Hoping for a return : the perspectives in research on refugees from Scandinavia in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the reign of Sigismund III

After the Swedish Civil War of 1598 hundreds of exiles left their home country and fled to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, hoping for the protection of king Sigismund. Composition of this group and ways the refugees were helped are known thanks to the conducted research. The king could not support exiles too openly because of the gentry’s reluctance to strangers, but they received general salary and small privileges. However, many actions of this group are still unexplored. One can especially mention their participation in the construction of the Royal Fleet, activity of this group in Gdańsk (Danzig), and other actions carried out by the exiles in support of the Polish branch of House of Vasa.