A New View of the ‘Edesö Wreck’: identifying the Swedish naval vessel Bodekull,built 1659–1661 and sunk 1678 from written sources

This article complements the archaeological account of the so‐called ‘Edesö Wreck’ with archival research that has led to its identification. In 1659 the Swedish King Karl X Gustav ordered a number of vessels for transport of horses and soldiers while at war with Denmark. The king died just a few months later, the war with Denmark was aborted, and the unfinished vessels were rebuilt to serve other purposes. One of these was Bodekull, built under English master shipwright Thomas Day between 1659 and 1661. In October 1678 Bodekull sank in the Stockholm archipelago. Alterations made during construction mentioned in written sources have been noted on the wreck and strengthen the argument for the identification.     

Introduction: The historiography of slavery in the Danish-Norwegian West Indies,c. 1950-2016.

This introduction to the special issue ‘Slavery, Servitude and Freedom in the Danish-Norwegian West Indies, 1672–1848’, edited by Niklas Thode Jensen and Vibe Maria Martens, situates the five essays in the issue in the framework provided by previous research. It begins with a historiographical overview of research carried out since c. 1950 concerning Caribbean and Danish-Norwegian West Indian racial slavery, and continues to locate the essays within this field and its recent historiographical trends. The introduction ends with a brief overview of the history of the Danish-Norwegian and later the Danish West Indies to provide the general context for the five essays.     

The Tranquebarian Society

The Danish-Norwegian colony of Tranquebar in south-east India is a little explored case of science and ‘patriotic enlightenment’ in the colonial world of the 18th and early 19th centuries. In the period 1768–1813, Tranquebar emerged as a local south Indian hub of science and improvement. The symbol of this development was the establishment of the Tranquebarian Society, the third learned society east of the Cape of Good Hope. The article examines the unique assemblage of scientific networks, people, instruments, institutions, and ideas of local and global origin that converged in Tranquebar, and it investigates the fusion of local problems and radical ideas of enlightenment, education, and improvement that united government, mission, and merchants in Tranquebar in the quest for ‘useful knowledge’.     

Buyer Engagement and Labour Conditions in Global Supply Chains: The Bangladesh Accord and Beyond

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (‘the Accord’) has received both praise and criticism concerning its implications for corporate responsibility and power. This article contributes to the debate by situating the Accord within a broader set of activities that buyers are engaged in to promote better labour conditions in their supply chains. The authors identify three approaches of buyer engagement: auditing, capacity building and advocacy. Drawing on interviews conducted with European brands and retailers, the article shows how buyers perceive the merits and challenges of these approaches, and whether and how they discharge responsibility and power through these activities. The study shows that the Accord is seen primarily as part of the auditing approach with a key feature being its use of collective leverage as a means of enforcement. While greater buyer power has not necessarily been accompanied by greater responsibility, the article highlights heterogeneity among buyers in how they take up different approaches, painting a more nuanced picture of buyer responsibility and power.     

The ship Riksäpplet and the introduction of English naval architecture in Sweden in the 17th century

SUMMARY: The 84-gun ship Riksäpplet was one of the first ships in Sweden built under supervision of the newly recruited English master. In 1676, the ship came adrift, struck a rock and sank. In 2015 a minor field survey of the wreck was undertaken. An inventory of finds recovered from the wreck in various museum collections and in private hands has been compiled and the preserved correspondence from the construction of the ship has been re-examined. This material has provided new insights regarding the peculiarities and special architecture of Riksäpplet.     

Wicked game of smart specialization: a player’s handbook

The objective of this article is to explore the theoretical foundations of a wicked game. The theoretical part is based on the notion of wicked problems, which is developed further. It is also illustrated that the latest innovation strategy of the European Union, called smart specialization, resembles a wicked game. Comparison between the two revealed several similarities gives new insights into the theory of wicked problems and into the process of smart specialization.     

From Berlin to Beijing

In late 1900, while foreign troops occupied Beijing in the wake of the Boxer Rebellion, alarming news reached the German government from China: High-quality works of art were on sale in Beijing and would soon be displayed in museums in London and Paris without having a comparable display in Berlin. The Ethnological Museum in Berlin immediately sent the Orientalist Friedrich Wilhelm Karl Müller (1863–1930) as an envoy to Beijing to buy works of art. Müller was in Beijing between 6 April and 13 September 1901. This article contains a partially annotated translation of Müller’s report, including his packing lists of 117 crates he sent to Berlin in 1901. The original German text is included as an addendum.     

The Lion Wreck: a survey of a 17th‐century Dutch merchant ship—an interim report

In 2009 the well‐preserved wreck of a 17th‐century merchant ship was found at a depth of 50 m in the Stockholm Archipelago. On the top of the ship's rudder is a carved lion, inspiring the working name ‘Lion Wreck’. The state of preservation provides a rare opportunity to study the conditions on board a typical 17th‐century Dutch merchant ship trading in the Baltic. The aim of this text is to describe and summarize the first thorough survey of the site, carried out in spring 2010. © 2011 The Author     

‘The Ghost Ship’. An Intact Fluyt from c.1650 in the Middle of the Baltic Sea

We report an exceptionally well preserved 17th‐century shipwreck in the Baltic Sea. The investigation of the intact 3‐dimensional hull at 130 m depth in the cold dark water has demanded new methods of documentation. Field investigation of ‘The Ghost Ship’ has been done in co‐operation with a nautical survey company, combining archaeological skills with advanced technology and filming for a television documentary. The discovery offers detailed knowledge about Dutch shipbuilding and the construction of fluyts. We also believe that study of the social organisation aboard this small trading ship can give insights into the mentality and ideology of the period. © 2012 The Authors     

Lost at Sea: Finnish government,shipping companies and the United Nations embargo against China during the 1950s

Finnish Cold War foreign policy was based on the desire to stay out of all international disputes. Yet, during the 1950s, two Finnish tankers, Wiima and Aruba, received an enormous amount of foreign attention when they tried to sail to Communist China. The United Nations had urged all countries, including non-members such as Finland, to stop selling strategic goods to China, which had intervened in the Korean War. The embargo created a highly profitable opening in the shipping market for anyone willing to transport such goods, and Finnish companies tried to fill it. This article suggests that they were in fact undermining the embargo more extensively than has been generally known. When the Finns were criticized for their actions, they interpreted this as a sign of the ruthlessness of great powers. At first, the Finnish government failed to recognize that these companies drove the country into the middle of international conflict and then took little decisive action to steer the country out of it. The allegedly pragmatic Finnish foreign policy was in this case actually based on unreliable information and incorrect assumptions.