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IMC 2014: Sessions

Session 1636: Gdańsk: An Eastern Hanseatic City and Its Role in the Formation of a Marine Empire

Thursday 10 July 2014, 11.15-12.45

Organiser:Beata Możejko, Zakład Historii Średniowiecza Polski i Nauk Pomocniczych Historii, Uniwersytet Gdański
Moderator/Chair:Anna Adamska, Onderzoekinstituut voor Geschiedenis en Kunstgeschiedenis, Universiteit Utrecht
Paper 1636-aThe Large Caravel 'Peter von Danzig' in Service to the Hanseatic League
(Language: English)
Beata Możejko, Zakład Historii Średniowiecza Polski i Nauk Pomocniczych Historii, Uniwersytet Gdański
Index terms: Art History - Painting, Economics - Trade, Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Paper 1636-bThe City of Gdańsk Faces the Threat of Danish Piracy during the 15th-16th Centuries
(Language: English)
Paweł Sadłoń, Instytut Historii, Uniwersytet Gdański
Index terms: Economics - Trade, Economics - Urban, Politics and Diplomacy, Social History
Paper 1636-cThe Ennoblement of Gdańsk Patricians as a Sign of Growing Political and Economic Independence of the City and Its Place within the Hanseatic League
(Language: English)
Ewa Bojaruniec, Muzeum Historyczne Miasta Gdańska
Index terms: Art History - General, Economics - Urban, Heraldry, Social History
Abstract

The second half of the 15th century brought new challenges and new threats to the Baltic Hanseatic League. It was a period of economic growth for the city of Gdańsk. Its trade fleet grew in size and its political elites gained power and prestige. The city's development and its role in taking down the enemies of the Hanseatic League was considered part of the formation of a marine empire. The proposed section consists of three papers: The first, devoted to the activities of a large caravel 'Peter von Danzig' in the war of the Hanseatic League with England, 1471-1474.The ship is known also for the daring recovery of a Florentine (Burgundy) galley which carried Hans Memling's 'Last Judgment' altarwork. The second detailing the late 15th-century Gdańsk actions against privateering and piracy on the Baltic Sea. The last paper on the royal ennoblement of wealthy Gdańsk patricians, shareholders within off-shore Hanseatic trade. All three documents have a common aim: to underline the role Gdańsk, a city on the Eastern verge of the Hanseatic League, played in the League's growth and increasing political influence.