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Hanseatic Cog Merchant Ship

Type Object Region Northern Europe Time c. 1200–1500

The cog (Kogge) was the main cargo ship used by the Hanseatic League in North European and Baltic trade, rising from around the 12th century and grad…

Timeline

  1. c. 1200–1250Frisian–Weser estuary · GermanyThe cog type, with its broad flat bottom, high stern, and clinker-built hull, became standardized along the North Sea–Baltic coasts, replacing some Viking-style longships in bulk cargo transport and providing Hanseatic merchants with a load-bearing platform suited to shallow bays and river mouths.
  2. c. 1250–1400Lübeck–Bruges–Riga route · Hanseatic LeagueFrom the second half of the 13th century through the 14th century, cog fleets carried furs, beeswax, grain, and cloth along Hanseatic trade routes; ports such as Lübeck, Hamburg, and Bruges maintained an integrated North Sea–Baltic market centered on the cog, around the 1270s marking one of the League's trade peaks.
  3. c. 1400–1500North Sea–Atlantic ports · Low CountriesIn the 15th century, the demands of oceanic trade and more complex rigging drove the spread of new sailing ships such as the carrack; cogs gradually gave way on long-distance transoceanic routes, but continued in use for Baltic inland and coastal cargo transport into the early modern period.

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