Page 68 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol III

hanseatic league 887

A painting of a Hansa trad-
ing ship by Hans Holbein.

demand for its fish in central
Europe. Hamburg was essential to
Lübeck’s fishing industry, since it
provided Lübeck with the salt
needed for salting and drying of
the herring, which allowed it to be
safely transported without spoil-
ing.To facilitate this trade between
their cities they constructed a canal
that connected the two cities. To
protect this trade,they further rein-
forced their economic ties with the
treaty.
This initial association between
Lübeck and Hamburg slowly grew
into a larger league as other cities

cities. In the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, cities
in northern Germany became important commercial
TRADE ROUTES
centers due to their position on trade network routes that
of the
allowed them to serve as conduits for commercial goods
HANSEATIC LEAGUE
traveling to and from southern Europe over the North N
and Baltic Seas. This trading network soon increased in
scope to include goods moving west to England and east Atlantic
into Russia.The weak and decentralized government of Ocean Sweden
Germany during the eleventh and twelfth centuries was Norway
able to provide little assistance or protection for its traders,
Novgorod
and this lack of governmental support forced individual
merchants and commercial cities to create their own ties
Smolensk
and associations for mutual protection. Denmark
North
In 1241 Lübeck and Hamburg strengthened the exist- Danzig
Sea
ing commercial ties linking the two cities with a treaty Hamburg Lubeck
London
designed to protect their mutual commercial traffic. Bruges
Cologne
Lübeck’s chief industry in the twelfth century was the
exportation of herring caught at nearby fisheries. Due to Trade route
existing religious dietary restrictions on eating meat on 0 300 mi
certain days, fish had become an integral part of the 0 300 km
Christian diet, and Lübeck had capitalized on a growing