[571] See [Appendix No. 6, pp. 634-6], where the original documents preserved in the Cotton and Harleian Collections are given in parallel columns, to show their variations. At the end of this roll are also notices of some of the more remarkable items in the repairs of Edward III.’s galleys from another contemporary MS. [Appendix No. 7, pp. 636-641].
[572] It appears also from the warrants contained in a MS. of the Harleian Collection, No. 433, that besides the trade with Iceland from Bristol, many vessels went thither from the ports of Norfolk and Suffolk. See [Appendix No. 12, p. 654].
[573] Rymer’s “Fœdera.”
[574] The great wealth of Flanders at this time is well shown by the fact that, in A.D. 1339, the Duke of Brabant paid Edward 50,000l. as the dowry for his daughter on her espousal to Prince Edward.—Rymer, Fœd. v. pp. 113, 118.
[575] See a specimen of the “Safe Conduct” usually given on these occasions from a MS. in the Harleian Collection. [Appendix No. 6].
[576] Rymer’s Fœd. v. pp. 179-203.
[577] The following are the most important dates in connection with the history of this celebrated confederacy.
Great German Hansa established A.D. 1241, with the view of clearing the Baltic and adjacent coasts of pirates. Their first cities were Lubeck and Hamburg, then Bremen, ultimately Bergen and Brunswick; they were supported, generally, by the emperors as a commercial counterpoise to the feudal nobility—Lubeck was chosen as queen of the Hansa.
In 1281 the citizens of the Hanseatic League were placed on the same footing as those of London.
From A.D. 1303 to 1475 they possessed many houses in London, with a jury, half English, half foreign, to try their causes, and two English aldermen to act as their chiefs. This was the period of their greatest power. The power of the League began to decline in 1547, after the death in this year of Henry VIII. Though Edward VI. renewed their privileges, the English “Merchant Adventurers” proved too strong for them.