The Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
In the mid-thirteenth century, North German seafaring merchants joined together to form the Hanseatic League as a way to pursue their shared economic interests. Throughout the North Sea and Baltic Sea region, up to 200 towns and cities were members of the League, as were several large trading houses. For over 400 years, the Hanseatic League played a major role in shaping economies, trade and politics before losing its significance in the mid-seventeenth century. The roots of the Hanseatic League can be traced back to the middle of the 12th century.
The Hanseatic League
was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns. It dominated Baltic maritime trade (c. 1400–1800) along the coast of Northern Europe