Wreckage of 650-year-old ships from powerful merchant alliance found in Sweden

The vessels are cogs — the workhorse ships of the Hanseatic Alliance, a confederation of merchant guilds and market towns that spanned seven modern nations from the Netherlands to Russia, and even had member cities in England.

The group even waged war against the Denmark of King Valdermar IV to protect the interests of its members.

Despite the Alliance’s influence, however, only a handful of cogs have ever been recovered, and so experts were floored to find two within the space of a few metres of each other.

Marine archaeologist Anders Gutehall said: “The wrecks were found outside Varberg’s mediaeval predecessor, Getakärr. The area was at that time a shallow bay, but is now filled up.

“The wrecks are of a ship type called cog — these were mediaeval, single-masted transport vessels that are often associated with the Hanseatic League.

“But they were also used across the whole of Northern Europe.

“Before these two wrecks were discovered, only seven other cogs were known in Sweden, and only around 30 are known in the whole of Europe.”

Marine archaeologist Anders Gutehall said: “The wrecks were found outside Varberg’s mediaeval predecessor, Getakärr. The area was at that time a shallow bay, but is now filled up.

“The wrecks are of a ship type called cog — these were mediaeval, single-masted transport vessels that are often associated with the Hanseatic League.

“But they were also used across the whole of Northern Europe.

“Before these two wrecks were discovered, only seven other cogs were known in Sweden, and only around 30 are known in the whole of Europe.”

Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1713146/pair-ships-mediaeval-hanseatic-alliance-varberg-sweden-archaeology