The Burghers of Nyen as Creditors and Suppliers in the Great Northern War (1700–1714)

This chapter focuses on the burghers of Nyen (the Swedish settlement and largest trading town in Ingria) and their role as financers of the Great Northern War (1700–1721), which marked the end of Swedish Ingria and the ceding of the area back to Russia. As the battle over Ingria and Finland prolonged, the Nyen merchants – and particularly the wealthiest of them, Johan Henrik Frisius – became indispensable for the crown as suppliers and financiers. Even though Frisius and his colleagues were refugees from their destroyed hometown, they had better international connections and credit standing than the Swedish crown and managed to operate more efficiently at the markets than the royal officials.