Brömsebro, Peace of

concluded on July 13, 1645, ending the war of 1643-45 between Denmark and Sweden, in which Sweden proved victorious. (The negotiations were held in Brömsebro, a small village near the Danish border, south of Kalmar.) Under the treaty Sweden acquired from Denmark the islands of Gotland and Ösel (Saaremaa), a number of Danish possessions on the Scandinavian peninsula (Jämtland, Harjedalen, and, for 30 years, Halland), as well as the right of shipping cargo through the sound (Öresund) free of tolls. The peace of Brömsebro was an important stage in the establishment of Swedish hegemony in the Baltic in the 17th century.