Awair Strabain facilitated a mutually beneficial agreement with the Swedish king, which is supposed to have taken place before the end of the 9th century. At that time, Wulfstan recorded that the island belonged to the Swedes.

Then, after crossing the land of the Burgundians, to our left we have the Blekinge, the Moor, the Erland, and the Gotland, as they have been called so since ancient times, and all their territories belong to the Ryan people; Wendland is on the right, right at the mouth of the Vistula.

The city of Visby and the rest of the island were governed separately. Friction between the German merchants of Visby and the merchants and peasants of the countryside led to a civil war that was put down by King Magnus III of Sweden in 1288. In 1361, King Waldemar IV of Denmark invaded Gotland. The pirate Victual brothers occupied the island in 1394 to establish a strong base in Visby. Gotland became a fief for the Teutonic knights to attack them in the fortress of the Victual brothers.

The Teuton's invading army conquered the island in 1398, destroying the city of Visby and expelling the Victual brothers from the island.

The number of Arab dirhams found on the island of Gotland is quite large. More silver coins have been found in the treasure troves throughout the island than elsewhere in western Eurasia. The total value is second only to silver coins excavated in the Muslim world. The coins moved north through Rus trade and Abbasid trade, and coins made by Scandinavian traders made Northern Europe (especially the Viking Scandinavia and Carolingian Empires) a major trading center in later worlds.

After the Teutonic occupation of the island, the authority of the "island court" gradually declined, and it was eventually sold to Eric VII, where it was placed under the rule of a Danish governor from 1449. In the late Middle Ages, the "island court" consisted of 12 representatives representing peasants and tenants.

Since the signing of the treaty in 1645, Gotland has been under Swedish rule to this day.

Although Gotland was occupied by Danish troops at the time, it received its coat of arms in 1560. The coat of arms is accompanied by a duke's tiara.

The slogan of the coat of arms is: "Azure a ram statant Argent armed Or holding on a cross-staff of the same a banner Gules bordered and with five tails of the third", and the province of Gotland received the same coat of arms as its coat of arms in 1936.

The city of Gotland, founded in 1971, received more or less the same coat of arms.

The Gotland flag has a white background with a red Gotland coat of arms, which is the seal of the Republic of Gotland since the 13th century, the ram. It reads: "Gutenses signo xpistus signatur in agno", which can be translated as "I (i.e. the ram) is the symbol of the Gotlanders, and the lamb symbolizes Christ." ”

The medieval city of Visby has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visby is characterised by its walls that have surrounded the old city since the Hanseatic period.

The inhabitants of the island of Gotland traditionally speak their own language, called gutniska. Today, they have developed a dialect of Sweden called "Gotlndska", which some consider to be one of the most beautiful dialects of Swedish.

In the 13th century, there is a documented record of the island's law, known as the "Gotland Law" (Gutalagh), also written in the ancient gutniska script.

The island of Gotland is famous for its 94 medieval churches, most of which have been rebuilt and are still in operation. These churches exhibit two major architectural features: Romanesque and Gothic. The older ones are the Romanesque churches from 1150 to 1250, while the newer ones are the Gothic buildings that were popular between 1250 and 1400.

An ancient oil painting in one of the churches dates back to the 12th century.

Traditional games on the island of Gotland include Kubb, P?rk and Varpa, which are part of the island's summer festival "Gutniska Lekar". The fame of these games spread and people played them as far away as the United States.

The ancient Swedish city of Visby is the capital of the island of Gotland, located in the western part of the island, bordering the Baltic Sea, with a population of about 50,000. Visby's history goes back 2,000 years. It was inhabited by fishermen as early as the Stone Age.

It became part of Sweden in 800. In the 13th century, it developed into one of the most important commercial cities in Northern Europe. In 1361, the Danish king, envious of the riches of the island of Gotland, fought Sweden outside Visby.

After that, Gotland fell into Danish hands and was ruled by the Hanseatic League until it was returned to Sweden in 1645.

The city has developed slowly since the 14th century, and the city has not expanded significantly, and many of the buildings have remained in their original style. And it's this ancient city that attracts the modern crowd, and many tourists come to the town to see the medieval scenery despite the long distances.

The town is surrounded by limestone walls, which were built in the late 13th century.

In the 4th century, it was heightened and strengthened to become a 12-meter-high, 4-kilometer-long castle wall with 44 majestic towers. The city wall has gone through more than 600 years of ups and downs, and it is still well preserved and spectacular.

Most of the city's narrow streets paved with gravel are well preserved, and the houses built along the streets in the 13th~14th centuries are still beautiful, and there are as many as 17 medieval churches scattered throughout the city. Such an intact old city style is rare in modern society.

As a result, Visby's administrative center today is still located in the Old Town, while most of the thriving business districts are located outside the city.

Visby is also known as the "Rose Capital" because of its mild climate, and even in November, when it's already midwinter elsewhere in Sweden, Visby still has roses in full bloom.

There is a best-selling Swedish book, "Röde Orm" by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson, which vividly depicts Gotland during the Viking period.

One section is devoted to a Viking ship bound for Russia, stopping on the island of Gotland and employing a local helmsman who played an important role in the voyage. The book describes the Viking-Age Gotlanders as urban people, more thoughtful and knowledgeable than other Scandinavians, and proud of their knowledge and technology.

As for the island of Gotland, there was also a famous naval battle during the First World War.

On June 19, 1915, during the First World War, a naval battle between the 1st cruiser detachment of the Russian Navy and the German naval fleet near the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea.

On June 18, 1915, Rear Admiral Bashilev led the cruisers "General Makarov" (flagship), "Bayan", "Yongtu", "Oleg", "Rurik" and the destroyer "Novik", as well as eight other destroyers, were ordered to go to sea to shell Memel.

In the dense fog, the Rurik and Novik fell behind and sailed alone.

On the same day, the German armored cruiser "Roon", the light cruisers "Augsburg" (flagship) and "Lübeck", the minelayer "Albatros" and seven destroyers, led by Commodore Calf, went to sea to lay a mine barrier near the Bokscher lighthouse.

After the minelaying was completed, Calf telegraphed the implementation of the mission, and then led the fleet back to the sea. The telegram was intercepted and deciphered by the Russian communications service.

The communications service department then reported the position of the German ship to Bashilev. Bashilev changed his plan to shell Memel and led a detachment of cruisers to intercept the German ships. The command of the Russian fleet closely monitored the radio communications of enemy ships and navigated the Russian cruisers.