The Gutes' harbour and the clearing-house of the Baltic, a trading place since about 900 (en.wikipedia), at a natural harbour with fresh water on Gotland's west coast.
Henry the Lion's Artlenburg privilege of 18 October 1161 settled a quarrel between the Gotland traders and the Lübeck merchants and gave each side rights in the other's harbour; by the later twelfth century the Lübeck merchants and the Danish Knud guild kept permanent houses here, and the German merchants' church of St Mary was built, serving also as their warehouse and treasury; it was opened by the bishop of Linköping in 1225 (de.wikipedia, en.wikipedia). From here Gotland ships trade to Novgorod and Lübeck. In the winter of 1200 Visby is a busy unwalled harbour town of Gotlanders and Germans, not a chartered town.
Who holds it
- Name
- no lord: the Gutes, with the German merchants' own community under its alderman
- Title
- the Gutes' trading place
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
No lord. The Gutes govern the island through their assemblies; the German merchants on Gotland have their own alderman (Odelrich was named in 1161).
How things stand that morning
The Gutes' harbour, prospering; German merchants wintering or due back with the spring sailing.
Threats
- rivalry between the Gutes and the Germans, which will come much later
- pirates at sea
Charter
None for the town itself; the Artlenburg privilege (1161) protects the merchants.
Council
No town council is recorded for 1200; the German merchants have their alderman.
Communities
Gotland merchants; German merchants from Lübeck and Saxony with their own church and alderman; the Danish Knud guild.
Fairs and markets
The summer sailing season; no fair dates known.
Militia
The farmers' levy; none of the town's own.
Walls and castle
No ring wall yet (about 1280 by the brief; begun perhaps in the twelfth century by en.wikipedia); the harbour tower (Powder Tower) may stand.
Trade and crafts
Furs, wax and silver from Novgorod; cloth, salt and metalwork from Lübeck and the west; Gotland's own trade.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- spring 1200 (en.wikipedia)Ships and men for Bishop Albert's Livonian crusade, partly recruited on Gotland in 1199 (Henry of Livonia, not re-checked), gather for the Dvina (see Gotland).Depends on: the sailing season Stopped by: the Gutes refusing
Where the sources disagree
- Visby's ring wall: the brief says about 1280; en.wikipedia says work was likely begun in the twelfth century. Not drawn as a walled town in 1200.
Evidence: The 1161 privilege and the churches are documented; the town's government in 1200 is not.
Primary sources for Gotland
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Chronicle of Novgorod (kept year by year; the Synodal manuscript written in the 13th and 14th centuries). Novgorod's own record, kept at St Sophia. Read online
- The Livonian Chronicle of Henry, Henry of Livonia (1225 to 1227). The chief source for the Baltic mission. Read online
- The birch-bark letters (11th to 15th centuries). Excavated letters and notes on birch bark, dated by the layer they lie in. Read online
- The Swedish diplomatarium and its main register, SDHK (documents of 817 to 1540). The register of every known Swedish medieval letter, with full texts for the early centuries. Read online
- The law of the Gotlanders; The saga of the Gotlanders (Guta lag about 1220, Guta saga about 1220 to 1275; manuscript of about 1350). The law and the short history of the self-governing island. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.