138 Burkhardt
the same building resided a hall of Cologne merchants and a hall of Germans,15
who were probably merchants from other towns in the northern part of the
German countries. The organizational separation of these two merchant
groups shows different interests and ideas of how to look after a kontor. They
also would later become the core of the Hanseatic kontor in London. Although
there was a gildhalda mercatorum Colonie et Alamanie in 1323,16 which is likely
still the building named above, this duality between Cologne merchants and
the rest of the Hansards becomes very obvious when following the history of
the kontor in London. The famous name Stalhof, derived from the Hansards’
most important export good from England, wool, does not occur in sources
until 1320.17 But it is not the only name for the kontor. In 1340 for example it was
called the Esterlinghall, or hall of the merchants from the East. This name is
not simply an accidental curiosity when compared to the near monopoly-like
position of merchants from Cologne in the trade between London and Lower
Germany. Rather, it indicates the growing importance of merchants from other
parts of the Hanseatic area, most notably those from Prussia and the Wendish
towns at the kontor in London.
As with London, the Hanseatic merchants were divided into thirds in Bruges.
However, the regions that made up one third were completely different.18 The
first quarter consisted of merchants from Livland and Gothland; the second
one of merchants from the Wendish and Saxon towns; and the third one of
merchants from Westphalia and Prussia. For a moment this third subdivi-
sion seems to be a curiosity. The discussion about the reasons for this rather
unusual division is not finished yet. However, beyond historical family bonds
between the two regions, which resulted from the important role of families
from Westphalia in the German colonization of the Baltics, there must have
been enough common interests between these two groups of Hanseatic towns
in the trade and politics with Bruges and Flanders to justify assembling both
merchant groups in one third.
As far as we know, the organizational independence of the thirds went
much further than in London. Each one, for example, had its own till for taxes
and fines. Also, the administrative apparatus was much bigger in Bruges than
in London. Each year six aldermen were elected, two out of each third.19 Also
the number of deputies, eighteen in all, was equally shared between the three
15 Weinbaum (1928), 46.
16 Keene (1989), 48.
17 Lappenberg (1851), 24.
18 Henn (1989), 45.
19 Sprandel (1982), 347ff.