History of Schleswig-Holstein extremely harsh. King Christopher was only left in effective control of the small island of Langeland and faced the impossible task of raising 100,000 silver marks to redeem his country. Denmark had effectively been dissolved and was left without a king between 1332 and 1340. Gerhard, however, was assassinated in 1340 by a Dane. In 1340, King Valdemar IV of Denmark began his more than twenty-year-long quest to reclaim his kingdom. While succeeding in regaining control of Zealand, Funen, Jutland, and Scania he, however, failed to obtain control of Schleswig, and its ducal line managed to continue its virtual independence.
Jutland a breaching North Sea flood in 1825 created a coast to coast connection. This area is called the North Jutlandic Island, Vendsyssel-Thy (after its districts) or simply "Jutland north of the Limfjord"; it is only partly co-terminous with the North Jutland region. The islands of Læsø, Anholt and Samsø in Kattegat and Als at the rim of the Baltic Sea South are administratively and historically tied to Jutland although the latter two are also regarded as traditional districts of their own. Inhabitants of Als would agree to be South Jutlanders, but not necessarily Jutlanders. The Danish Wadden Sea Islands and