As early as the beginning of the 13th century, the city belonged to the Hanseatic League (an association of Northern European trading cities from the Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern era).

A golden period for Bruges began then. The quay was developed so that ships coming to Bruges with Normandy grain, Gascony wine, and cloth could dock at it. Bruges became a major trading city with areas around the Mediterranean. It also began trading spices with the Levant (a term for countries on the eastern, Asian coast of the Mediterranean).