Disir
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When Martin Luther published his 95 theses 500 years ago this month, so the story goes, his general target was the corruption of the church. But he also had a very particular organisation in his sights. By October 1517, the extraordinary reach and power of the Fugger banking family was threatening not only the integrity of religion, but the very foundations of European society.
If Luther’s words provided the spark for the Reformation, it was the Fuggers who provided much of the fuel.
Originally cloth merchants based in Augsburg, Germany, the Fuggers moved on from dressing aristocratic weddings to lining aristocratic pockets. It was a move that brought a corresponding rise to power and notoriety. The family’s success during the latter years of the 15th century brought them lucrative business with the Hapsburgs, the Austro-Hungarian family whose lands extended across Europe and who supplied a succession of Holy Roman Emperors for four centuries.
The man responsible for this diversification of the family business was Jakob Fugger and the first transaction was a loan of 23,627 florins to Siegmund, Archduke of Tyrol, in 1487. The loan was significant in establishing a binding relationship with powerful people. More practically, the loan was secured with a mortgage on the archduke’s prize Schwaz silver mines.
The man who gave us the Reformation – and it wasn't Martin Luther
I'm digging the 500 years of Reformation. They have been kicking out some rather interesting articles.
If Luther’s words provided the spark for the Reformation, it was the Fuggers who provided much of the fuel.
Originally cloth merchants based in Augsburg, Germany, the Fuggers moved on from dressing aristocratic weddings to lining aristocratic pockets. It was a move that brought a corresponding rise to power and notoriety. The family’s success during the latter years of the 15th century brought them lucrative business with the Hapsburgs, the Austro-Hungarian family whose lands extended across Europe and who supplied a succession of Holy Roman Emperors for four centuries.
The man responsible for this diversification of the family business was Jakob Fugger and the first transaction was a loan of 23,627 florins to Siegmund, Archduke of Tyrol, in 1487. The loan was significant in establishing a binding relationship with powerful people. More practically, the loan was secured with a mortgage on the archduke’s prize Schwaz silver mines.
The man who gave us the Reformation – and it wasn't Martin Luther
I'm digging the 500 years of Reformation. They have been kicking out some rather interesting articles.
