som kulturelt) står i kon-takt med flere ulike grupperinger av profe-sjonelle handelsfolk. Alle disse markedenehar formidlings-funksjoner, unntatt de iden første kategorien.
Etter en undersøkelse av forholdene iperiode 2 (1700-1750), trekkes det føl-gende slutninger: 1) I den sørligere inn-landsregionen trekkes markedsaktivitetenéinn i det samiske bosetningsrådet, til ettsentralt marked om vinteren innenfor hver
«lappmark». Forøvrig beholdes innholdetav disse møtene. 2) Også innenfor Tornelappmark tillempes dette mønstret, menher finnes det flere markedsplasser innen-for én og samme lappmark. Dette innebæ-rer en fastere institusjonalisering av gamleforhold. Dette gjelder forøvrig også han-delsmøter i Porsanger og Laksefjord, ikystregionen. 3) I Kemi lappmark foregårdet likeledes en formell tillempning av detsamme mønstret, men her påvirkes likevelinnholdet av handelsrelasjonene kraftig avden ekspanderende finske agrare boset-ningen. 4) I Varanger hersker det kontinui-tet fra foregående periode med hensyn tilsåvel form, innhold som institusjonalise-ring. 5) Vest-Finnmark og Nord-Tromsopplever en overgang til en dobbelt struk-tur, ved at mønstret med faste, institusjona-liserte handelsmøter om vinteren tillempespå en dobbelt måte: Ved et såkalt «lappe-marked» 4-5 uker før jul, og et «borger-»eller «kven»-marked 4-5 uker etter jul.Dette innebærer en sterkere integrasjonbåde av produsenter og av profesjonellehandelsfolk, enn i den første perioden. Fordet første oppsøker nå innlandssamene,som har slått inn på reinnomadismen, han-delspartnere ved kysten på en organisertmåte (- både lokale produsenter og profe-sjonelle handelsfolk). Tidligere hadde desvenske handelsmennene vært alene om åkomme ned til kysten om vinteren. Dernestforekommer det også sterkere interesse frahandelsfolk innenfor det dansk-norskesystemet. I dette området foregår det altsåen utvidelse av handelsrelasjonene. 6) Sør-Troms og Nordland opplever i kontrast tildette en reduksjon av omfanget av handels-forbindelser østover, i og med at det blirslutt på de svenske handelsmennenesbesøk. Her bir de nomadiserte innlandssa-mene alene igjen, om å ivareta trafikken.Gjennom en særskilt mellomhandel, over-tar de nok noe av de gamle funksjonene til«birkarlene», men i det store og hele er de
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ikke i stand til å overta rollen til de profesjo-nelle handelsfolkene. Tvert om kommer nåinnlandssamene til å utgjøre en ny etter-spørselsfaktor for den dansk-norske«Nordlandshandelen», under sine besøk ikystlandet. Også i denne regionen ser til-knytningen til det dansk-norske systemetut til å bli sterkere.
Handelsmøtene kan altså sies å ha under-gått en utvikling i retning av større institu-sjonalisering i løpet av de to periodenesom er undersøkt. Dette skjer delvis gjen-nom en videre utbredelse av mønstre somopprinnelig gjaldt for mindre, avgrensedeområder. Slik er det stort sett blitt tillempetett mønster for innlandet, mens kystregio-nen opplever utbredeisen av to forskjeiligemønstre, henholdsvis for Nord-Troms ogVest-Finnmark på den ene siden, og forSør-Troms og Nordland på den andre. Somet uttrykk for denne institusjonaliseringen,etableres det også en lang rekke nye marke-der i løpet av 2. halvdel av 1600-tallet og 1.halvdel av 1700-tallet.
Som de fremste faktorene som bidrar tilå forklare denne utviklingen, nevnes: 1)Kampen mellom nasjonalstatene for åskaffe seg størst mulig kontroll over territo-rium, befolkning, ressurser og produksjons-overskudd på Nordkalotten. Dette innebarogså en målsetning om størst mulig grad avkontroll med, og dirigering av handelen, -noe som bl.a. resulterte i offentlig autori-serte markeder både på svensk og dansk-
norsk side. 2) Den videre utviklingen ogekspansjonen av rein-nomadismen somgrunnleggende ervervsform blant samene,utover det nivå og den geografiske utstrek-ning denne tilpasningsformen hadde omlag 1600.
Gjennomgangen viser at generelt sett harde forfattere rett, som har hevdet at enkeltemarkeder i Nordland i Norge, samt noen iinnlandsregionen, går svært langt tilbake itid. Dette gjelder Fjellström (1962) ogBergling (1964). Når det gjelder den kon-krete oppregningen av markeder, synesBerglings fremstilling å være mest i samsvarmed det kildematerialet som er gjennom-gått her. Det stilles videre spørsmålstegnved om det er mulig å generalisere ut fraVaranger-markedet, til de øvrige marke-dene i Finnmark og Nord-Troms, slik John-sen (1923) synes å ha en tendens til å gjøre.Siden det har foregått en betydelig institu-sjonalisering frem til periode 2, som bl.a.har innebåret opprettelse av flere marke-der, synes den implisitte advarselen tilKolsrud (1947) å være på sin plass. Imidler-tid må man ikke gå så langt at man uteluk-ker alle markeder belagt i 1700-talls-mate-rialet (og særskilt Schnitlers grenseeksami-nasjons-protokoller,) fordi de kan være«nyskapninger». Til det er alt for mangemarkeder belagt i kildemateriale som eruavhengig av de taktiske regjerings-over-veielsene, og som også løper forur for dissei tid.
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