Reflecting debate around hospitality and the Baltic Sea region, this open access book taps into wider discussions about reception, securitization and xenophobic attitudes towards migrants and strangers. Focusing on coastal and urban areas, the collection presents an overview of the responses of host communities to guests and strangers in the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea, from the early eleventh century to the twentieth. The chapters investigate why and how diverse categories of strangers including migrants, war refugees, prisoners of war, merchants, missionaries and vagrants, were portrayed as threats to local populations or as objects of their charity, shedding light on the current predicament facing many European countries. Emphasizing the Baltic Sea region as a uniquely multi-layered space of intercultural encounter and conflict, this book demonstrates the significance of Northeastern Europe to migration history.

Exploring new perspectives concerning regions traditionally considered “on the margins” of Europe, this book fills a gap in current historiography through its analysis of cities, space, and economy from the High Middle Ages to the present. Markets, trade, and economy in general have formed the backbone of urban life ever since the emergence of cities and towns, but classical theorists have largely focused on developments in Western Europe. Urban research in the last few decades has advanced in many ways to supersede and correct this still influential image and to include other parts of Europe into the analytical framework. Building on these emerging methodologies, this volume pays close attention to the fringes of Europe in the East, North, West, and South. The essays discuss the development of various spaces as nodal points for the exchange and production of commodities that took place in cities and towns. The scope of this work allows for a point of comparison to frequently studied examples in Europe, encouraging readers to identify larger patterns beyond individual examples. Cities and Economy in Europe: Markets and Trade on the Margins from the Middle Ages to the Present is the perfect resource for students and researchers of economic and urban history.

This book uses the concept of "arrival spaces" to examine the relationship between migration processes, social infrastructures, and the transformation of urban spaces in Europe since the mid-19th century. Case studies cover cities from London to Palermo and from Antwerp to St. Petersburg, including both metropolises and small towns. The chapters examine the emergence of settlement patterns, the functioning of arrival infrastructures, and the public representations of neighborhoods which have been shaped by internal or international migrations. By understanding these neighborhoods as spaces of arrival and as infrastructural hubs, this volume offers a new perspective on the profound impact of migration on European cities in modern and contemporary history. This volume makes a valuable contribution to both migration research and urban history and will be of interest to researchers and students studying the relationship between cities and migration in Europe’s past and present.

The High Middle Ages have been seen as an important point within the development of governmental and administrative bureaucracy, as well as a time in which there was frequent conflict. This volume addresses the methods by which violence was regulated and mitigated, and peaceful relations were re-established in High Medieval Europe. By studying the restraint of violence and the imposition of peace, the chapters in this volume contribute to interdisciplinary discussions about the effects that violence had on medieval societies. The wide-ranging geographical scope of this volume invites comparisons to be made in relation to how violence was restrained, and peace established, in different settings. The chapters in the first section of this volume address the issue of how violence was moderated and curbed during and following periods of conflict. The second section explores attempts to maintain peace, and the processes which developed to deal with those viewed as having broken the peace. The final section of this volume explores the ways in which conflict was avoided through the maintenance of positive relationships between individuals and groups. This book will be of interest to both academics and students interested in conflict, the restraint of violence, and peacemaking in medieval societies as well as those working on ritual and conflict resolution in any historical period.

Based on empirical studies, this book investigates the particular urban history of the North from the 17th century until today in a comparative, Northern perspective. Urban Life in Nordic Countries is the result of a conference on "Urbanity in the Periphery" held in Stockholm on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Institute of Urban History at Stockholm University, aimed at establishing the field of the urban history of the North and creating a network of urban historians of the North. With a broad range of contributions from Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Estonia, the volume seeks to further discourse on the region within national and transnational lenses, and to highlight possibilities for new cooperation among researchers. Urban history is a transdisciplinary subject, engaging not only historians but also ethnologists, sociologists, urban planners, and cultural geographers, and this book targets all scholars whose work requires a historical understanding of the Northern town. European urban historians outside the region will also find this text valuable as one of the few studies to consider the urban history of the continent from a North-centered viewpoint.