War in Gotland (1525)

The War on Gotland (Swedish: Kriget på Gotland) was a successful Lübeckian invasion of Gotland in 1525.

Background
In 1524, during the Swedish War of Liberation, Swedish and Lübeckian troops under Berend von Melen invaded Gotland in an attempt to oust Søren Norby from it, who had remained loyal to the-then deposed Christian II. The invasion would however, inevitably fail after Berend switched sides and Denmark had succeeded in gaining Gotland through diplomacy. However, in 1525, the Lübeckers tried to oust Søren again.

War
On May 13, the Lübeckian army landed in the northwestern part of Visby near Silverhättan and at a "reasonable distance" from Visborg Castle, led by Daniell von Cöllin and Conrad Wybbechinck. The time of the invasion had been chosen carefully, as Søren was busy with his men in Blekinge trying to conquer land for Christian II. The Lübeckian's also knew about the disagreement between the peasants in the Gotlandic countryside, which was sometimes called the Republic of Gotland, and Søren Norby, including the Visby burghers. The memories of the War in Gotland in 1288 and the killings of many Gotlandic peasants in 1361 remained in the heads of the Gutes, and it was very likely that they supported the Lübeckian entry into Visby. The tradition claims that the Lübeck army entered Visby by tearing down part of the wall between Snäckgärdsporten and Långe Henrik, which is known as "Lübeckerbräschen".

The defenders of the city are said to have set it on fire in four different places to delay the attack, and so that they would have time to take shelter behind the walls of Visborg. The Lübeckians looted and continued burned large parts of the city, three churches were also destroyed from fire, these being St. Nicolai, St. Gertrude, and Helgeand, which were all located in the northern parts of Visby. It is also said that the Lübeckers looted and set fire to the town hall, they are also said to have seized or destroyed Visby's city privileges. However, Visborg did not capitulate, as it was defended fiercly by Søren's commandant, Otto Ulefeld.

Aftermath
After the war, Gotland was not considered to have been very independent, neither Visby or the countryside, it also marked the end of Visby's so-called "greatness".