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Thursday 13 April 2023 16.30 - 18.30
W-8 URB05 Urban Development in Early Modern Period
Västra Hamngatan 25 AK2 135
Network: Urban Chair: Stephan Sander-Faes
Organizers: - Discussant: Erik Odegard
Aske Laursen Brock : In the Shadow of the Sound Toll: Urban Development in Elsinore, 1550-1700
How did negotiations between the Danish state, town magistrates of Elsinore and the general population shape urban development in Elsinore during the sixteenth and seventeenth century? How did the town’s composition influence socioeconomic development? During this period, Elsinore was the third largest town in Denmark proper. Though the population did ... (Show more)
How did negotiations between the Danish state, town magistrates of Elsinore and the general population shape urban development in Elsinore during the sixteenth and seventeenth century? How did the town’s composition influence socioeconomic development? During this period, Elsinore was the third largest town in Denmark proper. Though the population did not surpass 5,000 during the early modern period, the town shared some traits with some of the more populous and cosmopolitan towns around Europe. Due to the sound toll, the income gathered from the town constituted between five and ten percent of Denmark’s income. This in turn made the town an important commercial node in Europe and attracted people from across the continent. For a century, part of the town – Sandet – was known as Little Amsterdam due to the many Dutch migrants and both Dutch and Scottish migrants came to hold office in the town. Sandet was later burned down by Swedish invaders, but Dutch merchants and artisans continued to leave their mark on the social and economic life. In the seventeenth century, around 30% of the town’s population was migrants, which greatly influenced the urban development in Elsinore. Moreover, due to the town importance for the sound toll, a large garrison was always present at the town’s castle Kronborg. At times, soldiers and their family constituted as much as fifty per cent of the town’s population. They were often lodging in town but were under a different jurisdiction than the general populace. This too created a special dynamic and influenced negotiations between town and state concerning the development of the town. Using municipal auditors’ accounts (kæmnerregnskaber), tax records, probate records, the sound toll accounts and court proceedings from the period, this paper seeks to provide a holistic account of the many varied determinants for urban development in Elsinore. (Show less)

Karol Lopatecki, Piotr Guzowski & Radoslaw Poniat : Military Camps as the Seasonal Cities in the Polish-Lithuanian State (16th-17th cc.)
The shaping of the old-Polish military school, as well as the specificity of the Polish type of troops brought about extraordinary organizational formations, which were military camps. They were places founded in spring and operating till early autumn. After this period, the troops dispersed to so-called winter quarters. The system ... (Show more)
The shaping of the old-Polish military school, as well as the specificity of the Polish type of troops brought about extraordinary organizational formations, which were military camps. They were places founded in spring and operating till early autumn. After this period, the troops dispersed to so-called winter quarters. The system was unique in Europe, which was a consequence of the geopolitical specificity of the Polish Crown. The Polish state bordered in the south-east on the Crimean Khanate, in the functioning of which cyclical raids onto the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania played an important role. Their aim was not to conquer new territories; they had strictly economic purposes. Tartar chambuls (units of Tartar troops) robbed, took livestock, foremost abducted people, who were subsequently sold on the territory of the Ottoman Empire.
In order to protect from such expeditions, from the 16th century onwards the so called “common defense system” was organized. One of the elements of this system was military camp, fortified and supplied with artillery, from where the action of alarming the civilians could be carried out. The military camp could be easily moved adjusting its location to the intelligence and diplomatic information about the expected attack of the Tartar forces, which traveled along one of a few routes.
Those camps had become the largest cities in the Commonwealth in the periods of war threats.
The objects had walls, gates, main and smaller streets, had market/s. The function of the town hall was fulfilled by a tent (building) of the commander-in-chief. There was also an execution place. Apart from soldiers and their servants, the camp was also inhibited by the traders, artisans and prostitutes who were creating the vibrant (and hard to control) community. Those cities and their populations were recreated almost every year, according to similar rules described in the military codes and the long-standing practice of the repeated activities. In our paper we are going to focus our interest on those repeated practices that allowed the military and non-military camp populations to recreate their camp/city for many years even if in different locations, and with different commanders. (Show less)



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