Valdemar IV of Denmark

His son Otto lost his life in trying to reconquer his paternal kingdom.

As Valdemar was not strong enough to maintain his position, he voluntarily abdicated, and the youngest son of Christopher II, Valdemar IV, thirteen forty to thirteen seventy-six, was elected king.

Denmark recovered and grew new strength under him.

First of all, Valdemar established peace within the realm by simply giving up all the contested districts which he was unable to hold.

Few Gotlanders were left alive to tell the tale.

King Valdemar IV of Denmark invaded the island with a large army of Danish and German mercenary troops.

The Gotlanders, without a standing army, formed a militia to try and stop them, but they were pushed back to Visby.

[soldiers yelling] It was not an even contest, yet the militia stood their ground.

The

man responsible was King Valdemar IV of Denmark, better known as Valdemar Adderdag.

And Valdemar had spent much of his reign rebuilding Danish royal power.

Denmark had gone through a period of political fragmentation, debt, and lost territory.

A king's chronicle tells you who won.

A mass grave tells you what winning looked like.

On July 27, 1361, Valdemar IV of Denmark won the Battle of Visby.

But beneath the fields outside the city, hundreds of Gotlanders left behind another version of the story, one written in shattered bone, rusted mail, broken armor, and the wounds of men who died within sight of the walls they were trying to defend.

As Waldemar was not strong enough to maintain his position, he voluntarily abdicated.

And the youngest son of Christopher II, Waldemar IV, 1340 to 1376, was elected king.

Denmark recovered and grew new strength under him.

First of all, Waldemar established peace within the realm by simply giving up all the contested districts which he was unable to hold.

He relieved the peasantry of unpaid labour with the plough and cart.

The cities of the Order rose to their highest pitch of prosperity.

Their double allegiance to the Hanseatic League and the Order appears in their taking part in the League's war with Waldemar IV of Denmark while the Order as such refrained.

However, it proved the main bulwark against Scandinavian attacks on the German Baltic provinces.

His son Otto lost his life in trying to reconquer his paternal kingdom.

As Waldemar was not strong enough to maintain his position, he voluntarily abdicated, and the youngest son of Christopher II, Waldemar IV, 1340-1376, was elected king.

Denmark recovered and grew new strength under him.

First of all, Waldemar established peace within the realm by simply giving up all the contested districts which he was unable to hold.

He relieved the peasantry of unpaid labour with the plough and cart.

The cities of the order rose to their highest pitch of prosperity.

Their double allegiance to the Hanseatic League and the order appears in their taking part in the League's war with Waldemar IV of Denmark, while the order as such refrained.

However, it proved the main bulwark against Scandinavian attacks on the German Baltic provinces.

His son Otto lost his life in trying to reconquer his paternal kingdom.

As Valdemar was not strong enough to maintain his position, he voluntarily abdicated, and the youngest son of Christopher II, Valdemar IV, 1340 to 1376, was elected king.

Denmark recovered and grew new strength under him.

First of all, Valdemar established peace within the realm by simply giving up all the contested districts which he was unable to hold.

His son Otto lost his life in trying to reconquer his paternal kingdom.

As Waldemar was not strong enough to maintain his position, he voluntarily abdicated, and the youngest son of Christopher II, Waldemar IV, 1340-1376, was elected king.

Denmark recovered and grew new strength under him.

First of all, Waldemar established peace within the realm by simply giving up all the contested districts which he was unable to hold.

He relieved the peasantry of unpaid labor with the plow and cart.

The cities of the Order rose to their highest pitch of prosperity.

Their double allegiance to the Hanseatic League and the Order appears in their taking part in the League's war with Waldemar IV of Denmark, while the Order as such refrained.

However, it proved the main bulwark against Scandinavian attacks on the German Baltic provinces.