Everything about V Sterg Tland totally explained
is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative
provinces of Sweden (
landskap in Swedish), situated in the southwest of
Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the
Latinized version
Westrogothia.
Västergötland borders the provinces
Bohuslän,
Dalsland,
Värmland,
Närke,
Östergötland,
Småland and
Halland. It is also bounded by the two largest Swedish lakes
Vänern and
Vättern, and in a small strip to the
Kattegat sea area, on this small strip is the largest city
Gothenburg situated.
Administration
The
provinces of Sweden serve no administrative function. Instead, that function is served by
counties of Sweden. From the 17th century up until
1998 Västergötland was divided into
Skaraborg County,
Älvsborg County and a minor part of
Gothenburg and Bohus County. From
1999 nearly all of the province is in the newly created
Västra Götaland County, with the exception of
Habo Municipality and
Mullsjö Municipality, which were transferred to
Jönköping County, and smaller parts of the province which are in
Halland County and
Örebro County.
Heraldry
Västergötland was granted its arms at the time of the funeral of
Gustav Vasa in
1560. The province is also a duchy and the arms can be represented with the ducal coronet. Blazon: "Per bend sinister Sable and Or, a Lion rampant counterchanged langued and armed Gules between two Mullets Argent in the Sable field."
Geography
The southern and eastern part of the province is dominated by hills, belonging to the southern Swedish
highlands. The northern and western portions of the province belong to the central Swedish
plain, which in this part is referred to as the Västgöta-plains or
Västgöta-slätten.
Along the
Kattegat lies the archipelago usually known as the
Gothenburg archipelago. The southern part of it, belonging to
Gothenburg Municipality, is part of Västergötland.
The northwestern border is demarked by Sweden's largest lake
Vänern, and the north-eastern border is demarked by Sweden's second lake
Vättern. Within the province the shoreline of Lake Vänern is 330 kilometers long, and along Vättern it's 130 kilometers. The larger river is
Göta älv which drains
Vänern to the east shore and the
Kattegat strait; along the river several important cities and towns have been situated for centuries.
The average rainfall is 900
mm near the coast and 600 mm in the plains. The average temperature is -1 °C in January and 15 °C in July.
Population
As of 2004 Västergötland had a population of 1,198,806, distributed over four counties:
History
Prehistory and middle ages
There are many ancient remains in Västergötland. Most prominent are probably the
dolmens from the
Funnelbeaker culture, in the
Falköping area south of lake
Vänern.
The population of Västergötland, the
Geats appear in the writings of the Greek
Ptolemaios (as
Goutai), and they appear as
Gautigoths in
Jordanes' work in the
6th century. The province of Västergötland represents the heartland of
Götaland, once an independent
petty kingdom with a long line of
Geatish kings. These are mainly described in foreign sources (Frankish) and through legends. It is possible that Västergötland had the same king as the rest of Sweden at the time of the monk
Ansgar's mission to Sweden in the
9th century, but
both the date and nature of its inclusion into the Swedish kingdom is a matter of much debate. Some date it as early as the
6th century, based on the
Swedish-Geatish wars in
Beowulf epos; others date it as late as the
12th century.
Västergötland received much early influence from the
British isles and is generally considered to be the
bridgehead of
Christianity's advance into Sweden. Recent excavations at
Varnhem suggest that at least its central parts were Christian in the
9th century. Around
1000, King
Olof Skötkonung is held to have received
baptism in
Husaby, near lake
Vänern. However, the Christianization was met with heavy opposition in the rest of his kingdom, and so Olof had to restrict the Christian activities to Västergötland. The Christian faith spread, and by the time the provincial law
Västgötalagen was written in the 13th century, Västergötland had 517 churches. The seat of the area’s
diocese seems to originally have been Husaby, but since
1150 the city
Skara (just some 20 kilometers south) held that distinction.
From the election of
Stenkil in the
11th century, Swedish and Geatish dynasties vied for the control of Sweden during long civil wars. For instance, the Swedish king
Ragnvald Knaphövde was elected king by the Swedes, but when he entered Västergötland, he chose not to demand hostage from the powerful Geatish clans and was slain by the Geats near Falköping. Several times, Västergötland was independent from Sweden with kings such as
Inge I of Sweden and
Magnus the Strong. In later years the area was progressively tied more closely to the Swedish kingdom.
Being in peace with Sweden didn't mean being in peace. Located along the when borders of Denmark (with the so called
Scanian lands) and Norway (with
Bohuslän), the area was often involved in armed disputes and invaded by hostile armies.
Some places and dates of early battles were the
Battle of Älgarås (
1205), the
Battle of Lena (
1208), the
Battle of Hova (
1275), the
Battle of Gälakvist (
1279) and the
Battle of Falköping (
1389). Thereafter Sweden was involved in the Sweden-Danish wars; some notable years 1452, 1511, 1520, 1566, 1612, 1676.
In
1658 the current borders of Sweden were established when Sweden annexed both the Scanian lands and Bohuslän. Västergötland became less exposed as it was further from the country borders. Seaside battles at the end of
Scanian War in the 1670s was the last combat on Västergötland soil.
Sources:
Nordisk Familjebok (link below).
16th century and after
In 1634 the province was modernized with the establishment of two counties: Skaraborg County (with Skara as capital) and Älvsborg County (Capital first in Gothenburg but after 1679 in Vänersborg).
Dukes of Västergötland
Since 1772, Swedish Kings have created princes as Dukes of various provinces - with purely nominal titles.
Prince Carl (1861-1951)
Crown Princess Victoria (since the succession reform of 1980)
Culture
Language
In Västergötland the Götaland dialect of Swedish is spoken. The dialect has several varieties like the ones spoken in Gothenburg and Sjuhärad, but the main dialectal variety is the Western Götaland dialect, Västgötska.
The dialect was first dealt with as early as 1772, by S. Hofs in his Dialectus vestrogothica, which was a vocabulary with a grammar introduction.
Sights
The Läckö Castle is situated on the island Kållandsö in the Vänern lake. It is generally regarded as one of Sweden's finest Baroque castles. The island was actually the location of a fortress as early as 1298, but the current building was begun in 1615, supervised first by Jacob de la Gardie and then finished by his son Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie.
Karlsborg Fortress is another impressive building in the province.
Bjurum manor, one of the largest Swedish manors in the country, is located in Västergötland.
Hundreds
Hundreds of Sweden were sub-divisions of the Swedish provinces until early 20th century. Several of Västergötland's hundreds were described already in the first Västgötalagen in the 13th century. Västergötlands hundreds were:
Cities
The cities of Sweden were formerly chartered entities with certain privilegies. Today they're non-administrative urban areas.
Alingsås (1619)
Borås (1622)
Falköping (approximately 1200)
Gothenburg/Göteborg (1621)
Hjo (approximately 1400)
Lidköping (1446)
Mariestad (1583)
Mölndal (1922)
Skara (approximately 988)
Skövde (approximately 1400)
Tidaholm (1910)
Trollhättan (1916)
Ulricehamn (approximately 1400)
Vänersborg (1644)
The largest city, Gothenburg, is located by the western shore with a significant harbour commerce.
Further Information
Get more info on 'V Sterg Tland'.
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