Everything about Sk Neland totally explained
» This region shouldn't be confused with Skånland in Norway.
Skåneland, or
Skånelandskapen, (
Scanian Provinces in English) are Swedish denominations based on the Latin name
Terra Scaniae ("Scania Land"), used for the historical
Danish land in southern
Scandinavia, which as the autonomous polity Scania joined
Zealand and
Jutland in the formation of a
Danish state in the early 800s. As a cultural and historical region, it consists of the provinces
Scania,
Halland,
Blekinge and
Bornholm. It became a Danish province, sometimes referred to as the Eastern Province, after the 12th-century civil war called the Scanian Uprising. The region was part of the territory ceded to
Sweden in
1658 under the
Treaty of Roskilde, but after an uprising on Bornholm, this island was returned to Denmark in exchange for the ownership of 18 crown estates in Scania. Since Bornholm and the small island of
Anholt (once forming part of the parish Morup in Halland) have remained Danish, the Danish part of the historical region is sometimes excluded in modern popular usage of the terms.
Skåneland or Skånelandskapen are the Swedish equivalents to the Danish term
Skånelandene. Today, the terms have no political implications as the region isn't a
geopolitical entity but a
cultural region, without officially established political borders. In some circumstances, the term Skåneland, as opposed to the terms Skånelandskapen and Skånelandene, can also be used as a
figure of speech for the province Scania, which has the only administrative entities connected to the name, namely
Region Skåne and
Skåne County, both created in the late 1990s.
Official status
When Skåneland was an official entity, in its original Danish province configuration, its status was determined by the Danish king and the administrative authority under which it was governed, namely the Scanian
Thing. Each of the four provinces of Skåneland had representation in the Scanian Thing, which, along with the other two Things of the Danish state (Jutland and Zealand), elected the Danish king.
Skåneland's four provinces were joined under the jurisdiction of the
Scanian Law, dated 1200-1216, the oldest Nordic provincial law. In the chapter "Constitutional history" in
Danish Medieval History, New Currents, the three provincial Things are described as being the legal authority that instituted changes suggested by the elected king. The suggestions for changes submitted by the king had to be approved by the three Things before being passed into law in the Danish state. the use of the term in Sweden isn't universally accepted, With the exception of
Region Skåne and
Västra Götalandsregionen, the Swedish provinces are not officially divided into regional units or referred to as regions; instead, the names of the individual provinces are used in official contexts. The southern part of Sweden, including Skåneland, is considered to be included in
Götaland, one of three historic "
lands of Sweden". The "land" Götaland bears the same name used for the historic province Götaland (a province referred to as "Gothia" on the 17th century maps); the inclusion of Skåneland is described as "historically inaccutare" by the Swedish
Nationalencyklopedin.
The term "Skåneland" is sometimes resisted in Sweden as being an expression of
regionalism. As in other
cultural regions, regionalism in Scania sometimes has a base in regional
nationalism and sometimes in a more general opposition against
centralized state nationalism or
expansionist nationalism. In Scania, Swedish nationalism, which often alludes to slogans such as "
Keep Sweden Swedish", is resisted by many regionalists as being intolerant of Scania's
cultural diversity and Danish history, and as being non-inclusive of cultural expressions originating in areas outside the
capital region. As noted about regionalism in Norway, Scandinavian regionalism isn't necessarily separatist.
Origin of the name
Origin of Latin name
The
Latin names
Scaniæ,
Scania and
Scandia have the same etymology as
Scandinavia, a name first appearing in
Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia. Pliny spelled the name
Scatinavia and used it for Scania or the southern part of the
Scandinavian peninsula, which he believed to be an island. Pliny wrote about the
Hilleviones residing in 500 villages on this "island", and the idea that the Hilleviones constituted an early population of
Halland has gained acceptance among some scholars. If so, the tribe could be the same as the
Hallin of
Scandza, who are mentioned by
Jordanes.
The use of the name Scandia for Skåneland or the southern part of the Scandinavian peninsula is primarily found in Greek tradition and appeared in this meaning for the first time in
Ptolemy's writings during the second century AD. Ptolemy used the name
Skandia to denote the main island in an island group he called
Skandiai located by
Cimbri, at the same location where
Pliny the Elder placed
Scatinavia. Pliny the Elder also mentioned an island called
Scandia, but identified it as a different island from
Scatinavia.
The use of the name Scandinavia for the Nordic countries only appeared in the 18th century, when it was adopted as a convenient general term for the entire peninsula region of which Skåneland or Scania was part.
The term
Scaniae, or
Terra Scaniae, was reintroduced during the
Middle Ages as a denomination for the region then forming the easternmost parts of Denmark. At that time, dense forests and
boggy ground blocked the southern provinces of Sweden from Skåneland, in comparison to the relative ease of travel by sea. It was therefore natural to draw the national borders on land. This is documented by
Adam of Bremen in the 11th century when he visited
Scania and Scandinavia and called it the richest and most important part of Denmark. Even in later periods as the roads gradually improved, some parts were still difficult to travel through, even through the 19th century.
Origin of Swedish name
The Swedish Academy lists examples, but it was popularized by the Swedish historian and
Scandinavist Martin Weibull in his political appeal
Samlingar till Skånes historia in 1868 in order to illuminate the common pre-Swedish history of Skåne, Blekinge, and Halland. The term is basically a translation from the medieval
Latin terra Scaniæ ("land of Skåne" or "Scania Land"). Weibull used the term as a combined term for the three provinces where
Skånelagen ("The Scanian law", the oldest provincial law of the
Nordic countries) had its jurisdiction, as well as the area of the
archdiocese of
Lund until the
Reformation in
1536, later the Danish
Lutheran diocese of Lund. This form of Skåneland was then used in the regional historical periodical
Historisk tidskrift för Skåneland, beginning in 1901, published by Martin's son,
Lauritz Weibull..
Modern usage
The collective terms Skåneland or Skånelandskapen for the provinces are uncommon in state issued texts, but regionally revived notions of a common cultural heritage have made the usage more prominent; the terms are in general use among historians focused on the centuries immediately before and after 1658, and are often used in professional, peer-reviewed journals and history magazines aimed at the general public.
History
Early history
From 1104 the Danish archbishop had his residence in Lund; and it was also here the first Danish university was founded, the Lund Academy (1425-1536).
The earliest Danish historians, writing in the 12th and 13th century, believed that the Danish Kingdom had existed since king
Dan, in a distant past. Eighth century sources mention the existence of Denmark as a kingdom. According to 9th century Frankish sources, by the early 9th century many of the chieftains in the south of Scandinavia acknowledged Danish kings as their overlords, though kingdom(s) were very loose confederations of lords until the last couple medieval centuries saw some increased centralization. The west and south coast of modern Sweden was so effectively part of the Danish realm that the said area (and not the today Denmark) was known as "Denmark" (literally the frontier of the
Daner).
Svend Estridsen (King of Denmark 1047 - ca. 1074), who may have been from Scania himself, is often referred to as the king who along with his dynasty established Scania as an integral, and sometimes the more important, part of Denmark.
However, historians also argue that in the loose conditions of medieval kingdom-building of the 10th and 11th centuries, Scania sometimes attached itself to the Swedish kingdom instead of the Danish. In 1330s-1360s, Scania was held as the "third kingdom" by
Magnus VII of Norway and Sweden, as a result of temporary dissolution of Danish central government. He was, since 1335, titled "rex Suecie, Norwegie et Scanie" or "regnorum svechie et norwegie terreque scanie rex".
From the Kalmar Union to Denmark's Loss of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland
When the
Kalmar Union was formed in 1397, the union was administered from Copenhagen. By 1471 Sweden rebelled under
Sture family leadership. In 1503, when
Sten Sture the Elder died, eastern Sweden’s independence from Denmark had been established.
In 1600 Denmark controlled virtually all land bordering on the
Skagerrak,
Kattegat, and the restricted Sound (
Øresund). The current Swedish provinces of
Skåne,
Blekinge and
Halland were still Danish and the province of
Båhuslen was still Norwegian. Skåneland became the site of bitter battles, especially in the 16th, 17th and 18th century, as Denmark and Sweden confronted each other for control of the Baltic and of Swedish access to western trade. Danish historians often represent this as a period of unending Swedish aggression during which Sweden was continuously at war, while Swedish historians often represent this as "Sweden's Age of Greatness".
Sweden intervened in the Danish civil war known as the
Count's Feud (1534-1536), launching a highly destructive invasion of Skåneland as the ally of King
Christian III. Subsequently, in the period between the breakup of the Kalmar Union and 1814, Denmark and Sweden fought 11 times in Skåneland and other border provinces: 1563-70, 1611-1613, 1644-1645, 1657-1658; 1659-1661, 1674-1678, 1700, 1710-1721, 1788, 1808-1809, and 1814.
During the Thirty Years' War extensive combat took place in the Danish provinces of Skåne, Halland, and Blekinge. By the Peace of Brömsebro (1645) Denmark ceded the Norwegian provinces of Jämtland and Härjedalen and agreed Sweden was to occupy the Danish province of Halland for 30 years as a guarantee of the treaty provisions.
The transformation of age-old customs, commerce and administration to the Swedish model couldn't be effected quickly or easily. In the first fifty years of the transition, the treatment of the population was rather ruthless. Denmark made several attempts to recapture the territories -- the last attempt in 1710, during which they almost recaptured the entire Skåneland. His residence was in the largest city, Malmö.
The office of Governor General was abandoned in 1669, deemed unnecessary. However, when the Scanian War erupted in 1675, the office was reinstated, and Fabian von Fersen held the office between 1675 to 1677, when he died in the defence of Malmö.
Replacing him was Rutger von Ascheberg, in 1680. He came to hold it to his death in 1693. It was during Ascheberg's time in office that the stricter policy of Swedification was initiated, as a reaction to the threats of war and possible Danish repossession.
Following the death of Ascheberg, the Governor Generalship was dismantled into a separate county governor for each of the Swedish provinces Blekinge, Halland and Scania. However, a Governor Generalship was reinstated in the province of Scania during the Napoleonic War, when Johan Christopher Toll became the last Governor-General in the region, a post he held 1801-09.
Recent history
The complete history of Skåneland wasn't taught for a long time in schools in Skåneland, especially during periods with the immediate threat of revolt. Instead a Swedish-centric history was taught, and the Scanian history before 1658, for instance concerning the list of monarchs, was disregarded as a component of Danish history. In reaction, a movement began in the late 19th century to revive awareness of the history and culture of Skåneland. The renewed focus resulted in the publication of several books about Scanian history.
Scanian regionalism
In addition to the preservation of Scanian culture and attention to Scanian history, most of the regionalist movements in Scania also advocate greater autonomy for regions like Skåneland within the current power structure, and thus more independence for the local councils in relation to the central government in Stockholm. The main thrust for most groups is thus not separatism, but decentralization and more local involvement in policy questions affecting the region.
This form of regionalism has a long history in Skåneland, starting in the days of armed resistance and political maneuvering in the Scanian Thing against the rise of Danish absolutism in the 13th century. It showed up again as the driving force in the peasant peace agreements between villages on either side of the Swedish-Danish border during the 17th-18th century, especially during the Scanian War, when the people along the border defied orders and offered shelter and support to each other during the assaults from the Swedish and Danish kings' troops. It emerged again in the general support of the local peasant irregulars who joined the Snapphane guerilla movement against Sweden, and in the silent resistance from priests in their support of the parishioners during the most brutal periods of the "Swedification" process. It also resulted in open rebellion, the last being the larger scale peasant rebellion against the Swedish king and state in 1811, when the king ordered 15,000 Scanian peasants to fight a war they wanted no part of.
The Scanian regionalist movements embrace a host of different ideas for the region, ranging from support for the current regional county council model to opposition to it. Opponents criticize the regional council for its alleged role in diffusing the local support for more radical changes to the current political power structure, and for being too reliant on the party loyalty politics and centralist impulses from the Swedish capital, which are blamed for the lack of development and vision in the region. It also includes groups supporting a Swedish republic, but the federalists are a minority in Scania. The Scanian federalist party, "Skånefederalisterna", received only 732 votes in the last election to the regional council. The long amalgamation of Skåneland with Sweden would suggest that the area is generally "Swedified" and that separatism represents a minority viewpoint.
A national trend towards state nationalism has also affected Scania, with the right-wing Swedish state-nationalist party Sverigedemokraterna voted into Scania's regional council in the last election. The same situation is reflected around the country; the party took seats in around half of Sweden's local councils and is now receiving state support.
The strong regionalist tendencies in today's Scania are in general not separatist, as demonstrated in 2006, at the end of the first trial period of the Skåne Regional Council (formed in 1999) in the newly established Scania county, created 1998. The regional council model had solid support in Scania, in contrast to other counties, with the exception of Västra Götaland Regional Council.
References in popular culture
A large part of the book The Long Ships or "Red Orm" (original title: "Röde Orm"), a best-selling Swedish 1941 novel written by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson takes place in this region. It is the homeland of the book's Viking hero, Orm, from which he sets out to long voyages and to which he returns. The book emphasizes the fact that the region was part of Denmark at the time, and the hero and his comrades are proud of being Danes. It also portrays the inhabitants as rebellious, independent-minded and resentful of all central authority, and is very sympathetic to these characteristics - and though the book is about the Viking era, the 17th century history had obviously been in the writer's mind.
The Swedish singer Lotta Engberg mentions the region in the song Succéschottis on her 1987 album Fyra Bugg & en Coca Cola.Further Information
Get more info on 'Sk Neland'.
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