Ep. 123: The Hanseatic League - Decline and Fall (Part 1)
History of the Germans from the Middle Ages to Reunification
Dirk Hoffmann-Becking
4.9 • 551 Ratings
🗓️ 5 October 2023
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
1474-1531 was a time of immense change and upheaval for the Hanseatic League, and not just for them. The Habsburg empire is bedded into being, England’s war of the Roses is over, in the North the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth stretches all the way from Kyiev to Gdansk. The kingdoms and princes are getting stronger. Columbus tries to sail to India and Vasco da Gama actually sails to India. Luther nails his 95 theses on the doors of the churches of Wittenberg. All is in flux, and so is the Hanse and Lübeck, its most important city.
Well, is it still the most important city? What about Danzig/Gdansk and Hamburg who take advantage of shifting trade flows whilst Lübeck finds itself on the sidelines. Who do they blame? The Dutch and the Danes. Cometh the time, cometh the man – his name is Jürgen Wullenwever and he has all the solutions, or does he?..
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the history of the Germans, episode 1-2-3, Decline and 4, Part 1. |
| 0:13.0 | 1474 to 1531 was a time of immense change and upheaval for the Hanseatic League, and not |
| 0:18.5 | just for them. |
| 0:19.9 | The Habsburg Empire is bedded into being. |
| 0:22.6 | England's war of the roses is over. |
| 0:24.6 | In the north, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth stretches all the way from Keeve to Gdansk. |
| 0:30.6 | Columbus tries to sail to India, and Vasco da Gama actually sails to India. |
| 0:36.6 | Luther nails his 95 thesis on the doors of the churches of Wittenberg. |
| 0:41.4 | All is in flux. |
| 0:42.8 | And so is the Hanse and Lübeck, its most important city. |
| 0:47.9 | Well, is it still the most important city? |
| 0:50.7 | What about Dansig and Hamburg who take advantage of the shifting trade flows whilst |
| 0:55.4 | Lübeck finds itself on the sidelines? |
| 0:58.5 | Who do they blame? |
| 0:59.8 | The Dutch and the Danes. |
| 1:02.7 | Comeeth the hour, cometh the man, and his name is Eugen Wollenweaver, and he has all the solutions. |
| 1:10.2 | Or does he? |
| 1:12.7 | But before we start, let me do my ritual prostration before all of you who are supporting the show. |
| 1:19.4 | To quote Steve Young, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, |
| 1:23.4 | in medieval times artists had patrons that supported them, and this is a similar thing. |
| 1:28.9 | We're basically saying, wouldn't you like to be part of this? |
| 1:33.7 | And here are four of you listeners who've already signed up on patreon.com slash history of the |
... |
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