Hanseatic League

1200s–1669 trade confederation in Northern Europe

The Hanseatic League, commonly called The Hansa, was a medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from Lübeck and a few other North German towns in the late 12th century, the league expanded between the 13th and 15th centuries, ultimately encompassing nearly 200 settlements across eight modern-day countries, from Estonia and Russia in the northeast to the Netherlands in the west, with its inland extent reaching as far south as Cologne. The league began as a collection of loosely associated groups of German traders and towns aiming to expand their commercial interests, including protection against robbery.

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