The Finnish archipelago is the oldest known name for the Åboland archipelago, first mentioned in Swedish documents in 1386. During the Middle Ages, trade and the maritime economies were of great importance. The arable land was limited in the archipelago and only a few farms were completely self-sufficient. People in archipelago were dependent on imports. Salt and rye were the most important necessities. Islanders sailed to the cities with dried pike, seal meat, seabirds and salted herring. The seal was an important food source during the Middle Ages because the Catholic Church equated seal meat with fish and it was therefore possible to consume during Lent.
Stockholm was an important trading place. The islanders boats were on average loaded with 2-4 tons of goods, which corresponds to 15-35 barrels of herring. The inhabitants of the archipelago made trade trips to Stockholm and Reval during the summer, but in case of emergencies they also sailed during the early winter to pick up vital necessities.
There were also some professional skippers who owned larger vessels in Åboland. The city of Danzig’s customs lengths in the 1470s mention several ships from the Finnish archipelago.
In 1477 the skipper Tomas Persson from Mielis in Nagu, transported merchandise from Danzig to Reval. His cargo consisted of 32 tons of salt, hops, wine, oil and a horse-cart. In 1539, the skipper Klemet Karlssson from Roslax in Houtskär, arrived at Stockholm from Danzig with a cargo consisting of 20 tons of salt, onions and hops.
