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"History of Economics"

"Hanseatic Trade Union"

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Introduction

2.1 Hanseatic League and Pskov

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

In world history, there are not many examples of voluntary and mutually beneficial alliances concluded between states or any corporations. In addition, the vast majority of them were based on self-interest and greed. And, as a result, they turned out to be very short-lived. Any violation of interests in such an alliance invariably led to its collapse. All the more attractive for reflection, as well as for drawing instructive lessons today, are such rare examples of long-term and strong coalitions, where all actions were subordinated to the ideas of cooperation and development, like the Hanseatic Trade Union.

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.

The political relevance of the topic under study lies in the fact that the history of the existence of the Hanseatic League, its experience, mistakes and achievements are very instructive not only for historians, but also for modern politicians. Much of what elevated him, and then overthrew him into oblivion, is repeated in the recent history of Europe. Sometimes the countries of the continent, in their desire to create a lasting alliance and thus achieve advantages on the world stage, make the same miscalculations as the Hanseatic merchants did many centuries ago.

The purpose of the work is to describe the history of the existence of the most powerful medieval trading union in Europe. Tasks - to consider the causes of the emergence of the Hanseatic trade union, its activities during its heyday (XIII-XVI centuries), as well as the reasons for the collapse.

Chapter 1. The emergence and flourishing of the Hanseatic League

The formation of the Hansa, which dates back to 1267, was the response of European merchants to the challenges of the Middle Ages. Fragmented Europe was a very risky field for business. Pirates and robbers ruled the trade routes, and what could be saved from them and brought to the shelves was taxed by the princes of the church and specific rulers. Everyone wanted to profit at the expense of entrepreneurs, and regulated robbery flourished. The rules, brought to the point of absurdity, made it possible to take penalties for the "wrong" depth of a clay pot or the width of a piece of cloth.

Despite all this, German maritime trade had already reached a significant development in those days; already in the ninth 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 Saxon king Æthelred granted German merchants significant advantages in London; his example was subsequently followed by William the Conqueror.

In 1143, the city of Lübeck was founded by the Count of Schaumburg. Subsequently, the Count of Schaumburg ceded the city to Heinrich the Lion, and when the latter was declared disgraced, Lübeck became an imperial city. The power of Lübeck was recognized by all the cities of Northern Germany, and a century before the official formation of the Hansa, the merchants of this city had already received trading privileges in many countries.

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 1241, the merchant unions of the cities of Lübeck and Hamburg entered into an agreement to jointly protect the trade route connecting the Baltic Sea with the North Sea. In 1256, the first association of a group of coastal cities was formed - Lübeck, Hamburg, Lüneburg, Wismar, Rostock. The finally unified union of the Hanseatic cities - Hamburg, Bremen, Cologne, Gdansk (Danzig), Riga and others (at first the number of cities reached 70) - took shape in 1267. The representation was entrusted to the main city of the union - Lubeck quite voluntarily, since its burgomasters and the senators were considered the most able to conduct business, and at the same time this city took upon itself the related expenses for the maintenance of warships.

The leaders of the Hansa very skillfully used the favorable circumstances to take over the trade in the Baltic and North Seas, to make their monopoly out of it, and thus to be able to fix the prices of 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. Thus, 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) gradually joined the Hanseatic cities. ) and Riga, Pernov (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. Hanseatic offices appeared in Bruges, London, Novgorod and Revel (Tallinn).

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.

The offices that the Hansa kept in different countries were fortified points, and their safety was guaranteed by the highest authority: veche, princes, kings. And yet the cities that were part of the union were remote from each other and often 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 were by no means always disposed in favor of the Hansa, and on the contrary, they often belonged to it is unfriendly and even hostile, of course, except in those cases 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.

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.

Hansa set as its goal the organization of intermediary trade between the east, west and north of Europe along the Baltic and North Seas. The terms of trade there were unusually difficult. Prices for goods in general remained quite low, and therefore the income of merchants at the beginning of the existence of the union was modest. To keep costs to a minimum, the merchants themselves acted as sailors. Actually, the merchants with their servants made up the crew of the ship, the captain of which was chosen from more experienced travelers. If the ship did not crash and safely arrived at its destination, it was possible to start bargaining.

The first general convention of the cities of the Hanseatic League took place in Lübeck in 1367. The elected hanzetag (a kind of parliament of the union) distributed laws in the form of letters, absorbing the spirit of the times, reflecting customs and precedents. The highest body of power in the Hansa was the General Hanseatic Congress, which considered issues of trade and relations with foreign states. In the intervals between congresses, the rat (city council) of Lübeck was in charge of current affairs.

Flexibly responding to the challenges of the time, the Hanseatic people quickly expanded their influence, and soon almost two hundred cities considered themselves members of the union. The growth of the Hansa was facilitated by the equality of native languages ​​and common German, the use of a single monetary system, the inhabitants of the cities of the Hanseatic Union had equal rights within the union.

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.

When a merchant became a Hanseatic, with the exemption from several local taxes, he received a lot of privileges. In every major city in the Hanseatic settlement, a medieval entrepreneur could get any information he needed: about the actions of competitors, trade, benefits and restrictions in force in this city. The Hanseatic League created an effective lobbying system for their interests and even built a network of industrial espionage.

The Hanseatic people promoted a healthy lifestyle, introduced ideas about business ethics, created clubs for the exchange of experience in business operations, and disseminated technologies for the production of goods. They opened schools for beginner artisans and merchants. This was a real innovation for medieval Europe, which was plunged into chaos. In fact, the Hansa formed the civilizational prototype of the Europe that we know now. The Hanseatic League had neither a constitution, nor its own bureaucratic bureaucracy, nor a common treasury, and the laws on which the community was based were just a collection of letters, customs and precedents that changed over time.

All work and behavior of the Hanseatic was strictly regulated - from how to train apprentices and hire a skilled craftsman to production technology, trade ethics and prices themselves. But self-esteem and measure did not change them: in the clubs that abounded in the cities of the Hanseatic League, they often reprimanded those who threw plates on the floor, grabbed a knife, drank "ruff", played dice. Young people were reproached, "... who drinks too much, breaks glasses, overeats and jumps from barrel to barrel." And to bet - it was also considered "not our way." A contemporary speaks with condemnation of a merchant who pawned ten guilders on a bet that he would not comb his hair for a year. Whether he won the bet or lost, we will never know.

In addition to strictly regulated rules, a large number of cities in the composition and their free imperial position, the secret of Hanseatic prosperity was the cheapness of mass transportation. To this day, the Elbe-Lübeck 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. At one time, it replaced the old trolley 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 viable. So in the Hanseatic era, East European food and raw materials flowed through 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, odorous cod fat from the distant northern islands.

At the zenith of its glory in the XIV-XV centuries, the Hanseatic League, this peculiar merchant federal republic, was no weaker than any European monarchy. If necessary, he could also use force, declare a trade blockade unruly. But he still resorted to war on rare occasions. However, when the Danish king Valdemar IV attacked the Hanseatic base of Visby in 1367 and began to threaten all Baltic commerce, the union decided to use weapons anyway.

Having gathered in Greiswald, the representatives of the cities decided to turn their merchant schooners into warships. Genuine floating wooden fortresses went out to sea - tall platforms rose on the bow and stern, from which it was so convenient to repel the attack of the enemy going to board.

The Hanseatics lost the first battle, but in the end the fleet of the Hansa merchants took Copenhagen from the battle, plundered it, and the king was forced in 1370 to sign the Stralsund treatise on peace, humiliating for him.

Chapter 2. The Hanseatic League and Russia

In the XIV-XV 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. Hansa offices in Russia existed in Pskov and Novgorod the Great.

2.1 Hanseatic League and Pskov

What interested the Hanseatic merchants in Pskov? In Russia, furs were the main export commodity, but Novgorod controlled the fur extraction sites, and Pskov accounted for only a small part of the furs sold to the West. And from Pskov to Europe, mainly wax was exported. The place of wax in the life of a medieval person was akin to the role that electricity plays in our lives. Candles were made from wax - both for lighting living quarters and for worship.

In addition, it was customary for Catholics to sculpt images of sick parts of the body from wax. Wax was the most important commodity until the beginning of the 20th century: even Father Fyodor from The Twelve Chairs dreamed of a candle factory in Samara. But in Europe, despite the development of beekeeping, there was a shortage of wax, and it was imported from the East - from Lithuania and Russian lands. Here in the XIV-XV centuries. there were still quite a lot of forests and beekeeping was widespread - the extraction of honey from wild bees. The extracted foundation was melted, the wax was purified and sold.

The quality of the wax was different, low-grade wax with sludge was forbidden for the Hanseatic people to buy. The rules of trade were regulated by "old times" - customs accepted as the norm. One of these customs was the right of the Hanseatic people to "peel" wax, i.e. to break off pieces from the waxed circle to check its quality, and the chipped pieces did not go to the expense of the weight of the purchased wax. The size of the pieces of wax that were allowed to be "chopped" was not precisely determined, but depended on the "antiquity" and the arbitrariness of the merchants. The wax was sold locally and exported to the Baltic states.

Of the imported goods, Pskovians were primarily interested in salt. The significance of salt in the Middle Ages was determined not only by the fact that it was a food product; salt was one of the raw materials for the leather industry. Salt was mined on a comparatively large scale only in a few regions, very remote from each other, it was expensive and early became the most important product in the exchange of goods. In Russia, salt was not mined enough, including in the Pskov land, so salt occupied one of the first places in the composition of imported goods.

The need for a supply of salt forced the people of Pskov to struggle to change the unfavorable rules of trade. Hanseatic merchants in Russia sold salt not by weight, but by bags. It is clear that this way of trading often led to deception. At the same time, in the neighboring cities of the Hanseatic League, salt was sold by weight. At the beginning of the 15th century, Novgorodians and Pskovians reduced their purchases of salt at home and began to travel to Livonia for this product. In response, in 1407 the Germans banned the supply of salt and trade with Novgorod and Pskov. Salt prices jumped and Russian merchants backpedaled, agreeing to the previous terms of trade. Pskov bought salt primarily for its own needs, but sometimes served as a transit point for the transit trade of the Hanseatic people with Novgorod, even in wartime. So, in the 1420s, when Novgorod was at war with the Livonian Order, salt from Narva still came to Novgorod through Pskov.

Trade in weapons and non-ferrous metals has always been a stumbling block in the relations of Russian cities with the Hansa and the Livonian Order. The Hansa was interested in the arms trade, which brought great profits, and the Order, fearing the growth of the power of the Russian lands, on the contrary, prevented it. But commercial gain often prevailed over the interests of defense, and, for example, in 1396, Reval merchants, including the head of the city council, Gerd Witte, transported weapons to Novgorod and Pskov in herring barrels.

Non-ferrous metals, so necessary in the process of making weapons, were also banned from being imported into Russia, apparently at the very beginning of the 15th century. In any case, when in 1420 the people of Pskov wanted to make a lead roof for the Trinity Cathedral, they could not find a foundry master not only in Pskov, but also in Novgorod. The inhabitants of Derpt did not give the Pskovites a master, and only the Moscow metropolitan sent a foundry worker to Pskov. Taking advantage of the monopoly on the import of metals to Russia, the Hansa did not miss an opportunity to cash in on trade. So, in 1518, low-grade silver was brought to Pskov, but six years later it was sent back to Dorpat.

A significant part of the trade flows in the Middle Ages were alcoholic beverages. But if wines were expensive and were imported to Russia in small quantities, then such alcoholic beverages as honey and beer were imported very intensively. Moreover, in Pskov, as well as in the Novgorod lands, they made their own honey, some of which was also exported for sale to Derpt and other cities. Evidence of the active trade in alcohol is the mention of 13 and a half barrels of beer and 4 barrels of mead, taken by Pskov merchants from the property of a murdered German in Pskov in the 1460s. Only once in the history of Pskov-Hanse relations was the trade in "tavern", i.e. any alcohol was banned: under an agreement in 1474, Pskov and Derpt pledged not to import beer and honey for sale within each other's territories. But already 30 years later, in the treaty of 1503, this prohibition was absent. Apparently, the norm of the treaty, which was disadvantageous to both parties, died out by itself.

During the war between Pskov and the Livonian Order in 1406-1409. Trade relations with the Hansa were interrupted, but soon resumed. The initiative in restoring Pskov-Hanse relations belonged to Derpt, who was the first to conclude an agreement with Pskov on the safety of travel and trade (1411). Close trade relations also contributed to the conclusion of an alliance agreement between Pskov and the Order in 1417.

The most detailed mutual terms of trade between Pskov and Derpt merchants were stipulated in an agreement of 1474. The guarantees of a "clean path" extended to the merchants of both sides, i.e. free trade both in the cities that have concluded an agreement, and travel with goods to other points. According to a mutual agreement, customs duties were abolished: it was decided to liquidate the "decks" (barriers), and not to take the "hotel" (duties). The agreement was extremely beneficial for Pskov, because it provided Pskov merchants with the right to retail and guest trade in Dorpat and other cities that belonged to the bishop of Dorpat. Now Pskovites could trade in Derpt not only with its inhabitants, but also with Rigans, Revelians, and "with every guest", which meant not only Hanseatic merchants. Merchants who were in a foreign land were guaranteed an equal trial with the subjects of the country where the merchant was located.

There were no Russian merchant farmsteads in the Baltic cities, and the Orthodox churches played the role of unifying centers for the Russian merchants in Livonia. In Dorpat there were two Russian churches - St. Nicholas and St. George, which belonged to Novgorod and Pskov merchants. At the churches there were premises where the clergy lived and goods were stored. This is where festivities and gatherings took place. The houses of German burghers, located around Orthodox churches, have long been rented by Russian merchants, so the urban area of ​​​​Derpt in the vicinity of churches began to be called the Russian End, by analogy with the names of urban areas in Novgorod and Pskov.

In Pskov, German merchants settled on the so-called "German coast" in the rented yards of Russian merchants. "German Coast" is a coastal strip of Zapskovye, located on the opposite bank of the Pskov River to the Kremlin. Unlike Pskov, in Veliky Novgorod there has long been a German trading post - the courtyard of St. Peter. The Hanseatic court in Novgorod was ruled by elected officials - aldermans - with full autonomy. The German court had its own charter - skru, which regulated the internal life of the German court, as well as the terms of trade between Germans and Russians. The farmstead on the "German coast" operated until the start of the Livonian War, and in 1562 it was destroyed by fire. The German court in Pskov was restored only after the end of the Livonian War, in the 1580s. across the Velikaya River, opposite the Kremlin. In the same place, in 1588, a farmstead of the main city of the Hansa - Luebeck arose. But this is a different era, when the Hansa ceded dominance in the Baltic to Sweden.

2.2 Hanseatic League and Novgorod

The Hanseatic office in Novgorod consisted of the Gothic and German courts. The management of the office was carried out directly by the Hanseatic cities: first Visby and Lübeck, later the Livonian cities of Riga, Derpt, Revel joined them. The organization of the Hanseatic office in Veliky Novgorod, the organization of everyday life and trade in the courtyards, relations with the Novgorodians were strictly regulated by special decrees recorded in the skru, which was a kind of charter of the office. With the change in the terms of trade, the political situation, trade relations between Veliky Novgorod and its Western partners, the spark changed.

The main place of trade was the German Court, where Novgorod merchants came to negotiate deals and pick up goods. Hanseatic merchants also purchased Novgorod goods directly from the estates of their Russian partners. Trade was wholesale and barter. Fabrics were sold in sets, sealed with special seals, salt - in bags, honey, wine, herring, non-ferrous metals - in barrels. Even small piece goods were sold in large quantities: gloves, thread, needles - dozens, hundreds, thousands of pieces. Russian goods were also purchased in bulk: wax - in circles, fur - in hundreds of skins. The exchange nature of trade was also strictly observed; cash goods for cash goods. It was strictly forbidden to trade on credit under the threat of confiscation of goods acquired illegally. Only the merchants of the Hanseatic cities, who always strived for monopoly trade, had the right to come to Veliky Novgorod and live in the courtyards. In all editions of the secret and in the correspondence of cities, the prohibition was persistently repeated to enter into a company with non-Hanseans (especially with the main competitors of the Hansa - the Dutch and Flemings) and bring their goods to Veliky Novgorod. The total number of merchants who were simultaneously in both courtyards reached 150-200 people in the most favorable times. However, due to the decline of the Novgorod-Hanse trade in the 15th century, the number of merchants who came to Veliky Novgorod significantly decreased. A list of merchants has been preserved, compiled at the closing of the office in 1494, which included 49 merchants from 18 cities in Germany and Livonia. At first, with a lack of space in the yards, Hanseatic merchants could stop to stay in Novgorod estates, which was recorded during archaeological excavations of one of these estates in the area adjacent to the German Court. Here in the layers of the XIV-XV centuries. Western European household items were found confirming the presence of Hanseatic merchants on the estate.

The Hanseatic merchants who came to Veliky Novgorod from different cities represented a single German (Hanseatic) merchant class, which in all actions was guided by the articles of the spark and general decrees and was headed by elders chosen from among them. The elders were the chief judges in the courtyards, they strictly monitored the implementation of all the decrees of the secret, imposed fines and other types of punishment, and settled all conflicts that arose between the Hanseatic merchants. The duties of the elders also included negotiating with the Russians, checking goods, collecting taxes from merchants, appointing examiners, i.e. inspectors of various goods. Along with the elders of the courtyards, the elders of the church of St. Peter, whose main duty was to preserve the rights of the church, all the privileges and messages of the cities. The elders of the church of St. Peter's took an oath from the merchants to observe all the decrees of the secret. In addition, the elders of the living quarters, the Vogts, were elected. In the office, in addition to administrative, there were other officials. The main figure among them was the priest, who conducted divine services, and also wrote official and private letters. The office also had a translator, silver linings, examiners (i.e. controllers) of cloth, wax and wine; tailor, baker, brewer. Until the 15th century beer was brewed by the merchants themselves. The main legislative body of the office was the general meeting of merchants, chaired by the elders of the courtyard and the church of St. Peter or the manager who replaced them. The meeting discussed all the most important matters of the office. Letters from cities, messages from ambassadors were read here, a court on commercial and criminal cases took place. Some important decisions were hung out for everyone to see, and the names of Novgorod merchants with whom it was forbidden to trade were also posted here.

The history of the Hanseatic office in Veliky Novgorod testifies that it was an isolated, closed settlement of German merchants, in contrast to the Hanseatic offices in Bruges and London. According to researchers, the Novgorod office is a unique phenomenon in the Hanseatic trade. In a sense, it was a model for other Hansa offices in organizing settlements closed in all respects (church, legal, economic and social) within a foreign city. However, this ideal was unattainable and such measures of isolation were only partially implemented in the Hanseatic offices in London and Bruges.

The history of Novgorod-Hanse relations is replete with trade conflicts, trade bans, frequent clashes between foreign merchants and city residents. Most often, conflicts arose due to non-compliance by one side or another with the rules of trade. One of the main rules was the following: if one of the merchants violated the rules of trade, only the guilty person should bring a claim. Nevertheless, judging by the sources, such violations entailed the arrest of all Novgorod merchants in the Hanseatic cities and the arrest of German merchants in Veliky Novgorod. The robbery of Novgorodians somewhere in the Baltic Sea or in Livonia entailed the detention of all German merchants in Veliky Novgorod. Mutual arrests of merchants and goods became especially frequent in the second half of the 14th century, ending in a trade war of 1385-1391, after which the peace of Niebuhr was concluded in 1392. However, peaceful relations did not last long, a few years later mutual claims to the quality of goods and accusations of non-compliance with trade rules began again. Wars and political conflicts between Veliky Novgorod and its opponents (most often the Livonian Order and Sweden) were a frequent cause of breaks in trade relations. Although trade agreements stipulated that during the war the merchants were guaranteed a "clean path", i.e. free movement along trade routes, however, in practice, every time a war broke out, a trade blockade was declared. Sometimes conflicts arose directly between the inhabitants of Veliky Novgorod and foreign merchants, which often led to the suspension of trade. During periods of particularly acute conflicts, the Hanseatic merchants closed the church and courtyards, took away their property, all valuables, the treasury and the archive of the office, and left Veliky Novgorod. They handed over the keys to the yards for safekeeping to the archbishop of Veliky Novgorod and the archimandrite of the Yuriev Monastery as the highest church hierarchs of Veliky Novgorod, i.e. specially trusted persons. Novgorodians, in turn, sought to detain the Hanseatic in the city until their demands were met. The point in Novgorod-Hanse relations was put by Ivan III in 1494, when the Hanseatic office in Veliky Novgorod was closed by his decree, 49 Hanseatic merchants were arrested, and their goods worth 96 thousand marks were confiscated and sent to Moscow.

A protracted twenty-year conflict between the Russian state and the Hansa began. In Revel and Riga, Novgorod merchants with goods were arrested. However, Derpt, who maintained intensive trade relations with Pskov and had a special agreement with him on freedom of trade, refused to break off relations with Russian cities. Narva, which was not a member of the Hanseatic League and therefore not obliged to comply with the decisions of its congresses, continued to trade with Russia. In a word, the united front of the Hansa and Livonia against Russia did not take shape.

Both Hansa and Russia have repeatedly tried to resolve the conflict. So, in February 1498, Russian-Hanseatic negotiations took place in Narva. The restoration of normal relations was linked by the Russian side to a number of demands; in fact, the government of Ivan III put forward preconditions. Russia demanded, firstly, to improve the situation of Russian churches and residents of the Russian territories in the Baltic cities; the claims filed by the Russian delegation cited the facts of the prohibition for Russians to consecrate churches and live in houses near churches.

The negotiations ended in vain, and after they ended, Russia dealt another blow to Hansa: the import of salt into Russian cities was banned. The Pskov merchants vainly tried to get the Grand Duke to allow them to import salt into the Russian lands, but their efforts were not crowned with success.

After 20 years, in 1514, the Hanseatic office was reopened in Veliky Novgorod, but this was already another page in the history of Veliky Novgorod and in the history of the Hansa.

Chapter 3. The Decline of the Hanseatic League

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 grew. Perhaps most importantly, the Hanseatic people lacked the support of the central government in Germany itself.

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. A new war between the Hansa and Denmark in 1427-1435, 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.

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 union in one 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.

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, it was a severe blow to the Hansa when the Russian Tsar in 1494 unexpectedly ordered the closing of the Hanseatic offices in Novgorod. 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 somewhat later, when King Johann of Denmark obtained from the emperor an order to expel all Swedes, which disrupted all trade relations between the Hansa and Sweden.

But nevertheless, the forces of the nobility and the clergy were broken, and a bureaucratic state arose, as a result of which the 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 Hanse 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.

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. 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 he organized in Stockholm, and when Gustav Vasa raised an uprising, the Hansa openly began to support him. The Hanseatic fleet devastated Bornholm, burned Helsinger, threatened Copenhagen and helped during 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 as a reward for the assistance rendered granted the Hansa considerable privileges.

Christian II a few years later, with the help of Holland, 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 also overthrew Christian II a second time and helped neutralize him. These were undoubtedly major deeds, but this was already the last outbreak of Hanseatic naval 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. 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.

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.

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.

Beginning in 1563, Lübeck, in alliance with Denmark, again waged a seven-year war against Sweden, which had recently captured the Hanseatic merchant fleet, 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 the 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 rebels 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, refusing to ask for help.

In view of this, the Dutch soon forbade the Hansa from sailing to Spain; the British also took a hostile position, and in 1589 captured a fleet of 60 merchant ships in the Tagus River, which brought the Spaniards, among other goods, military supplies. When the British were expelled from the German Empire in 1597, England responded in kind, and the Hansa was forced to clear the "Dye Yard", which had been the center of German trade with England for 600 years.

At the beginning of the 17th 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

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 a proper state system. 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.

In addition to political events that somehow influenced the collapse of the Hanseatic League, there were events that depended on no one: in 1530, spread by fleas, and there was no shortage of them, 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.

And the last thing: with the discovery, exploration and settlement of America, trade routes began to shift westward, to the Atlantic Ocean, where the Hanseatic people never managed to take root. Approximately the opening of sea routes to India led to the same. The last congress of the union took place in 1669, after which the Hanseatic trade union broke up completely.

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 Hanseatic Trade Union, the history of which was considered in the work. This union 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 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.

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.

Bibliography

1. World history / Under the editorship of G.B. Polyak, A.N. Markova, M-, 1997

2. History of wars at sea. Shtenzel A. - M.: Izographus, EKSMO-Press. 2002.

3. History of world civilizations / Under the editorship of V.I. Ukolova. -M, 1996

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 association. 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.

Advantages and disadvantages

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:

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

Expulsion 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 a healthy lifestyle. 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 because 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.

In modern Germany, there is a special sign of historical distinction, evidence that the seven cities of this state are the custodians of the traditions of a rare long-term, voluntary and mutually beneficial coalition in history. This sign is H. It means that the cities in which car numbers begin with this letter were part of the Hanseatic League. The letters HB on license plates should be read as Hansestadt Bremen - "the Hanseatic city of Bremen", HL - "the Hanseatic city of Lübeck". The letter H is also present on the car numbers of Hamburg, Greifswald, Stralsund, Rostock and Wismar, which played a key role in the medieval Hansa.

The Hansa is a commonwealth in which free German cities united in the 13th - 17th centuries to protect merchants and trade from the power of feudal lords, as well as to jointly resist pirates. The association included cities in which burghers lived - free citizens, they, unlike the subjects of kings and feudal lords, were subject to the norms of "city law" (Lubeck, Magdeburg). The Hanseatic League at various periods of its existence included about 200 cities, including Berlin and Derpt (Tartu), Danzig (Gdansk) and Cologne, Königsberg (Kaliningrad) and Riga. In order to develop rules and laws binding on all merchants in Lübeck, which became the main center of maritime trade in the Northern basin, a congress of members of the union met regularly.

In a number of non-members of the Hansa, there were "offices" - branches and representative offices of the Hansa, protected by privileges from the encroachments of local princes and municipalities. The largest "offices" were in London, Bruges, Bergen and Novgorod. As a rule, the "German courts" had their own berths and warehouses, and were also exempt from most of the fees and taxes.

According to some modern historians, the foundation of Lübeck in 1159 should be considered the event that initiated the creation of a trade union. The Hanseatic League was a rare example of an association in which all parties strove for a common goal - the development of trade relations. Thanks to German merchants, goods from Eastern and Northern Europe arrived in the south and west of the continent: timber, furs, honey, wax, and rye. Cogs (sailboats), loaded with salt, cloth and wine, went in the opposite direction.

In the 15th century, the Hanseatic League began to experience defeat after defeat from the nation-states resurgent in its area of ​​England, the Netherlands, Denmark and Poland. The rulers of the countries that were gaining strength did not want to lose their export earnings, so they liquidated the Hanseatic trading yards. However, the Hansa lasted until the 17th century. The most persistent members of the virtually collapsed coalition turned out to be Lübeck - a symbol of the power of German merchants, Bremen and Hamburg. These cities entered into a tripartite alliance in 1630. The Hanseatic trade union collapsed after 1669. It was then that the last congress took place in Lübeck, which became the final event in the history of the Hansa.

The analysis of the experience of the first trade and economic association, its achievements and miscalculations is interesting both for historians and for modern entrepreneurs and politicians, whose minds are busy solving the problems of pan-European integration.

The formation and flourishing of the Hanseatic League

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 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 to call all the ships, and thus it has 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 by it. 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 were making numerous Roman campaigns with their huge German armies, when Germany was fielding armies for the successive Crusades into the Holy Land, the Low German navigators began this vast undertaking and successfully carried it to the end. The formation of trading companies marked the beginning of the Hansa. The word "Hansa" is of Flemish-Gothic origin and means "partnership", that is, "an alliance for a specific purpose with certain contributions." 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 besieged by the Danes from the sea and land and began to prepare their "cogs" for battle; these ships broke the chains with which the Trave River was blocked, attacked unexpectedly the besieged fleet and completely destroyed it. 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 for the maintenance of a fleet at the common expense in order to maintain freedom of communication by sea, that is, to perform the functions of a naval police in German and Danish waters, and police supervision had mainly in mind 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 confidence earned 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 Bruges in Flanders, in London, in Bergen in Norway, in Sweden, and also in Russia, where At that time, a very large shopping center arose in Novgorod, connected by water communication with the Neva. It was the largest city in Russia, with 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 that enjoyed special rights, and shelters with their own jurisdiction, etc. Trade relations from east to west and vice versa, mainly from the Baltic Sea to Bruges and London were very extensive and gave great profits. 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. Large merchants and fitters often came here from their homeland, who in those days often personally made more significant purchases.

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 egoistic particularism 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. For there is no better way to awaken and strengthen the national feeling in a person than to send him abroad.

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-defense, 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.

Regarding the negotiations that preceded the closer union of the cities that later became known as the Hanseatic cities, 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 in accuracy is not known. Information concerning this union is extremely scarce. The number of cities that belonged to the Hansa is given very differently, and they number up to 90. Some cities in the interior of the country joined the Hansa for the commercial advantages associated with this, but only nominally, and took almost no part in its affairs.

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 by no means 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 he 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; so it was, 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) The Eastern, Vendian region, to which Lübeck, Hamburg, Rostock, Wismar and Pomeranian cities belonged - Stralsund, Greifswald, Anklam, Stettin, 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.

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.

The Hansa was a product of its time, and the circumstances were especially favorable for it. Mention has already been made of the skill and reliability of the German merchants, and their ability to adapt to circumstances. 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 Baltic states, the Poles, Livonians, and others, did not have them 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.

Very little is known about the Hanseatic ships; military "coggs" have already been mentioned above; they were the largest ships on the Baltic Sea, with a displacement of up to 800 tons, a length of 120, a width of 30 and a depth of 14 feet; they had three masts with yardarms and their crew consisted of 250 people, of which half were sailors; later, 15-20 guns were placed on them, of which half were 9-12 pound guns. "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 a few figures, which, however, belong to a later time: the Swedish flagship, taken in battle by the Lübeck fleet, had 51.2 m in length and 13.1 m in width, the armament consisted of 67 guns, not counting hand weapons; the Lübeck flagship had a keel of 37.7 m, and its greatest length was 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.

The leaders of the Hansa very skilfully used the favorable circumstances to take over the trade in the Baltic and North Seas, to make of it their monopoly, eliminating all other peoples, and thus to be able to fix the prices of 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, 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 Hanse was based on the fact that it became indispensable to the surrounding states, partly by its mediation in the delivery of necessary goods, the leasing of ships, loans of money, etc., so that these states found benefits 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; 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. Of course, it is impossible to justify violence, often accompanied by cruelty, but whoever wants to succeed must pursue a vigorous policy.

The political situation in the Northern Kingdoms, in Russia, Germany and the Netherlands, that is, in the north, south, east and west, was so unstable in the Middle Ages that we cannot enter here into a more detailed presentation of it; wars and alliances succeeded each other, privateering at sea, robberies on the coasts, either in alliance with a well-known state, or in war with it, followed each other for a few years, as was the case, for example, between Denmark and Sweden. However, some outstanding events, especially those that took place at sea, we will briefly describe here.

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 "the Popov-hater" unexpectedly seized the German merchant ships and all property belonging to the Germans on land. As a result of this, Lübeck, together with the Wenden cities and 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 Hansa a military reward and provide her with significant trade benefits. 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.

As a result of the privileges enjoyed by the Hansa, Scandinavian and Russian trade completely disappeared from the Baltic Sea, and English trade took a secondary place - the Hansa ruled over the sea and over trade from the Neva to the Netherlands. At the same time, the Hansa took advantage of Edward III's financially constrained position and lent him money, with which he equipped a campaign in France, which ended in victory at Crécy. To secure the loan, Edward pledged duties on wool and tin mines in Cornwall to Hanse. 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 much 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 for 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 that the fleet went to the Sound and in May took Copenhagen, then Gelsisher and forced Valdemar to leave his country. On May 24, 1370, peace was concluded in Stralsund, according to which, regardless of the 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, worsened the matter still further, since 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” or “Vitaliers”, who appropriated the loud name “friends of God and enemies of the world” to their bandit brotherhood. ". The beginnings of the organization of the vitaliers are hidden in the darkness of centuries, however, given the relations that prevailed in this part of the world at the turn of the 13th-14th centuries, it is not difficult to guess the reasons for its emergence. Among the Vitalier pirates, one could meet fugitives from the Hanseatic, mainly Vendian, cities, from all parts of Germany, the Dutch, Frisians, Danes, Swedes, Livonians, Kashubian Slavs, Pomeranians, French, and probably also Poles. From such desperate heads, a kind of pirate organization of the Vitaliers arose on the Baltic island. In addition to the Hanseatic sailors, this "brotherhood", which chose the island of Gotland as its seat, was joined by fugitives persecuted by the law, individuals who considered themselves offended and were looking for justice, easy money, the opportunity to take revenge on enemies, or simply greedy for adventure.

Following the long-standing traditions of the Baltic pirates and Vikings, the Vitalier brothers observed iron discipline within their organization. There were no other women among them, except for the captives. Pirate skippers demanded unquestioning obedience from their sailors, violation of their orders was punishable by death. On the island of Gotland, which was under the dominance of the Vitalier brotherhood, the main headquarters of the pirates was located; booty was kept here, it was divided here among the pirates who distinguished themselves during the expeditions, the base of the entire pirate flotilla was also located there. The local population of the island was sometimes forced to pay tribute, but the amount of the latter was relatively moderate, since all the necessities and wealth of the vitaliers were obtained by robbing ships at sea and attacking coastal settlements. However, the vitaliers, like all the then pirates, were also merchants. They traded in stolen goods, sometimes selling it even where their rightful owners were supposed to deliver the goods.

The activities of the vitaliers took on the widest scope in the years when a talented leader, Klaus Störtebecker, was at the head of the pirate brotherhood. Together with his assistant Godeke Michels, he joined two other sea robbers - Moltke and Manteuffel. Störtebecker himself came from a plebeian family in Rostock. He began his merchant and maritime career in his youth, working in the warehouses of herring merchants in Scania, on ships plying between Reval and Bruges, and finally for large merchants in his native Rostock. Offended by his patron, unable to endure inhuman treatment, he, like many others in those days, organized at the end of the 14th century. mutiny on the ship on which he served, threw the skipper overboard and, taking command into his own hands, went to sea, wanting to avenge the insults inflicted on him. Störtebecker was outlawed for organizing a riot and taking the ship away. The pursuit of the newly-minted pirate was entrusted to the noble citizen Wulflam from Stralsund, who, back in 1385, was entrusted by the Hanseatic League with the task of combating sea robbery.

However, Störtebecker, distinguished by remarkable seafaring and military abilities, not only was not caught by the Hanseatic tugs, but soon began to thoroughly annoy the merchant ships. He was especially cruel and merciless with the representatives of the ruling patriciate of the Vendian cities he caught, with whom he had personal scores.

But Störtebecker went down in history not because of his piratical excesses, but because he took up political activities. The opportunity for this presented itself in 1389, when a fierce struggle for the throne flared up in Sweden. King Albrecht, who ruled there, was not popular among the Swedish feudal lords in Germany, was captured by Queen Margaret of Denmark and Norway. In this war, only the garrison of Stockholm remained loyal to the king, resisting the Danes. The population of Stockholm at that time consisted mostly of Germans, and in contrast to Margarita, Albrecht supported the German merchants in Sweden. If the Danes took possession of Stockholm, the privileges of German merchants would be abolished, which, in turn, upsetting the balance of power in the Baltic, would hit the Hansa. The defenders of Stockholm, who had difficulty holding back the superior forces of the enemy, sent desperate letters to the Hansa with pleas for help.

In this situation, Lübeck turned to ... Gotland pirates. Störtebecker agreed to help the Stockholm Germans and the Hansa. With his flotilla, he began hostilities against the Danes. With only small and light ships at his disposal, Störtebecker could not resist the heavy and well-armed Danish warships in open battle and decided to help the besieged in other ways.

The assault on the city did not produce results, and the Danes moved on to the siege, trying to starve the defenders into capitulation. Having cut off the ways of delivering food from land and sea, they were already close to the goal. It became clear that only quick and decisive action could save the besieged.

One day at dawn, two groups of pirate ships suddenly appeared near Stockholm. While the first of them boldly attacked the cordon of Danish ships, the second, using the confusion caused by an unexpected attack, slipped under the very side of the Danes and entered the port of Stockholm. The pirates repeated this maneuver repeatedly and almost always with success, each time delivering food to the defenders of the city. From here, the Gotland pirates got the nickname vitaliers (“breadwinners”) and went down in history under this name.

The heroic actions of the vitaliers, their plebeian origin, the motto proclaiming social justice under which they fought - all this earned the brotherhood sympathy and popularity among the common people of the Hanseatic cities. The best proof of this is the result of the pirate attack on Wismar. In an effort to free several captured comrades-in-arms and provide themselves with supplies for the winter, Störtebecker and Godeke Michels decided on a seemingly desperate step by attacking the port of Wismar.

While the city council, taken by surprise, managed to call on the help of other Hanseatic cities and mobilize the fleet subordinate to them, the victorious army of the Vitaliers had already managed to sail far into the sea. This desperate plan they were able to carry out only because the common people of Wismar, hostile to the urban patriciate, assisted the legendary heroes of Stockholm in this operation. A similar role was played by the help of the common people in the mastery of the vitaliers in 1392 by Bergen, the then trading center of Norway. Pirates seized the local Hanseatic office and burned the city. During this operation, they captured many noble citizens of Bergen, demanding a huge ransom for their release.

At the turn of the XIV and XV centuries. the political position of the Vitaliers became rather ambivalent. On the one hand, they actively opposed the prevailing social order, fighting the ruling circles in the Hanseatic cities - the patriciate and city councils, and on the other hand, they repeatedly, as was the case in Stockholm, became the service of one city or another, opposing its enemy, and often against another competing Hanseatic city. Thus, the vitaliers often acted as paid condottieres, who were in the service of the very patriciate, whom they considered their main enemy.

This seemingly paradoxical position was reflected, in particular, in the text of some Hanseatic acts and resolutions. It often happened that the Hanseatic Congress decided to carry out some kind of armed operation, in which pirates were to be used more or less openly on the side of the Hanseatic League. At the same time, at the same congress, another decision was made aimed at eradicating piracy in the Baltic, and in particular, the destruction of the vitalers. For the Hanseatic merchants, who sometimes themselves did not disdain robbery, oriented their policy towards large-scale international trade, and therefore sought to ensure that it, if possible, did not encounter obstacles.

Despite the decisions made by the Hansa to ruthlessly exterminate the Vitaliers, the activities of the pirates expanded. Over time, it came to the point that not a single ship could pass through the Danish straits and make its way from the Baltic to the North Sea or back without paying a ransom to the vitaliers. After the burning of Bergen, the pirates began to rob even the fishermen who were catching herring in the North Sea. As a result, not only trade navigation, but also fishing stopped there.

This situation began to threaten the existence of states located in the basins of the North and Baltic Seas. Then the latter decided to unite their forces in order to put an end to sea robbery in the common interest. However, the first expedition against the pirates, organized by the Danish Queen Margaret and the English King Richard II, failed.

Hansa, too, began to be weary of pirates. The trade losses that the Hanseatic cities suffered from sea robbery were not compensated for by the services provided by the pirates. The second expedition, this time organized by the Hanseatic cities in 1394, with the participation of thirty-five warships and three thousand knights, also did not give the desired results.

Over time, the balance of power in the political arena in the Baltics began to change in a very unfavorable direction for the vitaliers. Unable to cope with piracy on her own, Queen Margaret turned to the Grand Master of the Order of the Crusaders Konrad von Jungingen for help. In those days, this order was at the height of its power and had an excellent army and a strong navy.

When in 1398 the crusaders moved to Gotland, the vitaliers could not resist them. Having plunged into the ships, they left the Baltic forever. Driven out of their nest of robbers, they took refuge in the North Sea, where they took possession of the island of Helgoland and fortified it. However, there, at the mouth of the Elbe, they found themselves face to face with their main enemy - the Hansa. This time it was not just the cities of the Vendian quarter, but two powerful ports - Hamburg and Bremen, which, moreover, were not going to use the services of pirates. Both of these shopping centers did not want to put up with the presence of pirates almost at their doorstep.

In 1401, a large trading ship emerged from the mouth of the Elbe, looking as if it was filled to the brim with valuable goods. The ship headed towards the North Sea, heading straight for Heligoland. The lurking pirates pounced on the easy and seemingly defenseless prey, but cruelly miscalculated. It was a warship, a trap ship disguised as a merchant ship. His numerous and well-armed team entered the fight against the pirates. The Vitaliers were so absorbed in the battle that they did not notice how the Hamburg flotilla approached.

None of the pirate ships involved in the battle managed to escape unscathed; one hundred and fifty prisoners were captured, and the nest of Vitaliers on Helgoland was taken and destroyed. Störtebecker and Michels, who were also captured, were publicly beheaded in one of the squares of Hamburg. All other prisoners, according to medieval custom, were branded with red-hot iron and imprisoned or sentenced to hard labor.

According to legend, the masts of Störtebecker's ship were hollowed out, and an alloy of pure gold was poured inside. The wealth captured on pirate ships and at their base in Helgoland was enough not only to fully cover the costs of the expedition and compensate the Hanseatic merchants for a significant part of their losses, but also to decorate the towers of St. Nicholas Church in Hamburg with a gold crown.

The unfinished remnants of the Helgoland Vitalers dispersed throughout Germany, stubbornly pursued by the feudal lords and city authorities. However, this brotherhood finally ceased to exist only after, in 1432, fighting on the side of the Frisians against the Hansa, it was defeated by Simon of Utrecht and, with the conquest of Emden in 1433,

It is necessary to mention some other German naval heroes: the famous Bockelmann from Danzig with six ships in 1455 defeated 16 Danish ones, which he attacked one after another, and destroyed 6, and captured 6 as prizes; it was a glorious feat that justified the distinguishing mark that Bockelman kept on the clod of his mainmast - a broom, which meant that he was sweeping enemies from the Baltic Sea. In this battle, he showed great tactical ability.

Next, we need to name Paul Beneke from Danzig, who in 1437 captured English ships from the Vistula, and then, already in the English service, fought with great success against Burgundy. His ships "Peter von Danzig" and "Mariendrache" terrified all sailors. One of his many trophies is the famous painting by Hans Memling in the altar of the Church of St. Mary in Danzig, depicting the Last Judgment.

Using the Internet, prepare a report on the Hanseatic League. Think about what international organizations today are solving the problems that the Hanseatic League faced during its existence.

Answer

Hanseatic League, Hansa, also Hanseatic League (German: Deutsche Hanse or Düdesche Hanse, Old German Hansa - literally “group”, “union”, lat. Hansa Teutonica) - a political and economic union that united almost 300 trade cities of northwestern Europe from the middle of the 12th to the middle of the 17th centuries. The date of the origin of the Hansa cannot be precisely determined, as it is not based on a specific document. The Hanseatic League developed gradually as trade expanded along the shores of the Baltic and North Seas.

The reason for the formation of the Hanseatic League was the growth of the population of the territories north of the Elbe as a result of migration, the emergence of new cities and independent communes and the consequent increase in the demand for goods and the growth of trade. The Hansa began to form from the 12th century as a union of merchants, then as a union of merchant guilds, and by the end of the 13th century as a union of cities. The Hanseatic League included cities with autonomous city government (“city council”, town hall) and their own laws.

To develop the general rules and laws of the Hanseatic League, representatives of the cities regularly met at congresses in Lübeck. Hanseatic merchants and companies enjoyed certain rights and privileges.

In non-Hanse cities there were representative offices of the Hansa - offices. Such foreign offices of the Hansa were located in Bergen, London and Bruges. At the easternmost end of the Hansa trading system, an office was established in Novgorod (Peterhof), where European goods (wine, fabrics) were sold and hemp, wax, honey, wood, skins and furs were purchased.

Today, the tasks that the Hanseatic League faced during its existence are being solved by international organizations: the UN, various economic unions (SCO, OPEC, BRIC, etc.)