The ‘Golden Age’ of the Hanseatic League 73
was to be continued at least for three years after the peace. The detailed
arrangements included the numbers of ships to be equipped by the different
town regions: ten cogs (Koggen) from the Wendish and Livonian towns, five
from Prussia, and four cogs and other ships from the Dutch cities, each cog
with 100 men in armour and together with two smaller ships. A common route
for the approach was agreed, and the goal was to conquer the Danish fortresses
along the Øresund. While any trade with Denmark and Norway was prohib-
ited, the Pfundzoll was renewed, this time to be kept in the towns were it was
levied and to put in account later. Towns like Bremen or Hamburg and many
cities in the North German hinterland kept apart or only contributed some
money,38 but their merchants at least participated by paying the Pfundzoll.
Thus the ‘Confederation of Cologne’ turned the Hanseatic League into a town
union, for 18 years, until it dissolved in 1385. The new self-image of the towns is
reflected in a letter for the first time signed by the ‘town councillors sent out to
represent the towns of the German Hanse’ (consules nuncii civitatum de hanza
Theotonica).39
This was backed by a strong co-operation with the princes, especially with
duke Albert ii of Mecklenburg and his son, King Albert of Sweden, and also
with the counts of Holstein. They allied with the Wendish towns and thus
added themselves to the network around the ‘Confederation of Cologne’ in
which the partners agreed not to conclude peace separately. When the military
operations began, the contingents were greater than originally planned so that
they reached their successes quite quickly. While the counts of Holstein oper-
ated in Jutland, the Mecklenburg forces turned to Scania and the Danish isles,
and, between April and June 1368, the Hanseatic fleet conquered the fortresses
along the Øresund, with the exception of Helsingborg which only surrendered
after a long siege in September 1369. Waldemar was taken by surprise by the
success of his enemies. As in the years after 1362, he had decided for a diplo-
matic offensive and was not present when the negotiations began. Håkon of
Norway had already concluded a truce, and thus Denmark was in danger of
being divided between the North German princes, as in the years before 1340,
which was also not in the interest of the towns. The talks between the Danish
Council of the Realm and the towns led to a preliminary peace in November
38 Volker Henn, “Zur Haltung der binnenländischen Hansestädte in der hansisch-dänischen
Auseinandersetzung 1367/1370,” in Der Stralsunder Frieden von 1370: Prosopographische
Studien, ed. Nils Jörn, Ralf-Gunnar Werlich, and Horst Wernicke, Quellen und
Darstellungen zur hansischen Geschichte, N.F. 46 (Cologne, Weimar, Vienna: Böhlau
1998), 271–87.
39 hr i 1, 116.