Hanseatic Baltic Shipping

Timeline

1. 1501–1505Øresund · ØresundEach spring and summer Hanseatic merchant ships sailed from Baltic ports, passing south through the Øresund into the North Sea and Dutch ports. The Danish crown levied tolls on strait passage, and Hanseatic cities defended their transit privileges through diplomacy and threats of force, keeping the southbound grain and fur routes open.
2. 1506–1510Danzig (Gdańsk) · PolandDanzig, as the Polish Kingdom's main seaport, saw Hanseatic merchants organize cog fleets carrying Polish–Lithuanian grain to Bruges, London, and Antwerp. After 1506 Dutch competition intensified, but Hanseatic shipping still maintained dominance in northern European bulk seaborne trade through port warehousing, credit networks, and insurance contracts.