The Hanseday historic
By the second half of the 14th century, the towns and cities of the
HANSE needed a more formal structure for their organisation, and
revised the structure originally set up in the 13th century. The
central body in the new organisation was the "Tagfahrt" (convening
day), to which delegates were sent by the Hanseatic Towns and Cities to
discuss current problems and to negotiate joint resolutions. The usual
procedure was for Lübeck, together with Hamburg, Lüneburg, Wismar,
Rostock and Stralsund to issue the letters of invitation. The
invitations indicated not only the date of the meeting, but also a
precise agenda of matters to be discussed, and at the same time called
upon the towns and cities invited to send their authorised
representatives. As Lübeck was centrally placed with respect to all the
other Hanseatic towns and cities, most of the Conventions were held
there - for example 43 out of the 67 Conventions held between 1356 and
1407.
Once the seating arrangements for the delegates had been established in
accordance with the ranking of the towns and cities, the Convention was
opened. The Mayor of the host city would chair the meeting and give the
speakers the floor. Resolutions had to be adopted unanimously, which
sometimes proved extremely difficult (no different from today!) in view
of the widely differing economic interests of the 50 towns represented.
When decisions had to be taken on problems which were not mentioned in the letter of invitation, or which went beyond the scope set out there, the matters had to be discussed first with the Councils and Assemblies of the various home cities. No resolution was then possible until the next Hansa Convention. The decision-making procedure was extremely difficult and cumbersome because of this "ad referendum" procedure, i.e. referral to the home cities, and because of the requirement for unanimity.
The resolutions (known as "settlements") of the Hansa Conventions became valid only on promulgation, i.e. reading out, at the offices and municipal assemblies of the individual towns and cities. Anything that ran counter to the interests of the respective towns and cities was simply left out. This meant that in fact there was very little chance of a "settlement" becoming legally valid in all Hanseatic towns and cities.
Despite these obstacles in the internal organisational structure, the Hanseatic League was a major influence in shaping economic, trading and power policies in Northern Europe from the mid 13th century until the end of the 17th century, and in some areas it was the decisive influence.
When decisions had to be taken on problems which were not mentioned in the letter of invitation, or which went beyond the scope set out there, the matters had to be discussed first with the Councils and Assemblies of the various home cities. No resolution was then possible until the next Hansa Convention. The decision-making procedure was extremely difficult and cumbersome because of this "ad referendum" procedure, i.e. referral to the home cities, and because of the requirement for unanimity.
The resolutions (known as "settlements") of the Hansa Conventions became valid only on promulgation, i.e. reading out, at the offices and municipal assemblies of the individual towns and cities. Anything that ran counter to the interests of the respective towns and cities was simply left out. This meant that in fact there was very little chance of a "settlement" becoming legally valid in all Hanseatic towns and cities.
Despite these obstacles in the internal organisational structure, the Hanseatic League was a major influence in shaping economic, trading and power policies in Northern Europe from the mid 13th century until the end of the 17th century, and in some areas it was the decisive influence.
