republic · Scandinavia and the Baltic

Gotland

900 CE – 1361 CE (approx.) · capital Roma

Self-governing farmers' republic on the Baltic island of Gotland, rich from trade, which kept its own law and assembly until a Danish conquest in 1361.

Origins

Gotland's position in the middle of the Baltic made it a trading hub from the Iron Age. Its picture stones and more than 700 Viking Age silver hoards, including the Spillings hoard, show immense wealth from trade with Rus', the Islamic world and Western Europe. The Gutasaga records an agreement under which the islanders paid a yearly tribute to the king of the Svear in return for protection.

Rule and society

Free farmers governed themselves through the Gutnalthing, the island's general assembly, which met at Roma, and wrote down their own law, the Gutalag. Every farmer was also a trader, and Gotlanders held privileges in Novgorod and across the Baltic. In the 12th and 13th centuries the island was covered with stone churches, and Visby grew into a German-dominated Hanseatic town.

Decline and legacy

Tension between rural Gotlanders and Visby led to civil war in 1288. In 1361 Valdemar IV of Denmark invaded, massacring the farmers' army outside Visby. Gotland then passed among Denmark, pirates and the Teutonic Order, and became Swedish in 1645 by the Treaty of Brömsebro.

Connections (2)

More states of Scandinavia and the Baltic →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Gotland. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gotland
MLA
“Gotland.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gotland. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Gotland.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gotland.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Gotland’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gotland (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻