and, since about the 6th century, the Slavs. The affected territory stretched roughly from modern Estonia in the North to modern Slovenia in the South. Population growth during the High Middle Ages stimulated the movement of peoples from the Rhenish, Flemish, and Saxon territories of the Holy Roman Empire eastwards into the less populated Baltic region and Poland. These movements were supported by the German nobility, the Slavic kings and dukes, and the medieval Church. The majority of this settlement was peaceful, although it sometimes took place at the expense of Slavs and pagan Balts (see Northern Crusades). Ostsiedlung accelerated along the Baltic with the advent of the Teutonic Order. Likewise, in Styria and Carinthia, German communities took form in areas inhabited by Slovenes. In the middle of the 14th century, the settling progress slowed as a result of the Black Death; in addition, the most arable and promising regions were largely occupied. Local Slavic leaders in late Medieval Pomerania and Silesia continued inviting German settlers to their territories. In the outcome, all previously Wendish territory were settled by a German majority and the Wends were almost completely assimilated. In areas further east, substantial German minorities were established, which either kept their customs or were assimilated by the host population. The density of villages and towns increased dramatically. German town law was introduced to most towns of the area, regardless of the percentage of German inhabitants. Areas settled during Ostsiedlung The following areas saw German settlement during the Ostsiedlung: within current Germany: Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Holstein the former eastern territories of Germany: Pomerania, East Brandenburg, East Prussia, Silesia Sudetenland (Sudeten Germans) Transylvania as well as significant parts of Moldavia (especially Bukovina) and Wallachia (Transylvanian Saxons) Carpathian Mountains (Carpathian Germans) Memelland, Estonia and Latvia (Baltic Germans) Poland (see History of Poland during the Piast dynasty) Walddeutsche Bulgaria (see Germans in Bulgaria) Slovenia (see Gottscheers) and others German-run enterprises resulting in German settlements Hanseatic League Between the 13th and 17th centuries, trade in the Baltic Sea and Central Europe (beyond Germany) became dominated by German trade through the Hanseatic League (). The league was a Low-German-speaking military alliance of trading guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly over the Baltic and to a certain extent the North Sea. Hanseatic towns and trade stations usually hosted relatively large German populations, with merchant dynasties being the wealthiest and political dominant fractions. Teutonic