Editing Hanseatic League (section)

== Etymology ==
{{lang|de|Hanse}} is the [[Old High German]] word for a band or troop.<ref>{{cite book
 |last= Seebold
 |first= Elmar
 |title= Chronologisches Wörterbuch des deutschen Wortschatzes, Vol. 2 Der Wortschatz des 9. Jahrhunderts
 |date= 2008
 |language= de
 |location=
 |publisher= Walter de Gruyter
 |page= 388
 |isbn= 978-3-11-020502-2
}}</ref> This word was applied to bands of merchants traveling between the Hanseatic cities.<ref>{{cite web
 |last= Delvaux de Fenffe
 |first= Gregor
 |date= 11 March 2018
 |title= Hanse
 |language= de
 |trans-title= Hanseatic League
 |url= https://www.planet-wissen.de/geschichte/mittelalter/hanse/index.html
 |publisher= Planet Wissen
 |access-date= 9 June 2018
 |archive-date= 20 September 2018
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180920114832/https://www.planet-wissen.de/geschichte/mittelalter/hanse/index.html
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref> {{lang|de|Hanse}} in [[Middle Low German]] came to mean a society of merchants or a trader guild.<ref>{{cite web
 |last= Köbler
 |first= Gerhard
 |date= 3 August 2014
 |title= Mittelniederdeutsches Wörterbuch: H.
 |language= de
 |url= https://www.koeblergerhard.de/mnd/mnd_h.html
 |access-date= 9 August 2020
 |location= Innsbruck
 |publisher= Gerhard Köbler
 |via= koeblergerhard.de
 |archive-date= 13 September 2019
 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190913091058/http://www.koeblergerhard.de/mnd/mnd_h.html
 |url-status= live
 }}</ref> Claims that it originally meant ''An-See'', or "on the sea", are incorrect.<ref>{{cite book
 |last= Weststrate
 |first= Job
 |title= Handel en transport over land en rivieren 
 |date= 2010
 |trans-title= Trade and transport over land and rivers
 |url= {{google books|plainurl=yes|id=T5e68QReeykC|page=145}}
 |page=145
 |location= Hilversum & Groningen
 |publisher= Uitgeverij Verloren & Groninger Museum
 |isbn= 978-90-8704-165-6}}
 in {{harvnb|Brand|Egge|2010
}}</ref>{{rp|page=145}}