page_title: Stockholm during the Middle Ages
section_title: Population
hierarchical_section_title: Stockholm during the Middle Ages / Population
caption_attribution_description: Detail of 5, w:Stora Gråmunkegränd. Gamla stan, Stockholm.
context_page_description: Stockholm during the Middle Ages is the period in the history of Stockholm stretching from the foundation of the city c. 1250 to the end of the Kalmar Union in 1523. During this period, Stockholm still didn't fill up the small island Stadsholmen which today known as the Stockholm Old Town, and as a consequence this article to some extent overlap Gamla stan.
context_section_description: By the end of the 15th century, the population in Stockholm can be estimated to 5-7.000 people, which made it a relatively small town compared to several other contemporary cities, even in a medieval context. (Hamburg and Bremen ~20.000, Lübeck 25.000, Köln and London 50.000, and Paris 100.000.)  On the other hand, among the approximately forty cities in the Swedish kingdom, the second largest must have been either Kalmar or Åbo, none of which can have been a home to more than 1-2.000 inhabitants.  Of course, these estimations are very unreliable as there was no census in the modern sense, only tax rolls (skotteböcker) enlisting individuals liable to taxation.  For example, it is well-known trade was dominated by Germans, and these tax rolls seem to indicate one third of the city's tax-paying population were Germans, most originating from Lübeck, Danzig, and Westphalia.  They were, however, most likely over-represented in these records as they formed an elite in the city centred on the southern square Järntorget, while Finns, also believed to have been numerous in the city, are hard to discern in these records, especially as they often took Swedish names (i.e. Bengt instead of Pentti), but also because they in general had simpler duties and didn't necessarily pay taxes.  Furthermore, it is generally assumed no European city managed to reproduce its own population before the early 19th century and thus was dependent of people moving in. Considering medieval warfare and epidemics, the population must have fluctuated considerably.
caption: During the late Middle Ages, most buildings were made of brick, which gave the city its character. Some prominent façades were, however, painted red to accentuate their importance — like the restored façade of 5, Stora Gråmunkegränd, also featuring several other aesthetic details.[8]
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