free cities

1 definition found

free cities - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Hanse \Hanse\, n. [G. hanse, or F. hanse (from German), OHG. &
     Goth. hansa; akin to AS. h[=o]s band, troop.]
     An association; a league or confederacy.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Hanse towns (Hist.), certain commercial cities in Germany
        which associated themselves for the protection and
        enlarging of their commerce. The confederacy, called also
        Hansa and Hanseatic league, held its first diet in
        1260, and was maintained for nearly four hundred years. At
        one time the league comprised eighty-five cities. Its
        remnants, L["u]beck, Hamburg, and Bremen, are free  cities
        , and are still frequently called Hanse towns.
        [1913 Webster]