German 110

German 110 class blog

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Group 3 Bergen, Presentation on Hanse cities(Thomas, Tabitha, Ryan, Nate, Jaffar)

Founding

  • Founded in 12th Century AD
  • Trade was the backbone of Hanseatic League
  • most common item of trade was Salt, crucial for many cities who had huge fish industries


Trust and Truth

  • Contracts were done by handshake and word of mouth.
  • Written contracts were not as necessary because there was general trust shared by league members
  • If problems arose the league would meet with city representatives to resolve the issues at hand.

Historical Markers

  • The start of the Hansa was traced back to the rebuilding of northern German town, Lubeck in 1159 by Henry Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria.
  • 1265- All German towns, with the Law of Lubeck, had agreed on common legislation for the defense of merchants and their goods.
  • 1270- Lubeck-Hamburg association aquired trading privileges in Flanders and England United.
  • 1280- The confederation of German Merchants trading in the west, was closely closely joined to the association trading in the Baltic. 
  • By the early 13th century Germans had a strong build on long distant trade in the Baltic.

Cities


  • Each city governed itself like a independent city, each had its own legal system, standing army, treasury, court and seal
  • However it was not a city-state nor a group of city-states. Only very few cities in the Hanseatic League enjoyed independence that could compare to an imperial city
  • Socially every city has many similarities; what they traded, who they traded with, their cities, and their social standings. The few differences are mainly to do with cultural influences. Mainly language. 
  • The main language spoken throughout the Hanseatic cities was German, however languages such as estonian and Latvian were popular as well.    
Trade Routes

  • Bergen was not only the capital of Norway, but also the center of trade for Western Norway.
  • Bryggens was the harbor in Bergen used for trade.  
  • The ships they used for transport, carried cod from Norway to the European countries.
  • Catholics used the fish for when they fasted.

Describe the ships, cities and social make up of Hanse Cities.

Ships

  • Usually 20-30m long by 5-8 m wide with a crew of only 5-10 men
  • built similar to Viking ships, however were only merchant ships
  • Flat bottoms which were fitted for sailing in the shallow seas, mainly sailed along the coast and unable to sail against the wind
  • Ships shipped every sort of good, but main exports and imports were salt, herring, grains, timber, and amber

No comments:

Post a Comment