Speaker
Description
The 12th century sees the beginning of the Swedish colonisation towards the east which ultimately caused the area of present-day Finland an integral part of the Swedish kingdom and Christian world. The process of monetisation was essential for the economic colonisation of the territory referred to in Swedish as Österlanden (Easternlands). Today coins are the most tangible evidence for the introduction of the new regime, the new religion, and the new social order.
Coins were used in restricted environments and for certain purposes. The limited access to money made coins powerful objects. When coins started circulating on a wider scale the units of account did not always follow the official monetary standards. The coin circulation was part of a heterogeneous economic system, affecting different members of the society on various levels.
In this paper I will discuss whether the process of monetisation developed differently on the medieval periphery of Europe compared to core areas of monetization, e.g. Sweden and Germany.
