Editing History of Stockholm (section)

== Age of Liberty (1718–1772) ==
{{main|Stockholm during the Age of Liberty}}
{| class="wikitable" align="right"
! colspan="3" | Population<ref name="Nilsson-189-195">Nilsson, pp 189–195.</ref>
|-
| colspan="2" | Late 17th century || 55–66.000 
|-
| colspan="2" | Around 1720 || 45.000 
|-
| colspan="2" | Mid 18th century || 60.000
|-
| colspan="2" | Mid 19th century || 90.000
|-
! colspan="3" | Social stratification<br />1769–1850 (per cent)<ref name="Nilsson-189-195" />
|-
! Class !! 1769 !! 1850
|-
| Upper || 13 || 7
|-
| Middle || 40 || 12
|-
| Lower || 47 || 81
|}
Following the [[Greater Wrath]] and the [[Treaty of Nystad]] in 1722, Sweden's role as a major European power was over, and the decades that followed brought even more disasters. [[Black death]] and the sufferings caused by the [[Great Northern War]]s made Stockholm the capital of a shrinking nation, despair which would deepen even further when [[History of Sweden (1772-1809)#The loss of Finland|Sweden lost Finland]] in 1809.  Notwithstanding Sweden's partial recover of spirit with the [[Union between Sweden and Norway|union with Norway]] in 1814, during the period 1750–1850, Stockholm was a stagnating city, with a dwindling population and widespread unemployment, marked by ill-health, poverty, alcoholism, and rampant mortality.  The Mälaren region lost in influence to the benefit of south-western Sweden, and as population and welfare dwindled in the capital, there was a leveling of social classes.<ref name="Nilsson-187-188">Nilsson, pp 187–188.</ref>  Wars and alcohol abuse resulted in a surplus of women during the period, with widows outnumbering widowers six to one in 1850.  Stockholm was marked by an absence of children, caused by the number of unmarried people and high infant mortality.  Average length of life was limited to 44, but those who survived infancy were likely to get about as old as people do today, except those born to a life of hard labour.<ref name="Nilsson-189-195" />

A stratification into three social groups can be made for this era :
# individuals of rank and officers
# craftsmen, small-scale entrepreneurs, and officials
# journeymen, assistants, workers, soldiers, servants, paupers, and prisoners.
Women were associated with their husband's status.  However, as craftsmen saw their status sink with the introduction of industrialism, the proletarian class grew during the period.  There also was an economic segregation in the city, with the present old town and the lower parts of Norrmalm being the wealthiest (more than 150% above average); the suburbs (today part of central Stockholm) were poor (50% below average).<ref name="Nilsson-189-195" />

[[Image:Stockholm-Storkyrkan 01.jpg|thumb|The medieval [[Storkyrkan]] was given its present Baroque exterior in 1636–72, in order to match the new royal palace<ref name="Andersson-41-48">Andersson, ''Stockholms årsringar'', pp 41–48.</ref>]]
[[Image:Borshuset-2003-04-14.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Stockholm Stock Exchange Building|Stock Exchange Building]], on its completion in the 1770s the main representative building in the city, replaced the medieval town hall.<ref name="Andersson-41-48" />]]
During the 18th century, the [[Mercantilism|Mercantile]] model introduced the previous century was further developed, with domestic production promoted by loans and bounties and import limited to raw materials not available in Sweden by tolls.  The era saw the rise of the so-called "Skeppsbro Nobility" (''Skeppsbroadeln''), the wealthy wholesalers at [[Skeppsbron]] who made a fortune by delivering [[bar iron]] to the international market and by controlling the [[Chartered company|chartered companies]].<ref name="Nilsson-196-222">Nilsson, pp 196–222.</ref>  The most successful of them was the [[Swedish East India Company]] (1731–1813) which had its headquarters in [[Gothenburg]], but was of significant importance to Stockholm because of the shipbuilding yards, the trade houses, and the exotic products imported by the company.  Furthermore, before these ships left Stockholm some 100–150 men per ship were recruited, most of them in the city, and as a single trip to China would take 1–2 years the company had a huge impact on Stockholm during this era.<ref name="Hallerdt-9-20">Hallerdt, pp 9–20.</ref>

During the 18th century, several devastating fires destroyed entire neighbourhoods which resulted in [[building code]]s being introduced.  They improved fire safety by prohibiting wooden buildings and further embellished the city by implementing the 17th-century city plans.  In the old town, the [[Stockholm Palace|new royal palace]] was gradually completed and the exterior of the [[Storkyrkan]] church was adopted to it.  The skilled artists and craftsmen working for the royal court formed an elite which considerably raised the artistic standards in the capital.<ref name="Andersson-41-48" />