Lasting consequences for Gotland

Perhaps half of the Gotland men in the rural communities had died. The shortage of men meant that women and children had to take over the agricultural work on many of the farms and attempt to manage daily life.

The Danish invasion affected Gotland for generations to come. From the mid-1300s, no new churches were built. The island’s military force was also destroyed. Soldiers and pirates used the island as a Baltic Sea base to the end of the century. It was not until the beginning of the 1400s that Denmark established genuine power over Gotland.