“The Hanseatic League’s influence extended from commercial activities to cultural exchanges and diplomatic relations.” -Unknown
Yesterday we talked about what we can learn from the ancient Phoenician commercial civilization. Today we’re turning our attention to the Hanseatic League.
The Hanseatic League was an alliance of self-governing city-states that lined northern Europe during the Middle Ages. The League was most prevalent in the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries.
This alliance of city-states created their own free trade routes throughout northern Europe. These trade routes connected London and Belgium to the west with Germany and Poland to the east and Scandinavia to the north.
The independent cities along these routes became key centers of commerce and cultural exchange throughout Europe.
And the cultural exchange element was key.
As we discussed yesterday, old trade routes weren’t just about transporting goods. They also enabled the free-flow of knowledge and ideas. This cultural exchange is what truly shapes the world.
The Hanseatic League also developed a new code of law for its participating city-states. They called it the Lex Mercatoria. That means “Law Merchant” in Latin.
The Lex Mercatoria established a common code of law to govern trade throughout the Hanseatic League.
This created a climate where everyone operating throughout the network served both their own interests and those of others in the network. It was all about mutual collaboration.
Meanwhile, the kings and nobles throughout Europe were waging war against each other and otherwise pursuing their own petty squabbles. These conflicts often happened at the expense of who they called the peasants and commoners.
We can see a clear dichotomy there – just as we saw yesterday with the Phoenicians.
The Hanseatic League created a positive-sum world where everybody involved could better their circumstances. It stood in stark contrast to the zero-sum world in which the kings and nobles lived. To them, the only way to get ahead was to amass territory and subjugate others.
In this way we can say that the key to human civilization is the free-flow of goods, knowledge, and ideas. That’s how we build a positive-sum world for all.
And that’s one of the core ideas that underpins our new investment membership The Phoenician League. Much like the old Hanseatic League, we are building our own commercial network with this membership.
I think this kind of network is more important today than ever before.
As we discussed on Monday, we are each inundated with loads of information every day. It floods our airwaves and our inboxes.
The problem is, most of this information is just noise. Much of it is nothing more than junk. And if we fill our head with junk, we’re far more likely to make bad decisions.
What we have to understand is that there’s a big difference between information and insight. The more we can sift through the information and focus only on the insight, the better.
Having a robust investment network like The Phoenician League helps us do just that. We cut through the noise and zero-in on what’s really important.
That’s true when it comes to money and investing… and it’s just as true when it comes to boots-on-the-ground intelligence.
Having a commercial network allows us to each relay what we are seeing in our own corners of the world. This provides the context we need to analyze current events.
What’s more, The Phoenician League connects members with specific investments across a range of asset classes.
In fact, we help members build a customized asset allocation model. We maintain a core equity portfolio. And we get members plugged into investments that generate passive income immediately. Our goal is to help everyone achieve financial independence in six to twelve years’ time.
If this sounds like it may be something that’s up your alley, I’d like to invite you to join our membership’s wait list. You can do so right here: The Phoenician League Waiting List
Up to this point we’ve only opened our doors to new members on two occasions. We do this because we always take the time to onboard everybody individually. This includes personalized attention for those who would like it.
That said, we’ll be opening our doors for a third time very soon. And we’ll give everybody on our official wait list advanced notice and attention.
So please give us a look if you’re interested in this kind of thing. Tomorrow, we’ll wrap up our discussion on historical influences with something distinctly American.
-Joe Withrow