{"id":536,"date":"2026-09-14T06:07:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T06:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/voidmonster.com\/?page_id=536"},"modified":"2026-09-14T18:21:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T18:21:52","slug":"battle-of-visby-skull","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/voidmonster.com\/index.php\/bodies-of-evidence\/evidence\/battle-of-visby-skull\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle of Visby Skull"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In late July, 1361 Valdemar IV, King of Denmark attacked the city of Visby on the western coast of Gotland, a Swedish territorial island about partway between Sweden and modern-day Latvia.<\/p>\n

The reason, of course, was control of a major trade route. Visby had recently joined the Hanseatic League along with nearby L\u00fcbeck, Riga and Talinn.<\/p>\n

The city's defenders were mostly rural farmers with whatever weapons they could find.<\/p>\n

It isn't known who lead them, most likely it was a local member of the nobility, but it's important to know that the rural farmers had recently mounted an uprising and were brutally put down by the city dwellers, and now they were being called on to defend the city.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Valdemar had brought a large professional army made up mostly of Danish and German mercenaries, many well seasoned by the constant skirmishes and battles with Sweden along the borders.<\/p>\n

After landing, they first hit M\u00e4sterby where they had tried disabling a bridge to prevent the advance of the army, but the army found a way around. About 1,500 Gotlandic farmers died.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Two days later they arrived outside Visby. The yeomen and peasants who defended the city took whatever arms and armor they could find and were massacred.<\/p>\n

Valdemar's forces lost about 300 men.<\/p>\n

The defenders of Visby lost over 1,800.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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If you'd like to see one moving around, check out Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris' video below. Also, if you've read this far, you should just subscribe to her channel and check out her books. I've been a fan of her work since long before she bought one of these. Deep and rich medical history, what's not to love?<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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