Armour from the Battle of Wisby 1361. Vol. I

The Battle of Wisby, at which 1800 hastily assembled peasants gathered in vain to defend their city from the onslaught of Waldemar of Denmark, is perhaps the most celebrated medieval battle in Scandinavia and yet, were it not for the mass graves of the defenders, it would be all but unknown to Western students of medieval history. The peat bog in which the bodies were hurriedly buried after days in the hot sun preserved not only bones but also harnesses and accoutrements, leaving the most important archaeological record for the period. Published originally in 1939, Bengt Thordemans work on the battle, developed from the thousands of artefacts discovered in the mass burial, has been cited in virtually every bibliography on the subjects of arms and armour and used as a key source for the dating of medieval coins.