AHC: Earliest Possible Independent Finnish Kingdom

[Planet of Hats]

I'm always a sucker for wanking the Finns, but I'm also totally clueless on the topic.

It seems like there's not a ton of information out there about early medieval Finland beyond Sagas and scattered archaeological evidence, before the Swedish show up in earnest, anyway. But would it be possible for Finland to coalesce early into a unified kingdom of some kind?

How early can we get an independent, at least nominally unified kingdom anywhere in OTL Finland? What would it take for Finland to become a kingdom in its own right? And what would you even call a self-unifying Finnish kingdom, considering that so many placenames there seem to come from names given to them by the Swedish?

 

[frustrated progressive]

I'm always a sucker for wanking the Finns, but I'm also totally clueless on the topic.

It seems like there's not a ton of information out there about early medieval Finland beyond Sagas and scattered archaeological evidence, before the Swedish show up in earnest, anyway. But would it be possible for Finland to coalesce early into a unified kingdom of some kind?

How early can we get an independent, at least nominally unified kingdom anywhere in OTL Finland? What would it take for Finland to become a kingdom in its own right? And what would you even call a self-unifying Finnish kingdom, considering that so many placenames there seem to come from names given to them by the Swedish?

Possibly you should ask @DrakonFin & @Lalli?

 

[DrakonFin]

Possibly you should ask @DrakonFin & @Lalli?

Medieval (and older) Finnish history is not my forte, but I think the best Finn on the forum to answer the question might well be @Olligarchy, given that he has a timeline about an earlier independent Finland.

As for the OP, while there are fantastic theories by nationalists about how ancient Finns used to rule the whole Baltic Sea area and most of Europe besides in the glory days of old, I think that before the OTL Swedish conquest, there would not have been a technological and organisational basis for a homegrown Finnish kingdom. The people in what is now Finland lived in tribes that traded, feuded and intermingled with each other, frequently also battling the Swedes, Danes and the Novgorodians when we get to the age of the Vikings. People lived in smallish, scatteres villages and hunting, fishing and foraging was for a long time more important than farming - even if farming was known and practiced since the late neolithic period. Local chieftains ruled from hilltop forts. As we don't have any extant written sources from before the Swedish conquest, it is hard to say what really went on, apart from the fact that by the archeological evidence, technology and societal development was slowly progressing, trade goods from as far away as the Mediterranian made their way to Finland, and there was some sort of an upper class wielding iron weapons, using elaborate (often imported) jewelry and getting their final resting places in large stony burial mounds.

If I had to write a story/TL about an earlier Finnish kingdom, I'd go the same way as Olligarchy, and start from after the Swedish conquest. That way, I would not have to make most things about the Finnish realm essentially out of whole cloth. In the medieval times, we can argue that there still existed a Finnish upper class of chieftains who were not entirely Swedified yet, and among them might rise a legendary warrior-king who gets the idea of uniting the Finnish tribes east of the Gulf of Bothnia, during a time when the Swedish kingdom is going through some sort of internal division, even a civil war. To make it more realistic, have this Finnish chieftain originally be an ally/lieutenant to a Swedish royal who runs one of the sides in said civil war, later taking over the Finnish areas from a power base this Swedish royal unwittingly helped create for him. Generally, have the "first Finnish king" use the structures and innovations introduced by the Swedish to help set up the Finnish state, also by skillfully playing the other powers of the Baltic Sea area against each other.

As for Finnish names, there are lists of old names that were used before the Swedish conquest or at least during the early centuries of the Swedish rule. Many, not to say most, Finnish placenames are non-Swedish, some of them very old, and could be used in a TL about an early Finland, or modifications of them might do. As for the Finnish state in question, you could derive a name from the traditional Finnish tribe the legendary leader hails from, or then from his personal name or epithet.

Say, "traveller, you have now reached the lands of kuninkaamme Sotijalo Kaukovalta Hämäläinen, hämäläisten, suomalaisten ja savolaisten yliherra" ("our King Battle-Noble Far-Reign the Tavastian, the Overlord of the Tavastians, the Finns, (ie. the people from Finland Proper), and the Savonians").

 

[Umbral]

You could have Kvænland evolve into a medieval kingdom after Norway and Sweden does. When your neighbours start organizing and developing armies and navies, there is a certain impulse not to be the only one in the neighbourhood without them. Someone of Fornljots line does a Harald and gathers the independent chiefdoms into a realm, maybe. Might even have a knock-on effect on Bjarmland. And it would weaken Sweden and Novgorod.

 

[Jan Olbracht]

What about fragmentation of Swedish Kingdom under Vasa Dynasty?

 

[Arkenfolm]

You could always have a Roman conquest of Germania and as a result, Finland is brought into the outer periphery of the Roman cultural realm and a Finnish state can coalesce. Maybe also a Charlemagne wank to lead to an earlier united Finnish kingdom?

But Finland is a peripheral region of Europe, whose fate ultimately depends on what goes on in the Germanic and Slavic regions of Europe. Best thing would be an earlier use of the heavy plow in that region of the world leading to a population expansion. A more exotic solution is an early adoption of reindeer herding by the Finnish peoples, and maybe also even moose domestication, which would help give the Finnish tribes some very useful animals. Combined with a brilliant leader, you might get a united Finnish kingdom early on.

As for Finnish names, there are lists of old names that were used before the Swedish conquest or at least during the early centuries of the Swedish rule. Many, not to say most, Finnish placenames are non-Swedish, some of them very old, and could be used in a TL about an early Finland, or modifications of them might do. As for the Finnish state in question, you could derive a name from the traditional Finnish tribe the legendary leader hails from, or then from his personal name or epithet.

Do you have a link? I think I have a good idea of what they are considering the really old Finnish names tended not to have been used in the 19th century revival of Finnish culture.

I'm assuming it would probably be Finns or Tavastians who would be the Finnish tribe which would consolidate the early Finnish state, given they had the widest amount of external trade and the largest population.

 

[The Professor]

Say, "traveller, you have now reached the lands of kuninkaamme Sotijalo Kaukovalta Hämäläinen, hämäläisten, suomalaisten ja savolaisten yliherra" ("our King Battle-Noble Far-Reign the Tavastian, the Overlord of the Tavastians, the Finns, (ie. the people from Finland Proper), and the Savonians").

Interesting. Sounds like Suomi might not come to refer to "all Finns" but just those of the province/dialect area.
Would Finn then be adopted as the native term?

 

[DrakonFin]

Do you have a link? I think I have a good idea of what they are considering the really old Finnish names tended not to have been used in the 19th century revival of Finnish culture.

I can't find a good list online, but here's some examples of first names (taken off this Finnish language master's thesis available online):

Anettu, Harmaa, Haukka, Himottu, Hirvas, Huono, Hyvä, Härkä, Iloittu, Kaivattu, Kettu, Kurittu, Kärppä, Lemmitty, Miero, Noita, Ohto, Pitkä, Ruskea, Torittu, Vallittu, Vihattu, Yletty, Äijä, Ahti, Kaleva, Palva, Tapio, Tursas, Väinö, Aimo, Himo, Ilo, Jouko, Pelko, Salli, Uro, Vaino, Sortava, Tietävä, Vihava, Anottu, Ampuja, Parantaja, Vartia, Aikamieli, Hyväneuvo, Ihalempi, Kaukomieli, Kontio, Kultamies, Kylli, Lempo, Mielikkä, Otava, Toivakka, Unto, Valtari, Viljo, Äijäpäivä.

As for last names, names with the -nen suffix (of something, from somewhere) made out of place names or first names, tend to be medieval or older - actually it is apparently not known how old they are. In fact Finnish -nen last names appear to predate any actual last names in the Scandinavian area, if we discount the various versions of the -son names which really are derived from patronymics.

Interesting. Sounds like Suomi might not come to refer to "all Finns" but just those of the province/dialect area.
Would Finn then be adopted as the native term?

Yes, originally "Finnish" (suomalainen) only referred to people from south-western Finland, like I mentioned the area that is still called Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi or Egentliga Finland). I am in fact Suomalainen from my mother's side, it is said that the ancestor of the family got the name as he migrated to Savonia from the south-west, before it having just his first name and a patronymic (as in "Matti Matinpoika" or "Mats Matsson" as the Swedish documents would call him).

I think what the people in Finland would be called if history went differently might be quite different, contingent of various developments. "Finnish" or "suomalainen" becoming the general terms for the people living in the area was in no way predestined, I feel.

 

[Arkenfolm]

I can't find a good list online, but here's some examples of first names (taken off this Finnish language master thesis available online):

Anettu, Harmaa, Haukka, Himottu, Hirvas, Huono, Hyvä, Härkä, Iloittu, Kaivattu, Kettu, Kurittu, Kärppä, Lemmitty, Miero, Noita, Ohto, Pitkä, Ruskea, Torittu, Vallittu, Vihattu, Yletty, Äijä, Ahti, Kaleva, Palva, Tapio, Tursas, Väinö, Aimo, Himo, Ilo, Jouko, Pelko, Salli, Uro, Vaino, Sortava, Tietävä, Vihava, Anottu, Kaivattu, Vallittu; Ampuja, Parantaja, Vartia, Aikamieli, Hyväneuvo, Ihalempi, Kaukomieli, Kontio, Kultamies, Kylli, Lempo, Mielikkä, Otava, Toivakka, Unto, Valtari, Viljo, Äijäpäivä.

As for last names, names with the -nen suffix (of something, from somewhere) made out of place names or first names, tend to be medieval or older - in fact it is apparently not known how old they are. In fact Finnish -nen last names appear to predate any actual last names in the Scandinavian area, if we discount the various versions of the -son names which really are derived from patronymics.

Seems about what I had encountered, although I saw more names like Kaukomieli which look dithematic like Germanic or Slavic names.

Yes, "-nen" surnames are definitely old. I myself have an "-nen" surname which I can trace to my paternal ancestor who lived in the 16th century.

Yes, originally "Finnish" (suomalainen) only referred to people from south-western Finland, like I mentioned the area that is still called Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi or Egentliga Finland). I am in fact Suomalainen from my mother's side, it is said that the ancestor of the family got the name as he migrated to Savonia from the south-west, before it having just his first name and a patronymic (as in "Matti Matinpoika" or "Mats Matsson" as the Swedish documents would call him).

I think what the people in Finland would be called if history went differently might be quite different, contingent of various developments. "Finnish" or "suomalainen" becoming the general terms for the people living in the area was in no way predestined, I feel.

Although the name of Finland is very old, and considering how different "Suomalainen" is from the exonym "Finn", it isn't too unlikely that to the outside world they'd still be called Finns even if the actual Finns call themselves Hämäläinen or Savolainen or whatever.

 

[The Professor]

Although the name of Finland is very old, and considering how different "Suomalainen" is from the exonym "Finn", it isn't too unlikely that to the outside world they'd still be called Finns even if the actual Finns call themselves Hämäläinen or Savolainen or whatever.

Vinnalainen?

 

[Planet of Hats]

Medieval (and older) Finnish history is not my forte, but I think the best Finn on the forum to answer the question might well be @Olligarchy, given that he has a timeline about an earlier independent Finland.

As for the OP, while there are fantastic theories by nationalists about how ancient Finns used to rule the whole Baltic Sea area and most of Europe besides in the glory days of old, I think that before the OTL Swedish conquest, there would not have been a technological and organisational basis for a homegrown Finnish kingdom. The people in what is now Finland lived in tribes that traded, feuded and intermingled with each other, frequently also battling the Swedes, Danes and the Novgorodians when we get to the age of the Vikings. People lived in smallish, scatteres villages and hunting, fishing and foraging was for a long time more important than farming - even if farming was known and practiced since the late neolithic period. Local chieftains ruled from hilltop forts. As we don't have any extant written sources from before the Swedish conquest, it is hard to say what really went on, apart from the fact that by the archeological evidence, technology and societal development was slowly progressing, trade goods from as far away as the Mediterranian made their way to Finland, and there was some sort of an upper class wielding iron weapons, using elaborate (often imported) jewelry and getting their final resting places in large stony burial mounds.

If I had to write a story/TL about an earlier Finnish kingdom, I'd go the same way as Olligarchy, and start from after the Swedish conquest. That way, I would not have to make most things about the Finnish realm essentially out of whole cloth. In the medieval times, we can argue that there still existed a Finnish upper class of chieftains who were not entirely Swedified yet, and among them might rise a legendary warrior-king who gets the idea of uniting the Finnish tribes east of the Gulf of Bothnia, during a time when the Swedish kingdom is going through some sort of internal division, even a civil war. To make it more realistic, have this Finnish chieftain originally be an ally/lieutenant to a Swedish royal who runs one of the sides in said civil war, later taking over the Finnish areas from a power base this Swedish royal unwittingly helped create for him. Generally, have the "first Finnish king" use the structures and innovations introduced by the Swedish to help set up the Finnish state, also by skillfully playing the other powers of the Baltic Sea area against each other.

As for Finnish names, there are lists of old names that were used before the Swedish conquest or at least during the early centuries of the Swedish rule. Many, not to say most, Finnish placenames are non-Swedish, some of them very old, and could be used in a TL about an early Finland, or modifications of them might do. As for the Finnish state in question, you could derive a name from the traditional Finnish tribe the legendary leader hails from, or then from his personal name or epithet.

Say, "traveller, you have now reached the lands of kuninkaamme Sotijalo Kaukovalta Hämäläinen, hämäläisten, suomalaisten ja savolaisten yliherra" ("our King Battle-Noble Far-Reign the Tavastian, the Overlord of the Tavastians, the Finns, (ie. the people from Finland Proper), and the Savonians").

So what you're telling me is that the Greater Finnish Empire of 1000 BC did not actually span from Iberia to Japan.

What kind of stood out in my mind when I thought of this one is a Lithuania situation, but I don't know enough about that, either. Is a Swedish or other such takeover inevitable in creating an early kingdom up here, or is this one of those situations where you could have ideas and technology transmitted through a less overt process, ie. through a Swedish settler presence along the coasts? I can't imagine demographics are all that favourable.

Basically is something like a Tavastian Mindaugas humanly possible?

 

[CaedmonCousland]

I'd actually say a Finland kingdom could arise before the Swedish crusades. Novgorod had been gathering influence to its north, and had skirmished with the Tavastians and Karelians. I'm also pretty sure Novgorod outright invaded one at some point in the 12th century. A pretty good incentive to started forming into a proper kingdom that can more easily throw off foreign influence and ambitions. Maybe the Karelians ally with Novgorod against the Tavastians. The Tavastians either turn to the Finns of southwest Finland for alliance or the Tavastians manage to hold off their rivals for a time, and then set about conquering the Finns to their west to strengthen themselves in preparation for a future conflict to their east and southeast. There was a Finnish road that I believe connected Tavastia and southwest Finland at this time, so it wasn't like the two regions didn't have contact or economic interaction. This could form the nucleus of a future Kingdom of Finland that expands for a good century or two afterwards.

They'd certainly be exposed to trade along the Baltic, since activity in the Baltic really increased in the 12th and 13th centuries. If it formed from a conflict with Novgorod, possibly over historical attempts to convert the area to Greek Orthodoxy, you might see them specifically forming ties with the Catholic world. Or the inverse could be eventually this nascent Finland makes peace with Novgorod, Novgorod giving up attempts to dominate Finland in return for Finland converting to Greek Orthodoxy.

 

[Ultima Ratio]

Maybe go a bit further back, and somehow prevent Slavs from migrating to the area. Admittedly, I know little of the region, but Finno-Ugric tribes have apparently inhabited a very large area, but were mostly conquered by the slavs. So maybe these tribes continue to be relevant from the Baltic to the Urals. Now you only need for them to be united. Maybe have them Christianized very early on by a “Finnish St. Patrick” or somesuch, which also leads to a more common cultural identity, and eventual unification. If that happens, this kingdom could effectively take the place of Novgorod and control a large area in north-eastern Europe. What would a Finnish Moscow be named, I wonder?

I think what you need for this is a regular trade and cultural exchange with either the Roman Empire, or Francia. This has to go through the Baltic sea, so you need a good stable port there for the Romans, the area of OTL Lübeck comes to mind, not having to cross the Danish straits. If the Romans/Franks have a foothold here, and Finland is Christianized (or in the process of being Christianized), then such trade could be very beneficial to both parties, so it gives an incentive to any Finnish ruler to protect these trade routes from pirates, meaning developing a navy. Armenia comes to mind, maybe when thinking about this early Christianized Finland.

Now, if this state becomes sufficiently developed, maybe if can assimilate Slavs and not the other way round? Or maybe they would be at the forefront of converting and conquering Scandinavia?

 

[DrakonFin]

Good news everyone! Or at least good news to those who want to write a medieval Finnish or Swedish timeline and be hardcore about it: the newest digitized edition of the Diplomatarium Fennicum has been released online, making nearly 7000 medieval documents and document fragments from Finland available through a web database. A working knowledge of Latin (and Swedish) is of course helpful...

A heads up to @Petike as well, if you want to add a link to the Finnish resource section on the wiki.

 

[Petike]

A heads up to @Petike as well, if you want to add a link to the Finnish resource section on the wiki.

Already added.

On a sidenote, I wish my country had the same sort of online archive for precious historical documents like this. It would be a blast to visit a one-stop site for period documents like this one.

 

[FSB]

As a POD, would the Livonian Brothers of the Sword actually going to defend Finland from the Novgorodians when the Pope tells them to and then doing some kingdom building after the main order gets decimated work?

 

[Planet of Hats]

Good news everyone! Or at least good news to those who want to write a medieval Finnish or Swedish timeline and be hardcore about it: the newest digitized edition of the Diplomatarium Fennicum has been released online, making nearly 7000 medieval documents and document fragments from Finland available through a web database. A working knowledge of Latin (and Swedish) is of course helpful...

A heads up to @Petike as well, if you want to add a link to the Finnish resource section on the wiki.

Nice. Gonna have to check this out.