The Deutsche Hansa

Going to be going over what the Deutsche Hansa was and alittle of its history.The Deutsche Hansa is related to the Hanseatic League, also known as the Hansa. This was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and the market towns that controlled trade along the cost of Northern Europe. It was created to protect the diplomatic privileges and economic interests in the cities, countries, and along the trading routes. The Hanseatic cities made their own legal system and had their own armies for protection/aid. They began trading course woolen fabrics and when the business began booming, they started trading finer woolen and linen fabrics; including silk. It was established in the year 1358, most of the Hansa cities started as independent cities or gained independence through the power of collective bargaining. Alliances formed through the Holy Roman Empire; growing from 70 cities to 170. They owed alligiance to the Holy Roman Emperor; had no intermediate tie to the local nobility. The league began to fall in the 16^th century; the rise of the Swedish Empire took over much of the Baltic which was part of the trading routes. Denmark regained control, and the Kontor in Novgorod had closed. The league finally ended in 1862.