The Hanseatic League was formed by towns in which region?

• A. Southern Italian cities
• B. Iberian ports
• C. North German towns
• D. English ports

Answer: (C)

The League grew out of a network of merchants on the North Sea and Baltic coast, centered in North German towns such as Lübeck, Hamburg, and Bremen. These cities joined together to protect their trading routes, standardize commercial practices, and win favorable terms from rulers and other powers. Because its origins lie in these northern German ports along the Baltic and North Sea, that region is the correct description. English ports and Southern or Iberian cities joined later or were not the founding core, and the southern Italian cities were not part of its genesis.