They Were Also Allowed The Privilege
Of Electing An Alderman.
Bruges, which is said to have had regular weekly fairs for the sale of the
woollen manufactures of Flanders
So early as the middle of the tenth
century, and to have been fixed upon by the Hanseatic League, in the middle
of the thirteenth, as an entrepot for their trade, certainly became, soon
after this latter period, a city of great trade, probably from its
connection with the Hanseatic League, though it never was formally admitted
a member. We shall afterwards have occasion to notice it in our view of the
progress of the Hanseatic League.
As the commerce of the League encreased and extended in the Baltic, it
became necessary to fix on some depot. Wisby, a city in the island of
Gothland, was chosen for this purpose, as being most central. Most
exaggerated accounts are given of the wealth and splendour to which its
inhabitants rose, in consequence of their commercial prosperity. It is
certain that its trade was very considerable, and that it was the resort of
merchants and vessels from all the north of Europe: for, as the latter
could not, in the imperfect state of navigation, perform their voyage in
one season, their cargoes were wintered and lodged in magazines on shore.
At this city was compiled a code of maritime laws, from which the modern
naval codes of Denmark and Sweden are borrowed; as those of Wisby were
founded on the laws of Oleren, (which will be noticed when we treat of the
commerce of England during this period,) and on the laws of Barcelona, of
which we have already spoken; and as these again were, in a great measure,
borrowed from the maritime code of Rhodes.
But to return to the more immediate history of the Hanseatic
League, - about the year 1369 their power in the Baltic was so great, that
they engaged in a successful war with the king of Denmark, and obliged him,
as the price of peace, to deliver to them several towns which were
favourably situated for their purpose.
The Hanseatic League, though they were frequently involved in disputes, and
sometimes in wars, with France, Flanders, Holland, Denmark, England, and
other powers, and though they undoubtedly aimed at, not only the monopoly,
but also the sovereignty of the Baltic, and encroached where-ever they were
permitted to fix themselves, yet were of wonderful service to civilization
and commerce. "In order to accomplish the views of nature, by extending the
intercourse of nations, it was necessary to open the Baltic to commercial
relations; it was necessary to instruct men, still barbarous, in the
elements of industry, and to familiarize them in the principles of
civilization. These great foundations were laid by the confederation; and
at the close of the fifteenth century, the Baltic and the neighbouring seas
had, by its means, become frequented routes of communication between the
North and the South. The people of the former were enabled to follow the
progress of the latter in knowledge and industry." The forests of Sweden,
Poland, &c. gave place to corn, hemp, and flax; the mines were wrought;
and, in return, the produce and manufactures of the South were received.
Towns and villages were erected in Scandinavia, where huts only were before
seen: the skins of the bear and wolf were exchanged for woollens, linens,
and silks: learning was introduced; and printing was scarcely invented
before it was practised in Denmark, Sweden, &c.
It was at this period that the Hanse towns were the most flourishing; and
that Bruges, largely partaking of their prosperity, and the sole staple for
all their goods, rose to its highest wealth and consequence, and, in fact,
was the grand entrepot of the trade of Europe. The Hanse towns were at this
time divided into four classes: Lubeck was at the head of the whole League;
in it the meetings of the deputies from the other towns were held, and the
archives of the League were kept. Under it were Hamburgh, Rostok, Wismar,
and other nine towns situated in the north of Germany. Cologne was the
chief city of the second class, with twenty-nine towns under it, lying in
that part of Germany. Brunswick was the capital of the third class, having
under it twelve towns, farther to the south than those under Lubeck.
Dantzic was at the head of the fourth class, having under it eight towns in
its vicinity, besides some smaller ones more remote. The four chief
factories of the League were Novogorod in Russia, London, Bruges, and
Bergen.
From this period till the middle of the sixteenth century, their power,
though sometimes formidable, and their commerce, though sometimes
flourishing, were both on the decline. Several causes contributed to this:
they were often engaged in disputes, and not unfrequently in wars, with the
northern powers. That civilization, knowledge, and wealth, to which, as we
have remarked, they contributed so essentially, though indirectly, and
without having these objects in view, disposed and enabled other powers to
participate in the commerce which they had hitherto exclusively carried on.
It was not indeed to be supposed, that either the monarchs or the subjects
would willingly and cheerfully submit to have all their own trade in the
very heart of their own country conducted, and the fruit of it reaped by
foreign merchants. They, therefore, first used their efforts to gain
possession of their own commerce, and then aspired to participate in the
trade of other countries; succeeding by degrees, and after a length of
time, in both these objects, the Hanseatic League was necessarily depressed
in the same proportion.
The Dutch and the English first began to seek a participation in the
commerce of the North. The chief cities which formed the republic of
Holland had been among the earliest members or confederates of the League,
and when they threw off the yoke of Germany, and attached themselves to the
house of Bourbon, they ceased to form part of the League; and after much
dispute, and even hostility with the remaining members of it, they
succeeded in obtaining a part of the commerce of the Baltic, and commercial
treaties with the king of Denmark, and the knights of the Teutonic order.
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