Map of the Hanseatic League, showing principal Hanseatic cities
The Hanseatic League is a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns. It dominates Baltic maritime trade along the coast of Northern Europe. Stretching from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland. The League was created to protect the guilds’ economic interests and diplomatic privileges in their affiliated cities and countries, as well as along the trade routes the merchants visit. The Hanseatic cities have their own legal system and furnish their own armies for mutual protection and aid. Despite this, the organization is not a state, nor can it be called a confederation of city-states; only a very small number of the cities within the league enjoy autonomy and liberties comparable to those of a free imperial city.
Rügen was a fief of the Danish crown to 1325. Stralsund joined the 10-year Rostock Peace Treaty in 1283, which was the predecessor of the federation of Wendish towns (1293 onwards). From 1339 to the 17th century, Stralsund was a member of the Vierstädtebund with Greifswald, Demmin and Anklam.
Joined the 10-year Rostock Peace Treaty in 1283, which was the predecessor of the federation of Wendish towns (1293 onwards); since the 14th century gradually adopted the role of a chief city for the Pomeranian Hanseatic towns to its east
Brandenburg was raised to an Electorate in 1356. Elector Frederick II caused all the Brandenburg cities to leave the League in 1442.
Saxon
Frankfurt an der Oder
Margraviate of Brandenburg
Elector Frederick II caused all the Brandenburg cities to leave the League in 1442.
Baltic
Gdańsk – Danzig (Gdańsk)
Teutonic Order
Capital of the Prussian, Livonian and Swedish (or East Baltic) Circle. Danzig had been first a part of the Duchy of Pomerelia, a fief of the Polish Crown, with Polish-Kashubian population, then part of the State of the Teutonic Order from 1308 until 1457.
Baltic
Elbing (Elbląg)
Teutonic Order
Elbing had originally been part of the territory of the Old Prussians, until the 1230s when it became part of the State of the Teutonic Order.
Baltic
Thorn (Toruń)
Teutonic Order
Toruń was part of the State of the Teutonic Order from 1233 until 1466.
Kraków the capital of the Kingdom of Poland it’s very loosely associated with Hansa, and pays no membership fees, or sents representatives to League meetings.
Breslau, a part of the Duchy of Breslau and the Kingdom of Bohemia, was only loosely associated with Hansa, and pays no membership fees, or sents representatives to League meetings.
On joining the Hanseatic League, Reval was a Danish fief, but was sold, with the rest of northern Estonia, to the Teutonic Order in 1346.
Baltic
Dorpat (Tartu)
Terra Mariana (Livonia)
The Bishopric of Dorpat gained increasing autonomy within the Terra Mariana.
Westphalian
Cologne
Imperial City of Cologne
Capital of the Rhine-Westphalian and Netherlands Circle.
Westphalian
Dortmund
Imperial City of Dortmund
After Cologne was excluded after the Anglo-Hanseatic War (1470–74), Dortmund was made capital of the Rhine-Westphalian and Netherlands Circle.
Westphalian
Deventer
Bishopric of Utrecht
Westphalian
Kampen
Bishopric of Utrecht
Westphalian
Groningen
Friesland
Westphalian
Münster
Prince-Bishopric of Münster
Westphalian
Osnabrück
Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück
Westphalian
Soest
Imperial City of Soest
The city was a part of the Electorate of Cologne until acquiring its freedom in 1444–49, after which it aligned with the Duchy of Cleves.
Kontore
Quarter
City
Territory
Notes
Kontor
Novgorod: Peterhof
Novgorod Republic
Novgorod was one of the principal Kontore of the League and the easternmost.
Kontor
Bergen: Bryggen
Kingdom of Norway
Bryggen is one of the principal Kontore of the League.
Kontor
Bruges: Hanzekantoor
County of Flanders
Bruges was one of the principal Kontore of the League until the 15th century, when the seaway to the city silted up; trade from Antwerp benefiting from Bruges’s loss.
The Steelyard was one of the principal Kontore of the League.
Kontor
Antwerp
Duchy of Brabant
Antwerp became a major Kontor of the League, particularly after the seaway to Bruges silted up in the 15th century, leading to its fortunes waning in Antwerp’s favour, despite Antwerp’s refusal to grant special privileges to the League’s merchants. Between 1312 and 1406, Antwerp was a margraviate, independent of Brabant.
The Hanseatic Warehouse was constructed in 1475 as part of the Treaty of Utrecht, allowing the League to establish a trading depot in Lynn for the first time. It is the only surviving League building in England.
Skåne was Danish until ceded to Sweden by the 1658 Treaty of Roskilde, during the Second Northern War.
Kontor
Kaunas
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
In 1398 traders guild with close ties to Hanseatic league appeared in Kaunas. Treaty with Hanseatic league was signed in 1441. The main office was located in the House of Perkūnas from 1441 till 1532.
Kontor
Pleskau (Pskov)
Pskov Republic
In the 12th and 13th centuries, Pskov adhered to the Novgorod Republic. It was captured by the Teutonic Order in 1241 and liberated by a Lithuanian prince, becoming a de facto sovereign republic by the 14th century.
Kontor
Polotsk
Principality of Polotsk
Polotsk was an autonomous principality of Kievan Rus’ until gaining its independence in 1021. From 1240, it became a vassal of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, being fully integrated into the Grand Duchy in 1307.
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