The Hanseatic League (12th-17th centuries)

The port network of the Hanseatic League developed across the North Sea and Baltic between the 12^th and 15^th centuries; at its height this consisted of more than 200 towns. Whilst the Channel remained on the margins of the League (albeit with several important representatives including the most westerly counting-houses of London and Bruges) it provided the essential trading conduit with the ports of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.