Deventer was founded by the English missionary Lebuinus around 768, who built a wooden church on the border of the IJssel. Deventer, one of the oldest towns in the Netherlands, received city rights in 956 and between 1000 and 1500 Deventer became a flourishing trade city with its harbour on the river IJssel. The city was a prominent member of the Hanseatic League. In the Middle Ages merchants from all over Europe came to Deventer. In the city are about hundreds of monumental restored buildings, most from the old Hanseatic days.