Hanseatic League

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Main trading route of the Hanseatic League
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Main trading route of the Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League (German:die Hanse, Dutch: de Hanze, Estonian: hansa, Polish: Hanza, Swedish: Hansan) was an alliance of trading guilds. These guilds established and maintained a trade monopoly over the Baltic Sea and most of Northern Europe. This monopoly lasted for a time in the later Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, between the 13th and 17th centuries.

Many cities were part of it.