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HANSEATIC LEAGUE
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HANSEATIC See also:LEAGUE . It is impossible to assign any precise date for the beginning of the Hanseatic League or to name any single See also:factor which explains the origin of that loose but effective federation of See also:North See also:German towns. Associated See also:action and partial See also:union among these towns can be traced back to the 13th See also:century. In 1241 we find See also:Lubeck and See also:Hamburg agreeing to safeguard the important road connecting the Baltic and the North See also:Sea. The first known See also:meeting of the " maritime towns," later known as the Wendish See also:group and including Lubeck, Hamburg, See also:Luneburg, See also:Wismar, See also:Rostock and See also:Stralsund, took See also:place in 1256. The Saxon towns, during the following century, were joining to protect their See also:common interests; and indeed at this See also:period See also:town confederacies in See also:Germany, both North and See also:South, were so considerable as to See also:call for the See also:declaration against them in the See also:Golden See also:Bull of 1356. The decline of the imperial See also:power and the growing opposition between the towns and the territorial princes justified these defensive town alliances, which in South Germany took on a peculiarly See also:political See also:character. The relative weakness of territorial power in the North, after the fall of See also: The impetus of this remarkable movement of expansion not only carried German See also:trade to the East and North within the Baltic See also:basin, but reanimated the older trade from the See also:lower See also:Rhine region to See also:Flanders and See also:England in the See also:West. See also:Cologne and the Westphalian towns, the most important of which were See also:Dortmund, See also:Soest and See also:Munster, had long controlled this commerce but now began to feel the competition of the active traders of the Baltic, opening up that See also:direct communication by sea from the Baltic ,to western See also:Europe which became the essential feature in the See also:history of the League. The See also:necessity of seeking See also:protection from the sea-rovers and pirates who infested these See also:waters during the whole period of Hanseatic supremacy, the legal customs, substantially alike in the towns of North Germany, which governed the See also:groups of traders in the outlying trading posts, the See also:establishment of common factories, or " counters "(Komtors) at these points, with aldermen to administer See also:justice and to secure trading privileges for the community of German merchants —such were some of the unifying influences which preceded the See also:gradual formation of the League. In the century of energetic commercial development before 1350 the German merchants abroad led the way. Germans were See also:early pushing as permanent settlers into the Scandinavian towns, and in Wisby, on the See also:island of Gothland, the Scandinavian centre of Baltic trade, equal rights as citizens in the town See also:government were possessed by the German settlers as early as the beginning of the 13th century. There also came into existence at Wisby the first association of German traders abroad, which See also:united the merchants of over See also:thirty towns, from Cologne and See also:Utrecht in the West to See also:Reval in the East. We find the Gothland association making in 1229 a treaty with a See also:Russian See also:prince and securing privileges for their See also:branch trading station at See also:Novgorod. According to the " Skra," the by-See also:laws of the Novgorod branch, the four aldermen of the community of Germans, who among other duties held the keys of the common See also:chest, deposited in Wisby, were to be chosen from the merchants of the Gothland association and of the towns of Lubeck, Soest and Dortmund. The Gothland association received in 1237 trading rights in England, and shortly after the middle of the century it also secured privileges in Flanders. It legislated on matters See also:relating to common trade interests, and, in the See also:case of the regulation of 1287 concerning shipwrecked goods, we find it imposing this legislation on the towns under the See also:penalty of exclusion from the association. But with the extension of the East and West trade beyond the confines of the Baltic, this association by the end of the century was losing its position of leadership. Its See also:inheritance passed to the gradually forming union of towns, chiefly those known as Wendish, which looked to Lubeck as their See also:head. In 1293 the Saxon and Wendish merchants at Rostock decided that all appeals from Novgorod be taken to Lubeck instead of to Wisby, and six years later the Wendish and Westphalian towns, meeting at Lubeck, ordered that the Gothland association should no longer use a common See also:seal. Though Liibeck's right as See also:court of See also:appeal from the Hanseatic See also:counter at Novgorod was not recognized by the See also:general See also:assembly of the League until 1373, the long-existing practice had simply accorded with the actual shifting of commercial power. The union of merchants abroad was beginning to come under the control of the partial union of towns at See also:home.
A similar and contemporary extension of the influence of the Baltic traders under Lubeck's leadership may be witnessed in the West. As a consequence of the See also:close commercial relations early existing between England and the Rhenish-Westphalian towns, the merchants of Cologne were the first to possess a gild-See also: The Germans recognized the See also:staple rights of Bruges for a number of commodities, such as See also:wool, See also:wax, furs, See also:copper and See also:grain, and in return for this material contribution to the growing commercial importance of the town, they received in 1309 freedom from the compulsory brokerage which Bruges imposed on See also:foreign merchants. The importance and See also:independence of the German trading settlements abroad was exemplified in the statutes of the " See also:Company of German merchants at Bruges," See also:drawn up in 1347, where for the first time. appears the grouping of towns in three sections (the " Drittel "), the Wendish-Saxon, the Prussian-Westphalian, and those of Gothland and Livland. Even more important than the assistance which the concentration of the German trade at Bruges gave to that leading mart of European commerce was the service rendered by the German counter of Bruges to the cause of Hanseatic unity. Not merely because of its central commercial position, but because of its width of view, its political insight, and its See also:constant insistence on the necessity of union, this counter played a leading See also:part in. Hanseatic policy. It was more Hanse than the Hanse towns. The last of the See also:chief trading settlements, both in importance and in date of organization, was that at See also:Bergen in See also:Norway, where in 1343 the Hanseatics obtained See also:special trade privileges. Scandinavia had early been sought for its copper and See also:iron, its See also:forest products and its valuable See also:fisheries, especially of See also:herring-at Schohen, but it was backward in its See also:industrial development and its own commerce had seriously declined in the 14th century. It had come to depend largely upon the Germans for the importation of all its luxuries and of many of its necessities, as well as for the exportation of its products, but See also:regular trade with the three kingdoms was confined for the most part to the Wendish towns, with Lubeck steadily asserting an exclusive ascendancy. The fishing centre at Schonen was important as a See also:market, though, like Novgorod, its trade was seasonal, but it did not acquire the position of a regularly organized counter, reserved alone, in the North, for Bergen. The commercial relations with the North cannot be regarded as an important element in the union of the Hanse towns, but the See also:geographical position of the Scandinavian countries, especially that of See also:Denmark, commanding the See also:Sound which gives See also:access to the Baltic, compelled a close See also:attention to Scandinavian politics on the part of Lubeck and the League and thus by necessitating combined political action in defence of Hanseatic sea-power exercised a unifying influence. Energetic and successful though the scattered trading settlements had been in establishing German trade connexions and in securing valuable trade privileges, the middle of the 14th century found them powerless to meet difficulties arising from See also:internal dissension and still more from the political rivalries and trade jealousies of nascent nationalities. Flanders became a See also:battle-See also: The assertion of Hanseatic influence in the two decades, 1356 to 1377, marks the See also:zenith of the League's power and the completion of the long See also:process of unification. Under the pressure of commercial and political necessity, authority was definitely transferred from the , Hansas of merchants abroad to the Hansa of towns at home, and the sense of unity had become such that in 1380 a Lubeck See also:official could declare that " whatever touches one town touches all." But even at the time when union was most important, this statement went further than the facts would See also:warrant, and in the course of the following century it became less and less true. Dortmund held aloof from the Cologne Confederation on the ground that it had no concern in Scandinavian politics. It became, indeed, increasingly difficult to obtain the support of the inland towns for a policy of sea-power in the Baltic. Cologne sent no representatives to the regular Hanseatic assemblies until 1383, and during the 15th century its independence was frequently manifested. It rebelled at the authority of the counter at Bruges, and at the time of the war with England (1469–1474) openly defied the League. In the East, the German See also:Order, while enjoying Hanseatic privileges, frequently opposed the policy of the League abroad, and was only prevented by domestic troubles and its See also:Hinterland enemies from playing its own See also:hand in the Baltic. After the fall of the order in 1467, the towns of See also:Prussia and Livland, especially Dantzig and Riga, pursued an exclusive trade policy even against their Hanseatic confederates. Lubeck, however, supported by the Bruges counter, despite the disaffection and See also:jealousy on all sides hampering and sometimes thwarting its efforts, stood steadfastly for union and the necessity of obedience to the decrees of the assemblies. Its headship of the League, hitherto tacitly accepted, was definitely recognized in 1418. The governing See also:body of the Hansa was the assembly of town representatives, the "Hansetage," held irregularly as occasion required at the See also:summons of Lubeck, and, with few exceptions, attended but scantily. The delegates were See also:bound by instructions from their towns and had to See also:report home the decisions of the assembly for See also:acceptance or rejection. In 1469 the League declared that the English use of the terms "societas," " collegium " and " universitas " was inappropriate to so loose an organization. It preferred to call itself a "firma confederatio" for trade purposes only. It had no common seal, though that of Lubeck was accepted, particularly by foreigners, in behalf of the League. Disputes between the confederate towns were brought for See also:adjudication before the general assembly, but the League had no recognized federal judiciary. Lubeck, with the counters abroad, watched over the See also:execution of the See also:measures voted by the assembly, but there was no regular administrative See also:x11. 30 I! organization. See also:Money for common purposes was raised from time to time, as necessity demanded, by the See also:imposition on Hanse merchandise of poundage dues, introduced in 1361, while the counters relied upon a small See also:levy of like nature and upon fines to meet current needs. Even this slender See also:financial See also:provision met with opposition. The German Order in 1398 converted the Hanseatic poundage to a territorial tax for its own purposes, and one of the chief causes for Cologne's disaffection a See also:half-century later was the extension from Flanders to other parts of the See also:Netherlands of the levy made by the counter at Bruges. Since the authority of the League rested primarily on the moral support of its members, allied in common trade interests and acquiescing in the able leadership of Lubeck, its only means of compulsion was the " Verhansung," or exclusion of a recalcitrant town from the benefits of the trade privileges of the League. A conspicuous instance was the exclusion of Cologne from 1471 until its obedience in 1476, but the penalty had been earlier imposed, as in the case of See also:Brunswick, on towns which overthrew their patrician governments. It was obviously, however, a measure to be used only in the last resort and with extreme reluctance. The decisive factor in determining membership in the League was the See also:historical right of the citizens of a town to participate in Hanseatic privileges abroad. At first the See also:merchant Hansas had shared these privileges with almost any German merchant, and thus many little villages, notably those in See also:Westphalia, ultimately claimed membership. Later, under the Hansa of the towns, the struggle for the See also:maintenance of a coveted position abroad led to a more exclusive policy. A few new members were admitted, mainly from the westernmost See also:sphere of Hanseatic influence, but membership was refused to some important applicants. In 1447 it was voted that See also:admission be granted only by unanimous consent. No See also:complete See also:list of members was ever drawn up, despite frequent See also:requests from foreign See also:powers. Contemporaries usually spoke of 70, 72, 73 or 77 members, and perhaps the list is complete with Daenell's See also:recent See also:count of 72, but the obscurity on so vital a point is significant of the amorphous character of the organization. The towns of the League, stretching from See also:Thorn and Krakow on the East to the towns of the Zuider Zee on the West, and from Wisby and Reval in the North to See also:Gottingen in the South, were arranged in groups, following in the See also:main the territorial divisions. See also:Separate assemblies were held in the groups for the discussion both of See also:local and Hanseatic affairs, and gradually, but not fully until the 16th century, thegroups became recognized as the lowest See also:stage of Hanse organization. The further grouping into " Thirds," later "Quarters," under head-towns, was also more emphasized in that century. In the 15th century the League, with increasing difficulty, held a defensive position against the competition of strong rivals and new trade-routes. In England the inevitable conflict of interests between the new mercantile power, growing conscious of its See also:national strength, and the old, See also:standing insistant on the See also:letter of its privileges, was postponed by the factional discord out of which the Hansa in 1474 dexterously snatched a renewal of its rights. Under See also: But while it was found impossible to enforce the staple or to close the Sound against the Dutch, other features of the monopolistic See also:system of trade regulations were still upheld. It was forbidden to admit an outsider to See also:partnership or to co-ownership of ships, to trade in non-Hanseatic goods, to buy or sell on See also:credit in a foreign mart or to enter into contracts for future delivery. The trade of foreigners outside the See also:gates of Hanse towns or with others than Hanseatics was forbidden in 1417, and in the Eastern towns the See also:retail trade of strangers was strictly limited. The whole system was designed to suppress the competition of outsiders, but the divergent interests of individuals and towns, the pressure of competition and changing commercial conditions, in part the reactionary character of the legislation, made enforcement difficult. The measures were those of the See also:late-See also:medieval town See also:economy applied to the wide region of the German Baltic trade, but not supported, as was the analogous mercantilist system, by a strong central government. Among the factors, economic, geographic, political and social, which combined to bring about the decline of the Hanseatic League, none was probably more influential than the See also:absence of a German political power comparable in unity and See also:energy with those of France and England, which could quell particularism at home, and abroad maintain in its vigour the trade which these towns had See also:developed and defended with their imperfect union. Nothing was to be expected from the declining Empire. Still less was any co-operation possible between the towns and the territorial princes. The fatal result of conflict between town See also:autonomy and territorial power had been taught in Flanders. The Hanseatics regarded the princes with a growing and exaggerated fear and found some See also:relief in the formation in 1418 of a thrice-renewed alliance, known as the " Tohopesate," against princely aggression. But no territorial power had as yet arisen in North Germany capable of subjugating and utilizing the towns, though it could detach the inland towns from the League. The last See also:wars of the League with the Scandinavian powers in the 16th century, which left it shorn of many of its privileges and of any pretension to control of the Baltic basin eliminated it as a factor in the later struggle of the Thirty Years' War for that control. At an assembly of 1629, Lubeck, See also:Bremen and Hamburg were entrusted with the task of safeguarding the general welfare, and after an effort to revive the League in the last general assembly of 1669, these three towns were left alone to preserve the name and small inheritance of the Hansa which in Germany's disunion had upheld the See also:honour of her commerce. Under their protection, the three remaining counters lingered on until their buildings were sold at Bergen in 1775, at London in 1852 and at Antwerp in 1863. the above-mentioned chief See also:sources have been issued by the Verein See also:fur hansische Geschichte. Of the secondary literature, the following histories and monographs should be named. G. F. Sartorius, Geschichte See also:des hanseatischen Bundes (3 vols., Gottingen, 1802—1808), Urkundliche Geschichte des Ursprunges der deutschen Hanse, herausgegeben von J. M. See also:Lappenberg (2 vols., Hamburg, 1830) ; F. W. Barthold, Geschichte der deutschen Hansa (3 vols., 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1862); D. Schafer, See also:Die Hansestddte and See also:Konig Waldemar von Ddnemark (See also:Jena, 1879) ; W. See also:Stein, Beitrdge zur Geschichte der deutschen Hanse bis See also:urn die Mitte des fiinfzehnten Jahrhunderts (See also:Giessen, 1900) ; E. Daenell, Die Bliitezeit de' deutschen Hanse. Hansische Geschichte von der zweiten Halite des .Y IV. bis zum letzten Viertel des X V. Jahrhunderts (2 vols., See also:Berlin, 1905—1906) ; J. M. Lappenberg, Urkundliche Geschichte des hansischen Stahlhofes zu London (Hamburg, I 851) ; F. Keutgen, Die Beziehungen der Hanse zu England See also:im letzten Drittel des vierzehnten Jahrhunderts (Giessen, 189o) ; R. See also:Ehrenberg, Hamburg and England im Zeitalter der Konigin Elisabeth (Jena, 1896) ; W. Stein, Die Genossenschaft der deutschen Kaufleute zu Brugge in Flandern (Berlin, 189o) ; H. Rogge, Der Stapelzwang des hansischen Kontors zu Brugge im funfzehnten Jahrhundert (See also:Kiel, 1903) ; A. Winckler, Die deutsche Hansa in Russland (Berlin, 1886). (E. F. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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