From a wartime alliance to negotiation
Danish King Valdemar IV recovered Scania in 1360 and occupied Gotland and Visby the following year, changing the situation facing Baltic commercial cities. Their first military counterattack failed, and the Peace of Vordingborg in 1365 favored Denmark. On November 19, 1367, a group of Hanseatic and non-Hanseatic cities formed the Confederation of Cologne, then cooperated with the Swedish king and noble factions in northern Germany and Denmark.
The city fleets attacked in 1368 and captured Copenhagen. After Helsingborg fell in 1369, the parties entered a truce and negotiations in November. The cities wanted restored and protected trading rights, while noble allies still sought territorial gains. Their differing objectives continued to influence the peace talks.
The deeds issued on May 24
In May 1370 negotiators assembled at Stralsund in Pomerania. Henning Podebusk headed the Danish delegation, which included the archbishop of Lund, the bishops of Odense and Roskilde, and several noble councillors. The king did not attend. The cities involved stretched from Lübeck and Stralsund to Prussia, Livonia and the Zuiderzee region. Two principal deeds issued on May 24 dealt respectively with peace and privileges, and compensation and guarantees.
Thirty-one councillors separately sealed the Danish documents, while Stralsund’s seal authenticated the cities’ corresponding deed. The texts date themselves to the day after Ascension, identified by their editors as May 24. Carsten Jahnke’s study of the delegates’ families and careers shows that the Danish negotiators combined familiarity with royal affairs with networks extending into Rügen, Mecklenburg and Pomerania. They were capable defenders of the king’s interests.
Practical protections for merchants
The peace and privileges deed allowed merchants from the participating cities to travel with goods in Denmark and Scania while paying prescribed legitimate charges. It specified burdens on fishing boats, carts, cloth and herring and prohibited arbitrary extra levies. Commercial freedom took concrete form in predictable charges and defined rules of trade.
The document also addressed property from shipwrecks. Merchants could salvage it themselves or employ others. If an owner died, local officials were to inventory and store it before witnesses until lawful heirs produced proof to claim it. Cities could appoint officers to administer justice in their seasonal trading camps, with exceptions for certain serious criminal cases. Restored trade depended on enforceable property and legal procedures.
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Fifteen years of revenue and castle security
The compensation arrangement assigned the cities two-thirds of specified revenues from Scanian places including Falsterbo, Malmö and Helsingborg for fifteen years. The remaining third belonged to the Danish king and kingdom. To secure collection, the castles of Helsingborg, Malmö, Skanör and Falsterbo, with their districts, passed into city control for return at the term’s end. Church revenue was separately reserved.
Varberg castle provided additional security. The deed required consultation with the cities and confirmation of their privileges before accepting a new ruler. The cities reciprocally promised that Danish subjects could resume prewar trade and enjoy agreed rights in Scania. Succession provisions thus helped secure recognition of the cities’ privileges by a new monarch.
Ratification over several years
The cities’ deed required Valdemar to ratify under his great seal before Michaelmas 1371. If he did not, the cities reserved a choice over continued compliance, alongside arrangements for an interim truce. On October 27, 1371, the king provisionally confirmed the agreement under his small seal and promised the great seal later. Delay continued, and the cities pressed for formal great-seal documents.
After Valdemar died in 1375, the new king, Olaf, confirmed peace and privileges under the great seal on August 14, 1376, and compensation and other agreements on August 16. Clauses concerning royal election and Varberg were removed. The cities then completed their corresponding ratification. This exchange concluded six years of negotiations over approval.
The costs of exercising control
Managing castles and market revenue soon proved difficult. In 1371 the cities already agreed to entrust the four castles to Podebusk. Taxes, expenses and distribution continued to generate disputes, and the fifteen-year arrangement ended in 1385. Economic security was both a gain from war and a continuing coordination burden for dispersed cities.
The cities’ trading privileges intertwined with Denmark’s preservation of its territory and gradual recovery of initiative. Common warfare created negotiating advantages; exchanged seals, deadlines and guarantees converted those gains into commercial rules recognized by both parties. Costs and coordination during implementation continued to shape the practical use of those rights.