One of the biggest surprises I found after taking an Ancestry DNA test was how high the estimate of Swedish/Danish DNA was. I knew my maternal grandfather was full Swedish, but that would have given my mother around 50%, and I should have received about 25%, more or less. Instead, my Swedish/Danish estimate was close to 50%, and my mother and some of her siblings were at 50% or more. How was this possible? Did I have more Swedish ancestors I didn't know about? The answer was to look back into the history of the Baltic Sea area.
I knew for a fact that some of my ancestors had lived in southern Sweden. I also discovered that other ancestors had lived in northern Germany, and northwestern present day Poland. In fact, I traced many of my ancestors back to areas that bordered right along the Baltic Sea. It was time to look at the history of this area, and specifically Sweden.
Today, Sweden stays neutral and doesn't get involved in wars among countries. In the past, it was much different. The Viking Age of Sweden was from 800-1050 AD. The Vikings sailed around the Baltic Sea, up rivers, and pretty much all over Europe. Some stayed in these new found lands, while others brought slaves and wives back to Sweden. During the 14th century trade among towns and villages on the Baltic Coast began to grow. The Hanseatic League was formed. Many towns were part of this trade and business alliance. North German towns would trade with Scandinavian towns. Migration occurred and people scattered. When I was in Bergin, Norway last summer our tour guide told us about how the locals didn't appreciate the German merchants coming and taking Norwegian girls back to Germany as their brides.
Sweden also had a foreign policy of which the aim was to dominate the Baltic Sea area. There were repeated wars with Denmark. Eventually Sweden controlled the area from Sweden east to Finland, along the Baltic coast and down to northern Germany. All land area bordering the Baltic Sea was under Swedish control. This was in the 1600's. Sweden was unable to keep control of such a large empire, though, and eventually lost control of this land. This was the Great Northern War of 1700-1721. Sweden fought against Denmark, Poland, and Russia. During the Napoleonic wars Sweden lost Finland to Russia. Norway was forced into a union with Sweden in 1814. Norway gained their independence from Sweden in 1905.
So, when you take all this into account and see how much land Sweden used to control in the Baltic Sea area, and see where our ancestors lived, then it's not surprising that so much Swedish/Danish DNA shows up.
This is just a very small, brief, Cliff Notes version of Swedish history. One day I'll do a more in depth blog of Sweden's military past, and the Hanseatic League. Information for this came from Sweden's history
I think my Swedish decreased and my Norwegian increased
ReplyDeleteI lump the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian all together. It's all part of Scandinavia. I never knew Sweden controlled so much of the Baltic Sea area. It's not something we learn in school. We never learned about the Hanseatic League either. The people of that area really traveled around and migrated.
DeleteThat explains why instead of being all German we have some Norweigen an d Swedish DNA.
ReplyDeleteExactly. The area the Strandts lived in had been under Swedish control at one point. That area was also probably part of the Hanseatic League and traded extensively with Sweden, Denmark and other nearby countries. It makes sense then, that while they lived in Germany, they weren't ethnic German, but a mixture of Swedish/Danish and German. "Strand" is a common last name in Norway and Sweden. Who knows? The original Strandt could have come over from Norway and decided to stay in Germany?
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