Carlopolis: Sketches of Everyday Life of A Swedish Cossack Camp on the Frontier (1709 – 1713)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to highlight the daily life of the inhabitants of the camp of the Swedish King Charles (Carl) XII and his Ukrainian allies, in the vicinity of the Turkish fortress Bender on the Dniester River (now the territory of the Republic of Moldova), between 1709 and 1713. The sequence and time of Swedes and Cossacks’ staying in three alternating locations, their conveniences and disadvantages, the influence of the nature of development and the degree of comfort of buildings on the sanitary and epidemiological situation were specified. In the course of the study, the methods of providing food to the population of the camps, the differences in the diet of ordinary soldiers and senior officers, and their relationship with moral and military combat readiness were studied. Also, the influence of the border situation under the conditions of the ongoing war and the unusualness of landscape and climate for the Swedes, on the occurrence of rumours and phobias, and the general mental perception of the steppe region to them was found out.