I'm continually amazed, and humbled, by how one little clue ie. the Walloons headed to Sweden, opens up another universe of undiscovered (by me anyway) knowledge. Now we have to add, in our assessment of damascus patterns, from which source did that particular maker, at that particular time, in that particular country, obtain his iron ore, steel, coke, and charcoal?
And I'm still NOT learning Russian!
BTW: per
http://books.google.com/books?id=YT7VBxc...1jEEZw#PPA47,M1 the Walloons, Protestant refugees from Belgic provinces of what was then Spain, were also invited c. 1622 to New Netherland (NY), and ended up in Delaware, Long Island, Albany, NY, and along the Connecticut river. Huguenot (French Calvinist) immigrants came at the same time and founded New Paltz, New York c. 1624, and also found safe havens in the Lutheran and Reformed states in Germany and Scandinavia, in Ulster, and the Netherlands. The loss of the Huguenots was a huge 'brain drain' on France, and a great prize for this country.
