=117. Exports from the West to the Baltic countries.=—In return for its imports western Europe sent to Russia and Scandinavia its manufactures and the raw products which could not be obtained in the Northeast. The list includes wheat, wine, salt, and metals, and, among the manufactures, especially cloth and beer. The merchants of the West conducted the trade not only between their home districts and the less developed countries, but also between these countries; they carried herrings, for instance, from Scandinavia to Russia. =118. Contrast of the history of the commercial cities in Italy and in Germany.=—The cities of Germany, which took advantage of the opportunities for trade in the North, were like those of Italy in their freedom from royal authority. There seems, therefore, a chance that they might fight among themselves for the trade, and that one of them might get a commanding position as did Venice in the South. No one of them, however, had the peculiar advantages of the geographical position and the freedom from attacks by land which Venice enjoyed. They were too evenly matched to settle quickly the question of supremacy, and they ran such dangers from the attacks of feudal lords that they could not afford to quarrel among themselves. Instead of competing they united, in the Hansa or Hanseatic League, which was the most remarkable commercial association of the medieval period. =119. Rise of the Hanseatic League.=—The word “hanse” meant in early German a society, a band of men, and was applied to a number of commercial associations besides the particular league to which we apply it here. This league grew up gradually in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The merchants of various German cities found it necessary to unite for the protection of their interests abroad, and the beginnings of the association are found in the island of Gotland, in the Baltic and in the city of London, where Germans carried on a considerable trade. After a while the cities at home took up the association which their merchants had started in foreign countries, and in the fourteenth century a great league grew up, centering in the cities at the southwestern corner of the Baltic, of which Lübeck was the chief. Sailors were still afraid to navigate the waters around Denmark, because of the dangerous currents and shoals, so Baltic wares were carried across the isthmus, and cities like Lübeck grew great on this trade and on that which came down the Elbe valley.