Meet the Middle Ages
BackHakvin the Town-crier
Hakvin was the town-crier of Kalmar at the end of the 14th century. He lived at the very end of Västerportsgatan, which was the main street of Kalmar.
Hakvin´s job was to lead and organise the guards of the town. He had to make sure that no-body started a fight and that no fires broke out. The people of Kalmar helped him, they had an obligation to do so. Every evening two or three men would come to Hakvin ´s house and together they would make the nightly rounds of the town. Once an hour they would announce whether all was well and what time it was.
Hakvin also was a smith. He helped travellers who needed their carts to be mended or their horses shod. The smiths had their workshops on the outskirts of the town. This was to avoid fires in the centre of town where so many people lived.
Hakvin probably was a big and strong man. This was a good thing as he often had to deal with troublesome or dangerous people.
Two other town-criers in Kalmar were called Hakvon and Tore.