Medieval Sweden
In the project Medieval Sweden (DMS) we publish scholarly volumes (in Swedish), which present the documentary sources for settlements in Sweden in the Middle Ages and the 16th century until the 1570s. They show where medieval hamlets, villages, towns, cities and estates were located and who owned them.
DMS volumes are tools for historical research and rural and urban planning. The information produced is important also for cultural environmental protection and for the transfer of knowledge by museums to the public.
Two source materials are of primary importance: medieval charters and the crown’s rent rolls ('landskapshandlingar' or 'King Gustav Vasas Cadasters'). Digital resources at the National Archives about the Middle Ages in Sweden, in particular the SDHK database, are of great significance for the work of DMS. SDHK and the crown’s rent rolls are freely available. Through new digital tools under construction at the National Archives (see TORA) the availability of the information resource built by DMS will increase considerably in the future.
For access to already published DMS volumes and a map showing published areas and areas presently under work, see Publishing DMS in the submenu to the left.
Some entire landscapes and parts of other landscapes are already published by DMS. Parts of Uppland, Södermanland and Småland are available online (see the Swedish version), as well as the entire landscapes of Värmland, Gästrikland and Öland (part of Småland). Newly published volumes are available digitally after six months. DMS volumes may be ordered from the National Archives webshop.
About DMS
The overall purpose of DMS is to make the medieval sources available and account for the settlement and ownership structures. Freeholders did not exist in all parts of Sweden. A substantial share of medieval farms was cultivated by tenants and the land was owned by the nobility, the Crown, or church institutions. The monasteries were great land owners, sometimes owning all farms in their home parish. Medieval charters show how ownership of farms changed and often the records reveal the revenue from each farm to the landowner. The sources about medieval towns and cities show correspondingly the owners of urban plots and houses.
Medieval Source Editions – library and archives
The Diplomatarium Suecanum and the Medieval Sweden constitutes the Department of Medieval Source Editions at the Swedish National Archives. The department has extensive documentation about medieval charters: there are collections of pro memoria, registers and photocopies as well as a library specialised in (Nordic) medieval history, diplomatics and charter editions. It is primarily a reference and working library for the editors. Scholars may be given the opportunity to work in the library.
Department of Medieval Source Editions can be contacted by telephone number + 46 (0)10 476 7311 (weekdays 9 am – 4 pm) or by e-mail medeltid@riksarkivet.se.