View source for Birkarls

{{Short description|Historical group with privileges to tax the Sámi}}
{{refimprove|date=September 2015}}
{{About|a medieval Scandinavian association|a contemporary Swedish society|Birkarlarna (society)}}
[[File:Trading near "Pele" (Pello), Carta Marina.png|thumb|Trading near [[Pello]], as depicted by the [[Carta marina|Carta Marina (1539)]].]]
{{redirect|Pirkka|the Finnish market brand|Pirkka (brand)|the Finnish magazine|Pirkka (magazine)}}
The '''Birkarls''' ({{langx|sv|birkarlar}}; {{Langx|fi|pirkkalaiset}}) were a small,  unofficially organized group that controlled taxation and commerce in central [[Lappmarken]] in [[Sweden]] from the 13th to the 17th century.<ref name=vahtola>Vahtola, Jouko. ''Tornionlaakson historia I''. Birkarlit, 'pirkkalaiset'. Malungs boktryckeri AB. Malung, Sweden. 1991. The article draws heavily from the material available in the book.</ref>
==Background==
Birkarls (bircharlaboa) are first mentioned in 1328, when they are listed as one of the settler groups in northern [[Hälsingland]], a designation that covered the western coast of [[Gulf of Bothnia]] all the way up and around the gulf to [[Oulu River]].
The name ''birkarl'' probably originates from an ancient [[North Germanic languages|Scandinavian]] word ''[[birk (market place)|birk]]'' that has been used in reference to commerce in various contexts.
In the late 16th century, claims about birkarls coming from [[Great Pirkkala]] (a parish in [[Satakunta (historical province)|Upper Satakunta]]) emerged, propagated by birkarls themselves in their battle to prevent the state from stripping their privileges. This is at least partly true, since men from Pirkkala appear as witnesses in a document from 1374 about local borders in northern [[Ostrobothnia (historical province)|Pohjanmaa]].<ref name=vahtola/> Later, in the 19th century, a Finnish term ''pirkkamiehet'' or ''pirkkalaiset'' was invented as a "domestic" name for birkarls. It never appears in any of the documentation or traditions, but is commonly used in Finland today to mean birkarls.
In total, some twenty theories are estimated to exist to explain the origin and name of the birkarls.
==Sami trade and tax monopoly==
The main purpose of the birkarl organization was to control the trade with [[Sami people]] and tax them. Legends told that birkarls rights to tax Sami people was given by [[Magnus III of Sweden|Magnus the Barnlock]], the [[King of Sweden]] at that time. Sami people were traditionally taxed by Norwegians already in the [[Viking Age]] or even earlier. Later [[Russians]] started to tax them as well. After having southern Finland under control around 1250, Sweden became interested in the situation in the north. Eventually, some Sami people paid taxes to all three states. Birkarls were just one element in the [[Colonialism|colonial]] system profiting off of the Sami area.<ref name=vahtola/>
It seems that birkarls' privileges were more ''[[de facto]]'', than ''[[de jure]]''. No document has survived granting them official right to the tax and trade monopoly in the north, even though the state first supported and later tolerated the situation for centuries.
==Area of influence==
Birkarls were active in the [[Tornio]], [[Luleå]] and [[Piteå]] River valleys, Tornio being their main area. Each of the valleys formed a separate "[[Lappmarken|lappmark]]" with its own birkarls.<ref name=vahtola/> Sami people south of Piteå were "Crown Samis" that paid their taxes directly to the king.
The birkarls living in each area of influence were very few, totalling only about 50 men still in the early 16th century.<ref name=vahtola/>
In the 16th century, towards the end of their existence, the [[Kemi River]] valley was also partly under birkarl influence. In the 1590s, they also tried to gain tax control of the sea Sami people on the [[Arctic Ocean]].<ref name=vahtola/>
==Decline and end==
Birkarls remained useful to the king as long as the state's hold on the north was weak. After the disintegration of the [[Union of Kalmar]] in the early 16th century, the situation in the north became more important. A major setback for birkals took place in 1553, when King [[Gustav I of Sweden|Gustav Vasa]] terminated their right to tax the Sami people. Unable to continue their former lives, many birkarls became local tax authorities (''lapinvouti'' in Finnish).<ref name=vahtola/>
The Birkarls' trade monopoly did not last much longer and was in the line of fire from 1570s. The state wanted to concentrate trade into towns that were easier to control, making the need for birkarls obsolete. Having no official status, birkarl organizations had little means of fighting back, and they silently eroded away in the 17th century after administrative changes initiated by king [[Charles IX of Sweden|Charles IX]]. Tornio, Luleå and Piteå all received their town charters in 1621 marking an official end to birkarls.<ref name=vahtola/>
==Further reading==
* Samu Sarviaho (2020) "[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03468755.2020.1788633 The elusive Finn: ethnic identities, source criticism and the early history of Northern Sweden in seventeenth-century Swedish historiography.]" Scandinavian Journal of History
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Medieval Finland]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Sweden]]
[[Category:Lapland (Finland)]]