Answer:
A. . Protect merchants from
Step-by-step explanation:
Hanseatic League: A commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe.
The Hanseatic League (also known as Hansa, Hanse, 1356-1862 CE) was a federation of north German towns and cities formed in the 12th century CE to facilitate trade and protect mutual interests.
The basic function of the league was to protect and control trade throughout the region. The league set common trade tariffs and taxes for all of the merchant guilds it controlled. If somebody wanted to trade with any of these towns, they had to agree to the terms of the Hanseatic League