The Hanseatic League was an association of German cities, originally established solely for economic reasons. These cities primarily wished to increase and protect their commerce and, where possible, secure a monopoly of trade in foreign ports. The League's members combined their naval and miltary powers to rid the Baltic and North Seas of pirates, and to protect their merchants who travelled by road or river. In the fourteenth century, after earlier occasional co-operation, the Hanseatic League became a permanent federation of towns with an assembly that formulated a common policy. A critical struggle for the League was the war from 1367 to 1370 with one of its chief rivals, Denmark. In this war, the League was victorious. It was granted extensive privileges and maintained the supremacy of its merchants over those of Scandinavia. The League eventually declined because of the diverging interests of its members and because of the rise of English and Dutch trade.

a mercantile association of towns which allowed for mutual protection and security. (p. 354)

An organization of cities in northern Germany for the purpose of establishing a commercial alliance. (p.390__)

The Hanseatic League (, , , , , ) was an alliance of trading guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly over the Baltic Sea, to a certain extent the North Sea, and most of Northern Europe for a time in the later Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, between the 13th and 17th centuries.