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The Hansa
It must never for one moment be imagined that the Hansa was a democratic body, far fro the heads of the organization were the aristocracy of trade, they were all rich burghers, often merchant princes, who had traveled widely, and who, in addition to being astute business men, were men of brain and intelligence...
- GenresHistoryEuropean History
279 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1929
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 29, 2018
The Hansa was launched and nourished by an edge in geography, technology and community of language. Its towns spanned the link between the North Sea and the Baltic, they had bigger and better ships than the Viking longboat, and they all spoke Low German. The Hansa also benefitted from the general chaos of the Middle Ages (12th to 14th centuries). Its discipline and reliable income made it powerful in an age when princes had neither. At its strongest, it was able to dictate terms to kings of England and Denmark, the rulers of Flanders and anyone else who threatened them. It leveraged these natural advantages with exclusionary, monopolistic practices.
As the years went on, it relied more and more heavily on its artificial privileges, and it failed to adapt. In the long run, princes became richer and stronger, new routes were found between east and west, and competing nations had superior shipping and finance. By the 16th century the party was over and the last remnants were destroyed during the Thirty Years War (1618 to 1648).
In some respects, the Hansa merchants were always fairly primitive. Unlike their Mediterranean brethren, they knew nothing of insurance or banks or large companies or double-entry bookkeeping, and very rarely used bills of exchange. Yes, they had personal loans, and shares in ships and in voyages, but that's as far as their financial institutions went. In latter days, they even refused to sell goods on credit.
The Hansa was not a state, not a company, not even a confederacy in the modern sense. It was a cartel. It had no armed forces, no bureaucracy, no common currency, no official capital, no law courts, not even its own seal. It owned no property! It had a parliament which issued laws, orders and guidelines, but these were not always obeyed. It was held together by common interest, and even this was not always a reliable glue. And yet it worked, more or less, for five hundred years. Its very oddity is what makes it worthy of study.
As the years went on, it relied more and more heavily on its artificial privileges, and it failed to adapt. In the long run, princes became richer and stronger, new routes were found between east and west, and competing nations had superior shipping and finance. By the 16th century the party was over and the last remnants were destroyed during the Thirty Years War (1618 to 1648).
In some respects, the Hansa merchants were always fairly primitive. Unlike their Mediterranean brethren, they knew nothing of insurance or banks or large companies or double-entry bookkeeping, and very rarely used bills of exchange. Yes, they had personal loans, and shares in ships and in voyages, but that's as far as their financial institutions went. In latter days, they even refused to sell goods on credit.
The Hansa was not a state, not a company, not even a confederacy in the modern sense. It was a cartel. It had no armed forces, no bureaucracy, no common currency, no official capital, no law courts, not even its own seal. It owned no property! It had a parliament which issued laws, orders and guidelines, but these were not always obeyed. It was held together by common interest, and even this was not always a reliable glue. And yet it worked, more or less, for five hundred years. Its very oddity is what makes it worthy of study.
May 21, 2010
A fascinating overview of the history of this German-based (though it should be understood that "Germany" in the modern sense did not exist for most of the Hansa's history!) trading company, written by an author clearly interested in his subject. I enjoyed the older style prose and the excerpts from actual documents were entertaining and educational.
Recommended for anyone interested in medieval Europe or Germany.
Recommended for anyone interested in medieval Europe or Germany.
May 9, 2018
Wrote a brief review of it while I was still reading it. I stand by what I wrote then.
4 stars simply for writing about the Hanseatic League to American audiences - it is a fascinating, but neglected subject matter.
2 stars because it hasn't aged well, and isn't good enough on its own terms to be considered a classic. I'll tell you what though, it makes me want to learn more about the Hanseatic league.
4 stars simply for writing about the Hanseatic League to American audiences - it is a fascinating, but neglected subject matter.
2 stars because it hasn't aged well, and isn't good enough on its own terms to be considered a classic. I'll tell you what though, it makes me want to learn more about the Hanseatic league.
February 27, 2021
A good look at a little-known merchant's guild of mostly-German cities in the Middle Ages. Written in a drier style than more modern books are, but I still rather enjoyed it and felt like I came away more informed than I had been.
August 4, 2015
Not enough derail on what the individual Kotnors did. A good overview of what the Hanseatic league was but could use less long quotes from ancient documents and more analysis.
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November 30, 2018Oh for the age of the gentle(wo)man historian, when any minor aristocrat with a C-level from Oxbridge could write a wide-ranging, faintly researched tome about whatever peculiar aspect of European history suited her fancy. I learned frankly very little about the Hansa, the league of German merchants which controlled much of the North Sea during the late middle ages, but upside this was one of those books that was printed on that really stiff, dry parchment paper, where little bits flake away like erudite confetti. I used to read a lot more of those.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews