Against War! Regional Identity Across a National Border in Late Medieval and Early Modern Scandinavia

During every war between Denmark and Sweden from at least 1505 to 1676 popular peace treaties were concluded by common men on both sides of the national border. These treaties were negotiated in contrast to the aggressive policy of the political leaders and to the nationalistic discourse of the elite. The aim of this article is to use archaeology to give an economic, social, and mental background to these treaties, and to the regional identity across the border that they presuppose. Above all a specific building tradition seems to have given the peasants a mental affinity across the border.