Ny Falkenberg ? En skenföreteelse? : Om Falkenbergs svaga urbaniseringsprocess och dess roll som stad i Hallands medeltid

Sammanfattning: This essay deals with the weak and unstable urbanization process of the town Falkenberg. The aim has been to explore how a new town could be established just a kilometre away from the town (Old) Falkenberg and what kind of meaning the town had in relationship to the towns Halmstad and Varberg. This was made through the study of the political situation in Denmark and Sweden during the 15th century and through a comparison of the town churches. The archaeological material of Falkenberg is very small and thus I had to trust the available historical literature about the town. Not much of the oldest history of the town is known, but a conflict between the landed aristocratic family Thott and the king Kristian I in Denmark has been interpreted as a reason to the establishing of the town. In conclusion the survey showed that the king probably established New Falkenberg in purpose to limit the trading possibilities of Thott and to, at the same time, increase his own power in the district. The analysis also showed that the region Halland had to many towns in relationship to it's meagre soil. The adjacent towns Halmstad and Varberg had a bigger area of agrarian surplus and that's probably a reason why New Falkenberg never got a chance to expand. The fact that Falkenberg wasn?t one of the significant towns in the landscape, is reflected through the churches which were rather designed as chapels instead of town churches.