of companies with rules of a religious, commercial, and worldly-sensuous
character. Thus the "Pious Brotherhood of Malmo" buried every poor
stranger with the same church pomp, costly palls, candles and masses, as
they would one of their own members. No one was admitted into the
brotherhood who was at feud with one of its associates. No one might
enter the common room bearing arms. A member who introduced a guest was
responsible for his good behaviour. In a word, the regulations were of a
certain humane character, far different from those which obtained at
Bergen. They were evidently copied from those of the guilds in the
Hanseatic and other towns of the Middle Ages.
Until early in the sixteenth century the League retained in undiminished
vigour its advantages in Scandinavia. To break their power it was
necessary for the Dutch to discover a better mode of salting the fish.
Then the fish itself came in smaller shoals to these coasts, and
appeared instead near Scotland and Ireland, and, worst of all, modern
Europe became Protestant, and fasting was hence no longer an obligatory
fashion. Only a few sunken gravestones, still standing amid the
desolation of this district, bear witness to the former importance of
the site.
As for the rest of Sweden, the country, though not productive, was still
of value to the Hanseatics, since they held the entire trade in their
hands. As from Norway, they exported wood, iron, copper, skins, in a
word, explored all its resources. In most of the maritime towns they
exercised certain rights. Thus Stockholm itself was partly in their
possession, the local administration being half chosen by them. In this
wise they were able to bring pressure to bear upon the government. In
short, they disposed of the whole commerce of Sweden, and it was not
until the days of Gustavus Vasa that their might was rudely and
completely shaken.
Indeed, in those middle centuries there seemed no limit to the
Hanseatics' ambition and power. They early cast their eyes towards that
immense territory in the far north, that Russian Empire which in those
days was truly an unknown land. With quick traders' instinct they
recognized that the country was worthy to be included in their vast
monopoly. When they first established themselves in Russia is not known.
Towards the end of the thirteenth century we find them in possession of
a factory at Novgorod, on the river Volchor, a city which, with the
province that surrounded it, was then an independent republic, for the
Russia of those days was surrounded by various principalities mostly
under Tartar rule. The natives were not strong enough to claim as their
own a rich and populous city, whose liberties were protected by the
Western Christians, and which had moreover been founded by aliens,
namely, by one of those enterprising Norman chiefs, who in early times
were, as we know, the terror of all states and countries.[9]
It is thought that the Hanseatics had another similar establishment at
Pleskow, a city on the Velika, and perhaps even a depot at Moscow, but
undoubtedly Novgorod was their most important station. Here merchants
and artizans fixed their abode, and drew around them a rich commerce for
the town. It was the staple for Arctic and Byzantine riches, riches
which the more barbarian Russians did not understand how to utilize like
our cunning traders. As early as the eleventh century we hear of a
German trading settlement at Novgorod. In 1269 the local ruler accorded
to the Hanseatics, "to the German settlement, the Goths, and all peoples
of Latin tongue," special freedom in dealing with his province.
As usual, the Hanseatics created a monopoly and jealously excluded all
strangers. Assigned in Novgorod to a special quarter of the town, they
built a church of their own, dedicated to St. Peter, and grouped their
guildhall, shops, stores, and dwelling-houses around it. The quarter
soon became known as the Court of the Germans at Great Novgorod, or the
Court of St. Peter. As at Bergen, it was built in such a manner that it
could be defended, if need be, and at night it was closed and guarded by
watchmen and fierce dogs.
There is happily preserved for us the Codex of this German colony on the
Lake of Ilmen. It is called the Skra, an old German word which we
encounter elsewhere in Hanseatic chronicles. This Skra furnishes a
lively picture of the strange character of the Court of St. Peter. It
appears that "the entire council, together with the common consent of
the wisest of all the German cities," had decreed that the laws here
laid down should be enforced on all who visited the court, "as it was
done from the commencement." The non-resident merchants, who always
travelled in large parties and accompanied by a priest, are spoken of as
the "summer and winter travellers." They elected from out of their
number the alderman of the Court of St. Peter. He became head of the
settlement, received the income, fees, and taxes, and defrayed the
general costs. The alderman of the dwelling court was the highest
dignitary and, with the aid of the four wisest, adjudged all quarrels,
personal or commercial. These aldermen had special privileges in the
choice of residence, and the aldermen of the "winter travellers" were
further allowed certain honours and comforts in the great common room.
The land travellers had to yield to the seafarers in all matters of
convenience and space. Their priest, too, was regarded as the chief
ecclesiastic of St. Peter's Court, and to him alone was accorded free
board and a salary out of the common funds. Any one who refused to
appear in answer to a summons before the court was subjected to a heavy
fine. The so-called "rooms" (_i.e._, dwellings) were common to all;
except that the "winter travellers," secluded from all the world in
midst of the long Arctic nights, were permitted special privileges. The
"children's room," the abode of the younger clerks and apprentices, also
enjoyed rather more freedom from strict rules than was accorded to their
elders. A master might not dismiss his subordinate until he had brought
him back to his country; he was also bound to care for him in sickness,
and might not punish him arbitrarily, or on his own authority alone. As
at Bergen, and at the Steelyard in London, the whole establishment
partook of a monastic character, in which most stringent rules
prevailed. And of these rules none was more strict than that which
forbad social intercourse or partnership trading with natives.
A special brewery concocted the sweet mead or beer drunk by the thirsty
brotherhood of St. Peter's; in St. Peter's cauldron was melted down all
the wax brought in from afar; the wood for firing was felled in St.
Peter's forests. A monotonous life it was, interrupted only in spring
and autumn by the arrival of the summer and winter travellers with their
rich wares. In the cosy warmth of the common room, over endless bowls of
mead, these far-travelled men, snowed up here and unable to return till
spring released them, would beguile the long winter evenings with
anecdote and tales. In this wise the Scandinavian Sagas first penetrated
into Middle and Southern Germany.
The rules made against the Russians were severe and offensive in the
extreme. It is evident they were not trusted in the smallest degree. A
Hanseatic enjoyed the first privilege in all respects. For example, if a
native was bankrupt, the German merchant to whom he was in debt had the
first right to be paid before Russian creditors, and the Germans could
further insist that such a bankrupt should be banished the city with
wife and child. By way of tax they themselves paid a piece of cloth to
the ruler of the mainland between their Court and the sea, and a pair of
gloves to the Russian officials.
For the rest their whole attitude was haughty and overbearing, and it is
scarcely astonishing that quarrels and risings against them were of
frequent occurrence. But they almost always kept or at least regained
the upper hand. Their audacious motto was "Who can stand against God and
the Great Novgorod?" No doubt many of their rigid measures were
necessary to a small colony living amid a turbulent and rude population,
differing from them in manners, language, and religion. The station was
as difficult to hold as years ago was that of Canton for the English.
Like the Chinese, the Russians hated the merchants, if for no other
reason than because they were foreigners. In every possible manner they
tried to cheat them, adulterating wax, furnishing bad furs, &c., &c. In
consequence, the alderman of St. Peter's saw himself obliged continually
to issue new warnings and rules to secure his traders from the Russian
tricksters. So, for example, the dwellers of the Court of St. Peter were
enjoined only to buy furs in well-lighted places, where it was easier to
test their genuineness and excellence, further to accept no large
consignments that had not been previously subjected to careful scrutiny.
And notwithstanding the fact that their commerce in Russia was subjected
to great danger, that they even had several times to close their court
and withdraw, the Hanseatics clung tenaciously to their Russian
monopoly, which was one of the chief sources of their wealth. They even
watched to see that no non-Hanseatic learnt Russian, an indispensable
acquirement for this trade. Nay, at one time they held the whole
province of Livonia responsible for hindering such a proceeding. After a
time, under penalty of one hundred marks, no Russian was allowed to live
in Livonia. On pain of corporal punishment, they were enjoined to treat
with Russians only for ready money, or more strictly for ready goods.
Credit with these barbarians was not encouraged, for it was desirable in
every way to simplify intercourse, and moreover then, as now, it was
next to impossible to a foreigner to make good his credit claims before
Muscovite justice.
The trade consisted in Russian products, furs, metals, honey, and, above
all, wax, much sought after in those Catholic times, when the
consumption of this article was wonderfully great. It would seem as
though some obscure merit were attached to the burning or the gift of
candles, the origin of which is probably heathen. What the Hanseatics
brought to market was chiefly Flemish and English cloths and linen, as
well as divers articles of luxury, eagerly sought after by the various
princes and sovereigns and by the innumerable Boyars who ranked like
petty princes.
In those large and small courts a barbaric and gorgeous display was
common, and ostentatious rivalry existed between the princes. Probably
this love of exterior pomp is explained by their neighbourhood to the
East. The Hanseatics astutely utilized this Russian tendency, and spared
no pains in bringing to market wares calculated to dazzle and please
these grown children; children in this respect alone however, that they
could be fascinated by finery and show. In other matters the Russians
behaved like adults, and they kept a constant watch upon the Hanseatics,
never neglecting any opportunities of annoying them or hindering their
trade. Thus, if the League accused the Russians of want of good faith in
commercial dealings, they returned the compliment, and complaints of
linen goods as being too narrow, too coarse, or not according to sample,
were frequent. Often these were justified, as often not. But on several
occasions the Russians arrested Hanseatics, put them in irons, even on
one occasion hanged a Hanseatic merchant from the door of the League's
own factory. The Hanseatics met such insults by threatening to leave
Novgorod; indeed, carried out this threat several times, but love of
gain on the one hand, hunger after luxuries on the other, appeased the
troubled spirits, and peace was re-established on the old footing. These
treaties of reconciliation were sealed by the Germans with a key in a
shield, the seal of St. Peter's Court. The Russians swore fidelity by
kissing the crucifix.
But as such disturbances might always recur, and in order that the
damage should not prove too heavy to members of the League, it was
decreed by them in the fourteenth century that no merchant might send
to or store at Novgorod merchandise exceeding in value the sum of a
thousand marks. This shows that their position at Novgorod was rather
that of a hostile encampment than that of a secure and permanent
settlement.
Above all, the Hanseatics strictly forbade Russia to trade on the sea,
and any Russian merchant ships that they encountered were captured and
the captain and crew severely punished.
Early in the twelfth century the clever Lombards, already famous
throughout Europe for their skill in all banking transactions, tried to
gain a footing at Novgorod. It seems that their financial shrewdness was
not always combined with the strictest honesty, and that hence they
enjoyed an ill fame. Certainly the Hanseatics succeeded in 1405 in
prohibiting "these dangerous men" from any residence in the Baltic
cities, while in St. Peter's Court their presence was formally
proscribed in 1346.
A serious interruption to the commerce of the League with Russia
occurred in the middle of the fifteenth century, when the Prussian towns
revolted against the oppressive supremacy of the chivalric order of the
Teutonic Knights. Like all spiritual powers, when it is a question of
the goods of this world, the Teutonic Knights fought ardently to regain
their power, and this warfare long rendered the Baltic dangerous and
impossible for trade purposes. Indeed, so long and so serious was this
war that but for the fact that the League was in a sufficiently
flourishing condition to be able to bear great losses, and also for the
fact that the Russian trade was worth many sacrifices, the League might
even then have been permanently crushed.
More serious was the next enemy who arose and who shook to its
foundations the empire of Hanseatic commerce in Russia. This was the
Czar Ivan II., known as the Terrible. He had conquered and chased from
his domains the savage Tartar hordes that annually ravaged it; he was
ambitious to unite the whole Muscovite kingdom under his sway. Like his
successors to this day, he hated all that savoured of liberty and
independence, and was resolved to exclude from his realms everything
that approached a more advanced civilization and was irreconcilable with
absolute rule.
He cast a jealous eye on Novgorod, with its political independence and
its prosperity. Here, he said to himself, were rich spoils to be
obtained; this power within his own domains must be broken. He tried,
with success, to gain over to his side a portion of the population.
These were, however, soon denounced as traitors to the community, and
the great bell of Novgorod, regarded as the Palladium of popular
liberty, was rung to call the city under arms. A violent struggle
ensued, in which Ivan committed many of those acts of cruelty that have
made his name notorious.
At last, after a gallant resistance, in which especially a woman, named
Marsa, took a leading part, Novgorod fell into the hands of Ivan, who
despoiled it of its liberty and riches, and sent its chief inhabitants
into the centre of his empire and replaced them by his Muscovites;
burnt, ravaged, pillaged, and sacked, so that at one blow the town lost
its liberty, lustre, and prosperity. The great bell of freedom was
carried to Moscow, where to this day it hangs, no longer inciting to
revolt, but calling the people to prayer. As for the Hanseatics at
Novgorod, they were taken prisoner and kept in cruel durance. Their
merchandise was confiscated, and all their possessions, such as church
ornaments, bells, silver vases, &c., were carried off in triumph to
Moscow.
This blow came upon them like a thunderbolt, for all their privileges
had just been reconfirmed by the Russian ruler. But to Ivan no sacred
treaties were binding. Only after many years and long negotiations did
the Hanseatics succeed in getting him at least to release their
prisoners. When he did agree to this most had already died from the
effects of privation. Of the confiscated goods he would not return a
bale.
Thus ended the glory of the Hanseatic rule in Russia. It is true that
under Ivan's son the cities once more endeavoured to open their court on
the Volchor. But a twenty years' interruption of trade was not easily
made good. They could not recover their monopoly, which had been usurped
by Danes and Dutchmen. The last blow to all such efforts came from the
English, who had discovered a passage to Russia by means of the White
Sea and Archangel, and hence no longer needed Hanseatic mediation. In
1603 Czar Boris Gudenow wanted to reinstate the Hansa in its ancient
privileges. It was too late. The dissensions that agitated Russia did
not permit the League to derive any profit from his good intentions.
Commerce had taken another direction, and kept it. When, some time
after, a traveller passed through Novgorod, all he found to remind him
of the German colony here were only the ruins of the stone church of St.
Peter, a single storehouse, and one wooden shanty, which served as
shelter for him and his servant. Of the former glory and prosperity
there was no sign.
[Illustration: SEAL OF NOVGOROD.]
FOOTNOTES:
[9] Rambaub, in his "History of Russia," says that Novgorod was founded
by Slavs, but that in the ninth century a castle and fort were built
there by Rurik the Norman.
VI.
THE COMMERCE OF THE LEAGUE WITH THE NETHERLANDS AND SOUTHERN EUROPE.
Among the Western countries not even England attracted the attention of
the League so powerfully as did the Netherlands, with their cosmopolitan
market of Bruges, a market which, as early as the days of King Canute,
was already of great importance. There was to be found every element
needful to second their vast ambition and to foster their activity. In
Flanders lived the most industrious nation in Europe, dwelling in
opulent cities, having excellent harbours and markets, where all the
necessaries of life, and all objects of luxury abounded. In these
markets our traders could find all the articles most eagerly sought
after by the inhabitants of more northern climes, while they, in their
turn, could furnish the Flemings with the productions of the North, and
especially with those which were necessary to a maritime people. Thus
the League had cunningly got into their hands the whole monopoly of
hemp, so needful for rope making. Indeed, it must ever be borne in mind
that the Hansa had the monopoly in those days of the whole industry and
of all the products of Northern and Eastern Europe. This active and
profitable commerce was almost entirely carried on by means of the
factory which the League had established at Bruges. It was here that its
merchants supplied themselves in their turn with the manufactures of the
industrious Flemings; with cloth, linen, and the costly tapestries
admired to our day.
[Illustration: STADT-HAUS, BRUGES.]
It was at Bruges, then, that the vast ramifications of Flemish and
Hanseatic trade were united. Fifteen different foreign nations held
established depots in the city which was a very artery of commerce.
Sixty-eight Flemish trade-guilds flourished in the town. It communicated
with the sea by means of a canal and a not too distant harbour.
Extensive privileges had been accorded to it by various native princes.
The inhabitants were proud, rich, and independent. It was said of them
by a contemporary that the merchant-aristocrats of Bruges "rode to
tournament yesterday, bottled wine to-day, cut out garments to-morrow."
A queen of France could not deny that the splendour and luxury of the
courts were cast into the shade by the pomp and splendour of the maids
and matrons of commercial Bruges. With these men commerce had already
become a science, and various peoples who had till then the most
elementary notions on the point came to the Netherlands to instruct
themselves. It is surprising to read that, as early as 1310, they had
instituted at Bruges an insurance office, and that the chief principles
affecting exchange of values were already understood. These matters were
novelties even to the Hanseatics, though they owed their prosperity and
very existence to trade.
The League therefore found itself in a totally different position in
the Netherlands from that which it occupied in poor or barbarous
countries like Norway or Russia. Here was no question of submitting a
whole people to their monopoly; it was rather a matter of obtaining
gracious concessions and privileges. Hence the factory at Bruges in no
way resembled those of Bergen and Novgorod, which were armed citadels
placed in the midst of a more or less hostile people and constantly
liable to warlike attacks. Here, on the other hand, civilization reigned
and competition was active. The Hanseatic factory at Bruges partook more
of the character of a general office and storehouse than that of any
other factory of the League. But "the Residence of the German
Merchants," as it was called, was organized in the main like that of its
brethren. In its most prosperous days the factory consisted of about
three hundred traders or agents, who executed the orders to buy and sell
for those Hanseatic merchants who did not come to Bruges in person to
carry on their trade. These resident merchants were not permitted to
quit the factory until after a certain number of years' sojourn. During
this time they were interdicted from associating with the natives. They
lived in the Hanseatic building under the supervision of six aldermen
and a council composed of eighteen members, and there were in force for
them here as elsewhere rigid rules of life, among which the imposition
of celibacy took a leading place. The factory was partitioned into
several chief divisions called "districts," where the members from
different cities abode in almost monastic seclusion. Less rude customs,
however, prevailed than at Bergen. The Hanseatics being in the midst of
a polished and luxury-loving people, acquired some of their more
civilized habits. By way of Bruges comforts and refinements penetrated
into German homes, and Flemish modes of thought and speech crept into
German literature.
[Illustration: RHINE BOAT, COLOGNE.]
The factory at Bruges was in every respect of immense value to Germany
and the Hansa. It grew into a sort of training college from which came
forth the most able magistrates and administrators of the Hanseatic
League.
The head of the factory was a president chosen by the Diet of the
League. He was changed annually, usually at Whitsuntide, when the
by-laws of the factory were read and the newly elected had to swear "to
submit to its statutes, to see that these were observed without fraud as
far as in him lay and according to his five senses."
As elsewhere expenses were paid by fines and customs dues. These latter
some cities tried to elude at various times in a spirit of egotistic and
most short-sighted policy. Chief among these was Cologne which was in
consequence "unhansed" for some time. Indeed Cologne was always a more
or less turbulent member of the League. The official meetings of the
Hanseatic representatives at Bruges curiously enough did not take place
in their own factory, but were held in the Reventer, that is to say, the
refectory of the Carmelite convent. Their charters were deposited in the
church sacristy, or more precisely in the so-called Noah's ark, this
alliance between sacred and profane things being a common feature of
those times.