The Beginnings of the Hanseatic League
Shortly after the death of Otto the Great, as the following document indicates, the merchants began to attract the attention of the government and develop the commerce which led, some…
From: 975 C.E. To: 1253 C.E.
Location: Magdeburg, Germany; Münster, Germany; Dortmund, Germany; Soest, Germany; Lippstadt, Germany
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Readings in European History by James Robinson, 1906.
Emperor Otto II promises protection to the merchants of Magdeburg (975)
Shortly after the death of Otto the Great, as the following document indicates, the merchants began to attract the attention of the government and develop the commerce which led, some centuries later, to the formation of the Hanseatic League.
Be it known to all our faithful subjects, now and in the future, that according to the desire of Adalbert, archbishop of Magdeburg, and the suggestions of other faithful subjects, we do grant to the merchants dwelling in Magdeburg, for themselves and their descendants, such protection as our father, of blessed memory, did in his time allow them to have. That is, that everywhere in our realm, in Christian and in barbarous lands, they shall be free to go and come unmolested.
And we do further by our imperial authority forbid that they be compelled to pay any taxes for cities, bridges, waters, and highways, except in the following places: Mayence, Cologne, Bardewic, and Tiel; and in these places no more nor greater taxes shall be exacted than by their laws they ought to pay. And if any one has the will, through enmity toward us, to destroy bridges or in any wise to impede the highways, let him know that such acts are forbidden by us on pain of our ban. And if any man shall think that this decree is of no effect, and shall dare to set at naught the above prohibitions, we command that whosoever is guilty of such insolence shall pay to our treasury ten talents of gold.
Münster, Dortmund, Soest, and Lippstadt form an alliance to protect their merchants (1253; condensed)
The federation of Westphalian towns described below indicates the dangers to which the merchants were exposed.
In the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity, Amen. The magistrates, consuls, and the whole community of burghers and citizens in Munster, Dortmund, Soest, and Lippstadt, and to all who may read this document, greeting:
We hereby make known to all men, now and in the future, that because of the manifold dangers to which we are constantly exposed, of capture, robbery, and many other injuries, we have, by common counsel and consent, decided to unite in a perpetual confederation under the following terms, and we have mutually given and received word and oath:
First, that if any man shall take captive one of our citizens or seize his goods without just cause, we will altogether deny to him opportunity to trade in all our cities aforesaid. And if the castellan of any lord shall be the author of an injury that has been done, the afore-mentioned privileges shall be altogether withheld from the lord of that castellan, and from all his soldiers and servants, and all others dwelling with him in his castle...
If any robber has taken goods from one of our citizens... and the injured man shall go to any one of our [federated] cities seeking counsel and aid, in order that justice may be done upon the malefactor, the citizens of that city shall act as they would be obliged to act if executing justice for a similar crime committed against one of their own fellow-citizens.
And if any of our burgesses shall chance to go to any of our cities and fear to go forth because of peril to life and property, the burgesses of that city shall conduct him to a place whence his fellow-citizens can receive him in safety.
If a knight shall be denounced to us on reasonable grounds as a violator of faith and honor, we will denounce him in all our cities, and will by mutual consent withhold from him all privileges in our cities until he shall pay the whole debt for which he broke his word.
If any one of us shall buy goods taken from any of our confederates by theft or robbery,... he shall not offer the goods at retail anywhere and shall be held guilty with the thief and robber.
Robinson, James Harvey. Readings in European History: A Collection of Extracts from the Sources. Ginn and Co., 1906.
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