Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hanse \Hanse\, n. [G. hanse, or F. hanse (from German), OHG. &
   Goth. hansa; akin to AS. h?s band, troop.]
   An association; a league or confederacy.

   {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.

Hanseatic \Han`se*at"ic\, a.
   Pertaining to the Hanse towns, or to their confederacy.

   {Hanseatic league}. See under 2d {Hanse}.

Source : WordNet®

Hanseatic League
     n : a commercial and defensive confederation of free cities in
         northern Germany and surrounding areas; formed in the
         13th century and most powerful in the 14th century