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.

The Castle of Örebro was built about 1200 A.D to protect the bridge crossing the ford (öre means "sand bank" and bro means "bridge"), as well as the borough to the bridge's south side. Närke was built to withstand many sieges. This allowed the Närke province to acquire a reputation for being impregnable. During the 16th through 17th centuries the province was under a number of fiefs where iron bars were manufactured. As the farming industry gave very little, the iron manufacturing became even more attractive 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 used in the mines.

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