The initial strength of the Hanseatic League was the fluidity of the institution, but that also limited the degree to which it could scale its power

The initial strength of the Hanseatic League was the fluidity of the institution, but that also limited the degree to which it could scale its power

Carsten Jahnke – Die Hanse (read in German)

Nice to read as an example of a successful alternative power structure (in the sense of Graeber en Wengrow), that is nonetheless is firmly rooted in proto-capitalist principles.