Castle and Commerce in Medieval Sweden - the Examples of Stockholm, Borgholm and Piksborg.
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the connection between castles, commerce and urbanity in Scandinavia. This is made by comparing three Swedish royal castles. The castle in Stockholm has its roots in the twelfth or thirteenth century and was founded in connection with the contemporary town. Here are indications that the merchants in an early phase lived in the bailey of the castle. The casIt is generally accepted that there were well-established relationships between castles and commerce in medieval Sweden. However, to date, the complexities of those relationships have arguably not been fully explored. Through focusing on archaeological evidence from three very different examples, Stockholm, Borgholm and Piksborg, this paper seeks to illustrate the variety of often intimate and com
