[3] He had previously been named lord of Gotland by Christian II, however, after he was deposed, Søren refused to pledge allegiance to the new Danish king, Frederick I.

[5] The Meeting at Vadstena decided to send Swedish troops to conquer Gotland from Søren, with Berend being designated as the leader of this campaign.

[9] The maritime forces commanded by Søren were quite significant, he had at his disposal the following:[3] His fleet consisted of both warships and more or less armed merchantmen, most of which were likely captured in raids.

[7][11][12] Berend had previously forgotten to block the harbor in Visby, which allowed Søren to send out some of his ships to attack the Swedish squadron.

The result being that not more than six Swedish ships were captured along with its commander, Ivar Fleming before they managed to reach Gotland, after which they were brought into Visby.

"Rough translation: "So it also happened that to Gotland the peasant king in Sweden sent all the power of Sweden, the Lübsk and the seventy Hanseatic cities and their followers for help, and there were brought from Stockholm six Carthaginians (large cannons) and some hoses (smaller cannons) and much other shooting, with which also followed a whole fleet, loaded with gunpowder, lead and provisions to supply the camp and shell the castle.

"After being disappointed with the Lübeckians, and the poor distribution, Gustav Vasa decided to end his participation in the war on Gotland, and pulled back the Swedish troops.