on 7 april 1438, philip the good, duke of burgundy allowed dutch privateering against the six wendish cities of the league—hamburg, lübeck, lüneburg, greifswald, stettin (now szczecin) and anklam—and the duchy of holstein. on 23 april, the hanseatic league informed its member cities of a possible war with holland and advised shipping via flanders, rather than holland or zeeland.