The Hanseatic League was an association of German towns that monopolised Baltic and North Sea trade from its foundation in 1241, until its influence gradually declined due to changes in merchant activity from 1400 onwards. The League was founded on the basis of free trade between Hanseatic towns, in addition to providing member towns protection from external threats and international piracy through a cumulative defence effort. The importance of the League in England is shown by Hanseatic merchants only paying one third of the customs fees that other foreign merchants paid on important English goods, such as cloth, even after numerous attempts to reduce their influence over the period.