Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Swedish term or phrase:
bergsman
English translation:
Bergman (free farmer/miner)
Swedish term
bergsman
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" ?
4 | Bergman (free farmer/miner) | Deane Goltermann |
4 | free miner | Michael Ellis |
3 | farmstead miner | Adrian MM. |
Proposed translations
Bergman (free farmer/miner)
Thanks for the linki to the prior posting (a search didn't display this). And thanks for all the detailed info. |
farmstead miner
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/
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.
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergsman
http://www.skansen.se/en/rgsmansgården-med-laxbrostugan-och-motjärnsgruvan-ua
free miner
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.
The wealthy and powerful free miners owned shares in the Falun copper mine..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeminer
https://portal.nrs.gov.bc.ca/web/client/-/free-miner-certificate
Discussion
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.