The pre-eminence of Lubeck came about
because all goods travelling between the
North Sea and the Baltic had to pass through the town. In 1227, Lubeck obtained
the privilege of becoming an imperial city, the only one in this category east pf the
Elbe." Another advantage was the town's proximity to the rock- salt mines of
Luneburg, which fell very early into the hands of the Lubeck merchants." Beginning
in 1227 (with the victory over the Danes at Bornhoved)," the city's success was
sealed with the granting to the Hanseatic merchants of privileges in Flanders - in
1252- 351- a whole century before the first general Diet of the Hansa which brought
together its representatives in Lubeck in 1356, only then creating the Hanseatic
League.' But well before this date, `Lubeck had been the standard- bearer of the
Hanseatic League . . . recognized by all as the capital of the merchant
confederation . . . The city's arms - the imperial eagle - became in the fifteenth
century the arms of the League itself.'
