Medieval Dead

Midsummer 1361. In Gotland, Sweden King Valdemar and his Danish army attack the walled town of Visby. While the town’s rich merchants look on, a hastily recruited army of feudal peasants is quite literally cut to pieces by the Danes right outside the main gates. 1,800 of the townsfolk are killed in the most brutal and clinical way. In 1905 the first mass grave at Visby was found and so far more than 1,185 bodies have been recovered – many more are awaiting excavation. In this episode, Tim Sutherland – a battle expert and one of the country’s foremost medieval archaeologists – travels to the battle site to unearth the chilling story of the Gotland Militia. Malin Holst inspects the extraordinary collection of bones found buried outside Visby, many of which were buried in full armour – something that was almost unheard of at the time. And the team searches for the ‘Fourth Grave Pit- of Visby legend – can they locate the site? These finds help tell a remarkable tale of brutality and medieval lust for power.