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Thanks to its strategic location, Riga has always been an important trading hub, especially with partners such as Scandinavia and other northern European countries - it even served as a connection to Byzantium. As a Viking center for trade with other nations, the main exports of the settlement were fish, other animal products and works of bone and wood. Christianity played a pivotal role in the development of the city. Although the religion arrived sometime in the 9th century, it wasn't until the incursion of the crusaders when locals were forced to adopt Europe's mainstream religion. In the 13th century Riga had a short-lived tenure as member of the Hanseatic League but fell victim to the territorial ambitions of large empires in northern and eastern Europe. The city changed hands regularly as it was a coveted prize due to its economic power and strategic location. In different periods of its history, Riga has been a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Swedish Empire, the German Empire, the Russian Empire and the USSR. The city was proclaimed capital of the newly independent country of Latvia in 1991, after freeing itself from the Soviet Union.