hanseatic league

Hanseatic League
    n 1: a commercial and defensive confederation of free cities in
         northern Germany and surrounding areas; formed in 1241 and
         most influential in the 14th century when it included over
         100 towns and functioned as an independent political power;
         the last official assembly was held in 1669
    

Hanse \Hanse\, n. [G. hanse, or F. hanse (from German), OHG. &
   Goth. hansa; akin to AS. h[=o]s band, troop.]
   An association; a league or confederacy.
   [1913 Webster]

   {Hanse towns} (Hist.), certain commercial cities in Germany
      which associated themselves for the protection and
      enlarging of their commerce. The confederacy, called also
      {Hansa} and {Hanseatic league}, held its first diet in
      1260, and was maintained for nearly four hundred years. At
      one time the league comprised eighty-five cities. Its
      remnants, L["u]beck, Hamburg, and Bremen, are {free
      cities}, and are still frequently called Hanse towns.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Hanseatic \Han`se*at"ic\ (h[a^]n`s[-e]*[a^]t"[i^]k), a.
   Pertaining to the Hanse towns, or to their confederacy.
   [1913 Webster]

   {Hanseatic league}. See under 2d {Hanse}.
      [1913 Webster]