The Sound Dues (or Sound Tolls; da, Ăresundstolden) were a
toll
Toll may refer to:
Transportation
* Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway
** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use
** Road toll (historic)
The road toll was a historical fee charged to travellers and ...
on the use of the
Ăresund, or "Sound" strait separating the modern day borders of Denmark and Sweden. The tolls constituted up to two thirds of
Denmark's state income in the 16th and 17th centuries. The dues were introduced by King
Eric of Pomerania in 1429 and remained in effect until the Copenhagen Convention of 1857 (with the sole exception of Swedish ships between 1660 and 1712). Tolls in the Great Belt had been collected by the
Danish Crown at least a century prior to the establishment of the dues by Eric of Pomerania.
History
All foreign ships passing through the strait, whether ''en route'' to or from Denmark or not, had to stop in
HelsingĂžr and pay a toll to the Danish Crown. If a ship refused to stop, cannons in both HelsingĂžr and
Helsingborg could open fire and sink it. In 1567, the toll was changed into a 1â2% tax on the
cargo value, providing three times more revenue. To keep the captains from understating the value of the cargo on which the tax was computed, the right to purchase the cargo at the stated value was reserved.
In order to avoid ships simply taking a different route, tolls were also collected at the two other Danish straits, the
Great Belt and the
Little Belt; sometimes non-Danish vessels were forbidden to use any other waterways but the
Ăresund, and transgressing vessels were confiscated or sunk.
The Sound Dues remained the most important source of income for the Danish Crown for several centuries, thus making Danish kings relatively independent of Denmark's
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
and
aristocracy
Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αÏÎčÏÏÎżÎșÏαÏία (), meaning 'rule of the best'.
At t ...
. However, the dues were an irritant to nations engaged in trade in the
Baltic Sea, especially
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. Sweden had initially been exempted from the dues at the time of their introduction because it was then in the
Kalmar Union
The Kalmar Union (Danish language, Danish, Norwegian language, Norwegian, and sv, Kalmarunionen; fi, Kalmarin unioni; la, Unio Calmariensis) was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden, that from 1397 to 1523 joined under ...
along with Denmark. However, after the
Kalmar War and the
Treaty of KnÀred
The Treaty of KnĂ€red ( da, Freden i KnĂŠrĂžd, sv, Freden i KnĂ€red) was signed on 21 January 1613 and ended the Kalmar War (1611â1613) between Denmark-Norway and Sweden. The peace negotiations came about under an English initiative. The peace ...
in 1613
Denmark-Norway introduced dues on cargoes from Sweden's Baltic possessions and on non-Swedish ships carrying Swedish cargo. The friction over the Dues was an official ''
casus belli
A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its allyâusually one b ...
'' (reason for war) of the
Torstenson War in 1643.
In 1658, Denmark-Norway had to cede her provinces east of the sound (
Scania,
Halland,
Blekinge,
BohuslÀn
BohuslÀn (; da, Bohuslen; no, BÄhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, VÀstergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea ...
, and the island of
Ven) to Sweden as a consequence of the
Second Northern War
The Second Northern War (1655â60), (also First or Little Northern War) was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the PolishâLithuanian Commonwealth (1655â60), the Tsardom of Russia (Russo-Swedish War (1656â1658), 1656â58), Brande ...
. Thus, the toll could not be enforced as well as before but Denmark-Norway retained its established right of the dues. Swedish shipping became exempt from the Sound Dues by the terms of the
Treaty of Copenhagen, signed on 27 May 1660. The exemption was withdrawn after Sweden's defeat in the
Great Northern War and the
Treaty of Frederiksborg
The Treaty of Frederiksborg ( da, Frederiksborgfreden) was a treaty signed at Frederiksborg Castle, Zealand, on 3 July 1720Heitz (1995), p.244 (14 July 1720 according to the Gregorian calendar), ending the Great Northern War between Denmark-Norwa ...
of 1720, although the eastern shore of the Sound was now Swedish.
Copenhagen Convention
The Copenhagen Convention, which came into force on 14 March 1857, abolished the dues and all
Danish straits were made
international waterways free to all commercial shipping.
See also
*
Skibsklarerergaarden
Skibsklarerergaarden, literally "The Ship Handler's House"), is a historic house museum and listed building situated on Strandgade in HelsingĂžr, Denmark. A "ship handler" handled the paperwork at HelsingĂžr Custom House, Ăresund Custom House for ...
References
Literature
* Degn, Ole. ''Tolden i Sundet: ToldopkrĂŠvning, politik og skibsfart i Ăresund 1429-1857.'' KĂžbenhavn: Told- og Skattehistorisk Selskab, 2010. .
*Degn, Ole (Editor). ''The Sound Toll at Elsinore: Politics, Shipping and the Collection of Duties 1429-1857.'' Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press and The Danish Society for Customs and Tax History, 2017. .
{{coord, 55, 47, 23, N, 12, 45, 03, E, type:waterbody, display=title
Economic history of Denmark
Toll (fee)
1429 establishments in Europe
15th-century establishments in Denmark
15th century in SkÄne County
1857 disestablishments in Europe
Law of the sea
Ăresund