![[Ausbreitung_der_Hanse_um_das_Jahr_1400-Droysens_28-1.jpg]] By the fourteenth century, the Hanseatic League dominated trade in the North and Baltic Seas. Its *kontors*, or major trading hubs were located in Bergen (Norway, c. 1360), Novgorod (Russia, c. 1200), Bruges (Belgium, c. 1252), and London (England, c. 1200). These were semi-autonomous, fortified colonies with their own warehouses, churches, and courts. The League, however, *was not a nation*. And unlike later trading companies such as the Dutch and British East and West India Companies, the League did not have a standing army or permanent, militarized navy. The League was a loose confederation of autonomous cities and merchants' guilds, which made decisions largely on the basis of profit. Military action required the agreement of the *Hansetag*, or council of member cities. Often, wealthy members such as Lübeck, Hamburg, and Danzig were not that interested in paying for poorer members’ defense. And in their first attempt, going to war against Denmark in 1361 after the sack of Visby, a lack of full participation resulted in a humiliating defeat. However, in 1367, seventy-seven cities joined a Confederation of Cologne that assembled a fleet of 52 large ships and about 12,000 soldiers. A year later, this Hanseatic force sacked Copenhagen and occupied parts of Scania and southern Sweden. This victory allowed the League to dominate the herring trade and even to have veto power over succession to the Danish throne. ----- Next: [[13.3 - Kublai Khan]] Back: [[13.1 - Hansa]]