The Hanseatic League. The Trading Empire of the Middle Ages from London and Bruges to Pskov and Novgorod

The Hanseatic League — or Hanseatic League of merchant cities in northern Germany — is a unique phenomenon of European life from the 12th to the 17th centuries. Hanseatic merchants supplied the West with Russian furs and wax, Polish wheat, and Hungarian and Swedish copper. They brought Flemish, Dutch, and English cloth, French and Portuguese salt and wine to the East. Thanks to them, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe became acquainted with Western literature, Gothic architecture, and Renaissance painting. For 500 years, the Hanseatic League facilitated the establishment of economic, political, social, and cultural ties between Western and Eastern Europe. 

This is described in detail, based on numerous original documents, in the book by historian, professor at the University of Strasbourg, Philipp Dollinger.