''Österland'' () was a medieval term used for the southern part of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, one of the four traditional

lands of Sweden The lands of Sweden () are three traditional and historical regions of the country, each consisting of several provinces. The division into lands goes back to the consolidation of Sweden, when ''Götaland'', the land of the Geats, merged with '' ...

. The term occurs in documents approximately between 1350–1470 and gradually fell out of use by the end of the 15th century. Before this period the term was used in plural, ''Österlanden'' (). With the exception of Old Finland that was ceded to Russia in 1721, Finland remained a part of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

until after the

Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...

of 1808–09, when it was ceded to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and came to constitute the autonomous Russian

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

History

Due to the

Northern Crusades The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Church, Catholic Christian Military order (society), military orders and kingdoms, primarily against the paganism, pagan Balts, Baltic, Baltic Finns, ...

against

Finns Finns or Finnish people (, ) are a Baltic Finns, Baltic Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into smaller regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland, both those who are native to these cou ...

, Tavastians and

Karelians Karelians (; ; ; ) are a Baltic Finnic ethnic group who are indigenous to the historical region of Karelia, which is today split between Finland and Russia. Karelians living in Russian Karelia are considered a distinct ethnic group closely ...

and the Swedish Colonisation during the 13th century, the Kingdom of Sweden and the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

incorporated Southern Finland. The details of this process are not known. In the wake of the crusades, possibly thousands of

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Swedish settlers gradually moved into the western and southern coasts of Österlanden (now Finland) from the 13th century onwards until the 1350s. There is no conclusive archaeological or toponymical proof of Norse-speaking inhabitants in Finland during earlier times outside

Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

. On 15 February 1362, when King Haakon was elected as co-regent with his father

Magnus Eriksson Magnus Eriksson (April or May 1316 – 1 December 1374) was King of Sweden from 1319 to 1364, King of Norway as Magnus VII from 1319 to 1355, and ruler of Scania from 1332 to 1360. By adversaries he has been called ''Magnus Smek'' (). Medi ...

at the Mora Meadow, he delivered a proclamation in which he granted Österland, then corresponding to the diocese of Turku, a permanent right to take part in the election of the Swedish kings. Consequently, Österland became an integral part of the Swedish kingdom. In 1581, the provinces of the area were declared a grand principality by King John III of Sweden, who as a prince, in 1556, had been granted a part of that territory as a

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

created beside other duchies ruled by his brothers. The creation of that Duchy was chiefly a part of the legacy of King

Gustav Vasa Gustav Eriksson Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), also known as Gustav I, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560. He was previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (''Reichsverweser#Sweden, Riksföreståndare'') fr ...

. While the Duchy did not last as an administrative unit, the titular grand principality did, for over two centuries and ultimately, after 1809, evolved into an autonomous duchy under the Russian Empire.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osterland Former provinces of Finland Lands of Sweden Finland under Swedish rule

History

See also

References