Hanseatic Kontor Network

Timeline

1. 1220–1280Novgorod and Bruges · Northwestern RussiaNorth German merchants set up a kontor in Novgorod dealing in furs and beeswax, while simultaneously establishing a Low Countries outpost in Bruges, forming the embryonic permanent institutions of an east–west two-way trade corridor.
2. 1331–1340Bruges, London, Bergen, Novgorod · Low CountriesThe four great kontors (Bruges, the London Steelyard, Bergen's Bryggen, and Novgorod) operated in coordination: Bruges and London linked the wool–cloth trade, Bergen monopolized the Norwegian cod trade, and Novgorod maintained the eastern fur corridor; the 1330s were on the eve of the network's zenith.
3. 1340–1400Bruges · FlandersThe Bruges kontor became the Hanseatic League's de facto headquarters in the Low Countries, sharing the city with the cloth halls and Italian bankers, coordinating the flow of goods between North Sea ports and inland markets, until the shift to Antwerp in the 15th century.