A trading alliance with no army or king ran Northern Europe's economy for 300 years

From the 13th to 17th centuries, the Hanseatic League linked merchant guilds across dozens of cities from London to Novgorod, enforcing shared trading rights and collectively boycotting rulers who crossed them, once bringing the King of Denmark to heel without a single battle. It had no formal government, just a common merchant interest in keeping trade routes open and rivals out.

— Historical record, compiled in later scholarship, Hanseatic League — c. 1200s-1600s