Editing Vantaa (section)

===Swedish rule===
[[File:Pyhän Laurin kirkko.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Church of St. Lawrence, Vantaa|Church of St. Lawrence]] is the oldest building in the Helsinki capital region.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927170750/http://www.vantaanseurakunnat.fi/kirkot/plaurin_kirkko Pyhän Laurin kirkko], congregations of Vantaa 13 January 2006. Accessed on 9 September 2020.</ref> The church is located in the district of [[Helsingin pitäjän kirkonkylä]], which still remains one of the most Swedish-speaking areas of Vantaa.]]
[[File:Vanhankaupunginkoski2.jpg|thumb|right|Vanhankaupunginkoski.]]
Prior to the name ''Vantaa'' being taken into use in 1974, the area was known as ''Helsingin pitäjä'' ({{langx|sv|Helsinge}}; "[[Socken]] of Helsinki"). The rapids of river Vantaa were known as ''Helsingfors'', from which the current Swedish name of Helsinki derives. Early settlement in Vantaa was centered around the river, in [[Helsingin pitäjän kirkonkylä]] ("Helsinki Parish Village"), and from it the city's current [[coat of arms]] derived its imagery.

The [[Swedish colonisation of Finland|Swedish colonisation]] in Vantaa started in connection with the colonisation in the rest of [[Uusimaa]] in the late 13th century after the [[Second Swedish Crusade]]. The Swedes called the area ''[[Uusimaa|Ny land]]'' ("new land").<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080512081641/http://veta.yle.fi/svenskfinland/artikel.php?id=23&subject=mellannyland Nordsjö], [[YLE]]. Accessed on 25 April 2009.</ref> There was permanent settlement in the area of the branching point of the rivers in the 14th century.

The history of ''Helsingin pitäjä'' stretches at least to the 14th century. For a long time it was thought that the earliest record of the area was as ''Helsinge'' in 1351 when king [[Magnus IV of Sweden]] granted [[salmon]] fishing rights on the river ''Helsingaa'' (now known as the [[Vantaa (river)|river Vantaa]]) to the [[Estonia]]n [[Padise Abbey]]. However, according to current knowledge, the first mention of Vantaa was in a document given by king Magnus IV in [[Västerås]] on 14 September 1331, describing episcopal tithes, requiring a pound of butter for the bishop from every citizen of age 7 years or older.<ref>"Vantaa onkin kymmenen vuotta vanhempi", HS Metro 13 September 2018, p. 17.</ref>

Since the 14th century, the road between [[Turku]] and [[Vyborg]], [[King's Road (Finland)|King's Road]], has run through Vantaa. The road brought significant attention to the city, and its location on the salmon rich river led to a permanent population.

The river ''Helsingaa'' soon gave its name to the entire area, and also inspired the coat of arms of Vantaa. The Helsinki [[socken]] was born from the 1370s to the 1390s, and the [[Church of St. Lawrence, Vantaa|Church of St. Lawrence]] was built there in 1460. The church was located in a transport hub near the rivers of Vantaa and Kerava. Many roads also ran through the clerical centre: the King's Road from Turku to Vyborg and the Häme road to the [[Häme Castle]] and to the coast in the south. The first vicar in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' was mentioned in 1395. ''Helsingin pitäjä'' is seen as have established itself as a clerical and administrative parish in the 15th century, and the first mention of a church dedicated to [[Saint Lawrence]] in the area is from 1401. A local ''frälse'' family donated a land worth one ''skattmark'' from [[Rekola, Vantaa|Rekola]] to the church of St. Lawrence. The name ''Helsinge'' was first mentioned in 1428. In the same year, fishing rights in the area were moved over to the [[Archdiocese of Turku]], which helped the construction of a stone church to replace the old wooden one.

Justice in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' was the responsibility of its own district court. It is known that the parish had its own district court in the 16th century. The court could be held by deputies hired by high-ranking judges, so-called lawreaders. The use of lawreaders was common from the late 16th century to the 1680s.<ref name="kuisma">Kuisma, Markku: ''Kuisma, Markku: Helsingin pitäjän historia II. Vanhan Helsingin synnystä isoonvihaan 1150-1713'', city of Vantaa 1990. {{ISBN|951-8959-05-6}}.</ref>{{rp|43, 325, 336–337}}

Because of its poor location, [[Porvoo]] could not compete with the [[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic]] merchants in [[Tallinn]], so in 1550 king [[Gustav I of Sweden|Gustav Vasa]] decided to found the city of [[Helsinki]] at the site of ''Helsingin pitäjä'' at the mouth of the Helsingaa river. ''Helsingin pitäjä'' had already developed into a significant centre of marine trade in Uusimaa in the 1530s. However, the [[Vanhakaupunki]] area in Helsinki never became the city centre Gustav Vasa wanted during his lifetime.

In 1570, the 25-year Russian war also affected life in ''Helsingin pitäjä''. Increased stress, additional military tax and enemy attacks had their toll on the population and often led to farmsteads being deserted. In 1577 there were 51 farmsteads burned and raided by the enemy.<ref name="kuisma"/>{{rp|53, 83}} Serving food to and accommodating the military departments was the responsibility of police chief Olof Mårtensson, who lived at the Malmi horsestead. The largest department served by the police chief consisted of 40 horsemen from the Uppland unit in January 1576. As well as the Malmi horsestead, ''Helsingin pitäjä'' was also home to the horsesteads of Pukinmäki, Herttoniemi, Haltiala, Kirkonkylä, Meilby, Kulosaari and Heickby.<ref name="kuisma"/>{{rp|43, 325, 336–337}}

After the [[Treaty of Stolbovo]], the Diet of Helsinki granted the rights of a staple town to Helsinki for foreign trade in 1617. The wars against [[Poland]] and [[Germany]] in the 1620s led to many large manors for the nobility being built in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' to support the [[cavalry]], including [[Westerkulla]] and [[Hakunila]]. In autumn 1640, it was decided to move Helsinki from the Vanhakaupunki area to its current location at [[Vironniemi]]. The village of [[Töölö]] was annexed from ''Helsingin pitäjä'' to Helsinki proper in 1644, and in 1652 the parish congregation lost its independent status, and in order to support the economy of the Helsinki congregation, the entire church parish of Helsinki was annexed to the city congregation of Helsinki.<ref name="historiaa">[https://web.archive.org/web/20110806223849/http://www.vantaa.fi/i_perusdokumentti.asp?path=1;12743;1871 Vantaan historiaa], city of Vantaa. Accessed on 9 September 2020.</ref>

The [[Great Famine of 1695–1697]] also had its toll on ''Helsingin pitäjä''. Successive years of crop loss caused famine and mortality was high. As well as the peasants, the famine also affected servants of the crown, both the noble and the common estates, and the bourgeoisie.<ref name="kuisma"/>{{rp|349–353}}

During the [[Great Wrath]] Russian troops invaded ''Helsingin pitäjä'' in 1713. Some of the inhabitants fled to the mother country of Sweden or into nearby forests, some fought back against the invaders. As the invasion grew long, circumstances slowly settled and the [[Treaty of Nystad]] was made in autumn 1721. A second, shorter invasion, known as the [[Lesser Wrath]], happened from 1742 to 1743.

Circumstances in ''Helsingin pitäjä'' started improving in the 1720s, as it became one of the most important centres of early industry in Finland. Water-powered sawmills were built in the area, forming a significant concentration of export industry at the time. This export was directed both to central Europe and also far way to the [[Mediterranean Sea]] in the late 18th century. A significant export target for ''Helsingin pitäjä'' was located just near its coast: the construction of the [[Suomenlinna|Sveaborg]] fortress, started in 1748, required large amounts of workforce and agricultural and industrial products such as foodstuffs, wood, [[brick]] and [[calcium oxide|lime]].

''Helsingin pitäjä'' was a Swedish-speaking area. From the middle 18th century to the early 19th century, only about a tenth of the population of the parish spoke Finnish.<ref name="kuisma"/>{{rp|106–109, 396–397}}