kontor
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.2|The Oostershuis, Hanseatic kontor in [[Antwerp]] A kontor (also Kontor; , ) was a major foreign trading post of the Hanseatic League. Kontors were legal entities established in a foreign city (i.e. a city that did not belong to the Hanseatic League), with a degree of legal autonomy. Most kontors were also enclaves. They were located in London (the Steelyard), Bruges (Kontor of Bruges, later moved to Antwerp), Bergen (Bryggen), and Novgorod (Peterhof). Smaller Hanseatic trading posts were called factorien, i.e., factories.
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Organisation and social structure
- Administration
- Law
- Legacy
- References
thumb|upright=1.2|The Oostershuis, Hanseatic kontor in [[Antwerp]] A kontor (also Kontor; , ) was a major foreign trading post of the Hanseatic League. Kontors were legal entities established in a foreign city (i.e. a city that did not belong to the Hanseatic League), with a degree of legal autonomy. Most kontors were also enclaves. They were located in London (the Steelyard), Bruges (Kontor of Bruges, later moved to Antwerp), Bergen (Bryggen), and Novgorod (Peterhof). Smaller Hanseatic trading posts were called factorien, i.e., factories.
The kontors were established as corporations or guilds of senior merchants from trade guilds. The main reason to found them was security. The Peterhof in Novgorod was founded first, in the early 13th century, the kontor of Bruges and Bryggen in Bergen were founded last. They were subordinated to the decisions of the Hansetag (Hanseatic diet) in the mid 14th century.