Why go
The walls and churches belong to a history that involved both the town and independent-minded rural communities. Knowing that Visby and the countryside were governed separately makes their relationship more interesting. Follow the changes in power to understand why the island’s Baltic connections mattered as much as its links with mainland Sweden.
The full story
Gotland’s past reaches well beyond medieval Visby. Archaeological sites such as Ajvide establish prehistoric occupation, while the Gutes gave the island a distinct identity. The medieval Gutasaga combines settlement legends with an account of relations with the Swedish king; read it as a statement of identity as well as a historical narrative. Baltic commerce made Visby a major Hanseatic centre. Yet the town and the countryside were governed separately. Conflict between German merchants in Visby and rural trading communities led to a civil war that King Magnus III suppressed in 1288. That division gives useful context to the island’s combination of a powerful town and richly built parish churches. Danish king Valdemar IV invaded in 1361. Later, the Victual Brothers made Visby their stronghold before the Teutonic Knights drove them out in 1398. In 1409 the Knights sold Gotland to Queen Margaret. The Treaty of Brömsebro brought Gotland under Swedish rule in 1645. These changes underline the island’s strategic place within Baltic trade and politics.