The War on Gotland (Swedish: Kriget på Gotland) was a successful Lübeckian invasion of Gotland in 1525.
| War on Gotland | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Eastern part of the Visby City Wall facing towards the north and the Sparbössan | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Lübeck  Gute peasants |
Søren Norby's forces  Visby burghers | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Daniell von Cölln Conrad Wybbechinck | Otto Ulefeld | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Unknown | Visborg garrison | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
Background
editIn 1524, during the Swedish War of Liberation, Swedish and Lübeckian troops under Berend von Melen invaded Gotland in an attempt to oust Søren Norby from it, who had remained loyal to the-then deposed Christian II.[1][2] The invasion would however, inevitably fail after Berend switched sides and Denmark had succeeded in gaining Gotland through diplomacy.[3][4] However, in 1525, the Lübeckers tried to oust Søren again.[5]
War
editOn May 13, the Lübeckian army landed in the northwestern part of Visby near Silverhättan and at a "reasonable distance" from Visborg Castle, led by Daniell von Cöllin and Conrad Wybbechinck.[6] The time of the invasion had been chosen carefully, as Søren was busy with his men in Blekinge trying to conquer land for Christian II. The Lübeckian's also knew about the disagreement between the peasants in the Gotlandic countryside, which was sometimes called the Republic of Gotland, and Søren Norby, including the Visby burghers.[5]
The memories of the War in Gotland in 1288 and the killings of many Gotlandic peasants in 1361 remained in the heads of the Gutes, and it was very likely that they supported the Lübeckian entry into Visby.[5][3] The tradition claims that the Lübeck army entered Visby by tearing down part of the wall between Snäckgärdsporten and Långe Henrik, which is known as "Lübeckerbräschen".[7][5]
The defenders of the city are said to have set it on fire in four different places to delay the attack, and so that they would have time to take shelter behind the walls of Visborg. The Lübeckians looted and continued burned large parts of the city, three churches were also destroyed from fire, these being St. Nicolai, St. Gertrude, and Helgeand, which were all located in the northern parts of Visby. It is also said that the Lübeckers looted and set fire to the town hall, they are also said to have seized or destroyed Visby's city privileges.[5] However, Visborg did not capitulate, as it was defended fiercely by Søren's commandant, Otto Ulefeld.
Aftermath
editAfter the war, Gotland was not considered to have been very independent, neither Visby or the countryside, it also marked the end of Visby's so-called "greatness".[8][5]
References
edit- ^ "Berend von Melen - Historiesajten". historiesajten.se. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ "Berend Melen, von". sok.riksarkivet.se. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ a b "1525 - vad hände egentligen". www.guteinfo.com. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ Wolke, Lars; Hammar, AnnaSara (2022). Sjömakt och sjöfolk [Naval power and seafarers, the Swedish navy for 500 years] (in Swedish). Nordic Academic Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-91-89361-23-2.
- ^ a b c d e f "Visby ringmur". Mitt Visby (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ Lindström, Gustaf (1892). Anteckningar om Gotlands medeltid (in Swedish). Kungl. boktryckeriet, P.A. Norstedt & söner. p. 452.
- ^ Andrén, Anders (2015-02-02). Det medeltida Gotland: En arkeologisk guidebok (in Swedish). Svenska Historiska Media Förlag AB. ISBN 978-91-87031-31-1.
- ^ "Hanseatic Town of Visby". whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2024-07-03.