Hanseatic League

views updated

Hanseatic League Commercial union formed in 1241 by c.160 n German cities (Hanse towns), including Bremen, Cologne, Hamburg, and Lübeck. The League protected its merchants by controlling the trade routes from the Baltic region to the Atlantic. It began to decline in the late 15th century, with the opening up of the New World and aggressive trading by the British and Dutch.

More From encyclopedia.com