History
Historians generally trace the origins of the League to the rebuilding of the North German town of Lübeck in 1159 by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, after Henry had captured the area from Adolf II, Count of Schauenburg and Holstein.
Exploratory trading adventures, raids and piracy had happened earlier throughout the Baltic (see Vikings)—the sailors of Gotland sailed up rivers as far away as Novgorod, for example—but the scale of international trade economy in the Baltic area remained insignificant before the growth of the Hanseatic League.
German cities achieved domination of trade in the Baltic with striking speed over 13th century, and Lübeck became a central node in the seaborne trade that linked the areas around the North and Baltic Seas. The 15th century saw the peak of Lübeck's hegemony.
Read more about this topic: Hanseatic League
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