Axtorna battle - Axtorna, Sweden - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

The Axes - bloody battle in Nordic war
The largest battle during the Nordic Seven Years' War (1563-1570) took place here on Axtorna in the autumn of 1565 in the then Danish Halland. A Swedish army of 12,000 men under the command of Jakob Hästesko had marched in from the north and camped at Svartå. From the south, the Danish army, led by Daniel Rantzau, approached. It consisted of 8,000 men, many of whom were mercenaries.

At dawn on October 20, 1565, the forces met on the moor, at the height of the Axes. Bloody battles were fought all day. When the evening came, the overpowering Danish cavalry had forced the Swedes to retreat towards the black toe - the defeat was a fact.

The Danes left the battlefield only after they had fallen from both sides had been buried, a total of about 3,000 men. The mass graves from Axtornaslaget have not yet been scientifically investigated. However, the battlefield itself was examined by an archaeologist in 2005 and the findings then confirmed that the battle actually took place at the site.

Battlefields become burial grounds
When you look today over the field between the country road and Högvadsån - Axtorna hed - it is difficult to imagine the horrors that take place here one autumn day just over four centuries back.
The Battle of the Axes is one of the first battles in Sweden's history where we actually know what happened thanks to diaries, letters, archive material from the armies, etc.

A ravaged Halland
The Nordic Seven Years' War is the longest and most devastating of all Danish-Swedish wars. Both sides systematically intervened to destroy each other's base areas and thereby complicate large-scale attacks on their own country.
The population of the border landscapes was therefore particularly hard hit. In some disadvantaged parishes, up to 80% of all farms were deserted in the years after the war.

Peace without a winner
The war ended with a Swedish ravage in Skåne all the way down to Ystad in the autumn of 1569 and a corresponding Danish revenge action against southern Småland in 1570 when, among other things, Växsjö and its cathedral were burned.
Peace negotiations began in 1568 but did not lead to peace in Szczecin until December 1570. It was concluded without land concessions - Sweden, however, must pay 150,000 riksdaler to regain Älvsborg as was the case as early as 1563.

Group that erected the marker: Ekomuseum nedre Ätradalen URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link] Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Axtornavägen Vessigebro, Halland Sverige 31165

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