I live in an Hanseatic League city (Stralsund) and the city still owns lots of land and is a rich one, hundreds of years later (though insignificant today).
Firstly, the article is appreciated - thanks. Now a minor gripe: several links I've clicked for further info point at paywalled matter, even for straightforward explanatory stuff like "moldboard plows" and, yes - I can go find info about such plows elsewhere but it breaks the stride when all that's needed is a sentence or two for clarification, not somebody's curated PhD thesis... ;->
Hansa wasn’t a democracy or an autocracy — in my understanding, it was an entirely consensus-based organization. At the Bremen town hall, I learned about the tagfahrt, where they would wait for the representatives to come to consensus. Once they started the meeting, it would continue for days until they actually reached consensus.
There is a great podcast, The History of the Germans, that have a season on the Hanseatic League. Its a great podcast if you enjoy history in general, the host isn't a professor or anything, but he does a great job with research and also makes interesting connections with how certain events were interpreted by German Nationalists, Fascists, Modern Day, etc. which is interesting.
If you are ever in the Hamburg area, I highly recommend making a day trip with the Regional train up to Lübeck to visit the Hanse Museum.
It's one of the most beautifully designed museums on a specific topic like this I've ever seen (it's also very accessible). The entire museum and all of its stations are translated into various languages by scanning a card you set up at the beginning, including customizing your information experience with certain topics you're particularly interested in (I chose naval architecture, if memory serves).
There's a cute coffee shop or two right there in the complex too, and the entirety of Lübeck is a beautiful, cozy area too. Many of the old Hanseatic buildings still stand as they were relatively untouched by the war.
Another hour in the same direction on the train takes you to the Travemünde beaches which are also gorgeous. Makes for a good day trip.
> The next year, Edward II reaffirmed Hansa merchants’ freedom from taxes, travel, and arrest in exchange for £1,000 (which would have been three percent of the Crown’s total annual tax revenues). Remarkably, he even promised that neither he nor subsequent kings would place new restrictions on the Hansa without their consent. These privileges ensured that Hanseatic merchants paid even lower tax rates than their English counterparts.
Autocracy and the absence of accountability (either financial or criminal) for the very wealthy is an age old problem that we still deal with.
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[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 36.5 ms ] threadhttps://historyofthegermans.com/hanseatic-league/
It's one of the most beautifully designed museums on a specific topic like this I've ever seen (it's also very accessible). The entire museum and all of its stations are translated into various languages by scanning a card you set up at the beginning, including customizing your information experience with certain topics you're particularly interested in (I chose naval architecture, if memory serves).
There's a cute coffee shop or two right there in the complex too, and the entirety of Lübeck is a beautiful, cozy area too. Many of the old Hanseatic buildings still stand as they were relatively untouched by the war.
Another hour in the same direction on the train takes you to the Travemünde beaches which are also gorgeous. Makes for a good day trip.
Autocracy and the absence of accountability (either financial or criminal) for the very wealthy is an age old problem that we still deal with.