The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Hanse \Hanse\, n. [G. hanse, or F. hanse (from German), OHG. &
   Goth. hansa; akin to AS. h[=o]s band, troop.]
   An association; a league or confederacy.
   [1913 Webster]

   Hanse towns (Hist.), certain commercial cities in Germany
      which associated themselves for the protection and
      enlarging of their commerce. The confederacy, called also
      Hansa and Hanseatic league, held its first diet in
      1260, and was maintained for nearly four hundred years. At
      one time the league comprised eighty-five cities. Its
      remnants, L["u]beck, Hamburg, and Bremen, are free
      cities, and are still frequently called Hanse towns.
      [1913 Webster]