Ep. 120: The Hanseatic League (1143-1669) - Economics - Money, Money, Money
History of the Germans from the Middle Ages to Reunification
Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
4.9 • 551 Ratings
🗓️ 14 September 2023
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This was supposed to be an episode where we talk about the challenges the Hanse was facing after the victory over the Danes and the Peace of Stralsund. But that is not to be. Listeners Mehmet and Nina pointed out a few gaps in what I had been talking about last week and now these need to be filled.
It is all good talking about the trading network and the flow of goods across the Baltic and northern Germany. But what about the opposing flow, the flow of money? How do the Merchants get paid? How can they pay for all the goods they, or their agents, are buying way down in Flanders and England? How do they cope with the sometimes erratic monetary policies of late medieval rulers?
After all, it is money that makes the world go round!
The episode webpage with transcripts and further links is available here
The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.
As always:
Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.com
If you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans Podcast
For do it yourself merchandise go to: Merchandise • History of the Germans Podcast
Facebook: @HOTGPod
Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcast
Bluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.social
Instagram: history_of_the_germans
Twitter: @germanshistory
To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.
So far I have:
Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy
Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen
The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356
The Reformation before the Reformation
The Empire in the 15th century
The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs
This episode relied heavily on:
Jahnke, Carsten: Die Hanse | Reclam Verlag
Jahnke, Carsten: Netzwerke in Handel und Kommunikation an
der Wende vom 15. zum 16. Jahrhundert am Beispiel zweier Revaler Kaufleute. Netzwerke
(hansischergeschichtsverein.de)
Stuart Jenks: War die Hanse kreditfeindlich? on JSTOR
Historical documents of Hanseatic League added to UNESCO archival heritage list | Tallinn
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the history of the Germans. |
| 0:07.4 | Episode 120, money, money, money. |
| 0:11.0 | Now this was supposed to be an episode where we talk about the challenges the Hansa was facing |
| 0:14.9 | after the victory over the Danes and the peace of Straal Zund. |
| 0:18.7 | But that's not to be. Business Mehmet and Nina pointed out a few gaps |
| 0:22.8 | in what I'd been talking about last week, and now these gaps need to be filled. It's all good |
| 0:27.9 | talking about the trading network and the flow of goods across the Baltic and northern Germany, |
| 0:32.4 | but what about the opposing flow? The flow of money. How do the merchants get paid? How can they transfer cash |
| 0:39.3 | to pay for all the goods they or their agents are buying way down in Flanders and England? |
| 0:44.3 | How do they cope with the sometimes erratic monetary policies of late medieval rulers? |
| 0:50.3 | After all, it's money that makes the world go round. |
| 0:55.7 | But before we start, let me thank all of your patrons and one-time supporters out there. |
| 0:59.8 | I really, really appreciate that supporting a show you can listen to for free is an act |
| 1:04.5 | of immense generosity. |
| 1:06.8 | To say it with the author Roman Paine. |
| 1:09.5 | Of all public figures and benefactors of mankind, |
| 1:12.2 | no one is loved by history more than the literary patron. |
| 1:17.1 | Napoleon was just a general of forgotten battles, |
| 1:20.0 | compared with the Queen who paid for Shakespeare's meals and beer in the tavern. |
| 1:24.6 | You see, there is a chance to outdo Napoleon for a mere two pounds a month, |
| 1:29.7 | less than a chocolate croissant. All you have to do is go to patreon.com slash history of the |
| 1:35.0 | Germans or historyof the Germans.com slash support. And thanks so much to Mary Teresa H, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dirk Hoffmann-Becking, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Dirk Hoffmann-Becking and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.