The Hanseatic League was a powerful confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns in Northern Europe.

It dominated commercial activity in the Baltic and North Seas from the 13th to the 17th century.

The league was not a formal state but a commercial alliance to protect its members' trading interests.

Lübeck was the leading city of the league.

The league monopolized the trade in goods like timber, wax, fur, and grain from the East, and cloth and salt from the West.

It established major foreign trading posts called 'Kontore' in cities like London, Bruges, and Novgorod.

The league had its own diet (assembly) and was powerful enough to wage war and negotiate treaties.

It successfully fought wars against kingdoms like Denmark and England to protect its trading privileges.

The league began to decline in the 15th and 16th centuries due to the rise of strong nation-states and the shift of European trade to the Atlantic.

The Hanseatic League was a unique and powerful example of a medieval economic and political alliance.