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Hanseatic League of Cities

The Hanseatic League (or Hansa) is a unique union (one might say, a forerunner of the TNC;))), which united the northern German trading cities in the 14th-16th centuries. He controlled all trade in the Baltic and North Seas and had monopoly privileges elsewhere. Hansa, (the name comes from German Hanse - "partnership"), arose as a result of the agreement between Lübeck and Hamburg in 1241.

At this time, under the influence of the ever-increasing strength of the robber knights and due to the complete lack of public security, an alliance of burghers was created, directing all forces against the lawlessness that reigned in order to preserve their capital.

A peculiar feature of this community was that it did not have a permanent organization - neither a central authority, nor a common armed force, nor a fleet, nor an army, nor even a common finance; individual members of the union all enjoyed the same rights, and the representation was entrusted to the main city of the union - Lübeck quite voluntarily, since its burgomasters and senators were considered the most capable of doing business, and at the same time this city assumed the associated costs of maintaining warships. The cities that were part of the alliance were removed from each other and separated by non-alliance, and often even hostile, possessions. True, these cities were for the most part free imperial cities, but nevertheless, in their decisions, they were often dependent on the rulers of the surrounding country, and these rulers, although they were German princes, were far from always disposed in favor of the Hansa, and on the contrary, they often treated her unkindly and even hostilely, of course, except when they needed her help. The independence, wealth and power of the cities, which were the focus of the religious, scientific and artistic life of the country, and to which its population gravitated, were a thorn in the eye of these princes. Therefore, they tried to harm the cities as much as possible and often did this at the slightest provocation and even without it.

Thus, the Hanseatic cities had to defend themselves not only against external enemies, since all maritime powers were their competitors and would gladly destroy them, but also against their own princes. Therefore, the position of the union was extremely difficult and it had to pursue a smart and cautious policy towards all interested rulers and skillfully use all the circumstances so as not to perish and prevent the union from disintegrating.

It was very difficult to keep cities, coastal and inland, scattered over the space from the Gulf of Finland to the Scheldt, and from the sea coast to central Germany, as part of the union, since the interests of these cities were very different, and yet the only connection between them could be precisely only common interests; the union had only one coercive means at its disposal - exclusion from it (Verhasung), which entailed the prohibition of all members of the union from having any business with the excluded city and should have led to the termination of all relations with it; however, there was no police authority to oversee the implementation of this. Complaints and claims could only be brought to the congresses of the allied cities, which met from time to time, to which representatives from all the cities whose interests required it were present. In any case, against the port cities, exclusion from the union was a very effective means; this was the case, for example, in 1355 with Bremen, which from the very beginning showed a desire for isolation, and which, due to enormous losses, was forced to ask again three years later to be accepted into the union.

Union cities were divided into three districts:
1) Eastern, Vendian region, to which Lübeck, Hamburg, Rostock, Wismar and Pomeranian cities belonged - Stralsund, Greifswald, Anklam, Stetin, Kolberg, etc.
2) The West Frisian-Dutch region, which included Cologne and the Westphalian cities - Zest, Dortmund, Groningen, etc.
3) And finally, the third region, consisted of Visby and cities lying in the Baltic provinces, such as Riga and others.

In 1260, the first general congress of representatives of the Hansa took place in Lübeck.
The union finally took shape in 1367-1370. during the wars of German cities against Denmark, which dominated the trade routes between the North and Baltic Seas. The nucleus of the union was Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen. Later, it also included coastal cities and cities that were associated with trade along the Oder and Rhine rivers - Cologne, Frankfurt, as well as former Slavic cities, but captured by the Germans - Rostock, Danzig, Stargrad. Number of Hanseatic cities in different time reached 100-160, the scope of the union was never strictly defined. At that time, the Hansa controlled almost all trade in the Baltic and North Seas, Central and Northern Europe. And it was a powerful military and political force that many European states reckoned with.

From the very beginning to the end of the existence of the Hansa, Lübeck was its main city; this is proved by the fact that the local court in 1349 was declared the court of appeal for all cities, including Novgorod. In Lübeck, tags (German: Tag, congress) were convened - meetings of representatives of the Hanseatic cities. "Tags" worked out obligatory statutes. A common flag was adopted, a set of laws (Hanseatic Skra).
In 1392, the Hanseatic cities entered into a monetary union and began minting a common coin.

The Hansa was a product of its time, and the circumstances were especially favorable for it. We have already mentioned the skill and reliability of German merchants, and their ability to adapt to circumstances - qualities that can be observed in all countries today. In those days, these qualities were all the more valuable because the Normans who inhabited England and France treated trade with contempt and had no ability for it; The inhabitants of the current Russian Baltic region, Poles, Livonians, and others, did not have these abilities either. Trade on the Baltic Sea, as at the present time, was very developed and was even more extensive than at present; along the entire coast of this sea there were Hanseatic offices everywhere. To this it must be added that the German coastal cities, and Lübeck at their head, perfectly understood the importance of sea power and were not afraid to spend money on the maintenance of warships.

In the 14-15 centuries. through the mediation of the Hanseatic League, the main trade of Russia with the West was carried out. Wax and furs were exported from Russia - mainly squirrel, less often - leather, flax, hemp, silk. The Hanseatic League supplied salt and fabrics to Russia - cloth, linen, velvet, satin. Silver, gold, non-ferrous metals, amber, glass, wheat, beer, herring, weapons were imported in smaller volumes. In the XV century. Novgorodians and Pskovians tried to actively counteract the predominance of the Hanseatic people in the region foreign trade, and by the end of the 15th century. the order of trade was changed in favor of the Novgorodians. During this period, the center of Russian-Hanseatic trade gradually moved to Livonia. In 1494, in response to the execution of Russian subjects in Reval (Tallinn), the Hanseatic trading office in Novgorod was closed. According to the Novgorod-Hanseatic Treaty of 1514, representatives of the Livonian cities on behalf of the Hansa accepted all the demands of the Novgorodians and the German court in Novgorod was reopened. Formally, the Hanseatic League lasted until 1669, although in fact already from the middle of the 16th century. he ceded the leading role in European trade to Dutch, English and French merchants.

And, as usual, a selection of links:

http://www.librarium.ru/article_69824.htm and http://www.germanyclub.ru/index.php?pageNum=2434 - Quick reference

History of the Hanseatic League.

The German trade union, which for many centuries controlled most of the trade transactions with London, Veliky Novgorod, Riga, and also signed trade documents on behalf of the Roman merchant empire with special conditions for each German city - you guessed it, we will talk about the Hanseatic League , whose history is presented in the article.

Brief historical background

There are not many examples in the history of mankind that demonstrate voluntary and mutually beneficial alliances between countries or corporations. But it should be noted that many of them were based on human self-interest and greed. Consequently, such alliances were short-lived. Any violation of agreements or interests has always led to collapse, but the history of the Hanseatic League is not like all the others.

This union is a community of cities that were the most important force in Northern Europe and equal partners of sovereign countries, but it should be noted that the interests of the settlements that were part of the Hansa were too different. And not in all cases, economic cooperation became military or political. The significance of the Hanseatic League cannot be overestimated, since it was this phenomenon in the world economy that laid the foundations for international trade.

How did the trade union come about?

Let us turn to the study of the question of the emergence and flourishing of the trade union. The establishment of the Hanseatic League dates back to 1267. This was a response of European merchants to the fragmentation of European states in the Middle Ages. This political phenomenon was very risky for business. Robbers and pirates operated on the trade routes, and all the goods that could be saved and brought to the trade counters were heavily taxed by the princes, the church and the specific rulers. Everyone wanted to profit at the expense of the merchant. Consequently, statutory robbery flourished. Absurd trading rules allowed fines to be imposed for inappropriate pot depth or fabric color. But it is worth noting that Germany, using maritime trade routes, achieved some success in development at the beginning of the 11th century. The King of Saxony gave the German merchants good advantages in London.

In 1143, the city of Lübeck was founded - the heart of the Hanseatic League in the future. Soon the sovereign gave way to Lübeck, which became an imperial city. His power was recognized by all the provinces of Northern Germany. A little later, the Lübeck merchant union acquired trading privileges in many states.

In 1158, the imperial city quickly flourished, as it entered the Baltic Sea with trade, and then a German trading company was founded on the island of Gotland. Gotland had a good location on the sea. Thus, ships entered its ports so that the teams could rest and put the ship in order.

100 years later, namely in 1241, the trade unions of Lübeck and Hamburg made a deal to protect the trade routes that ran between the Baltic and North Seas. Thus, in 1256, the first trading group of seaside towns was formed.

Cities of the Hanseatic League

In 1267, a single union of cities that were part of the Hansa was formed:

Lübeck;
Hamburg;
Bremen;
Koln;
Gdansk;
Riga;
Lüneburg;
Wismar;
Rostock and others.

It is known that in the year of the founding of the Hanseatic League, it included up to 70 cities. The members of the union decided that all representative affairs would be handled by Lübeck, since its senators and burgomasters were considered more capable of managing commercial affairs. In addition, it was this city that took on its balance the cost of protecting ships.

Pros and cons

The leaders of the Hanseatic League very skillfully used the favorable circumstances in order to seize trade in the North and Baltic Seas. They skillfully made a monopoly out of it. Thus, they had the opportunity to set the price of goods at their own discretion, and they also sought to gain influence in countries where there was an interest for them, as well as various privileges. For example, the right to freely organize colonies and trade; the right to acquire houses and yard places with the representation of jurisdiction.

There were cases when experienced, politically talented and prudent leaders of the union skillfully took advantage of the weaknesses and plight of neighboring countries. They indirectly or directly placed the state in a dependent position in order to achieve the desired results.

Union expansion. Three main blocks

Despite all the manipulations that the burgomasters and senators hunted, the composition of the Hanseatic League was steadily expanding. Now other cities have become part of it:

Amsterdam;
Berlin;
Hamburg;
Frankfurt;
Bremen;
Koln;
Hanover;
Koenigsberg;
Danzig;
Memel;
Yuriev;
Narva;
Stockholm;
Volen;
Pomorye and other cities.

The union has grown. The newly annexed cities had to be divided into groups. Now all the cities that were part of the Hansa were conditionally divided into three districts:

Eastern: the lands of Lübeck, Hamburg, Stettin, etc.
Western: territories of Cologne, Dortmund, Groningen.
Baltic provinces.

Exclusion from the Union

Another effective technique to keep trading partners in the union. The thing is that the seaside, as well as various cities scattered from the Gulf of Finland to Germany, were extremely difficult to keep in a single union. After all, the interests of the partners were very different, and only a common interest could serve as a connecting element between them. The only way to keep a partner was exclusion from him. This entailed a ban on other members of the union from having any business with the exiled city, which inevitably led to the termination of various relations with it.

However, there was no such authority in the union that would monitor the implementation of these instructions. Various claims and complaints were brought only during the congresses of the allied cities, which met on a case-by-case basis. Representatives from each city came to these conventions, whose interests desired it. With port cities, the exclusion method was very effective. So, for example, in 1355 the German Bremen declared a desire for isolation. As a result, with huge losses, he left the union, and three years later he expressed a desire to enter it back.

Additional Hanse ideas

The founders of the union reacted flexibly to the challenges of the time. They expanded their influence very quickly and actively. And a few centuries after its foundation, it included almost two hundred cities. The development of the Hansa was facilitated by a single monetary system, equality of native languages, as well as equal rights for residents of the cities of this union.

It is noteworthy that the Hanseatics spread ideas about healthy way life. They actively implemented the business etiquette they represented. They opened clubs where merchants exchanged experience and business ideas, and also distributed various technologies for the production of products and goods. Schools for beginner artisans, which opened on the territory of the Hanseatic League, became popular. It is believed that for Medieval Europe this was an innovation. Many researchers note that the Hansa formed the civilized image of modern Europe, which we are now witnessing.

Trade relations with Russia

This type of relationship began in the 14th century. The Hanseatic League and its connections with Russia benefited everyone. Furs and wax, leather, silk, flax, squirrel skins were exported from Russian lands, and Russian merchants acquired mainly salt and fabrics. Most often they bought linen, satin, cloth and velvet.

Hanseatic offices were located in two Russian cities - in Novgorod and Pskov. Overseas merchants were very interested in wax. The thing is that the Europeans did not know how to produce it in the right quantity and quality. And it was also customary for Catholics to sculpt from this material that part of the body that is affected by the disease. Trade in weapons and non-ferrous metals has always been considered a stumbling block in trade relations. It was profitable for the Hanseatic League to sell weapons to Russian lands, and the Livonian Order feared the growth of the power of the Slavs. As a result, he hindered this process. But, as you guessed, the commercial interest most often prevailed over the interests of Levon. For example, a trade deal was witnessed when in 1396 merchants from Revel imported weapons in barrels from fish into Pskov and Novgorod.

Conclusion

Certainly the time had come when the Hanseatic League began to lose its dominance over the cities of Europe. It started in the 16th century. Russia and Spain left the union. The Hansa repeatedly tried to establish relations with these states, but all attempts were unsuccessful, and the war, which lasted for 30 years, ruined the remnants of German power at sea. The collapse of the union is a long process that requires separate consideration.

In the modern history of mankind, there is a New Hanseatic League called the European Union. The experience of the Hansa remained unclaimed for a long time, and the Baltic region is developing very dynamically today and is valued by the fact that these lands have everything that is necessary for mutually beneficial relations between the European Union and Russia. Experts and economists believe that the New Hanseatic League contributes to the development of Russia's relations with the Baltic countries.

German Hanseatic League

Intro 3

I.Beginning of the Hanseatic League 4

- XIIIin. four

International contacts of German cities 4

The first congress of the Hansa. Organization principles of the union 6

Hansa cities 7

Some facts from the life of the Hanseatics 8

Types of Hanseatic ships 8

Politics of Hansa 9

II. Union Rise and Fall 11

Wars against Denmark 11

Hansa's loss of its importance 11

Decline of Lübeck 14

III.The Last Days of the Hansa 16

IV.Conclusion 19

v.References 20

Introduction

By the beginning of the 2nd millennium AD. there was a redistribution of economic and political forces in Northern Europe. The development of this region in particular and international relations in Europe as a whole led, among other things, to the emergence of a unique example of interethnic exchange and economic cooperation in history, to the emergence of the "Hanse of cities" (Städtehanse). The concept of "Hanse" ("Hanse") is of Flemish-Gothic origin and goes back to the now extinct East Germanic language, the language of the tribes of the Goths. Translated from Gothic, this word means "union, partnership." The word hanse was often used in northern Europe to refer to any guild or association of merchants.

This community of cities has become one of the most important forces in Northern Europe and an equal partner of sovereign states. However, since the interests of the cities that were part of the Hansa were too different, economic cooperation did not always turn into political and military. However, the indisputable merit of this union was that it laid the foundations of international trade.

Start Hanseatic League

German maritime trade to the middle XIII in.

Around 800, Charlemagne laid the foundation of the urban system in the German cities, and Henry I, the first king of Saka origin, about 925 further developed this system, founded new cities and granted them a certain independence and certain privileges. He strengthened maritime trade and guarded it from the Danish maritime robberies that intensified at that time, he was the first and only German king who did not consider it necessary to go to Rome to be crowned pope as Roman emperor. Unfortunately, already the son of Henry I, Otto the Great shied away from this policy. However, he also rendered an indirect service to German maritime affairs by his campaign against the Danes, during which he invaded Nordmark in 965 and forced King Harald to recognize his suzerainty. This, however, limited the activities of the German kings for the benefit of maritime affairs; the rest of the German navigators were left to their own forces.

Despite this, and despite the robberies of the Normans, German maritime trade had already reached a significant development in those days; already in the 9th century, this trade was carried on with England, the Northern states and with Russia, and it was always carried out on armed merchant ships. Around 1000, the Saka king Ethelred granted German merchants significant advantages in London; his example was subsequently followed by William the Conqueror. Especially flourished at that time trade with Cologne - Rhine wines; it was probably at this time, around 1070, that the "Dye Yard" was founded in London on the banks of the Thames, which for many centuries was a gathering place for German merchants in London and a central point for German trade with England; for the first time it is mentioned in the treaty between Germany and England in 1157 (Frederick I and Henry II).

This period was generally extremely important for German navigation. In 1158, the city of Lübeck, which quickly reached a brilliant prosperity due to the increased development of trade in the Baltic Sea, founded a German trading company in Visby, on the island of Gotland; this city was located approximately halfway between the Trave and the Neva, the Sound and the Gulf of Riga, the Vistula and Lake Melar, and thanks to this position, as well as the fact that in those days, due to the imperfection of navigation, ships avoided long passages, they began to enter it all ships, and thus it acquired great importance.

In the same year, merchants from Bremen landed in the Gulf of Riga, which marked the beginning of the colonization of the Baltic region, which later, when Germany's maritime power declined, was lost. Twenty years later, the Augustinian monk Meinhard was sent there from Bremen to convert the natives to Christianity, and another twenty years later, crusaders from Lower Germany arrived in Livonia, conquered this country and founded Riga. Thus, at the very time when the Hohenstaufen made numerous Roman campaigns with huge German armies, when Germany put up armies for those who followed one after another crusades to the Holy Land, the Low German navigators began this vast undertaking and brought it to a successful conclusion.

International contacts of German cities.

The formation of the aforementioned trading companies is the beginning of the Hansa. The first Hansa arose in Flanders, where in 1200 in the city of Bruges, which at that time was the first trading city in the north, a partnership of 17 cities was formed, with a certain charter, which conducted wholesale trade with England and was called the Flanders Hanse; This partnership, however, did not acquire political independence.

The first impetus for the formation of the German Hanse came from Visby, where in 1229 German merchants, who were representatives of many German trading cities, including the port cities of Lübeck, Bremen, Riga and Groeningen and some inland cities, such as Münster, Dortmund, Zesta, concluded an agreement with the Smolensk prince; this was the first performance of the "society of German merchants"; the word Hansa came into use much later.

Thus Visby gained an advantage over the German cities, but this advantage soon passed to Lübeck, which in 1226 became a free imperial city and expelled the Danish garrison. In 1234 the city was surrounded by the Danes from the sea and land and began to prepare for battle; his fleet attacked unexpectedly destroyed the enemy. This was the first German naval victory, moreover, won over superior forces.

This great success, by which one can judge the strength and militancy of the Lübeck fleet, gave the city the right to take the first place. Soon (in 1241), Lübeck concluded an alliance with Hamburg to maintain the fleet at the common expense in order to maintain freedom of communication by sea, that is, to perform the functions of the naval police in German and Danish waters, with police supervision mainly meant the Danes themselves. Thus, these two cities took on one of the main tasks of the navy.

A few years later, during the war with Denmark, the Lübeck fleet devastated the Danish coast, burned the castle in Copenhagen and destroyed Stralsund, which belonged to Denmark at that time. Subsequently, this fleet, in turn, was defeated, but, nevertheless, the peace concluded in 1254 was beneficial for Lübeck.

This was the beginning of that difficult time when Germany was left without an emperor, the time of the long interregnum that came with the end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, during which terrible arbitrary rule reigned in Germany. Until that time, the German cities, in the event of disagreements with foreign states, always relied on the German princes, who, however, had to pay good money for the assistance they provided; since that time, these cities had to rely only on themselves.

The art and trust deserved by the "society of German merchants" created for the Germans in all places where they carried out trade, a leading position and wide privileges - in Flanders (Bruges), in England (London), in Norway (Bergen), in Sweden, and also in Russia, where at that time a very large shopping center arose in Novgorod, connected by water with the Neva. It was the most Big city in Russia, which had about 400,000 inhabitants (by the end of the 19th century, there were no more than 21,000 of them).

In each of these cities, the Germans had their own office, they owned large farmsteads and even entire city blocks, which enjoyed special rights and shelters, with their own jurisdiction, etc. Trade relations between east and west and back, mainly from the Baltic Sea to Bruges and to London were very extensive.

In these offices, young German merchants lived and studied with old, experienced merchants, who here acquired trading skills and worldly experience, as well as political and personal connections that they needed in order to subsequently become the head of a trading house themselves or even hometown and the Hansa.

At this time, Lübeck, as the natural head of the union, began to conclude, without special authorization, on behalf of "the entire merchant class of the Roman Empire" treaties in which the same advantages were pronounced for all German cities. In contrast to the usual selfishness of the Germans, a broad and noble statesman's view of the matter and the consciousness of the community of national interests showed up here. In any case, this success which national feeling gained over the opposing interests of individual cities must be explained by a long stay in foreign countries, the population of which always treated the Germans, whatever their origin, as rivals and even enemies.

At the same time, under the influence of the ever-increasing strength of the robber knights, and due to the complete lack of public security, the Rhine city union was formed, consisting of 70 cities located in the space from the Netherlands to Basel; it was an alliance of the burghers, motivated by the need for self-defence, against the lawlessness that reigned. This union energetically set to work and broke the stubbornness of many knightly castles; however, after the election of Rudolf Habsburg to the kingdom, who took decisive measures against the robber knights, this union ceased to exist.

The first congress of the Hansa. The principles of organization of the union.

Regarding those negotiations that preceded the closer union of the cities, which later received the name of the Hanseatic, no information has come down to us, except that in 1260 the first general congress of representatives of the Hansa was held in Lübeck, and, however, even the year of this important event not exactly known. Information concerning this union is extremely scarce. The number of cities that belonged to the Hansa is given very differently, with some numbering as many as 90. Some cities in the interior joined the Hansa for the commercial advantages involved, but only nominally, and took almost no part in its affairs.

At the head of the union was the so-called Hansetag, a kind of parliament, consisting of city representatives. At first, all this seems self-evident and simple, but the Hanseatic League had no permanent organization - no central authority, no constitution, no common armed force, no navy, no army, no bureaucratic bureaucracy of its own, no common treasury, but the laws on which the community was founded, were just a collection of letters, customs and precedents that changed over time.

Moreover, the Hanseatic people did not celebrate any independence day, and in general they did not recognize any common holidays, except perhaps church ones. They did not have "great leaders" or leaders who were supposed to be admired, and no "common cause" worthy of laying down their lives for it.

The representation was entrusted to the main city of the union - Lübeck quite voluntarily, since its burgomasters and senators were considered the most capable of doing business, and at the same time this city assumed the associated costs of maintaining warships. The cities that were part of the alliance were removed from each other and separated by non-alliance, and often even hostile, possessions. True, these cities were for the most part free imperial cities, but nevertheless, in their decisions, they were often dependent on the rulers of the surrounding country, and these rulers, although they were German princes, were far from always disposed in favor of the Hansa, and on the contrary, they often treated her unkindly and even hostilely, of course, except when they needed her help. The independence, wealth and power of the cities, which were the focus of the religious, scientific and artistic life of the country, and to which its population gravitated, were a thorn in the eye of these princes.

Thus, the Hanseatic cities had to defend themselves not only from external enemies, but also from their own princes. Therefore, the position of the union was extremely difficult and it had to pursue a smart and cautious policy towards all interested rulers and skillfully use all the circumstances so as not to perish and prevent the union from disintegrating.

Hansa cities

From the 13th to the 18th centuries, under the auspices of the Hanseatic League, there were about two hundred cities stretching from the subpolar Bergen in Norway, on the coast of the North Sea, and up to Russian Novgorod. Here, along with native languages, common German was used, a single monetary system was used, and residents had equal rights within their class.

In 1293, twenty-four cities registered membership in the Hansa, and by 1367 their number had more than tripled.

The management was based on charters granted to the cities by the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation himself. They determined the boundaries of cities, gave them the right to trade, mint coins, erect fortress walls, fish, grind grain, organize fairs, introduce some of their own laws, instead of each time turning to the monarch himself.

Liege and Amsterdam, Hanover and Cologne, Göttingen and Kiel, Bremen and Hamburg, Wismar and Berlin, Frankfurt and Stettin (now Szczecin), Danzig (Gdansk) and Koenigsberg (Kaliningrad), Memel (Klaipeda) and Riga, Pernov belonged to the Hanseatic (Pärnu) and Yuriev (Derpt, or Tartu), Stockholm and Narva. In the Slavic cities of Wolin, at the mouth of the Oder (Odra) and in the current Polish Pomerania, in Kolberg (Kołobrzeg), in the Latvian Vengspils (Vindava), there were large Hanseatic trading posts that actively bought up local goods and, to the common benefit, sold imported goods.

All Hanseatic cities of the union were divided into three districts:

1) Eastern, Vendian region, to which Lübeck, Hamburg, Rostock, Wismar and Pomeranian cities belonged - Stralsund, Greifswald, Anklam, Stetin, Kolberg, etc.

2) The West Frisian-Dutch region, which included Cologne and the Westphalian cities - Zest, Dortmund, Groningen, etc.

3) And finally, the third region, consisted of Visby and cities lying in the Baltic provinces, such as Riga and others.

Some facts from the life of the Hanseatic

The townspeople zealously guarded their independence. A well-known saying was: "City air is freedom." If a serf managed to escape to the city and live there, without leaving its walls, for exactly a year and one day, he was no longer someone's property. So the spread of Lübeck law represented the undermining of the privileges of the nobility and the emergence of the beginnings of the modern middle class, on which the European type of society is now based.

The secret of Hanseatic prosperity was the cheapness of mass transportation. To this day, the Elbe-Lubeck Canal, dug by the serfs of Count Lauenberg, still works between 1391 and 1398, however, since then it has been deepened and expanded. It allows you to significantly cut the distance between the North Sea and the Baltic. the wagon route from Lübeck to Hamburg, which for the first time made the transportation of bulk and other bulk cargo from Eastern Europe to Western Europe economically advantageous.In the Hanseatic era, East European food and raw materials flowed along the canal - Polish grain and flour, Baltic fishermen's herring, Swedish timber and iron, Russian candle wax and furs, and to meet them - salt mined near Lüneburg, Rhine wine and pottery, bales of woolen and linen fabrics from England and the Netherlands

Old charters contain information that no less than twenty ships sailed from Lübeck to Bergen annually. Here they were met by representatives of the Hanseatic "office", who already knew the demand for the brought goods and kept ready-made goods in warehouses for the return journey. These "offices" were trading posts with an entirely male population. There was a custom to send teenagers here from the German Hanseatic cities to undergo a kind of practice and "tanning the skin."

The Hanseatic people were located here near the harbor itself in three dozen narrow, unheated three-story houses stretched along the water, guarded by watchdogs. In each such house there is a whole labyrinth of warehouses, office rooms, rooms for a winch and a gate, as well as bedrooms, where two-story bunks rose on a wagon door sliding in the grooves. The apprentices slept in the compartment, two by two, on a mattress stuffed with sea grass. Only the "aroma" of fish, blubber and sea grass could somehow resist the smell of crowded people who had not been washed for a long time. Visitors smell this mixture, which flows from the log walls, preserved today in the Hanseatic Museum in Bergen.

The trading business had to be firmly held in Hanseatic hands. And senior merchants strictly forbade junior employees of the "office" not only to settle outside it, in a Norwegian city, but even to marry local girls. There was only one sentence: the death penalty.

Types of Hanseatic ships

“Frede-koggs” (Frede-koggen) were ships that carried police service near the coast and harbor; a certain fee was charged for their maintenance. All merchant ships were armed, but in later times the Hansa also had special warships. Here are some figures, which, however, belong to a later time: the Swedish flagship, taken in battle by the Lübeck fleet, had 51.2 meters in length and 13.1 meters in width, the armament consisted of 67 guns, not counting hand weapons; the Lübeck flagship had a keel of 37.7 meters, with its greatest length being 62 meters; there were high towers on the bow and stern, there were 75 guns from 40 to 2.5 caliber on it, the crew included 1075 people.

Politics of the Hansa

The leaders of the Hansa very skillfully used favorable circumstances to take trade in the Baltic and North Seas into their own hands, to make their monopoly out of it, eliminating all other peoples, and thus to be able to set prices for goods at their own discretion; in addition, they tried to acquire in the states where it was of interest to them, the greatest possible privileges, such as the right to freely establish colonies and trade, exemption from taxes on goods, from land taxes, the right to acquire houses and courtyards, with granting them extraterritoriality and their own jurisdiction. These efforts were for the most part successful even before the founding of the union. Prudent, experienced and possessing not only commercial, but also political talents, the commercial leaders of the union were excellent at taking advantage of the weaknesses or predicament of neighboring states; they did not miss the opportunity to indirectly (by supporting the enemies of this state) or even directly (by means of privateering or open war) to put these states in a difficult position, in order to force certain concessions from them.

The significance and very existence of the Hansa was based on the fact that it became indispensable to the surrounding states, partly through its mediation in the delivery of necessary goods, the leasing of ships, loans of money, etc., so that these states found advantages in their relations with the German coastal cities, partly because the Hansa became a great power at sea.

The conditions of the time were such that when it came to acquiring or retaining any advantage, neither side acted particularly discriminatingly; The Hansa resorted primarily to gifts and bribery, but often and directly resorted to violence, both on land and at sea, and often did this without even declaring war. It is, of course, impossible to justify violence, often associated with cruelty, but one who wants to succeed must pursue an energetic policy.

In 1280, Lübeck and Visby took over the protection of trade in the Baltic Sea, i.e., maritime police supervision; three years later the Hanse formed an alliance with the Dukes of Mecklenburg and Pomeranian to keep the peace against the Margraves of Brandenburg. When the Danish king Eric Glipping joined this alliance, the Norwegian king Eric unexpectedly seized German merchant ships and all property belonging to the Germans on land. As a result of this, Lübeck, together with the Wenden cities and with Riga, equipped a fleet that ruined Norwegian trade, devastated the coast and inflicted such losses on the country that the king was forced to conclude peace on October 31, 1285 in Kalmar, pay military rewards to Hansa and provide her with significant trade advantages. . When King Christopher II was expelled from Denmark, he turned to Lübeck for help, which was given to him; he was sent back to Denmark and restored to the throne, for which he had to grant almost unlimited privileges to the German merchants. The same story happened to King Magnus of Norway, despite the fact that he was hostile to the Hansa.

In 1299, the representatives of Rostock, Hamburg, Wismar, Lüneburg and Stralsund entered into an agreement that "from now on they will not serve the sailboat of a merchant who is not part of the Hansa." The Hansa became the collective monopoly of northern trade.

As a result of the privileges enjoyed by the Hanse, Scandinavian and Russian trade completely disappeared from the Baltic Sea, and English took a secondary place, the Hanse ruled over the sea and over trade from the Neva to the Netherlands.

The Rise of the Hansa and its Decline

Wars against Denmark

In 1362, the wars of the Hansa against Valdemar III, who created the greatness and power of Denmark, began. In the same year, the island of Gotland was occupied. Visby, and the German courtyard in it, were plundered, and a lot of blood was shed. Then the Hansa made an alliance with Sweden and Norway; in early May, the Hanseatic fleet appeared in the Sound, but the allies of the Hansa did not appear. Then the Hanseatic Admiral Wittenberg attacked Copenhagen alone, took it, and then crossed over to Skonia, which at that time belonged to Denmark, and laid siege to Helsingborg. Here, however, he was taken by surprise by the Danish fleet and lost 12 large coggs; the army had to hastily board the ships and return to Lübeck. Wittenberg was put on trial and executed.

After that, peace came, which lasted several years, but in November 1367, at the general meeting of the Hansa, held in Cologne, 77 cities, from Narva to Zierik See, decided to wage war against Waldemar with all their might. A large fleet was equipped, which began by destroying the Norwegian coast so thoroughly in April 1368 that the king began to ask for peace; after this, the fleet went to the Sound and in May took Copenhagen, then Helsinger, and forced Valdemar to leave his country.

According to the peace treaty, in addition to a large indemnity, the Hansa was recognized the right to approve the kings of the Northern States. This was a tremendous success, especially because it was achieved not by the forces of a powerful state, but by the forces of an alliance of cities.

After this unheard-of success, the Hansa apparently began to neglect the police supervision of the seas; sea robbery spread to such an extent that the cities of Wismar and Rostock found it necessary to issue letters of marque against the ships of the three northern powers. This, however, made things worse, because as a result of this, a large, strong society of “Likendellers” was formed in these cities, which became known under the name of the “Brothers of the Vitalians”, which equipped entire squadrons of robbers, plundering everything that did not belong to these two cities. However, they did not limit themselves to one robbery, but even attacked Bergen and caused such losses to the Hansa that in 1394 Lübeck sent a fleet against them, consisting of 35 coggs, which, however, did not achieve decisive success, and only when the Teutonic Order , who also had great strength at sea in those days, sent a fleet against them and took away Gotland and Visby from them in 1398, the Vitalians were forced to leave for the North Sea, where they continued to rob for a long time.

Hanse's loss of its importance

Despite all its commercial and military successes, the Hansa, conservative to the marrow of its bones, gradually created difficulties for itself. Its rules required that the inheritance be divided among numerous children, and this prevented the accumulation of capital in one hand, without which the "business" could not expand. Constantly keeping guild handicrafts out of power, the clumsy senior merchants kept the lower classes quiet about a bloody revolt, especially dangerous inside their own city walls. The eternal striving for monopoly aroused indignation in other countries, where national feeling was growing. Perhaps most importantly, the Hanseatic people lacked the support of the central government in Germany itself. There were other troubles: in 1530, the "black death" - the plague - devastated one German city after another. A quarter of the entire population died from her breath. In the 15th century, the herring catch in the Baltic declined sharply. A large harbor in Bruges was covered with silt, so that the city was cut off from the sea.

Thus, at the beginning of the 15th century, the Hanseatic League began to lose its strength. The chief Dutch harbours, taking advantage of their proximity to the ocean, preferred to trade on their own account. New war Hansa with Denmark in 1427-35, during which these cities remained neutral, brought them enormous benefits and thereby harmed the Hansa, which, however, retained everything that it had until then owned. The collapse of the alliance, however, was already expressed in the fact that a few years before the conclusion of a common peace, Rostock and Stralsund concluded their own separate peace with Denmark.

Of great importance was also the sad circumstance that, beginning in 1425, the annual passage of fish to the Baltic Sea ceased. She headed to the southern part of the North Sea, which contributed to the flowering of the Netherlands, since all over the world, especially in the south, there was a strong need for a lean product.

Then there was a war of marque between the Hansa and Holland, which stopped only five years later and caused the separation of the large Dutch port cities from the Hansa, since with the development of shipping, the terms of trade for these cities began to differ too much from the terms of trade of the Hansa, the center of gravity of which was on the Baltic Sea. . As a result, the close unification of these cities with the Hansa, with the benefit of both sides, became impossible. Holland began to develop its world trade.

The policy of the Hansa also gradually lost its original foresight and energy; to this was added an inappropriate frugality in relation to the fleet, which was kept in insufficient numbers. The Hansa, without any opposition, looked at the unification in the same hands of power over the three Northern kingdoms, which were also joined by the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein, and allowed the formation of such a force that had never existed in the north. In 1468, Edward IV, King of England, took away from the Hansa all its privileges and left them only for the city of Cologne, which was subsequently expelled from the Hansa. In the ensuing war of privateers, the Hansa suffered heavy losses, despite the fact that England at that time did not have a navy. It did not help the fact that the squadron of the Eastern Hanseatic cities helped Edward IV, who had been expelled from his country, to return to it, since Edward continued to be hostile to the Hansa, and only when a strong Hanseatic fleet devastated the English coast for many miles inland, captured many ships and hanged their crews, Edward IV in 1474 agreed to a peace favorable to the Hansa, according to which he confirmed all the privileges that belonged to her and paid a military reward. Hence it is obvious that Hansa was saved only by her strength at sea.

The Hansa was powerless against only one state - Russia, since in those days it did not come into contact with the sea at all; therefore, for the Hansa, it was a severe blow when the Russian tsar in 1494 unexpectedly ordered the German farmstead in Novgorod to be plundered, chained and imprisoned for 49 Germans living there. Under such exceptional circumstances, the Hansa turned to the emperor for help, but the latter maintained his friendly relations with the Russians; that was the attitude of the head of the empire towards the Hanseatic cities in those days! A similar attitude manifested itself a little later, when King Johann of Denmark procured from the emperor an order to expel all Swedes, which disrupted all trade relations between the Hansa and Sweden.

At this time, the internal connection in the union finally broke up. When at the end of 1509 Lübeck declared war on Denmark, only Rostock, Wismar and Stralsund joined him. Despite this, the Hanseatic fleet showed its superiority here too, and at the end of 1512 in Malmö, all the privileges of the Hanseatic League were again confirmed.

But nevertheless, the forces of the nobility and the clergy were broken, and a bureaucratic state arose, as a result of which royal power was strengthened and even became unlimited. Maritime trade has developed greatly and has recently spread to the East and West Indies. Its influence on the state economy, as well as the importance of import duties, was revealed more and more clearly; the kings were no longer willing to allow the whole trade of their country to be in the hands of others, and moreover in the hands of a foreign power, which excluded any possibility of competition. They were no longer willing to submit to the prohibition of raising import duties on their frontiers and did not even want to allow any restrictions in this respect. At the same time, the privileges granted to the Hansa are sometimes very extensive, such as extraterritoriality, the right of asylum in courtyards, their own jurisdiction, and so on. made me feel stronger.

The hostile attitude towards the actions of the Hansa was constantly growing, both among foreign and German princes. Of course, they had the opportunity to create customs outposts against port cities, but then they turned out to be completely cut off from sea communications. To endure these severe restrictions, as well as the independence of the rich free cities lying in their possessions, became more and more unbearable as their views on financial matters took shape and their own power and the greatness of these princes increased. The times of monopolies in maritime trade had passed, but the leaders of the Hansa did not understand the signs of the new times and held fast to the aims and means which they had inherited from their predecessors.

In the meantime, the conditions of navigation also changed; the interests of the port cities, scattered along the coast for more than two thousand kilometers, diverged more and more, with the private interests of each individual city becoming more and more predominant. As a result of this, the Flemish and Dutch cities had already separated from the Hansa, then Cologne was excluded from it, and the connection between the other cities was increasingly weakened. Finally, Lübeck was left almost alone with the cities of Wenden and the cities of Vorpommern.

To these circumstances was added the spiritual revival of those times, caused by the great discoveries across the ocean, and, thanks to the Reformation, spreading in breadth and depth, not only in the religious, but also in the social field, so that all relations that had existed until then underwent a profound change. This caused the same complications in the internal position of the Hanseatic cities as the changed political conditions in their international position.

The Hanseatic League was conceived and created by merchants, but this word should not be understood as merchants in our sense of the word, but only large wholesale dealers; retailers who offered their goods on the streets, and who correspond to the owners of modern retail stores, as well as artisans, could not enroll in merchant guilds.

All management in the Hanseatic cities was concentrated in the hands of these guilds, but these guilds did not consist of hereditary families alone and were therefore not a patrician organization - all newly arriving large wholesalers could join the guild. In fact, of course, this did not happen often, and all power was concentrated in the hands of the rich, since the property qualification was decisive.

This exclusion from the affairs of the poor classes had previously aroused displeasure and excitement in the cities, especially among the artisans. The profound spiritual upheaval brought about by the Reformation gave a powerful impetus to significant social and political changes; resulting from this in Upper Germany peasant war, accompanied by sad events - is well known. In the free imperial cities, too, a great ferment began, but the explosion followed much later, partly because just at that time events took place in the Nordic states that drew all the attention of the Hansa to foreign affairs.

Decline of Lübeck

In 1520, Charles V, who was already king of Spain at that time, was elected German emperor. When divided with his brother Ferdinand, he retained the Netherlands, to which he added western Friesland and Utrecht; as a result, Germany lost a rich coast with the mouths of the Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt. This, of course, was very beneficial for the maritime trade of the Netherlands. At the same time, Christian II, King of Denmark, who had become the son-in-law of Charles V and had a keen hatred for the Hansa, began to patronize Dutch trade in the Baltic Sea. He was a despotic ruler who harbored the most extensive plans - to conquer all of Sweden, to concentrate all the trade of the Baltic Sea in Copenhagen and to make this city the central storage place for the whole East, and thus reduce the activities of the Hansa to one local trade. This gave the Hanse a reason, despite the fact that its influence had fallen significantly, to once again decisively intervene in the fate of the Northern Kingdoms.

In 1519, Gustav Vasa fled from Christian II to Lübeck, who not only refused to extradite him, but even supported him and helped him cross to Sweden; Christian II subjugated Sweden, but aroused the strongest hatred against himself in the country as a result of the massacre arranged by him in Stockholm, and when Gustav Vasa raised an uprising, the Hansa openly began to support him. The Hanseatic fleet devastated Bornholm, burned down Helsinger, threatened Copenhagen and assisted in the siege of Stockholm. On June 21, 1523, the Danish commandant of the city presented the keys to the city to the Hanseatic admiral, who in turn handed them over to Gustav Vasa, who had already become Gustav I. Gustav granted significant privileges to Hanse as a reward for his assistance.

Even before that, with the support of Lübeck, Frederick I of Holstein was elected Danish king in Jutland instead of Christian II. The Hanseatic fleet conquered Zeeland for him and assisted in the siege of Copenhagen, which surrendered on April 24, 1524; in this way the Danish king came to his capital and took possession of his kingdom with the assistance of the Hansa.

Christian II fled even before that, but a few years later, with the help of Holland, he made an attempt to conquer Norway again. He landed in Norway and quickly achieved considerable success; Denmark hesitated, but the Hansa immediately sent a fleet against him, which, by energetic actions, managed to force Christian to surrender, and, however, he surrendered not to the Hansa, but to his uncle Frederick I, who put him in the Sonderburg castle, where he kept him imprisoned for 28 years, until his death in 1559. Thus, the Hanseatic fleet helped Gustav Vasa ascend the Swedish throne and brought him into the capital, contributed to the overthrow of Christian II and the accession of Frederick I to the throne in his place, then he again overthrew Christian II and helped neutralize him. These were undoubtedly major deeds, but this was already the last flash of Hanseatic sea power.

Even before this last campaign against Christian II, in 1500, unrest arose in Lübeck, aimed at overthrowing the patrician city government; both burgomasters fled, and the leader of the movement, Jurgen Wullenweber, became the head of the city, and at the same time took over the leadership of the Hansa. If he had been imbued with new ideas that would help him secure and strengthen, according to the dominant position of Lübeck, which was threatened on all sides, then the means to which he resorted to this would probably not have been too severely condemned. However, all his efforts, after he had achieved a leading role in a revolutionary way, were aimed exclusively at restoring Lübeck's maritime dominance and, by eliminating other peoples, especially Holland, to secure Lübeck's monopoly of trade in the Baltic Sea. The means to this end were to be Protestantism and democracy. All other Hanseatic cities were supposed to be given a democratic structure, which they managed to do; Denmark was to become a Protestant republic, and he himself wanted to become the ruler of the Sound, which in those days was almost the only route of communication between the Baltic and German Seas.

Meanwhile, the former burgomasters of Lübeck obtained the decision of the imperial chamber court, which threatened the democratic rule of Lübeck with expulsion from the empire; this was enough to frighten the Lübeckers so much that they decided to depose Wullenweber and restore the former city government. This proves how fragile was the foundation on which Wullenweber built his brief reign.

Wullenweber's plan was not adapted to the new circumstances, and he did not take into account the actual balance of forces. He had prepared no alliances, no army, no navy, and he hoped to achieve great successes only by conspiring with burgomasters in enemy countries and by means of popular uprisings against the existing order of things. He himself did not possess any outstanding talents, and his grandiose but fantastic enterprise was deprived of all those data that could ensure success; so it failed, to the great detriment of Lübeck, and Wullenweber himself perished.

The importance of Lübeck had fallen to such an extent that after Gustav I had unceremoniously destroyed all the privileges of the Hansa, Christian III, King of Denmark, for his part, also ceased to pay any attention to these privileges. In 1560, Germany lost the Baltic provinces, the colonization of which she had begun exactly 400 years ago, and neither the emperor nor the country lifted a finger about this. The Russian tsar conquered Narva and Derpt (1558) and forbade Hansa navigation in Livonia; Estland was conquered by Erik XIV, King of Sweden, who did not recognize the Hansa at all, and Courland fell under the rule of Poland.

The Last Days of the Hansa

Beginning in 1563, Lübeck, in alliance with Denmark, again led against Sweden, which had captured the Hanseatic merchant navy, a seven-year war in which (which is very significant for the then state of affairs) even Wismar, Rostock and Stralsund remained neutral.

However, Sweden was so weakened by the persistent Allied offensive and internal turmoil that they left the sea in their power. The new king, Johann, concluded on December 13, 1570 in Stetin a rather favorable peace with Lübeck, according to which there was no longer any talk of a trade monopoly and duty-free trade; the military remuneration stipulated by the peace treaty was not paid. When Johann felt that his position on the throne was sufficiently strengthened, he declared himself "master of the Baltic Sea" and the next year forbade Hansa to trade with Russia. At the same time, he organized a war of privateer against the Hansa, and, however, out of respect for Spain, he did not touch the Dutch ships. The Hansa did not have a strong enough fleet to successfully oppose it, its trade suffered enormous losses, while the Netherlands grew rich.

Shortly before this, Hanse once again had an opportunity for a major political speech. In 1657, an uprising broke out in the Netherlands against Philip II, which, after a 40-year struggle, finally delivered them from the Spanish yoke; the cause of the war was not only political, but also religious motives; the rebels, who belonged to the Reformed Church, begged the Hansa for help, and the latter thus had the opportunity to return the German people and German land to Germany again, but the Hansa missed this opportunity by refusing to ask for help. All the Lutheran German princes did the same, and only some of the princes of western Germany, who belonged to the Reformed confession, helped the Netherlands.

AT early XVII century, Lübeck again made several attempts to establish relations with Russia and Spain, but without significant results, and the 30-year war finally destroyed the remnants of German dominance at sea and all German shipping.

The features of the Hanseatic League, which had neither a strong internal organization nor a definite and permanent supreme administration, did not give this alliance the opportunity to create significant fighting forces at sea. Neither the union nor the individual cities had a permanent fleet, since even the "frede coggs", which were sometimes kept in the service for a long time, were intended exclusively for maritime police supervision.

It is evident that, consequently, it has been necessary in every war to reassemble the military forces every time. In accordance with this, the very conduct of the war was limited to actions along the enemy coast, and these actions were reduced to unrelated expeditions, attacks and indemnities; there is no need to talk about systematic, scientifically based actions at sea, about a real naval war, and there was no need for this, since the opponents almost never had real military fleets.

In addition, the Hanseatic league, and even the individual cities of the league, had at their disposal other means by which they could impose their will on the enemy without resorting to weapons. The Hansa dominated all trade to such an extent, especially in the Baltic Sea, where for many years it was undeniably the first commercial power, that it was often enough for it to prohibit trade relations (a kind of commercial blockade) with those who were hostile to it, in order to bring opponents to submission. The monopoly of maritime trade, which the Hansa enjoyed for centuries on the shores of the Baltic and North Seas, was carried out with merciless severity, and for this it did not need a real navy.

However, circumstances began to take a different turn when individual states began to grow stronger and the independent power of the princes began to be gradually established. The participants in the Hansa did not understand that, in accordance with the changed conditions and the alliance, it was necessary to change their organization and, even in peacetime, prepare for war; they made the same mistake as they later

Despite, however, a broad outlook in political, and especially in trade and political affairs, the leaders of the Hansa almost completely did not understand the importance of a strong dominance of the sea, its acquisition and maintenance; the union strained its forces equally as much as was necessary to achieve the immediate goals, and as soon as these goals were achieved, the fighting forces immediately disbanded. Naval strategy in peacetime was never used by the Hanseatic League.

Lacking a general leadership and subject only to certain obligatory strict laws, the merchant shipping of the Hanse nevertheless received a very wide development. This shipping, in accordance with the economic and political nature of the Baltic (and partly the North) Sea, from the very beginning played the role of the only way for the trade of the entire north-east of Europe; German-Baltic trade reached Goslar and Zest, despite the fact that the latter lay closer to the North Sea: in the latter city, not so long ago there was a "Schleswig company".

The conditions of trade and navigation in the North Sea were freer, not only because of the general geographical location German coast of this sea, but also due to the fact that on this sea the Hanseatic League was not a complete master, but had to withstand strong competition with other maritime peoples. On both seas, the Hansa was gradually replaced by the energetic Dutch; The Hansa disintegrated, its forces were fragmented, and, in the end, it was left (at least in the Baltic Sea) only with local coastal trade and coastal shipping. Thus, for example, the trading firms of Lübeck in the end were engaged almost exclusively in trade between the Baltic harbors and Hamburg, and Hamburg, in alliance with Bremen, held almost all trade with Western and Southern Europe.

For the most part, Hanseatic trade was in the nature of only intermediary transactions, mainly with raw materials, and in this respect the products of the Baltic countries were of predominant importance. In the early days, the Hanseatic merchants themselves bought the necessary goods, transported them themselves and sold them themselves at the place of consumption; as a result of this, German merchants traveled all over the world and could everywhere personally get acquainted with the matter and form a correct view of the most important conditions of trade and navigation. However, this familiarity with the general course of affairs and with the significance of sea power did not lead to the creation of a central authority to serve the common national interests at sea, and private interests continued to play a predominant role. This continued even when, all around, the forces of individual princes and peoples began to grow and they all began to organize their naval forces.

The Thirty Years' War almost completely destroyed German trade, and with it German shipping; the main routes along which trade was directed to the ocean and to the west of Europe also changed, with the countries of the Near West acquiring a leading role that soon extended to the easternmost fringes of the Baltic Sea.

Trade monopolies, duty-free trade and other privileges were the subject of the Hansa's constant claims and the basis of its prosperity; it all boiled down to one's own material gain and the exploitation of others, and could not continue with the right state structure. From the very first steps, the Hansa acted oppressively, if not on the governments of those states in which it acted, then on their merchants, armorers and sailors. She could hold her position only by force, and precisely by sea force.

The leaders of the Hansa used with great skill both its sea power and other means at its disposal, including money, and were able to benefit from information acquired through their agents about foreign states and about people who had influence in them. . They deftly took advantage of the constant disputes over the succession to the throne and other internal disagreements, as well as numerous wars between individual states, and even themselves tried to initiate and encourage such cases. In general, everything came down to commercial calculation, and they did not show much legibility in the means and did not pursue any more lofty state tasks. Therefore, the entire alliance, apart from a common national feeling, was held together only by the consciousness of common benefits, and as long as these benefits were really common, the alliance represented a great force. With the change of conditions, as the maritime trade grew, and the states, both their own and foreign, began to grow stronger, the interests of individual members of the union began to diverge, with private interests becoming predominant; the members of the alliance most distant from the center fell away or were excluded from it, unanimity in the alliance was broken, and the members who remained loyal to him no longer had sufficient strength to fight against the strengthened foreign states.

In order to prolong its existence, a new, smaller union had to base its activities on free trade and navigation, but for this, the coastal cities needed free communications with the inland country and strong protection.

It should not be forgotten, however, that the northern and southern German city associations, and in particular the Hanseatic League, for a long time alone supported the German influence, which in the Middle Ages found its best protection and its main center.

The German cities, including those that were part of the Hanseatic League, were the only representatives of the idea of the further national development of the German people, and partly carried out this idea. These cities almost alone personified German power and influence in the eyes of foreigners, so that the history of urban unions is, generally speaking, a bright page in German history.

Conclusion

What do cities like London, Bruges and Novgorod, Lübeck and Bergen, Braunschweig and Riga have in common? All of them, as well as 200 other cities, were part of the Hansa. This alliance enjoyed such enormous economic and political influence as no other German state that existed before 1871 had. And in terms of military power, the Hansa surpassed many of the kingdoms of that time.
The Hanseatic League was formed by the merchants to ensure the protection of their interests and to combat robbery.
The Hansa was a product of its time, and the circumstances were especially favorable for it. Trade on the Baltic Sea was very developed and was even more extensive than at present; along the entire coast of this sea there were Hanseatic offices everywhere. To this it must be added that the German coastal cities, and Lübeck at their head, perfectly understood the importance of naval power and were not afraid to spend money on maintaining the fleet.

The union of German cities that made up the Hansa collapsed after 270 years of brilliant existence, during which it placed kings on thrones and overthrew them, and played a leading role throughout the north of Europe. It collapsed because during this long period the conditions of state life on which this union was based have radically changed.

Bibliography

1) Vipper R.Yu. History of the Middle Ages. Lecture course. - St. Petersburg: SMIOPress. 2001

2) Kappler A., Grevel A. Germany. Facts. - Berlin: Societats-Verlag. 1994

3) Györffy H-J. Schleswig-Holsteinische Ostseeküste. - Munich: Polyglott-Verlag. 1997

4) Stenzel A. History of wars at sea. - M.: Izographus, EKSMO-Press. 2002.

5) HANSA: THE ANCIENT "COMMON MARKET" OF EUROPE. -"KNOWLEDGE IS POWER" №.1, 1998

Hanseatic League- a strategic trading partner of medieval Novgorod, uniting in the period from the 14th to the 16th centuries (formally until 1669) the North German cities headed by Lübeck.

The Hansa was created with the aim of carrying out safe trade on more favorable terms and acted as an intermediary between the producing regions of the Eastern, Northern, Western and partly Central Europe reap huge benefits from it. There are two periods in the history of the Hansa:

XI-XIII centuries - the so-called period of the "merchant Hanse", when the first merchant associations were created with a center in the city of Visby (Gotland Island).
XIV to XVI centuries - the period when on the basis of the "merchant Hanse" arose the "Hanse of cities" (Lübeck, Bremen, Hamburg, Stralsund, etc.), which in 1356 was called the "German Hanse".

In 1356, the union of cities was finally formalized, calling itself the "German Hanse". The purpose of the union is to protect the interests of the North German merchant class. The congress was the highest body of the Hansa. His decisions (adopted by the majority) were obligatory for general implementation (including those Hanseatic cities that for some reason did not send their representatives to the next congress). In its heyday, the Hansa included up to 100 cities, and the scope of the union was never strictly limited.

The heyday of the Hansa is not least associated with its victory in the war with Denmark (1367-1370) for freedom of navigation in the Sound. This strait connected the Baltic to the North Sea and was vital to the Hanseatic trade. The Hansa did not have permanent finances, an army and a fleet, and its armed forces consisted of the troops and fleets of individual cities. Nevertheless, the unification of cities - the Hansa - won this war with the strongest enemy at that time - Denmark, and on May 24, 1370, the Stralsund Peace was concluded between the parties, according to which the Hanseatic cities received many trade privileges. In particular, 4 fortresses on the eastern bank of the Sound and 2/3 of the duties from them were transferred to the cities of the Hansa. Denmark even agreed to such humiliating conditions - she pledged not to elect a new king without the consent of the Hansa. The resulting treaty resulted in the Hanseatic trade monopoly in the Baltic.

Novgorod is the largest trading partner of the medieval Hansa in Eastern Europe throughout the entire period of its existence. Goods were exported through Novgorod, including those brought from other Russian lands. It was in Novgorod, as well as in London, Bruges (Flanders) and Bergen (Norway), that one of the largest Hanseatic offices was located.

... At the turn of the 11th-12th centuries, there was already a trading post of Gotland merchants in Novgorod - the so-called Goth yard with the church of St. Olaf, which was called by the Novgorodians the "Varangian goddess". It was damaged in a fire in 1152, when the Novgorod market burned down. On Gotland, in Visby, there was also a farmstead of Novgorod merchants, also with a church, the remains of which have been preserved in this city.

Somewhat later, in the second half of the 12th century, German merchants arrived in Novgorod from North German cities, primarily from Lübeck. They founded the German court in Novgorod - the court of St. Peter (after the church of St. Peter built in 1192).

Now, on the site of the Gothic Court in Novgorod, there is the Rossiya Hotel, and the German Court, located between the ancient Slavnaya and Ilyina streets, could be seen opposite the c. Assumption at the Market (modern Bolshaya Moskovskaya Street), but time did not spare him either.

With the formation of the "Hanse of cities", which included both Lübeck and Visby, the Gothic and German courts in Novgorod were united under common control. The courtyards were connected by a road that passed through the princely courtyard.

The Hanseatic courts did not have a permanent population. The Germans came to Novgorod twice a year - in summer and winter. The courtyards looked like fortresses. They were surrounded by a tyn of thick logs.

Inside the courtyards were

the church, where the steven (general meeting) gathered and the pressing issues of the life of merchants were resolved, as well as the most valuable goods were stored,
two-story houses (doris), in which merchants lived with their clerks and students,
premises for trade and storage of goods (cages),
as well as a large chamber, a clerk's room, a mill, a brewery, a bathhouse and a hospital.

In the evening, the gates of the yards were tightly locked, and inside the dogs went down from the chain, guards were put up.

The Novgorod authorities had no right to interfere in the internal affairs of the Hanseatic courts. Of all the Hanseatic offices, and they still existed in London, Bruges, Bergen and other cities, the Novgorod one was the most isolated from the city in which it was located.

Trade between Novgorod and the Hansa.Export and import

The trade of Russia with the Hansa was carried out through Novgorod. The most important items of Novgorod medieval exports were furs and wax, highly valued throughout Europe. Many Western European monarchs and nobles wore fur coats and hats made of precious furs (ermine, sable, marten) brought from Novgorod; candles made of Russian wax illuminated huge Gothic churches.

Of the furs, squirrel skins of various varieties were the most popular commodity, exported in colossal quantities to Western Europe. The most valuable furs were considered pieces, sometimes "magpies" (40 pieces), and squirrels - hundreds, thousands, barrels (up to 12 thousand skins were included in a barrel). It is known that only the German merchant Wittenborg sold in the 50s of the XIV century 65 thousand skins (mostly squirrels) purchased by him in Novgorod in three years. In another case, despite the ban on trading with Novgorod (disagreements between partners sometimes happened!), the merchant Feckinghusen bought 29 thousand skins in 1418-1419.

According to A.L. Khoroshkevich, a researcher of the ancient Novgorod trade, in the 14th-15th centuries more than half a million skins were exported from Novgorod to the West every year.

The beekeeping trade, widespread in Russia (collecting honey and wax from wild bees), made it possible to export wax in large quantities abroad. The Volga region, Smolensk, Polotsk, Murom, Ryazan lands and, of course, the Novgorod pyatins supplied wax to the Novgorod market. From here it was exported to the West by Hanseatic and Russian merchants. Wax was sold in "circles". Each "circle" that went on sale had to have a strictly established weight (in the 15th century - about 160 kg) and be of a certain quality, which was certified by a special official seal, with which the words "God's goods" were imprinted on wax, that is, not fake, made "according to God's truth."

In addition to furs and wax, in the last decades of independence and later, Novgorodians traded with the West in dressed leather, leather goods, in particular shoes. Sometimes the export items were some types of agricultural products and hunting birds (falcons).

A lot of necessary goods were imported from the West to Novgorod, a significant part of which then went to the markets of other Russian cities. First of all, these are various expensive fabrics, especially cloth, as well as non-ferrous metals used in many crafts.

The products of local weavers fully satisfied the needs of residents in everyday clothes, but noble Novgorodians often preferred foreign fabrics for festive clothes. Especially popular were cloths made in the cities of Flanders - Ypres, Ghent, Bruges. Ypres cloth, as well as scarlat (red cloth) are mentioned many times in Russian written sources as an expensive gift to important and powerful people.

Hanseatic merchants brought to Novgorod copper, lead, tin and other materials necessary for handicrafts, such as alum used for tanning leather and parchment production. From imported Baltic amber, skillful Novgorod jewelers made a variety of jewelry; imported mercury, arsenic, and vitriol were also used.

From food products Baltic herring, salt were imported, and in lean years, bread. In 1231, the chronicler noted that the Germans brought bread and thus saved Novgorodians, who had gone to extremes, from starvation.

Hanseatic merchants also brought drinks to Novgorod - French, Spanish, Rhine and Greek wines. In addition, the Germans in their Novgorod yards brewed beer, mainly for themselves, and some of it was put on sale.

Despite the prohibitions of the western neighbors, who were often at war with Novgorod, Hanseatic merchants sometimes brought weapons and horses here.

Novgorod merchant unions

Trade in the Middle Ages, especially international trade, was an extremely dangerous business: the elements (storms and storms) lay in wait for the merchant, while the main threat was the robbers. Therefore, for long trips, merchants united in large armed caravans, which were not easy for professional warriors to cope with. To protect their interests, merchants formed special corporations, guilds.

As in Western European countries, there were similar associations in Novgorod, where they were called merchant hundreds. The largest association of Novgorod merchants is the so-called "Ivan hundred". They owned the Church of Ivan on the Opokah at the Market, which has survived to this day. The charter of the Ivansky Hundred has been preserved. The corporation united merchants who traded in wax, had the exclusive right to weigh all the wax that entered the Novgorod market and collect duties from it.

At the beginning of the 13th century, at the market, “overseas merchants” (an association of Novgorod merchants who traded “overseas”) built the stone church of Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa (a saint who was considered the patroness of trade). In favor of the church was a special duty from visiting foreign merchants.

Corporate culture of Medieval Russia

One of the attributes of all kinds of medieval associations were common holidays, feasts. In Russia, they were widespread and were called brothers. There was also a holiday at the Ivansky Hundred, which lasted three days, - feast of the saintJohn.

For a large fee, the richest of the Novgorod merchant associations invited three of the most prominent church leaders of Novgorod to perform a church service in its church. On the first day - the archbishop, on the second - the Yuriev archimandrite, on the third - the hegumen of the Anthony monastery.

Relations between Novgorodians and Hanseatics

Trade relations between German merchants and Novgorod were regulated by special agreements (the oldest that has come down to us dates back to the end of the 12th century), as well as by a special charter of the Hanseatic court (skre).

The most significant were the articles of the treaties on providing a "clean path" for the Germans to the Novgorod land, and Novgorodians - across the Baltic, that is, guarantees of the security of trade.

Other articles spoke about the conditions for the passage of merchants through foreign territory, as well as punishments for harming merchants and resolving lawsuits that arose between Russians and Germans.

Corporativeness inherent in the Middle Ages, led to the fact that the insult inflicted in a foreign land on a group of merchants or even one of them often became the reason for the rupture of trade relations between Novgorod and the Hansa for several years.

Enmity was usually accompanied by repressions against all merchants of the opposite side (arrest, confiscation of goods). Thus, the enmity that arose as a result of the robbery of Novgorod merchants in Narva lasted seven years. In response, the Novgorodians confiscated the goods of the Hanseatic merchants in Novgorod, although they had nothing to do with the Narva crime. In 1392, a peace treaty was concluded (Niebuhr Peace), as a result of which the parties came to an agreement and trade resumed.

But even the most acute conflicts between trading partners sooner or later ended in a peace treaty: trade with Western Europe was important to Novgorod and German merchants.

The main features characterizing Russian-Hanseatic trade in Novgorod were the following:

firstly, trade was wholesale, they traded not at retail, but in fairly large consignments of goods;
secondly, it was exchangeable, without the use of cash as a means of payment, that is, what in recent times was called the then fashionable word "barter" (money, of course, played a role in trade, but only as a measure of the value of goods) ;
thirdly, the process of trade did not take place at the Market, but at the Hanseatic yards and the yards of Novgorodians, where Russian and German merchants examined the goods they needed and made deals.

According to the charter (skre) of the German court, Hanseatic merchants are categorically forbidden under pain of a large fine and "deprivation of the rights of the court" (i.e., the merchant was deprived of the opportunity to come to Novgorod with trading purposes in the future)

trade with Russians on credit,
and also to take their goods on their ships.

The last ban was connected with the desire of the Hansa to strengthen their monopoly on intermediary trade in the Baltic. There were also limits set by the Hansa on the number of goods brought by one Hanseatic merchant in one visit to Novgorod. In the XIV century, their value, according to estimates, should not have exceeded a thousand marks (about 200 kilograms of silver), later - one and a half thousand marks.

A large amount of written information about the trading activities of the Novgorodians has survived to this day. They led many historians of the 19th and early 20th centuries to believe that trade was the basis of Novgorod's economy. However, it is not. From distant countries, mainly luxury goods and raw materials for handicraft production were brought to Novgorod. Export from Novgorod provided opportunities for acquiring imported goods. Modern historians, without denying the importance of trade, have clearly shown that the basis of the economy of the Novgorod land was agricultural production along with a developed handicraft.

The Germans sold all their goods in Novgorod; to other Russian lands, Western European goods were transported to their own benefit by Russian merchants.

After the annexation of Novgorod to Moscow, Novgorod retained its position as the leading partner of the Hansa and did not lose its leading trading position in Russia. But from the middle of the 15th century, the Hansa gradually began to decline. This was due to competition in trade from English and Dutch merchants. The Hansa finally lost its dominance in the second half of the 16th century, when new sea routes opened, linking Europe with America and India.

According to the materials of the historian Vasily Fedorovich Andreev

trade and political union of North German cities in the XIV-XVII centuries. led by Lübeck. Carried out intermediary trade between Western, Northern and Eastern Europe. G. belonged to the commercial hegemony in northern Europe. G.'s decline began at the end of the 15th century. Formally existed until 1669.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

HANSA

from mid-lower. Hansa - union, partnership) - bargaining. Northern German union cities in the with Lübeck, which existed in the 14th-16th centuries. (formally until 1669). G. acted as a successor to him. merchants of the 11th-13th centuries, ch. the center of activity to-rogo in V. Europe was about. Gotland (on this basis, modern bourgeois historiography singles out a special stage in the development of city - "merchant city" of the 11th-13th centuries, as opposed to the "city of cities" of the 14th-17th centuries). Economical G.'s role consisted in monopoly mediation between the producing districts of Sev., Zap., Vost. and partly Center. Europe: Flanders, England and North. Germany supplied cloth, Center. Europe, England and Scandinavia - metals, North. Germany and zap. coast of France - salt, East. Europe - Ch. arr. furs and wax. In addition, salted herring, wines, beer, and so on were exported to V. German. merchants took over the bargaining. mediation in conditions refers. weaknesses of the merchants of the North. and Vost. Europe, using the success of it. colonization in the Slavic countries of the East. Europe and relying on the military. German strength. knightly orders (subsequently one of them - the Teutonic Order - was even accepted as a member of G.). The foundation of Riga and Revel - the most important points on the way to Smolensk, Polotsk and Novgorod, the appearance of German offices. merchants in Norway and their receipt of privileges for trade in Flanders during the 1st half. 13th century, the growth of Lübeck based on the Slavic territory - ch. the center of the German trade in V. Europe - prepared the formation of an alliance: in the 2nd half. 13th c. agreements were signed between Lübeck, Hamburg, Stralsund, Lüneburg, and others to protect the route along the straits between the North. and the Baltic Sea, on the joint minting of coins, etc. Finished. registration of the union, which first appeared under the name. "German Hansa" in 1356, happened in 1367-70, during his victorious war against Denmark, which dominated the trade. way between Sev. and Balt. m. The Stralsund Peace of 1370 with Denmark, securing the right of G. to unhindered passage through the Sound and Skagerrak straits, opened the period of G.'s greatest prosperity in the 2nd half. 14 - 1st floor. 15th century At that time, it included up to 100 cities (according to other sources - up to 160, the boundaries of the city were never strictly outlined). The whole trading system relations of the Hanseatic cities relied on several. offices in the main producing districts of Europe - to offices in Bruges (Flanders), Novgorod, London, Bergen (Norway), etc. Hanseatic merchants also penetrated into Spain and Portugal. Trade center with ext. regions of Europe (especially with the German cities of Frankfurt, Augsburg) and the main transit point on the land and (since 1398) river route between the Baltic. and Sev. the seas were Lübeck. He also acted as a politician. heads of the union. Here from the 2nd floor. 14th c. general congresses of the Hanseatic cities met (albeit irregularly). Their decisions (the so-called Recesse), sealed with the seal of Lübeck, were binding on members. G. However, ext. G.'s organization was vague. The union had neither its own fleet, nor troops, nor permanent finances (its military forces consisted of the fleet and troops of individual cities). Between department cities and groups of cities that were part of Georgia, there was discord, bargaining. rivalry, their interests often did not coincide (Livonian and Vendian cities). In the Hanseatic cities, the economy of which was based Ch. arr. in trade, power was in the hands of merchants. patriciate. In con. 14 - early 15th century a wave of guild uprisings against the patriciate swept through, but everywhere he soon restored his power by combined efforts. The Great Hanseatic Statute of 1418 provided for decides. measures to combat social movements within the cities of G. The value of G. for economic. development of Europe was contradictory. Stimulating the development of the text., Mining. production in the west and in the center of Europe, G. somewhat slowed down the development of these same industries in the east of Europe; on the other hand, thanks to trade east. districts of Europe received raw materials for the development of metalworking. and jewelry craft. Imports of precious metals were especially important. Concentrating trade in the hands of him. merchants, Georgia stubbornly fought against possible competitors - non-member cities of Georgia (for example, Narva) and local merchants, who tried to tie up directly. bargain. relations with external world, sought to seize the industry of the counterparty countries (this was especially successful in Sweden). From the 2nd floor. 15th c. there has been a decline G. The development of nat. economy, expansion of external and int. trade, strengthening the position of local merchants in England, the Scandinavian countries, in Russia to the end. 15 - beg. 16th centuries aggravated G.'s contradictions with counterparty countries. A significant role in the decline of Georgia was also played by the change in world trade. ways. In an effort to maintain his position and privileges in the new conditions, G. resorts to any means: interferes in the internal. affairs dept. state-in, especially Scandinavian, supporting the rulers favorable to her, wages wars of privateer with the Dutch. However, in con. 15th-16th centuries she lost her positions one by one. In 1494 it was closed. courtyard in Novgorod; the office in Bruges gradually lost its importance, and in 1553 was transferred to Antwerp; in 1598 the Hanseatic people were deprived of all privileges in England. K ser. 16th century G. gave way to a goal. , English and French merchants; formally, it lasted until 1669. The study of Georgia in the 18th and 19th centuries. was a monopoly. noble and bourgeois. historiography. G. F. Sartorius (1765-1828) and his followers (K. Kopman, D. Schaefer) were interested in preim. political the history of G. 14-15 centuries. At the same time, in the history of G. they looked for evidence of the Germans' ability to "world domination", arguments to justify the colonial aspirations of Germany, G. was portrayed as unities. stimulus political, economic. and cultural development of the counterparty countries. E. Denel later wrote in the same traditions. In 1870, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Treaty of Stralsund, the Hanseatic Historical Society was organized. about-in (Hansische Geschichtsverein; still exists today; its annual organ is "Hansische Geschichtsbl?tter", since 1871). The Society took up the publication of sources on the history of Germany, but mainly legal sources - the decisions of the Hanseatic congresses and charters. At the end of 19 - early. 20th century V. Shtida and others began to publish clerical sources - bargaining. and customs books, etc. In the 1st floor. 20th century, especially during the years of fascist. dictatorship, n. historians continued to preach the old nationalist. views, appealing not only to political, but also economic. history D. After the war, part of the Hanseatic historians abandoned these views. Among them were F. Rochrig, who studied economics. structure of the Hanseatic cities. His theory of creativity the role of trade, supposedly ch. incentive pro-va, the main city-forming. strength, especially on the East of Europe, has big number supporters and in modern. bourgeois historiography, it is followed by the head of the Hanseatic historiography in Germany P. Johansen and his school. The focus of modern bourgeois historians G. - the time preceding its formation, economical. the role of the German merchants, their struggle for privileges in other countries (especially Scandinavian). Marxist historians (in particular, in the GDR), as opposed to the bourgeois. historiography, pay special attention to the study of the social structure of the Hanseatic cities, the role of crafts. elements, popular, especially plebeian movements (on the studies of historians of the GDR, see the review by K. Fritze et al. in the book: Historische Forschungen in der DDR. Analysen und Berichte. Zum XI. Internationalen Historikerkongress in Stockholm August 1960, B., 1960) . Historians of the countries democracy for the first time raised the question of the role of G. for the socio-economic. development of Poland and others. Baltic. countries (M. Malovist). From owls. M. P. Lesnikov, who paid attention not to the political, but to the socio-economic. the history of G. and proved that G.'s trade in the East of Europe was not of an unequal, "colonial" nature (in particular, for Novgorod). Source: Hanserezesse 1256-1530, hrsg. v. K. Koppmann, G. v. Ropp, D. Schöfer u. F. Techen, Bd 1-24, Lpz., 1870-1913; Hanserezesse 1531-1560, Bd 1, hrsg. v. G. Wentz, Weimar 1937-41; Hansisches Urkundenbuch, Bd 1-11, Halle-Lpz., 1876-1938; Quellen und Darstellungen zur Hansischen Geschichte (Hansische Geschichtsquellen, Bd 1-7; new series Bd 1-12, Halle - B.. 1875-1956); Inventare hansischer Archive des 16. Jh., Bd 1-3, Lpz.-Mönch., 1896-1913; Abhandlungen zur Handels-und Sozialgeschichte, hrsg. im Auftrag des hansischen Geschichtsvereins, Bd 1-3, Weimar, 1958-60. Lit .: Lesnikov M.P., Hanseatic trade Furs at the beginning of the 15th century, "Uch. Zap. Moscow. City. Ped. Institute named after V.P. Potemkin". 1948, v. 8; his own, Trade relations of Veliky Novgorod with Teutonic Order at the end of the 14th century. and early XV century., "IZ", 1952, v. 39; Khoroshkevich A.L., Trade of Veliky Novgorod with the Baltic and Western. Europe in the 14th-15th centuries, M., 1963; Lesnikov M., L?beck als Handelsplatz f?r osteurop?ische Waren im 15. Jh., "Hansische Geschichtsblätter", 1960, Jg. 78; Daenell E., Die Bl?tezeit der deutschen Hanse, Bd 1-2, V., 1905-1906; Schäfer D., Die Hansestädte und Känig Waldemar von Dänemark, Jena, 1879; his, Die deutsche Hanse, 3 Aufl., Lpz., 1943; Goetz L. K., Deutsche-Russische Handelsgeschichte des Mittelalters, L?beck, 1922; Jesse W., Der wendische Mönzverein, Löbeck, 1928; Rrig F., Wirtschaftskrfte im Mittelalter, Weimar, 1959; Johansen P., Die Bedeutung der Hanse f?r Livland, "Hansische Geschichtsblötter", 1941, Jg. 65-66; Arbusow L., Die Frage nach der Bedeutung der Hanse f?r Livland, "Deutsches Archiv f?r Geschichte des Mittelalters", 1944, H. 1. Jg. 7; Schildhauer J., Soziale, politische und religi?se Auseinandersetzungen in den Hansest?dten Stralsund, Rostock und Wismar..., Bd 1-2, Weimar, 1959; his own, Grundz?ge der Geschichte der deutschen Hanse, ZfG, 1963, H. 4; Fritze K., Die Hansestadt Stralsund, Schwerin, 1961; Hansische Studien. Heinrich Sproemberg zum 70. Geburtstag, V., 1961. A. L. Khoroshkevich. Moscow. -***-***-***- Hansa in the XIV - XV centuries.

Hanseatic League of Cities

Brief historical background

How did the trade union come about?

Cities of the Hanseatic League

Pros and cons

Union expansion. Three main blocks

Exclusion from the Union

Additional Hanse ideas

Trade relations with Russia

Conclusion

Intro 3

II. Union Rise and Fall 11

Decline of Lübeck

Conclusion

Bibliography

HANSA

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