Fief of Viborg

Fief of Viborg or Margraviate of Wiburg <!-- I did not find Margraviate of Wiburg any any references --> 1320-1534, was for some two centuries a late medieval feudal fief in the southeastern border of Finland and the entire Swedish realm, held by its chatelain, a fiefed, appointed feudal lord.

History of the margraviate

For extended periods the medieval commanders of Viborg castle (chatelains, castellans), on the border with republic of Novgorod, did in practice function as margraves, collecting the crown's incomes from the fief in their own name and being entitled to keep them all to use for the defense of the realm's eastern border. They enjoyed more independence than the kingdom's other castellans, "burgraves". However the fief of Viborg castle and its county, was not formally hereditary, though almost all appointees were from certain families, related to the Bonde-Bååt-Haak family that also between 1350s and 1390s held the Swedish titular version of the earldom of Orkney.

Organization of that new territory for the Swedish realm took place between 1290s and 1330s. The conquered Kexholm was lost, and Neva river's Landskrona was destroyed catastrophically. There was much sporadic warring for decades after, until 1323. Viborg was however held, and the coast westwards. When the conquest became established, a special fief became formed. Gotland had strong trade relations with coastal Carelia. Novgorod succeeded maintaining its control of the Ladoga coast and...
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