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Glossary entry

Swedish term or phrase:

bergsman

English translation:

Bergman (free farmer/miner)

Added to glossary by Charlesp
May 26, 2020 18:53
3 yrs ago
18 viewers *
Swedish term

bergsman

Swedish to English Bus/Financial History
I know the term bergsman to be referring to a "mining peasant."

So when I have this sentence: "förmögna och mäktiga bergsmannen," I have some difficultly when it translates to English: "the wealthy and powerful mining peasant." Yes, "peasant" is a class, and not all peasants were poor, but can we say in English a "wealthy and powerful peasant" ?
Proposed translations (English)
4 Bergman (free farmer/miner)
4 free miner
3 farmstead miner

Discussion

Michael Ellis May 27, 2020:
Farmer/Miner Fascinating history in UK and the former British Colonies. There is a now a (ceremonial-only) quasilegal court in Derbyshire called the Barmote, alternative spelling Bargemote, which dealt with disputes between farmer/miners.
I agree with Dean's analysis and "farmer/miner" fits medieval developments in UK and later in the empire, but I stick by "free miner" as more elegant phrase which avoids using peasant or farmer. The context will show that they were non-serf smallholders.
Deane Goltermann May 27, 2020:
@All Always good to discuss this kind of thing, and review it...I've also suggested a previous accepted term was incorrect more than once. But, I'll stick with what I said before. 'Farmstead' doesn't' describe the person, but rather is the place, I'd say. And the Swe term refers to the free person who was a land owner/farmer. This person also received the mining rights to the land from the king, but did so based on their position as a landowner, and importantly, a free person.
Charlesp (asker) May 27, 2020:
thanks everyone so it is good that I posted the question, even though it had been discussed previously.
Adrian MM. May 27, 2020:
@ Safetex - ENG vs. SWE land law history Thanks. There's a niggling idea in the back of my mind that there had been a similar figure in feudal English land law, but the 'fuzzy Anglo-Swedish profiteering match' eludes me at the mo.
SafeTex May 27, 2020:
@ all I remember this question as I asked it last time and chose Deane's answer but I must admit that Adrian's suggestion is very interesting this time round

Proposed translations

53 mins
Selected

Bergman (free farmer/miner)

Note from asker:
Thanks for the linki to the prior posting (a search didn't display this). And thanks for all the detailed info.
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
2 hrs

farmstead miner

förmögna och mäktiga bergsmannen; the affluent / well-to-do and powerful farmstead/ing miner (enjoying 'profits à prendre') .

Maybe not a 'farming profiteer à prendre' but the Norman-French term def. exists in US law: https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/profit-a-prendre/



Example sentence:

Bergsmansgården - the Bergsman´s farmstead The Bergsman and his household were mining peasants. They had special privileges, for example the mining peasants had exclusive property rights to their land during a long period of time.

profit à prendre: privilege or right (easement) to enter the land of another and take away some natural thing of value, such as by fishing, harvesting, hunting, logging, mining, or pasturing. French for, profit to take.

Reference:

http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergsman

http://www.skansen.se/en/rgsmansgården-med-laxbrostugan-och-motjärnsgruvan-ua

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13 hrs

free miner

Freeminer (one word) is a medieval title in England, which lives on in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, where some independently run small coal mines still operate.
There also free miners (two words) in British Columbia, Canada. They are licensed to mine '"minerals", not just coal
I think the two word version is more elegant and the BC model would fit the Swedish 'bergsman" well.
Example sentence:

The wealthy and powerful free miners owned shares in the Falun copper mine..

Reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeminer

https://portal.nrs.gov.bc.ca/web/client/-/free-miner-certificate

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