From the Amber Coast to Thule ...

[rust]

Over the last few months I have been working on a series of "alternate earth island settings",

experimenting with different approaches to the same basic idea, but without the result I was

hoping for. Last week we fled to Crete for a few days to get out of the rain (we had the worst

May in recorded history, and we have a lot of recorded history here ...), and there I described

my problem with the settings to my lady, and also mentioned Crusaders of the Amber Coast as

a fine alternative to my own settings. Somehow the settings got mixed up, and at the end we

had outlined yet another one of those island settings ...

This one starts with a small fictional knightly order, the Pruthenic Order, somewhere on the Bal-

tic Coast. The order is in serious trouble, under pressure both from the much bigger and po-

werful Teutonic Order, which wants to take over the order's few holdings, and from the church,

because the order has connections to the Franciscan Spirituals, recently condemned as heretics

by the Pope and now hunted by the inquisition. It seems highly unlikely that the order will be

able to survive the next few years on the Amber Coast.

Grand Master Wenzel von Taube, now a desperate man, therefore developed a desperate plan:

The Pruthenic Order needs a sanctuary, its own land as far and as safe from the hostile powers

as possible, and it has to be possible to aquire and hold this land with the order's very limited

manpower and financial means. After some research, Wenzel von Taube has come to the con-

clusion that the best place to relocate the order to would be Thule in the far north.

Thule is a big island in the far west, beyond Iceland. It once was settled by Norsemen from Nor-

way, but their settlements failed for unknown reasons, and the land is now uninhabited again

(except for some natives, of course ...). A Portuguese ship visited the coast of Thule and the

abandoned settlements a few decades ago, and the Grand Master managed to buy a copy of

the rutter of that ship's pilot.

The Grand Master now plans to send the order's only seagoing ship, the cog "Wolf von Tukums"

under the command of Captain Gottfried von Ascheberg and a Portuguese pilot hired for this vo-

yage to help with the Portuguese rutter, via Bergen and Iceland to Thule to explore the sea rou-

te and to find out whether the old Norse settlements really are abandoned and whether it would

be possible to found a colony of the order there.

If so, Wenzel von Taube intends to send some knights of the order, a Franciscan priest, some

craftsmen and a few dozen commoners from the order's Baltic holdings to Thule during the fol-

lowing year, with the task to establish a base that can serve as the core of the order's future

sanctuary colony. The order would then send more of its members, the Franciscan Spirituals

and the commoners of its holdings to Thule each year.

This campaign would have three "locations", the order's lands on the Amber Coast, the new co-

lony on the west coast of Thule, and the sea route via Bergen and Iceland in between. The Am-

ber Coast would be perfect for politics and intrigue (Teutonic Order, Papal Inquisition ...), the

Thule colony for exploration and thelike (think natives and polar bears ...), and the sea route for

adventures like combat against pirates, sea trade and thelike.

The characters would be knights of the order. They would take part in the first sea voyage to

Thule to protect the ship, explore the coast of Thule and report to the Grand Master, and they

would then be sent to Thule the next year to help to establish and organize the first settlement.

The system for this campaign would be my usual "BRP-enriched Call of Cthulhu", with some ad-

ditional material (especially seafaring rules, price lists, etc.) from Harnmaster and probably Ru-

nequest II Empires as "metagame rules" for the development of the colony on Thule.

Well, that's it for the moment ...

[GianniVacca]

Kewl idea. Island settings are indeed intriguing.

[RosenMcStern]

Please note that there actually was a historical "Pruthenic Order" assimilated by the Teutonic Knights - the Knights of Dobrzyn, founded by the Bishop of Prussia. Maybe they were not thoroughly assimilated in your world...

[GianniVacca]

Please note that there actually was a historical "Pruthenic Order" assimilated by the Teutonic Knights - the Knights of Dobrzyn, founded by the Bishop of Prussia. Maybe they were not thoroughly assimilated in your world...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Dobrzy%C5%84: in around 1235 the majority of the Knights joined the Teutonic Order...

[rust]

Please note that there actually was a historical "Pruthenic Order" assimilated by the Teutonic Knights - the Knights of Dobrzyn, founded by the Bishop of Prussia. Maybe they were not thoroughly assimilated in your world...

Yes, they are the model for my Pruthenic Order. I thought that it would be too implausible that

all members of an order would accept their Grand Master's plan to relocate to some far away

land, so only the "heretic" minority of the knights will go to Thule, while the majority will decide

to join the Teutonic Order.

However, I had to change history quite a bit for this setting idea, combining events that in our

real world took place in different centuries, for example the Portuguese exploration of the North

Atlantic, the end of the Norse settlements on Greenland (the model for my Thule) and the con-

flict between the Franciscan Spirituals and the church require some "historical handwaving" to

bring them together - with this setting I am closer to "Hollywood History" than usual, and I see

it more as low fantasy than as historical.

This will become even more obvious later in the campaign, because I intend to borrow heavily

from Puck's supplement The Green for the natives of the "Forest Coast" (my equivalent for La-

brador), where the settlers on Thule will have to go to aquire the wood that does not grow on

Thule and would be too expensive to import from Norway or the British Isles. While I could try

to research the Innu who actually inhabited Labrador at the time, there are only extremely few

reliable informations on them, so I think I can just as well use some of Puck's well designed

fantasy tribes, minus their magic (almost no magic in this setting).

Well, and the roles Denmark and Norway and the Hanse will have in my setting will also be ra-

ther unhistorical, I think. I doubt that the Danes and / or Norwegians would have allowed some-

one else to settle on Thule / Greenland, and the Hanse would probably not have agreed to es-

tablish a trade route from Bergen to Thule / Greenland (something the characters could achieve

with some clever trading and diplomacy, if the players think of it).

Thank you for the link.

[Bleddyn]

rust sounds Awesome.... the Teutonic order and the Livonian Orders rough nasty and dark .... just the way I like it.

[rust]

rust sounds Awesome.... the Teutonic order and the Livonian Orders rough nasty and dark .... just the way I like it.

Thank you very much.

I am currently working on some ideas to make life challenging for the player characters.

The first one is the Papal Inquisition, which will try to frame the order because of its support for

the "heretic" Franciscans, with the aim to enforce a dissolution of the order and the transfer of

its property to the Teutonic Order.

There is no doubt that the Papal Inquisition and the Teutonic Order will finally succeed, and the

characters will have not much time to move as much as possible of the order's followers and

property to Thule before the inquisition's hammer falls - a desperate race against time, with on-

ly one ship that cannot sail the North Atlantic during the stormy winter months, and with the ad-

ditional problem that the colony on Thule will fail if the characters do not manage to move all

the required equipment to the island before the order is abolished.

The second one is more of a moral problem. The characters and the other knights of the order

have made the usual vow of chastity, and chastity is a very nasty disadvantage for people who

intend to found a colony - without children the order and its colony on Thule would be rather

short lived.

Moreover, even if the knights decide to start their version of the Reformation very early and to

marry and raise families, they still need women to do so, preferably noble women. It will not be

easy to convince a sufficient number of noble born maidens to join a colony of heretics on some

remote and uncivilized island, but without such women the colony is bound to fail.

Oh, by the way, the order's coat of arms:

Edited June 11, 2010 by rust

[soltakss]

The second one is more of a moral problem. The characters and the other knights of the order

have made the usual vow of chastity, and chastity is a very nasty disadvantage for people who

intend to found a colony - without children the order and its colony on Thule would be rather

short lived.

Well, Chastity and Celibacy are different Vows, although we tend to conflate them these days.

There is at least one Order of knights in Iberia at the time that takes a Vow of Chastity but whose members may remain married. Chastity would include things like not having relations with anyone but one's wife and not having sex on Holy Days or Feast days or during Lent or during Easter or on Sundays.

Also, many Orders have Lay Brothers as well as Knights. The Lay Brothers may well bring their wives along and could be the ones who populate the Isles.

Moreover, even if the knights decide to start their version of the Reformation very early and to

marry and raise families, they still need women to do so, preferably noble women. It will not be

easy to convince a sufficient number of noble born maidens to join a colony of heretics on some

remote and uncivilized island, but without such women the colony is bound to fail.

It is easier than you think.

In Medieval times, many women looked to marry handsome, dashing or rich knights, even following them to exile. If the knights are heretics then they probably come from families with similar beliefs and those families would have daughters aplenty. Ladies are quite keen on civilising wildernesses and flocked to the Holy Land or to iberia, for instance. Also, why do they have to be willing? Abduction-marriages were quite common at this time - even Eleanor of Aquitaine married Henry of Anjou because she was in danger of being abducted by a number of powerful Lords who had their eye on her position as Heiress of Aquitaine. There would be no shortage of young women from the minor nobility who could be kidnapped and taken to Thule - after all, that way their families don't have to pay a dowry.

[rust]

Thank you very much for these informations, they solve one of my major remaining problems

with this setting.

I very much like this one, because it offers a nice opportunity for a different kind of adventure:

There would be no shortage of young women from the minor nobility who could be kidnapped and taken to Thule - after all, that way their families don't have to pay a dowry.

This would mean to sneak back to the Amber Coast, avoiding the Papal Inquisition and the Teu-

tonic Order, finding some suitable and hopefully at least somewhat willing "victims" and ship-

ping them off to Thule before anyone can decide to prevent this "kidnapping operation".

Plus, it includes the option for future "domestic problems" with women who come to the con-

clusion that this is not the life they hoped for, or who discover that they would very much have

preferred to become the wife of another one of the knights ...

[rust]

A campaign usually needs a powerful "villain" as the characters' opponent, and in this case the

Teutonic Order will have that role.

The Teutonic Order is behind the Papal Inquisition's "interest" in the Pruthenic Order, because

it wants to assimilate the smaller order. Of course, the Teutonic Order does not want a few

dozen more and potentially unruly knights, what it really wants is the Pruthenic Order's proper-

ty, especially the nine large and profitable holdings on the Amber Coast.

However, Grand Master Wenzel von Taube of the Pruthenic Order has other plans. He has al-

ready begun to sell some of his order's assets to finance his Thule plans, and the ship that will

bring the first settlers to Thule will also carry a significant part of the order's treasure to the

future colony.

And while the Grand Master cannot sell the order's holdings, because they are fiefs, he still can

bleed them dry, for example by offering freedom and land to all of the suitable serfs for joining

the Thule colony, thus removing the best and most skilled workers from the nine holdings.

When the Pope finally decides to dissolve the Pruthenic Order, there will be not much of its pro-

perty left on the Amber Coast. The Teutonic Order will not like this. Moreover, it will consider

the colony on Thule as part of its own rightful property, "stolen" by the Pruthenic Order.

And while the Teutonic Order will hardly be angry enough to spend the resources for an expe-

dition to Thule to conquer the colony, the Teutonic Knights will otherwise do whatever they can

to make life miserable for the "fugitive thieves and heretics" on Thule ...

[RosenMcStern]

Note also that you can add elements from Deus Vult to such a campaign...

The Teutonic Order is behind the Papal Inquisition's "interest" in the Pruthenic Order, because

it wants to assimilate the smaller order. Of course, the Teutonic Order does not want a few

dozen more and potentially unruly knights, what it really wants is the Pruthenic Order's proper-

ty, especially the nine large and profitable holdings on the Amber Coast.

Please note that in the first half of the 13th Century the Teutonic Knights backed the Emperor against the Pope. Grand Master Hermann von Salza was witness in the agreement between Frederick II and the Sultan of Egypt that retook Jerusalem with diplomacy and not with arms - an agreement that the Pope really did not like.

And while the Grand Master cannot sell the order's holdings, because they are fiefs, he still can

bleed them dry, for example by offering freedom and land to all of the suitable serfs for joining

the Thule colony, thus removing the best and most skilled workers from the nine holdings.

Yep. The Knights need peasants for their new colony, so they will probably take them from Prussia.

However, please consider one very important fact: all peasants of Prussia and Livonia are pagan at the time (they just pretend to be Christian). This means that the Knights are taking several witches in disguise with them among the peasants. And, as nature magic practitioners, these witches are really, really likely to be able to contact and appease the resident spirits of Thule. Maybe they can also summon the spirits of the dead from the late Viking colony of Greenland. Who could, in turn, tell them about a much, much richer land far to the West...

[rust]

Thank you very much for these ideas.

Please note that in the first half of the 13th Century the Teutonic Knights backed the Emperor against the Pope. Grand Master Hermann von Salza was witness in the agreement between Frederick II and the Sultan of Egypt that retook Jerusalem with diplomacy and not with arms - an agreement that the Pope really did not like.

This could be another one of the points where I will probably have to "Go Hollywood" with the

real world history, although it seems that I could use the situation after Hermann von Salza's

death in 1239 and make the Landmeister of Prussia instead of the Großmeister of the Order

my campaign's chief villain. Since the Papal Inquisition was established after 1230, this could

be at least somewhat pseudo-historical.

However, please consider one very important fact: all peasants of Prussia and Livonia are pagan at the time (they just pretend to be Christian). This means that the Knights are taking several witches in disguise with them among the peasants. And, as nature magic practitioners, these witches are really, really likely to be able to contact and appease the resident spirits of Thule. Maybe they can also summon the spirits of the dead from the late Viking colony of Greenland. Who could, in turn, tell them about a much, much richer land far to the West...

Hmmm ... I originally intended to use no magic in this setting, or at least only a very low magic,

but this is a very fascinating idea, another interesting challenge for the player characters - es-

pecially if one of the players decides to play a monk or priest, but also for the knightly leaders

of the colony.

I could at least have both sides, pagans and members of the order, believe that the pagan ma-

gic is real, and leave it open whether it really does work, with just enough strange events to

keep the players and their characters in doubt.

The knights will of course want to suppress the pagan faith, and especially the magic, but at the

same time they cannot afford any harsh measures, because they urgently need the peasants to

keep their colony going - and some of the pagan magic or traditional knowledge considered as

magic might turn out to be most useful (e.g. healing).

This would call for slow, prudent missionary work, "re-defining" pagan ideas as Christian ones

wherever possible, and so on - a good roleplaying opportunity.

Plus, it could create an internal conflict within the colony whenever I have the impression that

life has become too easy for the player characters and the threat of a peasant revolt would help

to bring the characters back into trouble ...

[rust]

As for the game system, I think I will base it upon the modification of the Call of Cthulhu rules

from the German Call of Cthulhu supplement "Mittelalter" ("Middle Ages").

Some parts of these rules feel a bit ... clumsy, perhaps, and I will probably have to modify the

modifications somewhat and introduce some concepts from BRP, but all in all it should work.

I will of course not use the Cthulhu Mythos skill, it will be replaced by a new Knowledge (Thule)

skill that includes knowledge about the colony and the land as well as basic survival skill and be-

gins at 0 %, improving both through living on Thule (a certain percentage per year, up to a li-

mit of perhaps 75 % after some years on Thule) and through experience checks related to ex-

ploration and thelike.

"Mittelalter" has an interesting way to treat the science skills. It distinguishes between "Quadri-

vium" (the four traditional natural, mathematical sciences), "Trivium" (the three traditional lan-

guage sciences), "Law", "Medicine" and "Theology". I think I will use this unchanged, it has a

nice medieval feel to it.

[Atgxtg]

"Mittelalter" has an interesting way to treat the science skills. It distinguishes between "Quadri-

vium" (the four traditional natural, mathematical sciences), "Trivium" (the three traditional lan-

guage sciences), "Law", "Medicine" and "Theology". I think I will use this unchanged, it has a

nice medieval feel to it.

Does is treat the Quadrivium as a single skill that replaces the four mathematics? And does the Trivium do the same with Law, Medicine and Theology?

[rust]

Does is treat the Quadrivium as a single skill that replaces the four mathematics? And does the Trivium do the same with Law, Medicine and Theology?

The Quadrivium is one skill that covers Mathematics, Geometry, Astronomy and Music, the

Trivium is a second skill that covers Grammar, Rhetorics and Dialectics, together they are the

Septem Artes Liberales / Seven Free Arts taught as the basic scientific education at the medie-

val universities.

The Quadrivium also covers the basics of physics, architecture and engineering, the Trivium

includes the basics of diplomacy and literature.

Law, Medicine and Theology are three more and different skills, because they were taught ei-

ther as a higher education after the Quadrivium and Trivium or at specialized schools.

What is missing are sciences like biology or history, but they are covered by the various non-

scientific skills that were not taught at the universities, for example Nature Lore.

[rust]

Thanks to the many excellent ideas from the people here on BRP Central my Thule setting does

begin to look like something useful.

The biggest remaining problem I am aware of is the one pointed out by RosenMcStern, the fact

that the pagan Baltic peasants are not very likely to accept the rulership of the Christian German

knights for ever.

Low taxes and the promise of their own land for all Baltic settlers, the need to cooperate to cre-

ate and run a viable colony in the harsh environment of Thule and the existence of a real or as-

sumed common enemy can help to suppress that conflict, but they are no real solution, and a

wise Grand Master of the order should have a better plan.

Such a plan could be to adopt at least some of the Baltic settlers into the order, for example to

make each of them who made an outstanding contribution to the development of the colony a

knight and member of the order.

This would also help to keep the number of knights on an acceptable level and to bring fresh

blood into the order - with a very literal meaning: The children of the new Baltic nobility of the

order could marry the children of the German knights, which would prevent inbreeding among

the few German noble families and create a more acceptable leadership of mixed descent with

a steadily increasing Baltic element.

[SDLeary]

"Mittelalter" has an interesting way to treat the science skills. It distinguishes between "Quadri-

vium" (the four traditional natural, mathematical sciences), "Trivium" (the three traditional lan-

guage sciences), "Law", "Medicine" and "Theology". I think I will use this unchanged, it has a

nice medieval feel to it.

Nice to see that they adopted this. Stephane introduced this in the CDA Errata on his site some time ago. And yes, it does give a nice medieval feel. It does look like they changed Trivium a bit though... CDA has it as:

Trivium (01%): formally grammar, rhetoric, and

dialectic. The Trivium covers the theory of language,

knowledge of literature, and logic. In terms of skills, the

student learns eloquence and practical logic, both useful to

achieve success in political spheres. To resolve a heated

debate or difficult negotiations, the Keeper can request a

Trivium skill roll instead of Persuade, Idea, or even Status.

A successful Trivium roll may be required in order to

identify a particular classical writer or one of his books,

before an effective Library Search. In effect, the Trivium

starts where Read/Write Language and Persuade stop.

SDLeary

OOPS! Should read the whole thread first!

[RosenMcStern]

Actually, this is a very, very interesting "what if" scenario, as neither the Knights of Dobrzyn nor the Prussians survived until modern times. What could have happened if some of them had fled Northwards? Perhaps some modern time archaeologist might discover the remnants of a long lost colony in Greenland.

[rust]

Actually, this is a very, very interesting "what if" scenario ...

Thank you very much.

While still seeking for ways a wise Grand Master could choose to make conflicts between the

order and the Baltic settlers somewhat less probable, I also thought of symbols, in this case

of a symbol that underlines that the order is an important part of the colony, but it is not the

colony.

One way could be to use different coats of arms and flags for the order and for the colony.

This could also help if the order should indeed be condemned as heretic and dissolved by the

Pope (according to my campaign timeline, this will almost certainly happen), the order would

"disappear" and a "state" with a similar, but different symbol would "appear".

This could also reflect a distinction between a leader of the order, the Grand Master, and an

administrator of the colony (the Governor ?), who "only" happens to be a member of the or-

der.

The coat of arms of the order is in a previous post, the one below could be the coat of arms

of the Thule colony.

Another, minor but helpful fact could be that the German craftsmen of the order will have to

accept the children of Baltic settlers as apprentices, simply because the colony will need more

craftsmen and therefore apprentices than the German families alone could provide, especially

since the children of the noble German knights will hardly learn a craft.

And then there is the "education system". With the heretic Franciscan Spirituals that accompa-

nied the order to Thule, the colony has the "manpower" for a (very) small monastery, including

an equally small school for (some of) the children of the colony, including Baltic children (pro-

vided their parents can be persuaded to send them to this school).

Finally there is the "constitution" of the colony (I do not know a good medieval sounding word

for this), which could give at least some rights and power to a Baltic "colony elder" elected by

the Baltic settlers.

Again, just some ideas, not written in stone, for what could come to the mind of a prudent lea-

der of the order.

[RosenMcStern]

Good points.

First of all, there were no lay governors in the Amber Coast. All newfound colonies were under the rule of Prince-Bishops, each of which appointed by the King of the colonizing nation . Why should Thule be an exception?

Secondly, there actually was an equivalent to a modern Constitution at that time, and it was the City Law, that regulated administration of the urban areas. The most common one was the Law of Lubeck, the foundation of the Hanseatic League. But in Prussia the Law of Kulm was more common. Your colonists, most of which come from the Kulm area or a nearby place, could adopt the latter one - once they found a city.

[rust]

First of all, there were no lay governors in the Amber Coast. All newfound colonies were under the rule of Prince-Bishops, each of which appointed by the King of the colonizing nation . Why should Thule be an exception?

I thought about this, but I am still not sure how to handle it, because there seem to be two pro-

blems: The Thule colony does not really have a colonizing nation as its background, the Grand

Master acts without any authorization or mission, and since these knights of the order are un-

der suspicion of heresy, it could be quite difficult to find someone able and willing to appoint a

bishop - who then would immediately come into conflict with the order, the Pope, or both.

As it is, the Grand Master probably could declare himself the prince of an independent state on

Thule, where the land is currently not owned by anyone else (although Norway probably has so-

me claims), and then start to look for a (not too) powerful monarch as the colony's protector.

Since Thule is a bit far from the Holy Roman Empire, the King of Norway could be a better choi-

ce than the King of Germany or the Emperor, and this would also avoid a conflict over potential

Norwegian claims on Thule (and offer an excellent opportunity for a diplomatic adventure to

hammer out the details of the treaty between the colony and Norway).

Thank you for the idea with the City Law, perhaps a Colony Law or "Thule Law" would be the

solution here.

[rust]

After some more research I think the best date to start this campaign could be 1240 AD.

The Pope in office at this time, the one who sends the inquisition to investigate my setting's

order, would be Gregor IX - the perfect man for the job, because he indeed created the Pa-

pal Inquisition, persecuted what he considered heretics, and condemned those Franciscans

who followed the teachings of Joachim of Fiore. After this Pope's death there was an inter-

regnum, and in 1243 Innocent IV became Pope. He more or less continued the same policy,

making it plausible for him to dissolve the order later in the campaign.

The other historical personality that could become very important for this setting would be

the King of Norway, and between 1240 and 1263 this was Hakon IV Hakonsson. During his

reign Iceland signed a treaty with Norway to become a part of the kingdom, and Greenland

also accepted the Norwegian rule - again a perfect fit for the setting, requiring only very few

modifications from real world history to alternate campaign history.

[rust]

I have now finished the first draft of the "campaign plan" with the background events from 1240

to 1250. It seems there will be quite a lot of action going on in the background, with the battles

on the Newa and on the Peipus Lake, the Mongol invasion, and all that.

The first major uprising of the Prussians also falls into these years, and this one could become

an adventure, for example with the characters escorting Prussian settlers from Thorn to Danzig

through an area mostly held by the Prussian insurgents - definitely not an easy task.

Another adventure will probably happen in 1246, the year when the Pope will finally decide to

dissolve the order, its Grand Master and his remaining followers will be imprisoned by the Teu-

tonic Order, and the characters will have to rescue them and to take them to Thule.

Over there on Thule the campaign will include the first hunting expedition for walrus ivory, in-

cluding the first encounter with the natives of Thule, and another first expedition to the Forest

Coast (of North America) with an opportunity to discover the ruins of a Norse settlement there,

and thereby the fate of the Norse settlers of Thule (relocated to North America and there killed

by the Naskapi warriors).

[rust]

When I started working on this setting, I expected that the economy would become a major

problem, forcing the colony on Thule to remain a quite miserable and poor place to live. How-

ever, looking at the Harnmaster price lists, this is not the case - in fact, the colonists obvious-

ly can lead comparatively comfortable lives, although in a harsh environment.

Harnmaster gives a price of 150 d for a walrus tusk and about 750 d for a narwhale "horn"

(and a lot of man-days of food for the carcasses), and for example 24 d for a seal skin.

On the other hand, the resources the colony has to import are rather inexpensive. Iron costs

only 2 d per 20 pounds, charcoal 3 d per 50 pounds, salt 8 d per 20 pounds (at about 150 %

of the normal prices for these commodities). A crossbow comes at 60 d, a sword at 180 d, a

(non-illuminated) manuscript at 30 d, a sheep at 12 d, a riding horse at 360 d.

Well, and wood, the rarest resource, can be had for free on the "Forest Coast" (Labrador),

four days by sea from the colony.

Even with some more changes to include the costs of the transport by sea and the profit mar-

gin of the merchant, sealing and whaling obviously is a sufficient (although somewhat dange-

rous) way to keep the economy of the colony going well.

[RosenMcStern]

Note that you are stretching the things a bit, though. Continental Europe has little use for such commodities in 1200, and the Hanseatic League is not yet the economic power that it will become in the Renaissance. But this is just an alternate timeline, so it could work as you describe it.