AHC: Independant Gotland

Skallagrim

Banned
-- The Hansa retains it because Waldemar Atterdag doesn't conquer it for some reason. As the Hansa declines in Germany, the Netherlands etc., it shifts its focus to trade on the Baltic, and eventually as all German Free cities are brought into the HRE, Gotland remains as the only truly independent stronghold of the league. Since the Free Cities are still, well, free cities, Germany feels like the theoretical hegemon, but can't really get direct control without risking war with whatever Scandinavian power is most threatening at any given time. At the same time, no Scandinavian power succeeds in wresting the island from what is essentially the German protectorate over it. Eventually, its status as a free island is guaranteed by all relevant factions, and it remains as the Hanseatic Mercantile Republic of Gotland.

-- The Vitalienbrüder retain control after they take it off Denmark, because the Teutonic Order fails to capture it. By very cannily manipulating various would-be overlords, the eventual situation is that it becomes a sort of insular Liechtenstein, where various nations can do their less public financial dealings and the such. This is to beneficial to risk attempts at annexing the island.

-- The Teutonic Order does conquer it, and then holds onto it even after its heydey on the mainland passes. It becomes like a Baltic version of Malta: an island run by a chivalric-religious order.

-- Sweden and Denmark fight over it as in OTL, and it changes hands repeatedly, but instead of finally ending up in Swedish hands as per the OTL Treaty of Brömsebro, one of their wars ends in a nasty stalemate wherein neither side effectively controls the island. An eventual armistice is agreed upon that leaves the status of Gotland unresolved. There is no final peace for a long time, but fighting never resumes. In the meantime, Gotland belongs, officially, to neither side. Its inhabitants set up their own informal government. Eventually, Denmark and Sweden conclude a definite peace, in part because they simply agree to recognise the autonomy of the island (with the caveat that it must be open to both Danish and Swedish trade).
 
Eric of Pomerania manages to hold out as King of Gotland after he’s deposed from the three Nordic thrones, establishing himself as the dreaded Pirate Prince; the terror of the Baltic!
 
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