hanse

noun3

1. •
   (historical) The guildhall of a Hanse.
2. •
   (historical) A fee payable to the Hanse, particularly its entrance fee and the impost levied on non-members trading in its area.
3. •
   That part of an elliptical or many-centred arch which has the shorter radius and immediately adjoins the impost.

   • The building, from the tenor of the whole description, was in the style of the Renaissance, and the pillars (spiral or wreathed) probably supported the hanses, or spring of the arch. — 1846

noun4

1. •
   (historical) A merchant guild, particularly the Fellowship of London Merchants (the "Old Hanse") given a monopoly on London's foreign trade by the Normans or its successor, the Company of Merchant Adventurers (the "New Hanse"), incorporated in 1497 and chartered under Henry VII and Elizabeth I.
2. •
   (historical) A commercial association of Scottish free burghs in the Middle Ages.
3. •
   (historical) The Hanseatic League: a commercial association of German towns in the Middle Ages.
4. •
   (historical) The rights and privileges of such guilds, particularly their trade monopolies.