<P> German colonists in the 12th and 13th centuries settled in numerous cities on and near the east Baltic coast, such as Elbing (Elbląg), Thorn (Toruń), Reval (Tallinn), Riga, and Dorpat (Tartu), which became members of the Hanseatic League, and some of which still retain many Hansa buildings and bear the style of their Hanseatic days . Most were granted Lübeck law (Lübisches Recht), after the league's most prominent town . The law provided that they had to appeal in all legal matters to Lübeck's city council . The Livonian Confederation incorporated modern - day Estonia and parts of Latvia and had its own Hanseatic parliament (diet); all of its major towns became members of the Hanseatic League . The dominant language of trade was Middle Low German, a dialect with significant impact for countries involved in the trade, particularly the larger Scandinavian languages, Estonian, and Latvian . </P> <P> The league had a fluid structure, but its members shared some characteristics; most of the Hansa cities either started as independent cities or gained independence through the collective bargaining power of the league, though such independence remained limited . The Hanseatic free cities owed allegiance directly to the Holy Roman Emperor, without any intermediate family tie of obligation to the local nobility . </P> <P> Another similarity involved the cities' strategic locations along trade routes . At the height of its power in the late 14th century, the merchants of the Hanseatic League succeeded in using their economic clout, and sometimes their military might--trade routes required protection and the league's ships sailed well - armed--to influence imperial policy . </P> <P> The league also wielded power abroad . Between 1361 and 1370, it waged war against Denmark . Initially unsuccessful, Hanseatic towns in 1368 allied in the Confederation of Cologne, sacked Copenhagen and Helsingborg, and forced Valdemar IV, King of Denmark, and his son - in - law Haakon VI, King of Norway, to grant the league 15% of the profits from Danish trade in the subsequent peace treaty of Stralsund in 1370, thus gaining an effective trade and economic monopoly in Scandinavia . This favourable treaty marked the height of Hanseatic power . After the Danish - Hanseatic War (1426--1435) and the Bombardment of Copenhagen (1428), the commercial privileges were renewed in the Treaty of Vordingborg in 1435 . </P>

Who saw to the protection of hanseatic fleets sailing on the high seas and how