Girls on the Move: Late Medieval Social Networks, Economic Conditions and Peasant Geographic Mobility between Southern Finland and Reval (Tallinn), c. 1350–1560

A significant shift in late medieval peasant migration patterns between southern Finland and Reval (Tallinn) was uncovered, revealing that female emigration from eastern Nyland surged dramatically during the 1520–1560 period, coinciding with Reval's final transit trade boom. Over 83% of migrants who passed away in Reval during this era were women, primarily younger daughters from middle and upper rural society layers, contrasting sharply with earlier periods where male migration dominated (c. 1350–1519). These women leveraged their experience in peasant merchant households to secure urban employment, suggesting motivation driven by overpopulation in home villages and Reval's labor market demands. The study, based on rare 'tovorsichte' inheritance certificates, also highlighted a geographic concentration of female migrants from parishes along the northern Gulf of Finland, directly opposite Reval.

Salminen, T. (2025). Girls on the Move: Late Medieval Social Networks, Economic Conditions and Peasant Geographic Mobility between Southern Finland and Reval (Tallinn), c. 1350–1560. Zapiski Historyczne, XC(2), 51. https://doi.org/10.15762/zh.2025.13