In early modern times, Denmark was a regional power in the western Baltic. The map by Dutch publisher Justus Danckerts illustrates Denmark’s geopolitical role as a double hinge: between continental central Europe and Scandinavia as well as between the Baltic and the North Sea. The toll collected in the Øresund was very important for trade and shipping. In the Peace of Roskilde in 1658, however, Denmark ceded the provinces south of the Øresund – Schonen, Blekinge and Halland – to Sweden, thus effectively turning The Sound into international waters.