The Renaissance

northern Europe and the interior of Rus-
sia, which supplied valuable commodities
such as furs, honey, and slaves to the Eu-
ropean market. But the growing power of
Russia made it increasingly difficult for
Sweden to defend, and the kingdom lost

most of its possessions south of the Baltic

Sea in the Great Northern War with Rus-

sia in the early eighteenth century.

SEEALSO: Thirty Years’ War; Vasa, House

of

Sweden