The Battle of Helsingborg was fought on 8 July 1362 between the Danish and Hanseatic fleets. As part of the ongoing trading and territorial disputes between the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

, Sweden, and Denmark, the Hanseatic cities made an agreement with Sweden and Holstein to jointly attack Denmark, the agreed targets being Helsingborg and Copenhagen. The Mayor of

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

Johann Wittenborg Johann Wittenborg (1321 – August/September 1363) was a merchant and mayor of the free port of Lübeck in what is now north Germany. He was admiral of the Hanseatic fleet at the Battle of Helsingborg (1362), Battle of Helsingborg and was tried an ...

, was put in command of an attack force of some 50 small seagoing ships, 5 of which had been paid for by Magnus Eriksson, King of Sweden. As Wittenborg's fleet sailed through the narrow

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; da, Øresund ; sv, Öresund ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width v ...

en route for Copenhagen he was persuaded to attack the town of Helsingborg and its fortified citadel. He disembarked his fighting men and besieged the stronghold for several weeks. In the meantime

Valdemar Atterdag Valdemar IV Atterdag (the epithet meaning "Return of the Day"), or Waldemar (132024 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance w ...

, King of Denmark, assembled his own fleet, which was capable of carrying an army of 2,500 men, and made a surprise attack on the Hanseatic Fleet. The Danish were victorious as most of Wittenborg's soldiers were in the town. The Hanseatic cities lost twelve of their

ships A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

and several of their nobles were captured. On his return to Lübeck, Wittenborg was tried and executed because of his poor performance in the war. The captured nobles were later ransomed and the war brought to an end on 22 November 1365 by the peace treaty of

Vordingborg Vordingborg () is an old ferry town in Vordingborg Municipality in Denmark with around 18,000 inhabitants. Because of three large estates surrounding the town, a coherent urban development has not been possible, which is the reason why three sat ...

References

* Dollinger, Philippe (1999). ''The German Hansa.'' Routledge. . * Article includes material from the equivalent article on Norwegian wiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Helsingborg Naval battles of the Danish-German War 1362 in Europe 14th century in Denmark Naval battles involving Denmark History of Lübeck Conflicts in 1362 Naval battles involving the Hanseatic League