Introduction

The majority of the provincial regiments of the Allotment System were established during the 1620’s. They originate from the “fänikor” and “fanor” that was raised in the Swedish regions during the regime of King Gustav Vasa in the 1500's. A “fänika” was a 16th century name for a unit of foot soldiers. They consisted of about 500 soldiers. A “fana” was a 16th century name for a unit of cavalry. They consisted of 300 cavalrymen. The term "regiment" was not in use until the beginning of the 17th century. The foot soldiers were recruited by a compulsory conscription system (utskrivning). The cavalrymen were recruited in a slightly different way via a system called “rusthåll”. At the end of the 1610’s, during the regime of King Gustav II Adolf, the different “fänikor” were merged into Grand Regiments (storregimenten or landsregimenten), for example The Norrland Grand Regiment. A Grand Regiment normally included “fänikor” of 3 – 4 provinces and numbered 2000 soldiers. The “fanor” had the same history - mergers into Grand Regiments. The Grand Regiments were split up into provincial regiments (landskapsregementen) during the 1620’s. Those provincial regiments have lasted until modern times. In 1682 the Swedish Armed forces was reorganized and a system called The Allotment System or really The New Allotment System (Nya indelningsverket) was introduced. The Allotment System was a system of organizing and financing the Swedish armed forces. It was primarily the provincial regiments that were linked to the Allotment System. The enlisted regiments were not. The way the soldiers were recruited to the allotted regiments differed from the enlisted regiments. Before the New Allotment System the soldiers in the provincial regiments were recruited by a involuntary conscript system (utskrivning). In the new system the soldiers were recruited and maintained by the farmers in each province.

“Rote”

The infantry regiments had 1200 soldiers (privates plus corporals). Therefore each province was divided into 1200 districts (allotments) called "rotar" (its one “rote” and two “rotar”). The farmers within each "rote" together had to provide a soldier to the regiment of that province. In return the farmers were exempted from having to serve as a soldier (as long as they provided a soldier). The closest word in English to a "rote" would be a military ward.

Mantal

The number of farmers per "rote" depended of the “mantal”. "Mantal" was a property tax code and every farm who had to pay taxes was assigned a "mantal". In the beginning (1600’s) one "mantal" meant a farm with a yearly yield large enough to support the farmer's family and their farm hands. In the forest provinces in northern Sweden a farm of 1 "mantal" had to be big to produce a yield corresponding to 1 "mantal". In the plains in southern Sweden, with a better climate and a richer soil, a farm could be a lot smaller than in the north and still produce a yield of 1 "mantal". So “mantal” is not a value for the size of the farm but rather it’s capability of yielding a good crop. Farms with the same “mantal” paid the same amount of tax. Not all farms could produce a yield corresponding to 1 "mantal" but was still able support a family. It was common with farms of ½ "mantal or 5/8 "mantal" etc. Throughout the centuries the “mantal” rating has changed into lower values. Farms have been split up between siblings due to inheritance and the tax code has been adjusted to that in order to get a fair taxation. Farms in the 1700’s and 1800’s with a “mantal” rating of ½, ¼ or 1/8 could still support a family. A farm in the 1800’s with a “mantal” rating above 1 (1¼ for example) was a farm with a large yield. So, the “mantal” rates have changed over the years. The total sum of each farmer’s “mantal” per “rote” had to be 2 “mantal”, that is, a "rote" was supposed to have a total yield of 2 "mantal". It was estimated that a ”rote” had to be of 2 ”mantal” in order to afford the cost of providing a soldier. In some areas there could be two farms per "rote" (the two farms together had a total yield corresponding to 2 "mantal"). In other areas there might be 5 - 6 farms per "rote", while a wealthy farm of 4 "mantal" alone had to provide two soldiers. Small farms and crofts (torp) with a small yield weren’t assigned any “mantal”. Sometimes you will find the “mantal” rate for a fram in the Household Examination Rolls (Hfl). Not all farmers were obligated to participate in the Allotment System. For example, the estates of the noblemen and the farms on noble land were exempted. The allotted infantry regiments recruited their soldiers in this manner. The majority of the seamen in the Navy and the Army Fleet were recruited in the same way. This way of recruiting was called "rotering". The cavalrymen in the cavalry were recruited in a slightly different manner. The cavalry used a system called "rusthåll". A "rusthåll" farmer had a personal contract with the Crown and had the responsibility to provide a cavalryman with horse, uniform, a soldier's cottage, etc. In return the "rusthåll" farmer was exempted from paying taxes and did not have to participate as a "rote" farmer. He, like the "rote" farmers, was also exempted from having to serve as a soldier. The officers in the allotted regiments were also maintained within the Allotment system.

Enlisted Regiments

The soldiers in the enlisted regiments (Swedish: Värvade regementen) were recruited in a "normal" way and had cash wages paid by the Crown. This was the way soldiers were recruited in Europe. Those regiments were garrisoned in the cities. There could be more then one regiment in a province. For example, the province of Östergötland had both an infantry regiment and a cavalry regiment. On top of that they also had “rotar” for the Navy. So in the province Östergötland they had more then 2400 “rotar”. To make it more complicated, a regiment could also have” rotar” in more then one province. As a result of the constitution adopted in 1634 the Army was reorganized into 20 provincial infantry regiments (13 in Sweden and 7 in Finland) and 8 provincial cavalry regiments (5 in Sweden and 3 in Finland). Finland was a part of Sweden until 1809. In addition to the provincial regiments there were the enlisted regiments. However, the majority of the soldiers were recruited via the Allotment System. For more information about allotted regiments versus enlisted regiments: See Allotted vs Enlisted regiments. In wartime extra regiments were recruited, for example the reserve regiments (the tremänning and femmänning regiments). The strength of the regiments were listed by the numbers of privates and corporals. A regiments of 1,200 men had 1,200 privates and corporals - the regiment has 1,200 numbers. Besides those 1,200 men the regiments of course had NCO's, officers, craftsmen, scribes, clergy, band and administration. Read more about the Allotment System.

Uniforms

Before the 1680’s each regiment had it’s own uniform with it’s own colors. King Karl XI introduced a standard uniform ("enhetsuniformen") with the same design and colors for all regiments. The coat was blue with yellow cuffs and yellow lining. The foot soldier's stockings were also yellow. See image to the right. The following listing of the regiments is sorted according the status or rank the regiments had according to the constitution of 1634. Each regiment is listed under the defense branch they were established (Infantry, cavalry etc). A few cavalry regiments were later reorganized into infantry regiments but will be found in the Cavalry section. See also: About the Names of the Allotted Regiments

Victorious Battle Campaigns (segernamn)

According to Swedish tradition, a regiment is entitled to carry the names of Victorious Battle Campaigns in its Official Regimental Colors only if the regiment had a decisive role in the victory. There are quite a few references to the Swedish provinces and counties in this article. In order to understand those references you might want to have a look at Map, Swedish counties or Map, Swedish provinces.

Finland

Finland was a part of Sweden until 1809 when we lost our eastern part (Finland) in a war with Russia. Up until then Sweden kept regiments in Finland.

Regiments

• Swedish Infantry Regiments • Swedish Cavalry Regiments • Artillery Regiments • Swedish Navy • Enlisted regiments (värvade regementen) (In Swedish) • Infantry Regiments in Finland • Cavalry regiments in Finland • Temporary Infantry Units, so-called "-männing" regiments • Temporary Cavalry Units, so-called "-männing" regiments • Swedish Military Unit Designations • Swedish Military Branch and Unit Insignias • Uniforms of the Swedish Army • About the Names of the Allotted Regiments • Allotted vs Enlisted regiments Top of page

Related Links

• Allotted vs Enlisted regiments • The Allotment System • About the Names of the Allotted Regiments • Map, Swedish counties • Map, Swedish provinces

Source References

1. Arméns förband, skolor och staber, Björn Holmberg, 1993. 2. Från Brunkeberg till Nordanvind, 500 år med svenskt infanteri, Bertil Nelsson, 1993. 3. Facimil utgåva av "Statistiskt sammandrag af svenska indelningsverket, 2: bandet av C. Grill från 1856, utgiven av Svenska Släktforskningsförbundet 1988. 4. Kungliga Södermanlands regemente under 350 år, 1977 5. Närkingar i krig och fred. Närkes militärhistoria, del I. Stiftelsen Nerekies regementen 1989. 6. Karoliner, Alf Åberg, Göte Göransson, 1976 7. Kung. Södermanlands regemente, utgiven 1935 av Generalstabens krigshistoriska avdelning och Södermanlands regemente. 8. Svenska regementenas historia, J Mankell, andra upplagan 1866. 9. Huvudstadens hästar, Höjerings Stockholmia serie, 1990. Uppsatser av 18 författare. 10. Svenska krig 1521 - 1814, Ulf Sundberg, 1998. 11. Den Karolinska Arméns uniformer under Stora Nordiska Kriget, Lars-Eric Höglund, 1995. 12. Skånska kriget 1675 - 79, Fanor och uniformer, Lars-Eric Höglund, 1999. 13. Rulla över befälskårerna vid Sveriges armé och flotta 1755, Ulla Johansson, 1976. 14. Namnlistor över officerskårerna vid svenska sk. männingsregementen till häst och ståndsdragoner under Det Stora Nordiska kriget, V. Hamilton, C. H. Kreüger och E. Leijonhufvud, 1916. 15. Namnlistor över officerskårerna vid svenska sk. männingsregementen till fot under Det Stora Nordiska kriget, E. Leijonhufvud, 1918. 16. Fd. finska arméns indelning och förläggning, Kongl. Krigs-vetenskaps-Akademins tidskrift, n:o 9, september 1852 samt n:o 10 oktober 1852 17. ”Kungliga Österbottens regemente 1723 – 1771” av C-B. J. Petander, 1973 18. Sveriges arméförband under 1900-tal, Christian Braunstein, 2003. Top of page