re: #473 HappyWarrior

Wow I had never heard of the Hanseatic League before. Very interesting to see this before both the Age of Exploration and the Industrial Revolution.

They were, I think, one of the instigators of the age of exploration (along with the Italian states and rise of the kingdom of Spain). The Hanseatic traders would rely on sea trade, so there was a big market for ship building. Typically they would go to Norway to get lumber (the oak of southern Norway apparently the preferred ship building material), and then construct their ships in their port towns, and travel long distances to trade.

It’s why the Dutch would play such an outsized role in colonization. The region was already on the cutting edge of sea faring trade.

In my mind I summarize the era of one of an arms race, in this case for ships. Italian states, newly developing Spain, the remnants of the Hanseatic league - all competing to be on the cutting edge.