The Early Hanses 29
The Advance of Low German Merchants in the Baltic Region
On the south Baltic coast, the advance of the merchants was closely linked to
the conquest and settlement of the coastal lands by the nobility and the farm-
ers acting in connection with the forceful proselytizing of the Slavic—and in
the thirteenth century –Prussian populations. In the Baltic States, proselytiz-
ing took the form of crusades featuring active and decisive participation by
the merchants. Danes, Germans and Swedes (the latter mainly operating in
Finland) carried out these crusades. However, the expansion of trade by Low
German merchants to the Scandinavian countries occurred by peaceful means.
Conquest, conversion, and the expansion of commercial relationships did
not progress continuously from West to East. After the conquest of Wagria and
Polabia and the founding of Lübeck in 1143, the progress of the conquerors was
initially halted. Only in 1164, with the subjugation of those Slavic lands extend-
ing to the Peene River, did Low German merchants begin to settle in greater
numbers in locations that were primarily established adjacent to previously
existing seaports (for example, in 1189 Rostock is documented as comprising a
market with a church). However, these settlements soon surpassed the neigh-
boring seaports. Only in the thirteenth century (starting with Rostock in 1218)
did these settlements receive their charters, which, for a long time, obscured
the actual origin of these branches. The majority of the settlers arrived from
Lübeck by sea. However, as early as 1180, the Slavic city of Stettin was eclipsed
by a German settlement whose inhabitants had arrived by land from the mid-
dle lower German area around Magdeburg.
While rather tentative progress was being made on the south Baltic Coast,
Low German merchants set their sights toward Gotland via Lübeck in order to
advance from there on to Novgorod and on to the Baltic Coast. This particular
goal was in accordance with the tradition of those merchants who had previ-
ously participated in the trade of Baltic goods via Old Lübeck. In consequence,
the changes that resulted from the founding of the German city of Lübeck did
not take the form of a break with tradition or a new beginning. Rather, they
can be explained as a continuous development from an existing system. The
groups of people who participated had already known each other for centuries
by virtue of their contacts in Schleswig, Old Lübeck, Wolin, and other trading
centers.
For decades now, scholars have discussed when exactly the Low German
merchants might have been able to reach Gotland in significant numbers.
However, scholarly interpretation of the Artlenburg Treaty of 1161, the treaty by
which Henry the Lion negotiated peace between the Goths and the Germans