On This Day In History: Battle Of Visby, Gotland Was Fought – On July 27, 1361

AncientPages.com - On July 27, 1361, the Battle of Visby was fought near the town of Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland.

This military encounter was between the forces of the Danish king and the Gotland peasants. The Danish were victorious.

Victim of Waldemar Atterdags invasion of Visby in 1361. Fornsalen Museum, Visby, Gotland.  Image credit: Wolfgang Sauber - CC BY-SA 3.0

A few days earlier, the enemy fleet was seen. The armada consisted of thirty ships, and giant cogs, smaller shells. The rumor of the Danish attack spread rapidly across the island; soon, all church bells rang across the island – the danger was imminent.

Soon, the Danish king, Valdemar IV Atterdag, and his soldiers appeared on the horizon outside Visby’s thick city walls.

They landed on the coast of Eksta Parish, Gotland, and the Danish troops moved towards Visby. The clashes began, culminating on July 27, just outside the city walls.

The Visby ransom as Carl Gustaf Hellqvist imagined it. Image credit: Carl Gustaf Hellqvist - - Public Domain

The battle was fought within 300 meters of the city of Visby’s fortifications. Roughly 1,800 Gotlanders were killed, which means up to half of the participants were lost.

Following the devastating battle, the citizens of Visby decided to surrender to avoid further losses.

The inhabitants paid much of their wealth to King Valdemar to save the city from sacking. Despite the payment, the Danes still plundered the town.

The cruel plundering of the island by King Valdemar definitely ended the island’s prosperity.

After the Gotlanders surrendered, the island became a part of the Danish kingdom for a short time until the Swedish crown reclaimed it in the early 15^th century.

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