Österland
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Österland, or Österlanden, is a historical land of Sweden. Österland, which literally means eastern lands, is the old name for what today geographically is the southern part of the Republic of Finland. It is bounded to the north by the sparsely populated Norrland.
[edit] Provinces
The following seven provinces formed Österland:
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[edit] History
In the 13th century the kings of the recently christianized Svealand incorporated Finland into their Kingdom under influence from the Church. The details of this process are not known: the traditional concept of three "crusades" has been dismantled by modern research. The conquest took place at the same time or later than Sweden was united under one king; and Österland was seen as a constituent part of the Swedish kingdom, although represented in the elections of Swedish kings first in 15 February 1362 (when Haakon Magnusson was elected as co-king of his father).
Many Swedish settlers moved into the western and southern coasts of Österland (now Finland) during the 13th century. There is no conclusive archaeological or toponymical proof of Norse-speaking inhabitants in Finland during earlier times outside the Åland Islands.
An interpretation has been made that the part "Vend" in the later established titulary of Kings of Sweden (three crowns in the Coat of Arms, three kingdoms: Kings of Svears, Götars and Vends; Sveriges, Götes och Vendes Konung) means Finland, the form being akin to Findland, Vindland. As such, the Österland (=medievally inhabited parts of Finland) was the third kingdom and part of the realm.
In 1581, the provinces of Österland were declared a Grand Duchy by King John III of Sweden, who as a prince, in 1556, had been granted a part of that territory as a duchy created beside other duchies ruled by his brothers. The creation of that Duchy was chiefly a part of the infighting between the late King Gustav Vasa's sons, and had no lasting effects, whereas the titular grand duchy lasted for over two centuries and ultimately evolved to an autonomous state for a third century and more.
The notion Österland(en) fell gradually off use. In the 17th century often substituted by "Finland and Ostrobothnia", letting the coastal provinces Finland Proper and Ostrobothnia lend their names to their large backlands, although Viborg's and Kexholm's provinces were occasionally mentioned separately. During the parliamentary era of the 18th century, by the Swedes known as the Age of Liberty, virtually the whole of present-day Finland was twice occupied by Russian forces (1714–1721 and 1742–1743), by the Finns known as the Greater Wrath and the Lesser Wrath. After that, "Finland" became the predominant term for that area — both in domestic Swedish debate and in Russian propaganda promising liberation from Swedish oppression.
Österlanden (Finland) remained a part of Swedish Realm - also known today as Sweden-Finland - until the Finnish war of 1808–09, when it was ceded to Russia, along with eastern Norrland, and came to constitute the autonomous Russian Grand Duchy of Finland.
See also: Historical provinces of Finland
