Kontors and Outposts 141
The kontor of Novgorod was run by a council of aldermen and deputies
as well. Here, however, the alderman was not elected by the merchants, but
appointed by envoys of Lübeck or Visby. These two towns competed for influ-
ence at the kontor. Visby was the front-runner in the early years of the kontor,
but lost ground to Lübeck and Reval during the thirteenth, fourteenth, and
fifteenth centuries. A specialty of the trade in Novgorod made it necessary to
have more than one alderman annually. The Hansards came to Novgorod in
two groups, one staying at the kontor in summer, the other one in winter. Thus,
an alderman served for only one season before leaving the kontor in fall or
spring with the remaining merchants of his group. The alderman appointed
four deputies, or “wise men”, to assist him in running the kontor. As was the
case at the other kontors, the most important decisions were made by the
assembly of all merchants, who decided general questions regarding trade and
life at the kontor. The decisions were collected in the statutes of the kontor,
the so-called Schra. For Novgorod we have the best evidence of the organic
nature of the kontor’s statutes. The first known version of the Schra dates back
to 1268. Several versions were edited by Schlüter,33 and covered several centu-
ries, which shows how remarkable the changes in the regulations were regard-
ing trade and life in Nowogord in the Late Middle Ages.
Although different in their architectonical structure and importance of
merchants from different hometowns, all four Hanseatic kontors were orga-
nized in a similar way. They all had one or more aldermen at the top of the
administrative hierarchy. These were assisted by several deputies. The most
important decisions had to be made by the assembly of all merchants present
at the kontor. Election dates and, in the case of Novgorod, length of duty may
have varied, but in general, the Hanseatic merchants chose to organize their
most important trading outposts similar to the system they knew from home.
The Hanse towns themselves were organized with an assembly and a coun-
cil led by majors, and nearly all corporations, brotherhoods, and guilds were
structured in the same way. Thus, it is possible to see a common base structure
of organization at the four kontors. However, as this is the base structure of all
interpersonal unions in the Hanseatic area in the Late Middle Ages, it is not
useful to define a kontor with administrative terms alone.
33 Schlüter (1916).