ABSTRACT The State of Sweden expanded its domains successfully towards the north during the medieval period – particularly during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. This expansion north from Norrland over the Bothnian coast and further into Lapland has traditionally been discussed within the classical colonial framework. In this paper, however, we argue that the Swedish northern expansion was actually more a result of successful negotiations between the State of Sweden and the northern Iron Age economic elite, leading to the peaceful integration of the northern social system(s) into the Swedish society. As a result of this process the concept of Birkarls – the traditional medieval trade elite of the north – appeared into Swedish historical documents. Recent research has brought forward evidence indicating that the Birkarl system harks back to the Iron Age northern social system, and that the medieval Birkarls were a direct continuation of the Late Iron Age trader society that was integrated and assimilated into the Swedish society during the early fourteenth century.

中文翻译：

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北方的瑞典化——中世纪早期的瑞典北方扩张和 Birkarls 的出现。

摘要 瑞典国在中世纪时期——尤其是在 13 和 14 世纪，成功地向北方扩张了领土。这种从诺尔兰向北越过波的尼亚海岸并进一步进入拉普兰的扩张，传统上一直在古典殖民框架内进行讨论。然而，在本文中，我们认为瑞典北部的扩张实际上更多是瑞典国家与北部铁器时代经济精英之间成功谈判的结果，导致北部社会制度和平融入瑞典社会。由于这一过程，Birkarls 的概念——北方传统的中世纪贸易精英——出现在瑞典的历史文献中。