Hanseatic Cities on the Baltic Region. Between Autonomy and Lordship

Abstract

The municipal law of Magdeburg profoundly influenced the genesis and development of municipal laws and, consequently, of urban development in central Eastern and Eastern Europe. The second influential group of municipal law, deeply affecting urbanisation and the establishment of autonomy in vast parts of Eastern Europe, is that of Lübeck law. Over a 100 cities, including Reval and also Novgorod, can be ascribed to this family of municipal law, which extended mostly to the Southern Baltic area and the adjacent regions. The majority of these cities considered themselves, at least for some time, Hansa cities. This contribution focuses on the struggle for autonomy between these cities and the local sovereignty. The current state of research in this regard forms the basis for analysing the genesis of urban autonomy in Lübeck and its struggle with competing urban rulers up until 1226. Then, the example of Kiel shows how other cities tried to emulate the model given by Lübeck with varying success. Finally, this contribution outlines how the Hansa cities, on their way to an intensified alliance policy, tried to make a stand against the growing pressure of territorialisation exerted by princes and local sovereigns in the late Middle Ages. Although these alliance plans did eventually fail, this must not be viewed as the end of urban autonomy. The cities did not lose their autonomy until the period of Absolutism.