The Early Hanses 39
of organization of medieval society, which is demonstrated in the early Middle
Ages in the rural community, thus was a commercial and urban phenomenon
of the 11th century.
However, in the written tradition, the aristocratic and manorial view of
the class society predominated. The Einung was not sufficiently noted in the
written sources, and when it was, only in a devaluated manner. As a result, its
actual importance to medieval society, and the role of the individual within
it, remained unrecognized for far too long. The Einung, which often formed
under circumstances of social and political disorganization, was a voluntary
alliance of individuals created for mutual aid and based upon the principles
of agreement and consensus. This meant that the members (associates) of
an Einung promised to keep the regulations of their federation. In each case,
these regulations had been decided upon by Willkuer (voluntary agreement).77
In the twelfth century, long distance trade to locations abroad was orga-
nized around caravans for land-bound trade and around convoys for sea-bourn
trade. During the thirteenth century, this mode of organization continued in
the context of regionally variable durations. The uncertainty of highways and
roads, highlighted by a constant fear of robbery, compelled merchants—who
since Carolingian times had possessed the right to carry a sword—to travel in
groups. However, individual merchants still went on long journeys with only
a few companions as well. In Northern Europe, such trips are documented in
the late ninth century excursions of Ottar, and they are memorialized in the
thirteenth century epos of ‘Good Gerhard’.78
In early Hanse times, however, traveling associations seem to have been the
standard. Both enroute and upon their arrival at destinations abroad, these
merchant alliances were called Hansen throughout Western Europe. In the
early middle Ages, the meaning of the term “Hanse” is documented as ‘group/
crowd’ (lat. cohors). A second meaning referenced the fee that was collected for
participation in joint trading (and which, originally, was most probably a mano-
rial and possibly royal tribute). Finally, the third referred to the right to trade
77 Otto Gerhard Oexle, “Gilde und Kommune. Über die Entstehung von ‘Einung’ und
‘Gemeinde’ als Grundformen des Zusammenlebens in Europa,” in Peter Blickle, ed.,
Theorien kommunaler Ordnung in Europa (München: Oldenbourg, 1996).
78 Janet Bately and Anton Englert, ed., Othere’s Voyages. A late ninth-century account of voy-
ages along the coasts of Norway and Denmark and its cultural context, Maritime Culture
of the North, vol. 1 (Roskilde: Viking Ship Museum, 2007); Sonja Zöller, Kaiser, Kaufmann
und die Macht des Geldes. Gerhard Unmaze von Köln als Finanzier der Reichspolitik und der
“Gute Gerhard” des Rudolf von Ems, Forschungen zur Geschichte der älteren deutschen
Literatur, vol. 16 (München: Fink, 1993).