In the later Middle Ages or medieval period there was an alliance of trading guilds that controlled all of the business over Northern Europe and the Baltic Sea region. This was the Hanseatic League. Hansa is a German term for guilds. The Baltic Sea area had always been the subject of piracy, raids and unorganized trade but the scale of these ventures never reached an international scope. The Hanseatic League changed all that. In 1158-1159 the German town of Lubeck, now, in modern times, the second largest city in northern Germany, was rebuilt by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, after he had captured it from Adolf the Second of Holstein. This would one day be the cornerstone of the league.
Henry the Lion was one of the most powerful princes in his time (b. 1129- d. 1195) and he is known as the founder of Munich and Lubeck. The town of Lubeck became a central point for all sea trade coming in and out of the Baltic. Most of the cities surrounding the Baltic Sea recognized this and enjoyed their own success, on Lubecks shirt tails by joining into an alliance with Lubeck. This helped all the German trading cities achieve a level of dominance in trade over that area, in the 12th to 15th centuries. Traders from Saxony and Westphalia could now use Lubeck as a point to spread east and north because of this prosperous free trade period.
There had been guilds appearing in the Baltic area before the Hanseatic League. These guilds had the intention of trading with overseas areas that were ripe for trade and profit. At first the Swedish city of Visby was the central point for guilds in the Baltic area. But with an over abundance of merchants joining the guilds, the German traders decided to have their own trading stations and alliance. They eventually formed what were called Hanse and began acquiring special trade privileges with royalty in English cities and other major medieval cities. The location of their main port of Lubeck gave them easy trade with Russia and Scandinavia. The Hanseatic League was the result, as Lubeck formed alliances with Hamburg, and other major cities. The league was fluid and there was no one manager of it. Over the years it wavered back and forth from 70 to 170 members. The large league made it harder for any independent traders to get business in the areas of Northern Europe and the Baltic. Visby, the Swedish city that used to be the center of Baltic Sea guilds, eventually succumbed and ended up in the Hanseatic League itself.
Eventually the Hanseatic League was so powerful they sent men to fight in wars and financed many battles. But the league became too powerful and influential, and English leaders felt they were hurting free trade. It was eventually kicked out of England in 1597. As well, the city of Visby, on the Swedish island of Gotland decided to go against the alliance and become independent again. In the early 1500s this came to wars between Lubeck and Visby, in which Visby was nearly destroyed. All of this warfare financing and trying to maintain business weighed heavy on the leagues finances. Finally the rise of the Swedish empire over the Baltic area eventually brought an end to the Hanseatic League, and it never could regain the power it once had.