Närke Province, Sweden Genealogy

History
The province of Närke belongs to Örebro County.

Närke is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergötland to the southwest, and Värmland to the northwest. The province of Närke belongs to Örebro County. Närke was incorporated into the diocese of Strängnäs in the year 1170.

Around about 1200 A.D., the Castle of Örebro was built to protect the bridge crossing the ford (öre means "sand bank" and bro means "bridge"), as well as the borough on the south side of the bridge. Närke was to withstand many sieges. The province acquired a reputation for being impregnable. During the 16th and 17th centuries the territory was under a number of fiefs where iron bars were manufactured. As the farming activities gave very little, the iron manufacturing became even more attractive to then the vocation of farming. The raising and selling of oxen were sold in Bergslagen, as well as Dalarna, where the skin of the oxen were important items in the mines.

Närke was renowned for its warlike peasants. When coat-of-arms for the province was created for the funeral of King Gustav Vasa in 1560 it contained two crossbow darts was the central symbol - the crossbow being the favorite weapon of the peasants.

In Närke there are many ancient castles. The most important, and best preserved one, is found at Tarsta in Sköllersta.

The population of Närke province was roughly 208,376 in 2016.