The Hanseatic League: Explained (Short Animated History Documentary)

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  • Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
  • The Hanseatic League was a consortium of trading towns which all-but monopolised trade in the north and baltic seas between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. But how did they manage to achieve this and what led to their decline? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 842

  • @TheMrFabian1
    @TheMrFabian1 3 місяці тому +2380

    Hamburg still officially calls itself the "Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg". It's still a big part of their folklore there.

    • @Yora21
      @Yora21 3 місяці тому +198

      It's like every second company in Schleswig-Holstein is named "Hansa-something".

    • @Janoip
      @Janoip 3 місяці тому +157

      +Bremen, Lübeck+++
      The relics of the Hanseatic League
      Despite the demise of the Hanseatic League, many traces of this period remain to this day. Many cities like to remember the time of the Hanseatic League. Be it the addition "Hanseatic City" to the city name, the "H" in the license plate, clubs such as "Hansa Rostock" or street names - the relics of the Hanseatic era are still clearly visible, especially in the historic Hanseatic cities.

    • @thestarjon
      @thestarjon 3 місяці тому +51

      This also extends to the Oberlandesgericht (higher state court) of Hamburg being called "Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht" (hanseatic higher state court). The same is true for Bremen ("Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht in Bremen"). Most other states rather boringly call theirs the "Oberlandesgericht für [insert state]".

    • @dariusgunter5344
      @dariusgunter5344 3 місяці тому +61

      There are a lot of cities which pride themselves on the Hanseatic history, none more than the former center and capital lübeck, as a former resident of that city and it's surrounding its really so engrained in the city and I can advise anyone visiting it to visit the Hansemuseum.

    • @PassivesAbseits
      @PassivesAbseits 3 місяці тому +37

      @@Janoip There has been a huge "Hanse-Renaissance" post Re-Unification. The obvious reason is, that many of the "former Hanseatic League" Cities rejoined and searched for a "new identity". But post 2007 even "Western Cities" like Lüneburg remembered their heritage.
      I honestly wonder, how much the "Stoertebeker Festivities" contributed to this hype. This is a pretty big theatrical presentation, living on a "natural stage", and the story, since it focuses on Stoertebeker, always includes the Hanse... But it has been 20 years, since I actually watched the play.
      And that the GDR named their artificiallly created Rostock football club after a free trade organisation, when they were all against free trade, is kind of ironic...

  • @namenamename390
    @namenamename390 3 місяці тому +1813

    Side note, the Hanseatic Leauge lives on in name. Many cities in Germany, most notably Hamburg, still proudly carry "Hansestadt" (Hanseatic city) in their name.

    • @crayonviking
      @crayonviking 3 місяці тому +110

      Same with multiple towns in the Netherlands

    • @Yora21
      @Yora21 3 місяці тому +113

      German car license plates always start with the code for the district were they were registered.
      Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen, and Rostock are HH, HL, HB, and HR.

    • @Janoip
      @Janoip 3 місяці тому +49

      The relics of the Hanseatic League
      Despite the demise of the Hanseatic League, many traces of this period remain to this day. Many cities like to remember the time of the Hanseatic League. Be it the addition "Hanseatic City" to the city name, the "H" in the license plate, clubs such as "Hansa Rostock" or street names - the relics of the Hanseatic era are still clearly visible, especially in the historic Hanseatic cities.

    • @zartesnilpferd6778
      @zartesnilpferd6778 3 місяці тому +21

      @@Yora21 Rostock is "HRO", but thanks for bringing this up. Also not every "Hanseatic City" in name has the "H" in their license plate
      (e. g. Hansestadt Salzwedel is "SAW").

    • @musiqtee
      @musiqtee 3 місяці тому +7

      Even Bergen 🇳🇴 calls itself ’Hansabyen’ at times, although it actually wasn’t one. There was however a strong presence of an office in co-op with Brügge, London and Novgorod.
      Norway itself got pretty ‘danish’, and not much of a sovereign state after a certain earlier presence as vikings (let’s say trade with some violence, like the Hansa…?).
      Those who today use the ‘Hansabyen’ moniker, seem to be rather… trade-oriented too. Former conservative PM Solberg is herself Bergenser (from Bergen)… 🤓

  • @cv990a4
    @cv990a4 3 місяці тому +2282

    Fun fact - "Hansa" basically means "group" or "league". So, Hanseatic League essentially means "Leagish League" or "Groupish Group"
    The word survives in Lufthansa, which you can see as meaning Air League or Air Group or perhaps, at a stretch, United Air.

    • @TigerofRobare
      @TigerofRobare 3 місяці тому +67

      Huh. I thought a "Hanse" was a kind of warehouse.

    • @jonatanwestholm
      @jonatanwestholm 3 місяці тому +174

      Leagy McLeagueface

    • @AColonelPanic
      @AColonelPanic 3 місяці тому +51

      @@TigerofRobare Hanse is also a special building for Germany in Civ 5 😛

    • @MH-hu5pi
      @MH-hu5pi 3 місяці тому +57

      Sahara desert
      East Timor

    • @EEEEEEEE
      @EEEEEEEE 3 місяці тому

      E‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

  • @Theology.101
    @Theology.101 3 місяці тому +2959

    You can tell its german because its name is Hans

    • @Leonbobway
      @Leonbobway 3 місяці тому +31

      a-Ahah!!

    • @TransKidsMafia
      @TransKidsMafia 3 місяці тому +19

      You can tell that society will be better once all the kids transition.

    • @Edits-with-Niko
      @Edits-with-Niko 3 місяці тому +8

      Good one 💀👍

    • @RipRLeeErmey
      @RipRLeeErmey 3 місяці тому +98

      ​@@TransKidsMafia Huuuuhhhhh bot spotted?????

    • @lennartmook9182
      @lennartmook9182 3 місяці тому +5

      Funny joke but the name would ne Hanz so no

  • @Stoneworks
    @Stoneworks 3 місяці тому +1190

    I was just wondering how I could dominate the trade of the northern seas and inland rivers. Thank you for the tips and tricks!!

    • @TransKidsMafia
      @TransKidsMafia 3 місяці тому +10

      you can dominate the trade by forming an army of trans kids.

    • @GwainSagaFanChannel
      @GwainSagaFanChannel 3 місяці тому

      ​@@TransKidsMafia I did not know there are now bots trying to spread propaganda to make people believe that trans people want to make everyone trans I swear these transphobes really are willing to do anything to make trans people look bad

    • @GwainSagaFanChannel
      @GwainSagaFanChannel 3 місяці тому +60

      ​@@TransKidsMafia transphobe bot spotted

    • @SamFromItalia
      @SamFromItalia 3 місяці тому +13

      Same I was annoyed by all of these "Independent nations" so I wanted to get some tips on "trade"

    • @NP3GA
      @NP3GA 3 місяці тому +15

      ​@@GwainSagaFanChannel tf was he on about?

  • @hans-rudi-der-letzte
    @hans-rudi-der-letzte 3 місяці тому +999

    There is actually a "New Hansa" nowadays with cities like Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen, Rostock, Gdansk, Riga and Tallinn closely working together. There are even the "Hanseatic Days of New Time" a big festival that is every year in another Hanseatic town. :)

    • @EEEEEEEE
      @EEEEEEEE 3 місяці тому

      E‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

    • @TransKidsMafia
      @TransKidsMafia 3 місяці тому +7

      both my parents came out as trans and are now my mom and dad

    • @GwainSagaFanChannel
      @GwainSagaFanChannel 3 місяці тому +58

      ​@@TransKidsMafia transphobe bot

    • @albevanhanoy
      @albevanhanoy 3 місяці тому +26

      EUROPA FUCK YEAH 🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺

    • @kingjoe3rd
      @kingjoe3rd 3 місяці тому

      Europeans think they are building towards a collective Europe, but what they are actually building towards is a collective West that is dominated and lorded over by the United States government. Sound familiar?

  • @Finlandiaperkele
    @Finlandiaperkele 3 місяці тому +416

    One of the most impactful things the League did was the standardization of city design. In any city the basic layout was similar, a central market square with town hall/rathaus and a church. This meant that no matter which city you went to, you always found what you were looking for. This would also spread to non-Hanseatic cities due to its popularity and easing of the trade.
    Also why Hanseatic League was so popular was the network of rathauses, which meant that if you got scammed or asked to pay too much for a product, you could file a complaint with your rathaus and the council would be in contact with the council of the rathaus in question and resolve the matter.

    • @Paul83121
      @Paul83121 3 місяці тому +29

      An interesting side-effect of this is that German tourists tend to visit Hanse cities. They know that it's going to be a beautiful city with a certain design. In the last 15 years some Dutch cities have been using the Hanse name again to profile themselves for these tourists. My hometown of Harderwijk was always known for having been a fisherman's town, having had a corrupt university, and having been the gathering point from where criminals were sent off to serve in the colonial army. The history of having been a Hanse city was barely known. Nowadays, city namesigns all say "Hanzestad Harderwijk" and there's a specially designed Hanse flag you can see all around the old city centre. Quite an interesting marketing idea, and understandable given some of the ctiy's former reputation.

    • @_blank-_
      @_blank-_ 3 місяці тому +1

      Sounds dubious.

    • @balabanasireti
      @balabanasireti 3 місяці тому +5

      ​@@_blank-_It doesn't but okay

    • @zimriel
      @zimriel 3 місяці тому +6

      @@Paul83121 my hometown is also known for being a fisherman's town with a corrupt university
      .
      .
      .
      .
      it's Boston

    • @RuiRuichi
      @RuiRuichi 3 місяці тому +3

      Seems similar to how Spaniards founded cities in the Philippines. A central park where its surrounded by a church, townhall, govt bldgs, military/police buildings, market and other commerce bldgs.

  • @skudrinskis
    @skudrinskis 3 місяці тому +291

    A lot of this is taught in Latvian history classes and I always found Hanseatic league interesting

    • @EEEEEEEE
      @EEEEEEEE 3 місяці тому

      ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎E

    • @dariusgunter5344
      @dariusgunter5344 3 місяці тому +17

      Probably a Baltic thing, Riga was one of the most prominent cities too so maybe it's more the main reason?

    • @Held_im_Chaos
      @Held_im_Chaos 3 місяці тому +6

      @@dariusgunter5344 that would make sense i'm from hamburg and it was very prevalent in school here as well

    • @kirjoittajajoni
      @kirjoittajajoni 3 місяці тому +6

      Same in Finland, not that much but definetly to make it a known entity and big part of history

    • @ICaImI
      @ICaImI 3 місяці тому

      I envy you. In germany they teach us NOTHING of it. Not even about the holy roman empire. 99% of our history classes have nothing to do with our country and if it has something to do with it it's literally: WW1 and WW2, we don't say it's your fault but you should feel bad nonetheless.
      And that was school 20 years ago...I don't want to know what they teach nowadays...

  • @northwestpassage6234
    @northwestpassage6234 3 місяці тому +60

    Fun fact the administration and trade language used by the Hansa was Saxon (called today Low Saxon or low German and is a separate but related language to German and Dutch) and due to the Hansa’s influence in the Baltic modern Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian vocabulary have somewhere over 20% Low Saxon loan words. Today it’s a dying language but revitalization attempts are slowly gaining popularity and a unified spelling system has been developed to bridge dialects from the Netherlands and Germany.

    • @sebe2255
      @sebe2255 Місяць тому

      It is a shame that the Saxon regional languages in the Netherlands is hardly spoken anymore.

  • @kalevader
    @kalevader 3 місяці тому +138

    Love this new “explained” style instead of just questions

    • @jBread28
      @jBread28 3 місяці тому +15

      Old style really

    • @EbonySaints
      @EbonySaints 3 місяці тому +15

      ​@@jBread28It's only old when the videos are ten minutes long. It's ancient when James Bissonett isn't mentioned.

  • @patrickhaeusler
    @patrickhaeusler 3 місяці тому +83

    The old Hanseatic League may no longer exist, but some of it's former members still officially call themselves "Hanseatic Cities", are often using Hanseatic symbolism like red and white flags and coats of arms, share a common dialect called Hanseatic Lower German (although it has it's regional differences) and have a special relationship with each other. This mostly applies to Hamburg, my home town of Bremen, and Lübeck, who all managed to keep their independence up to the Unification of Germany (borrowing the short period of French occupation during the Napoleonic Wars), and are, in case of Hamburg and Bremen, even nowadays self-governing city-states within Germany's federal system. After German Reunification, they were joined by several former East German cities at the Baltic coast such as Wismar, Rostock, Stralsund or Greifswald, and if you take a look at the buildings from the time of the Hanseatic League, it's wealth still becomes evident (in fact, Hamburg is still the wealthiest city and most important harbor in Germany).

    • @smalltime0
      @smalltime0 3 місяці тому +4

      I think you meant barring and not borrowing.
      Its crazy that Bremen still has free city status, it should have lost it when they put up the Town Musicians of Bremen monument in the 50s.

  • @davidhouseman4328
    @davidhouseman4328 3 місяці тому +168

    I think this one needs at least a 10 minute history version.

    • @balabanasireti
      @balabanasireti 3 місяці тому +13

      Yeah, I don't like him only putting shorter videos out

    • @occam7382
      @occam7382 3 місяці тому +16

      @@balabanasireti, it's probably the only way he can keep a consistent upload schedule without overworking himself.

    • @MrGenericNickname
      @MrGenericNickname 3 місяці тому +5

      @@occam7382 if not mistaken, it also had sth to do with monetization / sponsorship tied to the length of the videos.

    • @robobertob
      @robobertob 3 місяці тому +5

      The BBC has a podcast called In Our Time that just put out an episode on the Hansa if you want to learn more about it. That's probably where he got the idea for this video lol

    • @jameslawrie3807
      @jameslawrie3807 3 місяці тому +1

      It's a six month history unit at university and that's not really considered 'in depth'

  • @zartesnilpferd6778
    @zartesnilpferd6778 3 місяці тому +80

    As someone originating from a very small Hanseatic city (Salzwedel) and now living in one of the most important members of the league (Rostock),
    I have to deeply thank you for covering this. :)

    • @TheWoollyFrog
      @TheWoollyFrog 3 місяці тому +3

      Doesn't the football team in Rostock make reference to this League?

    • @zartesnilpferd6778
      @zartesnilpferd6778 3 місяці тому +6

      @@TheWoollyFrog Yes, they're called "Hansa Rostock" and currently play in the second division of the Bundesliga. ^^

    • @balabanasireti
      @balabanasireti 3 місяці тому

      No one asked for your history

    • @SNWWRNNG
      @SNWWRNNG 3 місяці тому +3

      @@balabanasireti I asked.

    • @lisette2060
      @lisette2060 13 днів тому

      Long past glory, as much else in that desolate region!

  • @Yora21
    @Yora21 3 місяці тому +35

    Born in Hamburg, lived in Lübeck most of my life.
    All the major cities in northern Germany, and I think also northern Poland, still have red and white as their colors.

    • @Phi1981
      @Phi1981 3 місяці тому

      born in HL; lived in HL, stayed in HL :)

    • @piotrkowalski544
      @piotrkowalski544 3 місяці тому +3

      As a Pole living in the "Recovered Territories" and interested in their multiculturalism, I can confirm that most Polish Hanseatic cities cultivate this tradition! Greetings to the Germans

  • @blacawi
    @blacawi 3 місяці тому +54

    I will note that while trade shifted away from the Hanseatic League that does not mean the Baltic Sea trade itself declined.
    During the 17th century the Dutch Republic (whose merchant fleet at the time outnumbered that of the rest of Europe combined) still made way more money from trading in the Baltic Sea compared to trading in the Dutch East Indies. This was mostly due to the sheer size of this trade. The travel to what is now Indonesia would take months if not years and was very risky for traders.
    Intercontinental trade did eventually increase more to outstrip the trade in Europe itself, but that was long after the decline of the Hanseatic League.

    • @5thMilitia
      @5thMilitia 3 місяці тому +12

      Yep, the competion with merchants from Holland is the hole in this story

    • @arjenh7214
      @arjenh7214 3 місяці тому +7

      The moedernegotie!

    • @svart7716
      @svart7716 3 місяці тому

      Dutch republic was a wonderful monster. A very little country with very little population sucked the blood of the world very successfully..

    • @stooge_mobile
      @stooge_mobile 3 місяці тому

      I know it does sound like I'm advertising here,
      but you guys might wanna check out The history of the Germans podcast for this topic.
      He goes through competition with the English adventurer merchants, Flanders, then the Dutch.
      Pretty interesting story.

    • @embreis2257
      @embreis2257 3 місяці тому

      the same principle at work can be seen today. trade between EU neighbours is still much more important and worth more than their trade with countries outside of the EU, let lone outside Europe. the _globalised world trade_ didn't surplant the trade between neighbours. a lesson all those rabid 'Brexit' lovers had to learn over the last couple of years

  • @NelsonDiscovery
    @NelsonDiscovery 3 місяці тому +146

    Awesome! There are far too few videos about the Hanseatic League.

    • @EEEEEEEE
      @EEEEEEEE 3 місяці тому

      ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎E‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

    • @BHDANNY03
      @BHDANNY03 3 місяці тому +3

      Highly recommend the podcast “history of the Germans” especially the season on the league. For an American that knew absolutely nothing it was an amazing experience to listen.

  • @tobio.5968
    @tobio.5968 3 місяці тому +26

    Fun fact: Many former hanseatic cities still carry the name "Hansestadt" in their official name like the "Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg". They also put it on their licence plate abbreviations. Thus Hamburg despite being the biggest cities starting with an H does not have H on their plates but HH for Hansestadt Hamburg.

  • @nickmacarius3012
    @nickmacarius3012 3 місяці тому +17

    The Hanseatic League only existed thanks to the approval and financial backing of the Holy Roman Emperor, James Bisonette.

  • @Kameeho
    @Kameeho 3 місяці тому +9

    Funfact: My town of Bergen our beer brand is called Hansa. Also the Unesco world heritage site which is pretty much the core identity of our town is remnants of the Hanseatic league. The Hanseatic league is also partly responsible for our unique dialect and the fact that despite being in a area is geographically surrounded and populated by the second language of Norway (Nynorsk), Bergen is stuck with Bokmål like the eastern part and general majority of norway speaks.

  • @lofilipeta
    @lofilipeta 3 місяці тому +11

    The Hanseatic League declined because James Bissonette stopped supporting them

  • @genericyoutubeaccount579
    @genericyoutubeaccount579 3 місяці тому +7

    The Hanseatic League was crucial to waging war on piracy (and Denmark whenever the Danes charged the Germans a toll for using the Danish Straits). The most famous pirate of the era was Klaus Stortebecker
    Klaus Störtebecker was brought to the Grasbrook in Hamburg where he and his 72 companions were beheaded on October 20, 1401. As his last wish, Störtebecker asked that all the men he could walk past after his head had fallen should be freed. That wish was granted, but when the headless pirate had passed 11 of his shipmates, one of the members of the city council tripped him up and in the end all of his men were killed, including those he had walked past.

  • @ansgarhugle2471
    @ansgarhugle2471 3 місяці тому +8

    One thing that wasn‘t mentioned is language: Most of the Hanse spoke Low German dialects, which are collectivly classivied as their own language distinct from the High German dialects to their south. Because of the Hanse, Low German became a lingua franka of northern trade and had a big impact on the development of Scandinavian languages. However, after the decline of the Hanse, North Germany was conquered by Prussia, and Low German mostly died out. Ironiclly, North Germany thous speaks the „cleanest“ High German as it lacks local dialects. Recently though, there has been a revival movement for Low German dialects like Hamburgian.

  • @r.a.acosta6528
    @r.a.acosta6528 3 місяці тому +121

    I didn't even know this was a thing! Thanks, History Matters!

    • @hansnase364
      @hansnase364 3 місяці тому +31

      As a German, it never occured to me that the Hanseatic League probably isn't that well-known elsewhere (outside of history nerd circles). In Germany, being formerly part of the "Hanse" is a large part of of many German cities' identity.

    • @GwainSagaFanChannel
      @GwainSagaFanChannel 3 місяці тому +12

      ​@@hansnase364 same here in the Netherlands it is very important since the Hanseatic trade and later on the Bulk trade are important over here

    • @freakout3516
      @freakout3516 3 місяці тому +10

      Great little microcosm of German history. Cities like Hamburg and Lübeck still call themselves Hanseatic cities to this day and if you've ever wondered where the German Empire took the colours for its Black-White-Red flag from: the Red stripe was there to represent the Hanseatic Cities.
      Funnily enough the only imperial free cities that are still independent states within Germany today are former Hanseatic ones - Hamburg and Bremen. Lübeck having lost its independence in the 30s when it was given to Schleswig-Holstein in return for Schleswig-Holstein losing cities like Altona and Bergedorf. These were integrated into Hamburg as boroughs.
      So while the Hanseatic League is long gone, its legacy is still seen to this day. Not sure why I felt the need to lay this on you but alas, there you go.

    • @EEEEEEEE
      @EEEEEEEE 3 місяці тому

      E‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

    • @markusdead96
      @markusdead96 3 місяці тому +3

      @@GwainSagaFanChannel Sweden teached about Hansa in middle school as well.

  • @JanwillemJ
    @JanwillemJ 3 місяці тому +12

    Nice vid, I was born and raised in the Dutch ‘Hanzestad’ Zutphen. They have a cultural podium called the Hanzehof and a sporthal called the Hanzehal…and many more things called Hanze-something…so yeah, the Hansaetic League lives on 🤗

  • @stooge_mobile
    @stooge_mobile 3 місяці тому +7

    A big shout out to The History of the Germans podcast for this one!
    Dirk explains what the Hansa is, and what they did, in a hell of a lot of detail.
    Real eye-opener.

  • @caseclosed9342
    @caseclosed9342 3 місяці тому +4

    Cool that James Bisonette founded the Hanseatic League to help McWhopper expand his franchise…

    • @JorgeDiaz-ly5qp
      @JorgeDiaz-ly5qp 3 місяці тому +2

      Indeed, with a HUGE influx of cash from Kelly Moneymaker, a chief investor.

  • @MUG-Authors
    @MUG-Authors 3 місяці тому +3

    This is probably my absolute favorite among your videos. I had never learned about this Hanseatic League before and it's so intriguing how they managed to have power and influence against kingdoms and other more centralized political forces. Thank you for showing us a fascinating and under-appreciated part of history!

    • @boobah5643
      @boobah5643 3 місяці тому +1

      I found the comparison to the merchant city-states in Italy a nice one. Although there the unifying forces were more financial than political. At least before various wars started to settle their differences.

  • @rennor3498
    @rennor3498 3 місяці тому +19

    Technically the Hanseatic League continued to exist on paper untill the German Unification in 1871, with it's last official members being ironically the very same cities who founded it back in the 13th century: Hamburg, Bremen and Lubeck. All these three cities and even a handfull of others both in modern-day Germany and in some other countries with access to the Baltic still proudly bearing the honorary epiphet ''Hansastadt'' to this very day.
    I think there is even a Hanseatic festival which is collectively celebrated each year in a different former Hanseatic city.

  • @Commander_Chopper
    @Commander_Chopper 3 місяці тому +24

    In it's prime the Hanseatic League actually fought and eventually won a war against Denmark, which is not something you would expect from a trade allience.
    Interestingly even though the league is long dissolved many german cities still carry it's name.
    For instance Lübeck is officially known as the "Hanseatic City of Lübeck", Hamburg as the "Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg" and Rostock as the "Hanseatic and University City of Rostock" (The football team from Rostock is even called "FC Hansa Rostock").

    • @seneca983
      @seneca983 3 місяці тому +1

      I don't think it's that unexpected. It's Denmark after all. When have they ever won wars? The only examples I can think of were against some rag-tag pirates, the First Schleswig War (due to international support), and maybe some really ancient stuff.

    • @Commander_Chopper
      @Commander_Chopper 3 місяці тому +3

      I think you are selling Denmark short here. Sure it wasn't a major power or anything but I wouldn't say they wre pushovers.
      But my point was mainly that you wouldn't expect a loose coalition of cities to defeat any nation (excluding city-states).

    • @seneca983
      @seneca983 3 місяці тому

      @@Commander_Chopper My comment wasn't entirely serious. Still, based on what I've come across when learning about history, Denmark's martial record seems rather unimpressive compared to e.g. Sweden despite it being quite rich.
      Yes, Sweden is bigger but still. And back then Denmark had the southern part of present-day Sweden (Skåne, Halland, & Blekinge).

  • @Fernando5455Jr
    @Fernando5455Jr 3 місяці тому +10

    Always a good day when History Matters uploads a new video!

  • @Onionguy_with_a_mustache
    @Onionguy_with_a_mustache 3 місяці тому +60

    HE IS BACK

    • @Alfonso162008
      @Alfonso162008 3 місяці тому +4

      He never went away, tho? 🤔

  • @jeiang
    @jeiang 3 місяці тому +20

    I was searching this up a few days ago because of metro, this is amazing timing

    • @kartikpathak629
      @kartikpathak629 3 місяці тому +2

      Hanzas great in metro

    • @pipsqeak7104
      @pipsqeak7104 3 місяці тому

      ​@@kartikpathak629central metro command is better

  • @lmaocetung
    @lmaocetung 3 місяці тому +37

    It'd be great if you did a video about religious heretics in Europe, like Cathars, Hussites etc. I think it's a very interesting topic

  • @fourganger88
    @fourganger88 3 місяці тому +9

    There was a really interesting episode of "In Our Time" about the Hansestic League, it was on BBC Radio 4 last week. Three professors who were experts on it all geeking out together.

    • @handlebard
      @handlebard 3 місяці тому +1

      Yes - as soon as I saw his video I thought of that. HM achieves in around 2 mins what the BBC gave about an hour to. Both worth listening/watching

  • @magnushultgrenhtc
    @magnushultgrenhtc 3 місяці тому +8

    Great stuff! The Union of Kalmar (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) was a bit unstable already to begin with, but it did last for 125 years - from 1397 to 1523.

  • @mrterp04
    @mrterp04 3 місяці тому +5

    Three other often-overlooked states video topics from a Patreon backer:
    1.) What was the State of the Teutonic Order?
    2.) Why did New Sweden and New Netherland fail?
    3.) Why was the Sultanate of Zanzibar so short-lived?

  • @JM-mg4el
    @JM-mg4el 3 місяці тому +3

    I'm from a german town that got thrown out of the Hanse twice.
    The hansa conflicts with the pirates are super fascinating too

  • @alt1f4
    @alt1f4 3 місяці тому +31

    Make a video about the triple alliance/paraguayan war

  • @puzanfish7705
    @puzanfish7705 3 місяці тому +41

    I love your work but this would have been super helpful a week ago for my presentation on them but great work.

  • @titchymitchy56
    @titchymitchy56 3 місяці тому +11

    that is a thing in history that I literally never heard of but I found very interesting

  • @blandbread5616
    @blandbread5616 3 місяці тому +4

    After years of “how” and “why videos” we finally get a proper history lesson again! But the old videos were cool too

  • @mijanhoque1740
    @mijanhoque1740 3 місяці тому +3

    @1:33 “Made fat stacks” might just be my favourite quote from this channel 😂

  • @Wowjustwowjustwow
    @Wowjustwowjustwow 3 місяці тому +4

    Only knew a little about this topic because of the Patrician series. Wish there were more baltic/north sea trading simulators

  • @vattghern257
    @vattghern257 3 місяці тому +3

    Man. THANK YOU really for making accurate borders of medieval Poland.
    I watch most of history yt channels and in 99% Poland in their videos looks like blob or splash without context.

  • @B4ck-in-Time
    @B4ck-in-Time 3 місяці тому

    Short and compact! Awesome how many information was condensed in only 3mins. Nice video!

  • @Mboy245
    @Mboy245 3 місяці тому +1

    I'm glad for a new upload. Keep up the great work

  • @smartlucker4011
    @smartlucker4011 3 місяці тому +5

    James Bisonette personally funded the Hanseatic League

  • @Didyouknowthatiexist
    @Didyouknowthatiexist 3 місяці тому +14

    Bring back the Hanseatic league!!!!

    • @dd_themeowbox6376
      @dd_themeowbox6376 3 місяці тому +6

      Lübeck, Hamburg and Bremen are technically still in it, it was reformed a couple years ago

    • @Mimi.1001
      @Mimi.1001 3 місяці тому +2

      They already have, there is a new Hanseatic League (originally just called "Die Hanse") and most historic Hanseatic cities are members. They have a "Hanseatic day" in a member city every year, just like in medieval times, although it's more of a cultural and touristy event than a political. This new Hanse doesn't have a separate English Wikipedia article for some reason, despite probably being pretty significant.
      Funnily enough, there is even a second entity called the "New Hanseatic League" or even "Hanseatic League 2.0", this being an organization within the EU comprising the Nordic and Baltic countries, the Netherlands and Ireland which was created for stronger cooperation after Brexit.

  • @tylerpoire3496
    @tylerpoire3496 3 місяці тому

    These are by far my favorite videos on UA-cam.

  • @mike86812
    @mike86812 3 місяці тому

    I love the community of followers this channel has. You all are intelligent and have a great sense of humor. Also, no drama!

  • @MCsCreations
    @MCsCreations 3 місяці тому +1

    Fascinating!

  • @howiehall4622
    @howiehall4622 3 місяці тому

    That is so much information for just 2-1/2 minutes! Bravo!

  • @no.6660
    @no.6660 3 місяці тому +1

    I’m very glad to finally see some medieval stuff again

  • @TheHylianBatman
    @TheHylianBatman 3 місяці тому

    I've been curious about the Hanseatic League for a while. Thanks for clearing that up!

  • @python_lordm5896
    @python_lordm5896 3 місяці тому +2

    I went on a day trip to Lübeck last summer. They're license plates say HL if my memory serves me correctly for "Hansestadt Lübeck". Very pretty old town, I'd recommend visiting

  • @cameronshockley1689
    @cameronshockley1689 3 місяці тому

    These types of videos where you take some time to explain certain nations or wars in history are very cool and I would love if you did more.

  • @chrislj2890
    @chrislj2890 3 місяці тому +1

    1:39 Dude has Apple Vision Pro lol. Gotta love the witty humor.

  • @jaedenb3795
    @jaedenb3795 3 місяці тому +8

    Can we just take a little bit of time appreciating History Matters for being the best history teacher?

  • @YorkGod1
    @YorkGod1 3 місяці тому

    I always look forward to these videos! & I always Enjoy them! Keep them coming!!!😁👍

  • @RubberToeYT
    @RubberToeYT 3 місяці тому

    Great video, always enjoy topics like this

  • @mykeinso1364
    @mykeinso1364 3 місяці тому +2

    I can always trust History Matters on the good stuff.

  • @oscarcastillo1204
    @oscarcastillo1204 3 місяці тому

    FINALLYYYYY, I WAS WAITING THIS VIDEO FOR SO LONG 😭❤️

  • @privateeyety5735
    @privateeyety5735 3 місяці тому +1

    Never even heard of them. Fun bit of history learned today!

  • @flawyerlawyertv7454
    @flawyerlawyertv7454 3 місяці тому

    Great vid as always. Keep it up! 👍

  • @Kevinlikescountrys
    @Kevinlikescountrys 3 місяці тому +1

    Man, this is an AMAZING, Tutorial thanks man!

  • @dave0397
    @dave0397 3 місяці тому +1

    A return to form IMHO. I have from time to time wondered what the Hanseatic League was. All my questions answered. Throughly satisfied with this post.

  • @anthemsofeurope2408
    @anthemsofeurope2408 3 місяці тому +13

    A big reason for the fall of the hanseatic league, was his main product. Salted fish was selled by hanseatic cities to Central and South Germany. It was aten during the catholic lent period. When Martin Luther forbid the lent in Protestantismus, nobody really needed fish anymore

    • @bruhbruh-us6gl
      @bruhbruh-us6gl 3 місяці тому

      Another item in the long list of reasons why Protestantism was a mistake

    • @cattysplat
      @cattysplat 3 місяці тому

      @@bruhbruh-us6gl L+ratio'd in sheer industrialisation and war. Although that's starting to bite in modern day now protestant countries have no ethics.

    • @edwinhuang9244
      @edwinhuang9244 3 місяці тому +1

      @@bruhbruh-us6gl That's like saying Christianity is a mistake because of the Crusades that helped destroy entire different cultures in the name of Christianity.

    • @bruhbruh-us6gl
      @bruhbruh-us6gl 3 місяці тому +1

      @@edwinhuang9244
      The crusades were completely justified. The Muslims invaded the holy land first and nearly wiped out the cultures that had been living there for centuries. The crusaders were trying to take back those lands

    • @bruhbruh-us6gl
      @bruhbruh-us6gl 3 місяці тому +1

      @@cattysplat
      Industrialisation is not exclusive to protestant countries and the French (catholics) have the most recorded victories in history.

  • @neilbain8736
    @neilbain8736 3 місяці тому +1

    Kings Lynn in Norfolk was part of the Hanseatic League. Since it was flat, a nifty item of bling a rich merchant could have was a tower where he could stand with a telescope and look out for his ship while also maintaining a hot fire and a mistress in the rooms below. At least that's what I was told when I visited.

  • @joec9693
    @joec9693 3 місяці тому +1

    When you are researching the Hanseatic League on Friday for a DnD campaign idea and this video drops on Monday.

  • @bendobendo
    @bendobendo 3 місяці тому

    I was so incredibly excited to see this in my feed

  • @death-istic9586
    @death-istic9586 3 місяці тому

    Love your videos!💚

  • @brll5733
    @brll5733 3 місяці тому +1

    One of the most fascinating aspects is that they actually I produced a form of "standardised container" in the form of normed barrels

  • @Choppytehbear1337
    @Choppytehbear1337 3 місяці тому +1

    Every day you upload is a good day.

  • @WizardsGamingGarden
    @WizardsGamingGarden 3 місяці тому

    The king of history has returned. welcome back history matters!!!

  • @thecrazycapn
    @thecrazycapn 3 місяці тому +2

    You've taught me about the Hanseatic League and the League of Nations, but I'm still confused about the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

  • @tylermiller5836
    @tylermiller5836 3 місяці тому

    This is an awesome video definitely do more stuff like this.

  • @ecgberht4973
    @ecgberht4973 3 місяці тому +1

    They just did a big series on the Hanseatic League on the History of the Germans podcast if you want an expanded explanation. This video sums it nicely!

  • @Nekorook
    @Nekorook 3 місяці тому

    I was thinking of them the other morning and now this video is in my feed.

  • @nik65stgt60
    @nik65stgt60 3 місяці тому

    Great content!

  • @sALah1550
    @sALah1550 3 місяці тому

    One of the best channels on youtube

  • @keirthomas-bryant6116
    @keirthomas-bryant6116 3 місяці тому +1

    Genuine LOL with the "luxury goods" guy wearing an Apple Vision Pro.

  • @oliversherman2414
    @oliversherman2414 3 місяці тому

    Great video 👍🏻

  • @fatdaddyeddiejr
    @fatdaddyeddiejr 3 місяці тому +1

    Learning new things everyday.

  • @richardthomas5362
    @richardthomas5362 3 місяці тому

    This guy never disappoints.

  • @henrikralf1582
    @henrikralf1582 3 місяці тому

    I just had an exercise at university about the historiography of the Hanseatic League. So this was a very nice coincidence.

  • @todd203
    @todd203 3 місяці тому

    Honestly never heard of the Hanseatic League until this video came out. Great lesson. 👍

  • @os44881616
    @os44881616 3 місяці тому

    I was curipus about this, thanks!

  • @sirjanska9575
    @sirjanska9575 3 місяці тому +1

    Before having watched the vid: I just completed an extensive college essay on the Hansa, let's see how well you covered it.
    Edit: Adequately but there were important omissions and mistakes. Originally for instance the League wasn't founded by towns but instead the merchants and it came under town control only later, and no mention was made of the crucial role of Lübeck as the leader of the League, or the Hanseatic diet, the sole official institution of the League.
    Also global trade didn't end the League, the decline began earlier with the consolidation of strong local powers and especially the emergence of powerful Dutch merchants in the Baltic sea whose rasher and more modern business methods, along with technological innovations in ship crafting, the more conservative north Germans weren't anticipating. With that said the League did still limb up until the 1600s as a local trade association.

  • @jesusbermudez6775
    @jesusbermudez6775 3 місяці тому

    Yes, I did enjoy this description.

  • @z_1599
    @z_1599 3 місяці тому

    I would LOVE more videos like this where, instead of answering a specific question, just explaining historical leagues/things/events.

  • @fabvz5436
    @fabvz5436 3 місяці тому +1

    Literally never heard of it before and finded it trully amazing, thanks HM

    • @mardiffv.8775
      @mardiffv.8775 3 місяці тому +1

      I heard of it is small history lesson long time ago. But I forgot, until I visited the city of Zwolle, the Netherlands. Which is proud of its Hanseatic past.

    • @Mimi.1001
      @Mimi.1001 3 місяці тому +1

      @@mardiffv.8775 Apparently, they are so proud of their Hanseatic past that they re-established the Hanse outright in 1980.

  • @HarvestStore
    @HarvestStore 3 місяці тому

    Great video.

  • @jonbaxter2254
    @jonbaxter2254 3 місяці тому

    A fascinating and well-organised network, even back then.

  • @gamebawesome
    @gamebawesome 3 місяці тому

    I like these short explanation videos

  • @johnnotrealname8168
    @johnnotrealname8168 9 днів тому

    Nice explanation as always. Surprised it took so long for them to dissolve though.

  • @TheGeneralGrievous19
    @TheGeneralGrievous19 3 місяці тому +2

    In Poland we actually learn stout The Hanseatic League since Polish cities like Gdańsk or Elbląg were a part of it. Those, mostly inhabitated by Germans, were still quite loyal to Poland like during the Thirteen Years' War. Before nationalism there were actually many ethic Germans who lived in the Crown of Poland or fought for Poland.

  • @Leonbobway
    @Leonbobway 3 місяці тому +2

    Good job boys!

  • @Iandepian.
    @Iandepian. 3 місяці тому +4

    Amazing

  • @apertamono
    @apertamono 3 місяці тому +1

    Cool topic! It would be nice to see another video about the Hansa vs pirates, which could also tackle the following. The Hansa actually declined before globalization. Besides the growing power of nation states such as England, the Hanseatic traders couldn't compete with cities in Holland and Zeeland such as Amsterdam, which had innovative shipbuilding and fishing technology. This was covered in Episode 23 of the podcast History of the Netherlands.
    In 1438, after a series of conflicts and blockades, the Council of Holland declared war against the Wendic cities of the Hansa, including Hamburg and Lübeck, in the name of their Burgundian Count Philip the Good. Philip was not amused, but he had his hands full with rebellious Flanders while he was switching sides in the Hundred Years' War. After three years, the Hollanders decisively defeated the Hansa cities, destroying their fleets at anchor in the winter. The peace agreement gave them tax-free access to the Baltic grain trade.

  • @jamesramirez85
    @jamesramirez85 3 місяці тому

    I love this new graphic so much sharper😍