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Rh course, as over-lords, had their Vogt (advocatus) in the town, but this official, as the city grew in power, became subordinate to the Rath, as at Lübeck.

The wealth of the town was increased in 1189 by the destruction of the flourishing trading centre of Bardowieck by Henry the Lion; from this time it began to be much frequented by Flemish merchants. In 1201 the city submitted to Valdemar of Schleswig, after his victory over the count of Holstein, but in 1225, owing to the capture of King Valdemar II. of Denmark by Henry of Schwerin, it once more exchanged the Danish over-lordship for that of the counts of Schauenburg, who established themselves here and in 1231 built a strong castle to hold it in check. The defensive alliance of the city with Lübeck in 1241, extended for other purpose by the treaty of 1255, practically laid the foundations of the (q.v.), of which Hamburg continued to be one of the principal members. The internal organization of the city, too, was rendered more stable by the new constitution of 1270, and the recognition in 1292 of the complete internal autonomy of the city by the count of Schauenburg. The exclusion of the handicraftsmen from the Rath led, early in the 15th century, to a rising of the craft gilds against the patrician merchants, and in 1410 they forced the latter to recognize the authority of a committee of 48 burghers, which concluded with the senate the so-called First Recess; there were, however, fresh outbursts in 1458 and 1483, which were settled by further compromises. In 1461 Hamburg did homage to Christian I. of Denmark, as heir of the Schauenburg counts; but the suzerainty of Denmark was merely nominal and soon repudiated altogether; in 1510 Hamburg was made a free imperial city by the emperor Maximilian I.

In 1529 the Reformation was definitively established in Hamburg by the Great Recess of the 19th of February, which at the same time vested the government of the city in the Rath, together with the three colleges of the Oberalten, the Forty-eight (increased to 60 in 1685) and the Hundred and Forty-four (increased to 180). The ordinary burgesses consisted of the freeholders and the master-workmen of the gilds. In 1536 Hamburg joined the league of Schmalkalden, for which error it had to pay a heavy fine in 1547 when the league had been defeated. During the same period the Lutheran zeal of the citizens led to the expulsion of the Mennonites and other Protestant sects, who founded Altona. The loss this brought to the city was, however, compensated for by the immigration of Protestant refugees from the Low Countries and Jews from Spain and Portugal. In 1549, too, the English merchant adventurers removed their staple from Antwerp to Hamburg.

The 17th century saw notable developments. Hamburg had established, so early as the 16th century, a regular postal service with certain cities in the interior of Germany, e.g. Leipzig and Breslau; in 1615 it was included in the postal system of Turn and Taxis. In 1603 Hamburg received a code of laws regulating exchange, and in 1619 the bank was established. In 1615 the Neustadt was included within the city walls. During the Thirty Years’ War the city received no direct harm; but the ruin of Germany reacted upon its prosperity, and the misery of the lower orders led to an agitation against the Rath. In 1685, at the invitation of the popular leaders, the Danes appeared before Hamburg demanding the traditional homage; they were repulsed, but the internal troubles continued, culminating in 1708 in the victory of the democratic factions. The imperial government, however, intervened, and in 1712 the “Great Recess” established durable good relations between the Rath and the commonalty. Frederick IV. of Denmark, who had seized the opportunity to threaten the city (1712), was bought off with a ransom of 246,000 Reichsthaler. Denmark, however, only finally renounced her claims by the treaty of Gottorp in 1768, and in 1770 Hamburg was admitted for the first time to a representation in the diet of the empire.

The trade of Hamburg received its first great impulse in 1783, when the United States, by the treaty of Paris, became an independent power. From this time dates its first direct maritime communication with America. Its commerce was further extended and developed by the French occupation of Holland in 1795, when the Dutch trade was largely directed to its port. The French Revolution and the insecurity of the political situation, however, exercised a depressing and retarding effect. The wars which ensued, the closing of continental ports against English trade, the occupation of the city after the disastrous battle of Jena, and pestilence within its walls brought about a severe commercial crisis and caused a serious decline in its prosperity. Moreover, the great contributions levied by Napoleon on the city, the plundering of its bank by Davoust, and the burning of its prosperous suburbs inflicted wounds from which the city but slowly recovered. Under the long peace which followed the close of the Napoleonic wars, its trade gradually revived, fostered by the declaration of independence of South and Central America, with both of which it energetically opened close commercial relations, and by the introduction of steam navigation. The first steamboat was seen on the Elbe on the 17th of June 1816; in 1826 a regular steam communication was opened with London; and in 1856 the first direct steamship line linked the port with the United States. The great fire of 1842 (5th-8th of May) laid in waste the greatest part of the business quarter of the city and caused a temporary interruption of its commerce. The city, however, soon rose from its ashes, the churches were rebuilt and new streets laid out on a scale of considerable magnificence. In 1866 Hamburg joined the North German Confederation, and in 1871, while remaining outside the Zollverein, became a constituent state of the German empire. In 1883–1888 the works for the Free Harbour were completed, and on the 18th of October 1888 Hamburg joined the Customs Union (Zollverein). In 1892 the cholera raged within its walls, carried off 8500 of its inhabitants, and caused considerable losses to its commerce and industry; but the visitation was not without its salutary fruits, for an improved drainage system, better hospital accommodation, and a purer water-supply have since combined to make it one of the healthiest commercial cities of Europe.

Further details about Hamburg will be found in the following works: O. C. Gaedechens, Historische Topographie der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg (1880); E. H. Wichmann, Heimatskunde von Hamburg (1863); W. Melhop, Historische Topographie der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg von 1880–1895 (1896); Wulff, Hamburgische Gesetze und Verordnungen (1889–1896); and W. von Melle, Das hamburgische Staatsrecht (1891). There are many valuable official publications which may be consulted, among these being: Statistik des hamburgischen Staates (1867–1904); Hamburgs Handel und Schiffahrt (1847–1903); the yearly Hamburgischer Staatskalender; and Jahrbuch der Hamburger wissenschaftlichen Anstalten. See also Hamburg und seine Bauten (1890); H. Benrath, Lokalführer durch Hamburg und Umgebungen (1904); and the consular reports by Sir William Ward, H.B.M.’s consul-general at Hamburg, to whom the author is indebted for great assistance in compiling this article.

For the history of Hamburg see the Zeitschrift des Vereins für hamburgische Geschichte (1841, fol.); G. Dehio, Geschichte des Erzbistums Hamburg-Bremen (Berlin, 1877); the Hamburgisches Urkundenbuch (1842), the Hamburgische Chroniken (1852–1861), and the Chronica der Stadt Hamburg bis 1557 of Adam Tratziger (1865), all three edited by J. M. Lappenberg; the Briefsammlung des hamburgischen Superintendenten Joachim Westphal 1530–1575, edited by C. H. W. Sillem (1903); Gallois, Geschichte der Stadt Hamburg (1853–1856); K. Koppmann, Aus Hamburgs Vergangenheit (1885), and Kammereirechnungen der Stadt Hamburg (1869–1894); H. W. C. Hubbe, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Stadt Hamburg (1897); C. Mönckeberg, Geschichte der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg (1885); E. H. Wichmann, Hamburgische Geschichte in Darstellungen aus alter und neuer Zeit (1889); and R. Bollheimer, Zeittafeln der hamburgischen Geschichte (1895).

HAMDĀNĪ, in full (d. 945), Arabian geographer, also known as Ibn ul-Ḥāʽik. Little is known of him except that he belonged to a family of Yemen, was held in repute as a grammarian in his own country, wrote much poetry, compiled astronomical tables, devoted most of his life to the study of the ancient history and geography of Arabia, and died in prison at Sanʽa in 945. His Geography of the Arabian Peninsula (Kitāb Jazīrat ul-ʽArab) is by far the most important work on the subject. After being used in manuscript by A. Sprenger in his Post- und Reiserouten des Orients (Leipzig, 1864) and further