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Early Swedish Trading Companies—Shortcut to Migration?

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Managing Mobility in Early Modern Europe and its Empires

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Migration History ((PSMH))

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Abstract

This chapter addresses the dilemma that emerges in examining the first Swedish trading companies in terms of migration. During the seventeenth century, the young King Gustavus II Adolphus began his reign by launching remarkable reforms. Most of them promoted economic growth to strengthen the position of Sweden as a leading northern Empire. In this process, foreign immigrants with their networks were desperately needed, but they were also considered as a threat. This article explores the contradiction of migration through the fresh perspective of legislation. The tools and methods of legal history have mainly been disregarded in historical research into migration. As we know, societies rely on the terms of rules and statutes. During the Early Modern Age, the development of legislation faced modification as intense as Europe as a whole had to face. Innovations and reforms were the seeds of modernization. Migration also had an effect in forming new legislation. From the year 1614, the Swedish King ordered new commercial legislation, which hindered foreigners’ opportunities to trade in Swedish staple cities. For example, the length of residency was strictly defined. At the same time, the Swedish Crown supported Dutch tradesmen in establishing the first Swedish trading companies as part of the foundation of the city of Gothenburg. Legal pluralism explains the complexity of company law. These companies provided an opportunity to serve the general migration legislation in Gothenburg, as well as elsewhere in Sweden. The trading companies had a small but significant role in migration to Sweden, since the effects of migration were not necessarily long-lasting, but were even more effective and important for trade.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Heikki Pihlajamäki sees the changing forms of normativity, including pluralism, as an open-ended cultural and political phenomenon, which explains the various forms of law as a big picture.

  2. 2.

    The dissertation is in Finnish and includes an English summary with the above-mentioned topic.

  3. 3.

    Främmade köpmans rättighet and Extract angående de främmande köpman.

  4. 4.

    See the early years of Usselinckx in his biography, Jameson (1887).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Katja Tikka

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  1. Katja Tikka
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Katja Tikka

  2. Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    Lauri Uusitalo

  3. Faculty of Humanities, University of the National Education Commission, Kraków, Poland

    Mateusz Wyżga

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Tikka, K. (2023). Early Swedish Trading Companies—Shortcut to Migration?. In: Tikka, K., Uusitalo, L., Wyżga, M. (eds) Managing Mobility in Early Modern Europe and its Empires. Palgrave Studies in Migration History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41889-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41889-1_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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