In 1370, Denmark’s King Valdemar IV was forced to surrender to an unlikely enemy: a private corporation.
The Hanseatic League started as a network of merchant guilds but eventually became powerful enough to dictate trade, control industries, and even defeat kings.
Sound familiar?
Today, professional associations and accreditation bodies wield similar power, controlling who gets to become a doctor, lawyer, engineer, and more.
The medieval guilds may be gone, but their modern successors are alive and well.
History doesn’t always repeat itself. Sometimes it just changes its name.
#History #Economics #Monopolies #Government #Sovereignty
