earticle

영어

The study investigates the development process of the network of traders in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in the early period of the Hansa using the assumption that the foundation of the Hansa, which bridged Western Europe, Northern Europe, and Eastern Europe markets, originated from the organized network of traders. Due to the lack of historic records, it was impossible to fix an accurate period when organized trading was born in Northern Europe since the Carolingian period, or to identify the subject and character of the trading clearly. Therefore, this study focuses on tracing the existence of the long distance network of traders in the early period of the Hansa through the first historic record, and looks at how Wiks(= temporary trading centers) and fairs affected the creation of the network, rather than reconstructing the whole trading network of the Hansa traders. Furthermore, the study finds the clues for the network among strategic points of trading with traders who mediated long distance trading. The networks of long distance trading that was made centering around central places of seaborne trading since the Carolingianperiod continued to grow, and the trading between the East and the West extended thanks to the growth of fairs and cities. Although the trading networks in Northern Europe became narrower, intensified, and diversified from the time of the 12th century, that wasn’t radically new. The establishment and operation of stable networks was the key to the swift growth of the Hansa, and the long history of the Hansa can be more consistently explained from a network-oriented perspective.