Please select the correct definition for the given word hanseatic league

The Hanseatic League was a commercial alliance of cities in northern Germany and other cities around the Baltic Sea, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Poland and others.  

In the second half of the 12th and early 13th centuries, several important commercial cities in northern Germany developed, such as Lubeck, Rostock, Wismar, Stralsund, Greifswald, Stettin, Danzig and Elbing. Lubeck was the most important city within a network of commercial links, and it is usually thought that this was where the Hanoverian League started. The city formed a commercial alliance and Hamburg in 1241. The term Hanseatic League started to be used in 1267. The alliance grew to include many other cities.

The League's power began to decline towards the end of the 15th century, and continued to decline with the growth of sovereign states in Europe, the discovery of America and the development of the maritime power of the Netherlands and England in the following century.

c. businesses/firms & government