BostonStumpWebBoston marked International Hanseatic Day on Saturday 21 May with a medieval procession to Boston Stump.  The Knights of Skirbeck medieval re-enactment group added to the atmosphere and the four members of Boston’s Youth Hanse joined the procession to lay flowers on the tomb of Wisselus Smalenburg, a Hanseatic merchant who died in Boston in the early 14th century.

International Hanseatic Day celebrates both the prosperous past and the exciting future opportunities that lie in the trading and cultural links between the towns and cities that make up the Hanseatic League. Boston rejoined the Hanseatic League last year, after a 700-year absence. Boston was a warehousing site and trading partner with Hanseatic League countries in medieval times and owed much of its early prosperity to the trade it enjoyed from across the North Sea. It joins 183 towns and cities including King’s Lynn, Kingston upon Hull, Aberdeen and other members from Belarus, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden in the Die Hanse, the modern-day Hanseatic League.

In his Hanse Day Speech the Worshipful the Mayor of Boston, Councillor Stephen Woodliffe, said: “I believe that this new Hanseatic League offers much more than the historical version, as it is much more than just a commercial arrangement. It offers new opportunities for the sharing of culture and friendship which will benefit everyone, making our communities stronger and not just richer.”

There are some great photographs of the event on the Boston Target website at bostontarget.co.uk.