Kontors and Outposts 137
be punished with fines, or, in very serious cases, with the exclusion from the
kontor and its privileges.
When taking a deeper look into the kontors’ statutes, there are remarkable
differences between them.12 This is partly caused by the differences in geogra-
phy, climate, culture, and strategic terms presented above. Another reason for
these differences is the different business customs and demands by the local
rulers or authorities. For a comparative study of the statutes, I have to refer
the reader to the edited or original versions of the statutes.13 Still, I want to
mention some important features from each kontor to show the differences in
organization and structure that a merchant traveling between all four could
have found in the Late Middle Ages.
According to their origin, merchants in London were organized into thirds.
The first third consisted of merchants from Cologne, the towns in the county of
Geldern, and the areas at the river Rhine’s left banks. The second third of mer-
chants were from Westphalia, Saxony, the Wendish towns (like Lübeck, Wismar,
and Rostock), and the areas at the river Rhine’s right banks. The third group of
merchants was from Prussia, Livland and Gotland. These divisions were impor-
tant in the annual elections of an alderman and his deputies. The regulations
determined that merchants had to elect an alderman from one third that was
not their own. Once an alderman was elected, two deputies were elected out of
the other two thirds. Thus, the merchants tried to ensure that all regional mer-
chant groups found their interests represented in the decision-making pro-
cesses of the board. Different ideas of how to run the kontor and how to react to
or interact with the local authorities according to the merchants’ original and
favored goods and routes can be traced in the sources left from all of the four
kontors. However, in the case of London trading, and England as a whole, this
diversity gets the most evidence. The first time we hear of a group of German
merchants in London is in 1282, when the aula hanse Almanie is mentioned.14
This particular building was the meeting point for merchants from the city of
Cologne. By 1300, we have evidence of two German guild halls in London. In
12 Burkhardt, (2005b).
13 London: Rolf Sprandel, ed., Quellen zur Hanse-Geschichte (Darmstadt, 1982), 350–382;
Bergen: Mike Burkhardt, “Das Hansekontor in Bergen im Spätmittelalter,” (unpublished
master-thesis, Kongelige Bibliotek Copenhagen and Archiv der Hansestadt Lübeck, Kiel
2006), appendix 1; and, as an older version: Oscar Albert Johnsen, Oluf Kolsrud, Absalon
Talanger, eds., Norges Gamle Love, Anden Række 1388–1604, Andet Bind 1448–1482 (Oslo,
1934), no. 416, 674–690; Novgorod: Wolfgang Schlüter, ed., Die Nowgoroder Schra in sieben
Fassungen vom xiii. bis xvii. Jahrhundert (Lübeck, 1916); Bruges: Archiv der Hansestadt
Lübeck, Altes Senatsarchiv, Externa, Batavica, Kopiar ix.
14 Schubert (2000), 37.