Universitas mercatorum: Kommentare zum Kaufmannsstadt-Projekt in Flandern 1253

Abstract

"The negotiations between Countess Margareta of Flanders and representatives of the merchants' association of 1252 - and the results of those negotiations - form an informative source for research on the early organisational structures of the Hanse: The Gotland merchants of Lübeck founded a settlement in the west and conceived of themselves from then on as an universitas of the merchants of the Roman Empire. This event was originally presumed to have provided the Hanseatic League with lasting stability. This view of the matter demands critical review and revision, for the negotiations were initially not concerned with the affairs of the Gotland seafarers at all, but aimed at establishing customs regulations for Bruges and its outer port Damme to the benefit of the Rhenish-Westphalian merchants. The negotiations were not continued until the following year, at which time the plans for the universitas mercatorum were submitted on behalf of the Gotland merchants. These plans revolved around the foundation of a town and trading rights. At this second round of negotiations, however, no results were attained, due not least to the lack of interest on the part of the Lübeck town council in supporting the endeavours of the merchants of Lübeck who maintained trade relationships with Gotland, some of them even settling there: In reality, neither the cooperative merchants' settlement in Flanders nor the universitas of merchants of the Roman Empire, extending from Gotland to Flanders, ever existed." (author's abstract)