Hanseatic League

American  

noun

1. a medieval league of towns of northern Germany and adjacent countries for the promotion and protection of commerce.

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Hanseatic League British  

noun

1. Also called: Hansa.   Hanse.  a commercial association of towns in N Germany formed in the mid-14th century to protect and control trade. It was at its most powerful in the 15th century

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Example Sentences

In the 13th Century, the port was one of the most important in England and traded wool, cloth and salt with the Hanseatic League of central and northern Europe.

From BBC • Sep. 20, 2021

In the Renaissance, this was the Steelyard, a community of German Hanseatic League merchants.

From The Guardian • Jul. 16, 2020

Starting in the twelfth century, the German city of Lubeck became the capital of the Hanseatic League, a group of cities engaged in trade that came together to regulate exchange and maintain monopolies on goods.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020

It’s not Google, Apple or Amazon; it’s more like Germany’s medieval Hanseatic League, a group of separate entities joined to protect and promote their individual interests.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2019

In 1379 it received from King Sigismund, then margrave of Brandenburg, the right to free navigation of the Oder; and from 1368 to about 1450 it belonged to the Hanseatic League.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 1 "Franciscans" to "French Language" by Various