Baltic Trade Networks (1130s)

Timeline

1. 1131–1135Visby · GotlandThe port of Visby gathered German, Scandinavian, and Rus merchants, exchanging silver and goods for Baltic coastal products. The island's towns developed early traditions of merchant self-governance and are regarded as one of the precursor nodes of the later Hanse city network.
2. 1134–1138Novgorod · NovgorodNovgorod merchants reached the sea via Lake Ladoga and the Neva River, exchanging eastern furs and beeswax with Sweden and Estonian coastal areas for Western European textiles. This route connected the upper Volga with the Baltic and was the northern extension of the 'from the Varangians to the Greeks' route.
3. 1138–1140Southern coast of the Baltic Sea · Southern CoastThe Baltic's southern coast and the Prussian and Courland shores produced amber and marine mammal skins, transshipped by port to Visby and the German interior, attracting merchants from Saxony, Lübeck, and elsewhere. The regional trade network had already reached considerable scale in the 1130s.