» colleges, or provinces, diftinguished by the names 
of oF thief Fi Sect cities, which. were thofe of Lubeck, 
Brunfwiek, and Pruffia or Dantzick. Thefe four 
cen were the heads of the four claffes, in which were held 
their courts .« 3 and Lubeck was the head of the 
whole hanfe. 
‘Befides this, the hanfe had hice principal faQtories, or 
confederac 
‘ftaples, called the comptoirs o y: thefe were 
ndon, anche Novgorod, and oat ; that of 
Bruges was aft removed to Antwerp. But the 
and principal was that of Lubeck, which long remained 
the head of the tage saw That. of London was called 
Guildhalla Teutonicorum, or the Steel-yard; which fee. e 
faGtory in London wa was Raat of by the Englifh mer- 
-ehants-in 1551, for having ingrofled the woollen cloth trade, 
fo that it had e saad 0s 0,000 pieces, while all the Englifh 
ped eff only 1100 pieces. And, there eae 
in the following year, in the f Edward VI. the 
yileges this company had sheared were Ee. 
Mary, who ded i 
te: execution of the aét for three years; but after that term, 
— lots. were ineffeftual. In the beginning of Elizabeth’s 
ee merchants of the aca towns made: lou d com- 
er somd of the Englifh merchan ho 
> trade i into their own hands, and, ened Sa She 
ntly at-one place, and 
her towns and {tates 
bures. fw ee fo 
e queen aot to 
iring to Sig ee all 
sagt as defi 
with thofe trading cities 3 ; but when 
general affembly was held at Lu 
meafures for diftreffing the En: rlith trade 
e was informed that a 
k, in order to concert 
trade, the caufed the 
fhips and cargoes te be confifcated ; and the “hanfe ftates were 
Infomedy dt t the had the great telt. contempt i imaginable 
one 
The ce of the hanfe was at firft ariftocratical : ; 
then it ee under the fole direétion of the -matter 
of the T ehtanie pedes 5 on % at length, divers "princes and 
e en aces fhe: foscteeth centry, and the Age ye of 
enth, were the molt flourithing times of is alliance 
ish ain 2 coon de tehae, again 
: “not filent they waged againit 
> kip, of | sirhakh, Rhode WB’ year 1348, 
gee up the whole of Schonen 
; iki Be cothmted he 
Bagh 1428 
differences 
they = 5 oe are schon 
made war againft Eric, king of RE in Pare hi cm ; 
hanfeatic fleet, confifting of two hundred and fift 
; out twelve thoufand regular na. ne 
feamen; who facked and plundered the coait of Ju one 
&c. and bathe, him to make peeks be them. ae fin- 
es it had compreh ue the vagy ae “eiadeh elf funk 
ny thofe apes had begins <a conlederac cy3 hich hence- 
to be fo confiderable in ti F commerce,, that t ey | ‘were 
admitted to make treaties with the greatelt kings. | ; e : 
The diviions that prevailed among them. contribute 
greatly to their fall: nor muft it. forgotten ne the 
eftablithment of the re ublic, and “com Holland, 
-its fhare-in reducing their importance, — a A 
The four cities which formed the league, were Lub 
Cologn, Seale ey: and Dant Sek, A which were called. ed a 
tocuns 3; as thofe 
bers. : Mera qe 4 awe 
Feat Shtkber of Siri th in Germ: 
oftock, wick, and Col hats were’ lan peer 
Aaa ar lt s held on the eomimon 
occafions of the league. © — 
The great trade the Du fay aia RHE nett the 
towns, contributed not 4 little towards. maintaining, ose 
of them i in their ancient oe es 5 and it w 
ies ; 
of thks had PeeeRveR fea the Dutch 
more than once from the enterprizes of “the 
princes, ney 
ver, at the" at of ‘the 16th cent yt 
eae England, and alfo the i idependence : 
alre i “ic 
ady noticed, were highly injurious to this league 5 
al lem was was fummoned ie, 
ns fent deputies except. to, notil 
their develi@ion., Buch « was rhe fall of this unexampl 
federacy, which had often abufed its ‘advantas eS, an 
ero Aa infult ; but which, really 60 inured 
commerce and the art cr 
if opulence Pores to that ¢ 
firt tin@ure f wealth and 
pase Sp its + es (fays Pinkerton) 
fF snomarchiy a and 
0 the. no 
yee ae 
me onl three ps de e 
men ; and in tie ie Webanive beat 
