Immigration to late medieval Bergen - A study of names and positions in an international City

This study is an attempt at answering the following questions: How did the pattern of immigration to Bergen change over the late medieval period? If there were changes, what are the possible reasons for these? Late medieval history in Norway has often been focused on the demographic changes in the period, what led to the demographic decline, and how the decline affected the Norway as a state and nation. Studies of migration have been interested in how the immigrants affected society and vice versa, as well as in what led to immigration in the first place. Few have attempted to base theory on quantitative studies. This theses uses property transaction documents from Bergen between 1300 and 1599, as the property market probably would be one of the first areas where immigration was felt. By studying the names in these documents and analysing where their owners may have originated, this study is an attempt at uncovering changes in the proportions of Norse and non-Norse names in the period