Danish-Hanseatic War (1509-1512)
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War scene from the Danish-Swedish War
(Swedish illustration from 1888)
| date | 1509 to 1512 |
|---|---|
| place | Denmark (Bornholm, Nakskov), Sweden (Kalmar, Borgholm), German Baltic Sea coast (Travemünde, Warnemünde) |
| Casus Belli | Danish-Swedish War (1501-1512) |
| output | Defeat of the Hanseatic League |
| consequences | The Hanseatic League has to stop supporting Sweden, Holland receives the same special rights in Baltic Sea trade as the Hanseatic League |
| Peace treaty | Peace of Malmo |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
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| Troop strength | |
 36 warships with
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The Danish-Hanseatic War from 1509 to 1512 , also known as the Danish-Luebian War , was a military and economic-political conflict between the Kalmar Union , which was dominated by Denmark , and the Wendish Hanseatic cities, which were dominated by Lübeck . The conflict, which was mainly conducted as a naval war , came about because of Lübeck's interference in the Danish-Swedish War (1501–1512) and ended with the Peace of Malmö .
Danish-Swedish War
The Kalmar Union , formed in 1397 (especially against the Hanseatic League), broke up in 1448 , Sweden had broken away from Danish supremacy and asserted itself in the Battle of Brunkeberg in 1471 . It was not until 1497 that King John I (known as Hans ) succeeded in gaining recognition in Stockholm and re-establishing unity, but after Johann's defeat against the Dithmarschen farmers , there was a renewed uprising of the Swedes under imperial administrator Sten Sture in 1501 . Johann fled back to Denmark, but his wife, Queen Christina , defended Stockholm with a small Danish garrison (see the defense of Copenhagen by Queen Philippa in 1428).
Lübeck welcomed this weakening of the Nordic empires and supported Sweden against Denmark. Hanseatic ships cut off the besieged Danish garrisons in Stockholm, Borgholm (on Öland ), Kalmar , Åbo and Vyborg from supplies by sea. Eventually Christina had to surrender in Stockholm in 1502, and Åbo and Vyborg also fell into Swedish hands. A rebellion instigated by Swedes in Norway under Knut Alvsson defeated Crown Prince Christian , and from Norway Christian invaded Västergötland, Sweden . The fortress of Älvsborg was fiercely contested. On the Danish side, German mercenaries also fought against the Swedes. B. the Landsknecht Paul Dolnstein . In his war diary he sketched some scenes of the war.
After Sten Sture's death (1503), his successor Svante Sture continued the war, although some of the now war-weary Swedes under Erik Trolle sought a reconciliation with King John. An arbitration ruling by the Roman-German Emperor Maximilian I recognized the Swedish throne to John and forbade the Hanseatic cities to further support the uprising. He threatened for infringements with the imperial ban , and the Pope imposed on Svante Nilsson as well as the peace unwilling members of the Swedish realm Council even excommunication . Despite this, the Swedish bishop of Linköping , Hemming Gadd (Hemming Gadh), banned by the Pope , attacked Kalmar. The governor devastated Blekinge and sacked Lyckeby , Åke Johansson invaded Halland and destroyed Laholm .
In order to gain time, Lübeck and Sweden concluded an armistice with Denmark in July 1506 and in December 1506 appeared to be ready to negotiate. But despite a Danish-Hanseatic settlement negotiated in July 1507, trade with Sweden continued through the "neutral" Reval .
After the Danes under Admiral Otte Rud (Otto Rud) landed in Swedish Finland in August 1509 and plundered Åbo , a peace between Denmark and Sweden was agreed upon by the emperor in Copenhagen. Sweden was to pay Denmark an annual compensation of 12,000 marks for each year that John's reinstatement as king would be delayed. However, the agreement was never implemented by the Swedish side.
King Hans and the Hansen
King Johann meanwhile operated the final merging of the Danish with the Norwegian fleet and the massive build-up of a permanent royal navy , which was perceived as a threat by Lübeck. While Lübeck pushed for a preventive strike, Hamburg , Danzig and other Hanseatic cities refused to support. Instead, Lübeck received diplomatic support from Emperor Maximilian, who in the meantime had his own ambitions with regard to the Swedish succession. Denmark, in turn, sought support in Holland, England, Scotland, Poland, Brandenburg and the Pope. At the same time, the differences between the Hanseatic League and the Dutch trading ports intensified. In the spring of 1509 a pirate war began between Danish, Dutch and Lübeck ships. Lübeck set up a sea blockade over the Øresund.
A fleet from Lübeck attacked and plundered first Bornholm and then Gotland in September 1509 and brought war goods and supplies to Sweden. Rostock , Stralsund and Wismar joined the alliance between Lübeck and Sweden . In April 1510 the Hanseatic League officially declared war on Denmark.
Course of war
The pirate war, in which Scottish privateers took part on the Danish side and a Kolberg fleet on the Hanseatic side , became more intense. In the Baltic Sea, it was primarily Dutch Hanseatic ships that were affected, which in turn sought protection in an alliance with Denmark.
The Hanseatic Fleet plundered Bornholm again in July 1510 and, united with a Swedish squadron, the coast of Skåne was subsequently devastated. In the same year, the people of Lübeck also looted and destroyed Nakskov , where an important Danish war shipyard was located, but their fleet was defeated by the Danish admiral Henrik Krummedike off Nakskov . Danish counter-attacks on Travemünde and Warnemünde failed, however, with high losses. As an escort for a Dutch merchant convoy, Krummedike was able to defeat a fleet from Lübeck, Stralsund and Swedish ships commanded by Fritz Grawert in August 1511 , but numerous Dutch merchant ships were captured by the Lübeckers.
On land, the Swedes under Hemming Gadd (Hemming Gadh) with Lübeck's help finally conquered the squid held by Danes, and Borgholm fell. A renewed invasion of the Danish Crown Prince Christian in Västergötland failed, during their counterattacks the Swedes plundered and pillaged under Svante Sture Halland and Schonen.
Denmark's King John I fought to restore the Kalmar Union
Kalmar Castle, the symbol of the Kalmar Union, has been desperately defended by Danes
Sweden's war against Denmark from 1504 and Svante Sture war called
Peace of Malmo
In the meantime, Emperor Maximilian had withdrawn his support for the Hanseatic League, the Hanseatic League concluded an armistice with Denmark in Flensburg in November 1511. After Sweden's imperial administrator Svante Sture died in January 1512, readiness for war also declined in Sweden. The mayor of Lübeck and the new Swedish ruler Erik Trolle pushed for peace negotiations. However, tensions between the Hanseatic cities increased, and in Sweden Trolls were not recognized by the war faction around Svante Sture's son .
In April 1512 the Peace of Malmö was made. The Hanseatic League retained its previous rights in Danish Baltic Sea trade , but had to agree to Dutch competition, so that it no longer had the most-favored nation privilege . It also had to stop providing military support to Sweden, and Denmark and Sweden also concluded at least a ceasefire. The Hanseatic League was allowed to resume trade with Sweden - but only on the condition that it broke off again immediately as soon as new Danish-Swedish fighting broke out. In addition, Lübeck and the other Hanseatic cities involved in the war were to pay a total of 30,000 guilders war reparations to Denmark over the next twelve years.
In February 1513 Johann I died too. His son and successor Christian II , who had already fought against the Swedes as Crown Prince, began a new war against Sweden in 1517. This new war culminated in the Swedish War of Independence in 1520 , in which Sweden was again supported by Lübeck against Denmark and in the course of which Christian was overthrown by his uncle Friedrich , who as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein had remained neutral during the war from 1509–1512 has been.
literature
- Matthias Bath: Copenhagen , page . Nünnerich-Asmus Verlag & Media GmbH, Mainz 2014
- George Childs Kohn (Ed.): Dictionary of Wars , pp . 142–142 . Routledge 2013
- Franklin Daniel Scott: Sweden, the Nation's History , 99ff . SIU Press, 1988
- Hanno Brand (Ed.): Trade, Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange - Continuity and Change in the North Sea Area and the Baltic 1350-1750 , page 115 . Uitgeverij Verloren, Hilversum 2005
- Georg Wislicenus, Willy Stöwer: Germany's sea power along with an overview of the history of seafaring of all peoples , page 40 . Reprint-Verlag, Leipzig 1896
- Daniel Georg von Ekendahl: History of the Swedish People and Empire , Volume 2, Part 1, Pages 274-298 . Landes-Industrie-Comptoir, Weimar 1828
- Karl Dietrich Hüllmann: History of Denmark , page 240f . Wilke, Warsaw 1796
Web links
- european-heritage.org: The Chronicle of the Hanseatic League
- Helene Dihle: On the Siege of Elfsborg in 1502 - from the papers of a German Landsknecht (via Paul Dolnstein's war diary)