The days after the battle

We do not know what happened after the battle. But on 29 July, King Valdemar and his son Kristoffer rode into the town of Visby. How much contact was there between the parties? Did they negotiate? With 1,800 fallen outside the walls, it was no surprise that the town saw further opposition as meaningless.

On 29 July, Valdemar also writes a “Charter of Privileges” which describes the terms and conditions for the conquered city. A transcript from 1425 has been preserved.

The king “establish[es] all the rights and freedoms for the wise and honourable men, the mayor, councillors and all the townspeople in our city Visby, our beloved and loyal people, which they have had since long ago”. (Translation of the Swedish quote from Gun Westholm’s book “Visby 1361 Invasionen”.)

There is no evidence of “brandskattningen” (the pillaging) of the town, as described in Hellqvist’s painting at the start of the exhibition.