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134-722: From 1512 to 1515 Jakob Fugger the Younger (or the Rich ) built two linked houses on the Via Claudia (now Maximilianstraße) near the wine market, one as a town-house and the other as a warehouse. He designed them himself, based on notes he had taken on his travels in Italy. The secular building was the first Renaissance style building constructed north of the Alps. He bought other neighbouring houses from 1517 onwards and integrated them into

268-523: A Habsburg territory , i.e., only by males and their consorts, appanages being commonly distributed to Cadets . These "junior" archdukes did not thereby become independent hereditary rulers, since all territories remained vested in the Austrian crown. Occasionally a territory might be combined with a separate gubernatorial mandate ruled by an archducal cadet. From the 16th century onward, archduke and its female form, archduchess , came to be used by all

402-678: A Portuguese fleet to the Indian west coast (1505–1506), as well as a failed 1525 Spanish trade expedition to the Maluku Islands . With his support of the Habsburg dynasty as a banker, he had a decisive influence on European politics at the time. He financed the rise of Maximilian I and made considerable contributions to secure the election of the Spanish king Charles I to become Holy Roman Emperor Charles V . Jakob Fugger also funded

536-699: A fresco by Hans Burgkmair , which was destroyed in the Second World War and replaced by a new livery. Plaques there recall the Fugger business empire and the events of 1518, when Martin Luther was interrogated by Thomas Cajetan in the Fuggerhäuser. In the middle of the facade is the Adlertor , which indicates that the Fuggerhäuser was an imperial residence - this gate now leads to the headquarters of

670-664: A large group of monks, including Martin Luther. Partly because of the corruption within the church, Martin Luther was prompted to write his Ninety-five Theses . Following the death of Pope Alexander VI in August 1503 Jakob Fugger intensified his contacts to the Vatican in Rome. For the new Pope Julius II Fugger financed the recruitment in 1505/1506 of the Swiss Guard , which still exists today. Early dealings in Rome are attributed to

804-460: A large portion of their wealth following three Spanish state bankruptcies (1557, 1560 and 1575) under the reign of Philip II of Spain . Likely at the insistence of Jakob Fugger the company became one of the first open trading companies ( German : "der compagnia palese des welschen Rechts" ) in Europe in 1494. At the same time, it was renamed into "Ulrich Fugger of Augsburg and brothers" to show

938-577: A leading role in the family and positioned himself as the judge over the family's internal conflicts, often making use of the privilegium maius . He was able to restore the unity of the house's Austrian lands, since the Albertinian line was now extinct. Territorial integrity was also strengthened by the extinction of the Tyrolean branch of the Leopoldian line. Frederick's aim was to make Austria

1072-474: A loan of 20,000 guilders to persuade the Roman Curia to approve his additional election as Archbishop of Mainz , for this choice violated the canonical prohibition to hold more than one bishopric. Albert also did not meet the requirements for taking over a diocese , since the 24-year-old had not yet reached the appropriate age and did not have a university degree and therefore needed a study leave for which

1206-598: A realm where the sun never set , was now deeply indebted to Jakob Fugger. In 1521 the debts amounted to more than 600,000 guilders. The Emperor amortized 415,000 of this sum and in return granted the Fugger company the silver and copper mining operations of Tyrol . During the Imperial Diet of 1523 in Nuremberg it was debated whether to restrict trade capital and the number of trade establishments companies were allowed to maintain. Jakob Fugger intervened and reminded

1340-468: A relatively small role compared to the two main branches of the Fugger business, banking and mining. It is only because of the associated exotic investments that Jakob Fugger's early trading expeditions take a prominent place in the history of the Fugger business. After Vasco da Gama 's discovery of the sea route to India and the establishment of the Portuguese spice monopoly, Jakob Fugger took part in

1474-504: A result, they were at times entitled to all the silver and copper out of Tyrol. The expansion of high-risk, albeit very lucrative, business connections to Maximilian I was undoubtedly promoted by Fugger. In his view, the House of Habsburg was bound to be the dominant power and dynasty within the German region, and as such should receive his financial and political support. Jakob Fugger met

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1608-401: A share of their profits to Sigismund. Despite this income he was constantly short of money owing to a lavish lifestyle, several illegitimate children and his extensive construction projects. A responsibility to pay the amount of 100,000 guilders of war reparations to Venice was eventually financed by Jakob Fugger. In 1488 the total debt already amounted to more than 150,000 guilders. Notable

1742-460: A sum of more than 500,000 guilders, a significant portion of his wealth and of the total amount raised in his support, to ensure the seven prince-electors would choose him. Thereby he helped prevent the election of Francis I of France which would have endangered his claims and investments gravely, although it also made him highly dependent on the House of Habsburg. Much later the Fugger family lost

1876-459: A surplus of 2,132,261 guilders. Because Fugger had no direct descendants, the company and its assets were bequeathed to his nephews Raymund and Anton Fugger , who also led the company. Anton managed to double the family's fortune once more by 1546. Jakob was a lifelong Roman Catholic . In 1513 he granted the Archbishop of Magdeburg and bishop of Halberstadt , Albert of Brandenburg ,

2010-669: A united country stretching from the Rhine to the Mur and Leitha . Externally, one of Frederick's main achievements was the Siege of Neuss (1474–75), in which he coerced Charles the Bold of Burgundy to give his daughter Mary of Burgundy as wife to Frederick's son Maximilian . The wedding took place on the evening of 16 August 1477, and ultimately resulted in the Habsburgs acquiring control of

2144-430: Is a river with a ford nearby. The first documented use of the name by the dynasty itself has been traced to the year 1108. The Habsburg name was not continuously used by the family members, since they often emphasized their more prestigious princely titles. The dynasty was thus long known as the "House of Austria". Complementary, in some circumstances the family members were identified by their place of birth. Charles V

2278-559: Is how the remarkable fact came about that part of the church is denominationally different from the rest, and that the burial place of the Fugger family, who are considered strictly Catholic, is now in a Protestant church. The Fugger family already owned two houses in Augsburg in prominent locations when Jakob Fugger built the Fuggerhäuser near the wine-market (now Maximilianstraße ) from 1512 to 1515. The Builder of this Residence

2412-553: Is the world's oldest social housing complex still in use. The Damenhof, part of the Fuggerhäuser in Augsburg, is the first secular renaissance building in Germany and was built in 1515. At his death on 30 December 1525, Jakob Fugger bequeathed to his nephew Anton Fugger company assets totaling 2,032,652 guilders . He is among the most well-known Germans and arguably the most famous citizen of Augsburg, with his wealth earning him

2546-635: The Allies , were executed. The Habsburg family played a leading role in the fall of the Iron Curtain and the collapse of the Communist Eastern Bloc . As they accumulated crowns and titles, the Habsburgs developed a family tradition of multilingualism that evolved over the centuries. The Holy Roman Empire had been multilingual from the start, even though most of its emperors were native German speakers. The language issue within

2680-607: The Austrian state archive has now shown that Jakob Fugger was already representing his family business in Venice in 1473 at the age of 14. Other research showed that Jakob Fugger spent the years between 1473 and 1487 mostly at the Fondaco dei Tedeschi , the house of German merchants in Venice. Venice being one of the most important centers of trade at the time proved to be an ideal environment for Jakob Fugger's education in banking and

2814-589: The Bohemian Diet in Czech, even though it is not clear that they were fluent. By contrast there is little evidence that later Habsburgs in the 17th and 18th centuries spoke Czech, with the probable exception of Ferdinand III , who had several stays in Bohemia and appears to have spoken Czech while there. In the 19th century Francis I had some Czech and Ferdinand I spoke it decently. Franz Joseph received

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2948-656: The Burgundian Netherlands . After Mary's early death in 1482, Maximilian attempted to secure the Burgundian inheritance for one of his and Mary's children Philip the Handsome . Charles VIII of France contested this, using both military and dynastic means, but the Burgundian succession was finally ruled in favor of Philip in the Treaty of Senlis in 1493. After the death of his father in 1493, Maximilian

3082-754: The Duchy of Milan were in personal union under the King of Spain but remained part of the Holy Roman Empire . Furthermore, the Spanish king had claims on Hungary and Bohemia. In the secret Oñate treaty of 29 July 1617, the Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs settled their mutual claims. The Habsburgs sought to consolidate their power by frequent consanguineous marriages , resulting in a cumulatively deleterious effect on their gene pool . Health impairments due to inbreeding included epilepsy, insanity and early death. A study of 3,000 family members over 16 generations by

3216-579: The Emperor , especially since he operated his mines in Habsburg lands and had very high outstanding debts with the Emperor, into contrast to the majority of his fellow citizens. The Fugger family largely financed the House of Habsburg , who would play a prominent role in the Counter-Reformation . Fugger insisted that only Catholic inhabitants should "find care and cure" in his Fuggerei . As

3350-641: The Fürst Fugger Privatbank . The building is closed to the public, other than three of the inner courtyards and a three-naved hall on the ground floor of the Adlertor, which houses a bookshop at #37 Maximillianstrasse, where visitors to the shop can look onto the Damenhof . On the north side of the Damenhof and Serenadenhof is the white bay window into the quarters occupied by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor . A Fugger coat of arms features on

3484-401: The Holy Roman Empire , while more recent research shows that this was only partially true. However, close to the end of his life Maximilian was so heavily indebted to Jakob Fugger that he had no choice but to continue his support for the Emperor to still be able reclaim his outstanding debits. When Maximilian's grandson Charles V stood for election to become the next Emperor, Jakob Fugger raised

3618-635: The Holy Roman Empire . To secure his essential investments into House Habsburg Jakob Fugger decided to support the election of the 19-year-old claimant to the throne. In addition to Charles, the English king Henry VIII , the French king Francis I and Frederick III, Elector of Saxony announced their candidacy. Francis I had already secured the votes of the Archdiocese of Trier and the Electorate of

3752-521: The House of Austria , was one of the most prominent and important dynasties in European history. The house takes its name from Habsburg Castle , a fortress built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland by Radbot of Klettgau , who named his fortress Habsburg. His grandson Otto II was the first to take the fortress name as his own, adding "Count of Habsburg" to his title. In 1273, Count Radbot's seventh-generation descendant, Rudolph of Habsburg ,

3886-624: The House of Gorizia . Following Rudolph's death in 1291, Albert I 's assassination in 1308, and Frederick the Fair 's failure to secure the German/Imperial crown for himself, the Habsburgs temporarily lost their supremacy in the Empire. In the early 14th century, they also focused on the Kingdom of Bohemia . After Václav III 's death on 4 August 1306, there were no male heirs remaining in

4020-598: The Přemyslid dynasty . Habsburg scion Rudolph I was then elected but only lasted a year. The Bohemian kingship was an elected position, and the Habsburgs were only able to secure it on a hereditary basis much later in 1626, following their reconquest of the Czech lands during the Thirty Years' War . After 1307, subsequent Habsburg attempts to gain the Bohemian crown were frustrated first by Henry of Bohemia (a member of

4154-778: The Reformation progressed, the complex found itself located in an increasingly Protestant city of Augsburg. Only a few years after Jakob Fugger's death the Augsburg Confession by Philip Melanchthon was formulated at the Diet of Augsburg in 1530. The Confessio Augustana represents the confessional and founding document of the Lutheran Church. The descendants of Jakob Fugger have remained Catholic to this day. Together with his brother Ulrich and on behalf of his deceased brother Georg , Jakob Fugger founded

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4288-670: The Reformation . After the Diet of Augsburg in 1518, Luther had to answer for his theses in the Fugger House before Cardinal Thomas Cajetan , who had been commissioned by the Pope. When Luther refused to retract his theses, he had to flee the city at night. The citizens of Augsburg now demanded the unhindered spread of the Evangelical faith , which brought Jakob Fugger, who preferred to remain Catholic and thus remain loyal to

4422-583: The Spanheim ( Carinthia and Carniola ). In 1278, Rudolph and his allies defeated and killed Ottokar at the Battle of Marchfeld , and the lands he had acquired reverted to the German crown. With the Georgenberg Pact of 1286, Rudolph secured for his family the duchies of Austria and Styria. The southern portions of Ottokar's former realm, Carinthia, Carniola, and Savinja, went to Rudolph's allies from

4556-634: The Tyrol ; and Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and Istria ". The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 created a real union , whereby the Kingdom of Hungary was granted co-equality with the Empire of Austria , that henceforth didn't include the Kingdom of Hungary as a crownland anymore. The Austrian and the Hungarian lands became independent entities enjoying equal status. Under this arrangement,

4690-503: The University of Santiago de Compostela suggests inbreeding may have played a role in their extinction. Numerous members of the family showed specific facial deformities: an enlarged lower jaw with an extended chin known as mandibular prognathism or 'Habsburg jaw', a large nose with hump and hanging tip ('Habsburg nose') and an everted lower lip ('Habsburg lip'). The last two are signs of maxillary deficiency . A 2019 study found that

4824-556: The Welser family, Jakob Fugger's participation in the overseas trade was very cautious and conservative, and the only other operation of this kind he invested in was a failed 1525 trade expedition to the Maluku Islands led by the Spaniard Garcia de Loaisa . There is some evidence that he financed Magellan 's famed voyage. Especially for mining projects in upper Hungary the Fugger company required enormous capital, which at

4958-451: The spice trade and in 1503 opened a manufactory in Lisbon . He received permission to trade pepper, other spices, and luxury goods such as pearls and gemstones through Lisbon. Along with other merchant houses of Germany and Italy he contributed to a fleet of 22 Portuguese ships led by Francisco de Almeida that sailed to India in the year 1505 and returned in 1506. Even though one third of

5092-473: The 13th century, the house aimed its marriage policy at families in Upper Alsace and Swabia . They were also able to gain high positions in the church hierarchy for their members. Territorially, they often profited from the extinction of other noble families such as the House of Kyburg . By the second half of the 13th century, Count Rudolph I (1218–1291) had become an influential territorial lord in

5226-664: The Adriatic Sea. After the death of Leopold's eldest son, William , in 1406 the Leopoldian line was further split among his brothers into the Inner Austrian territory under Ernest the Iron and a Tyrolean/Further Austrian line under Frederick of the Empty Pockets . In 1440 Ernest's son Frederick III was chosen by the electoral college to succeed Albert II as the king. Several Habsburg kings had attempted to gain

5360-709: The Austrian Succession . The former was won by House of Bourbon , putting an end to Habsburg rule in Spain . The latter, however, was won by Maria Theresa and led to the succession of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine ( German : Haus Habsburg-Lothringen ) becoming the new main branch of the dynasty in the person of Maria Theresa's son, Joseph II . This new House was created by the marriage between Maria Theresa and Francis Stephan , Duke of Lorraine . (Both of them were great-grandchildren of Habsburg emperor Ferdinand III , but from different empresses.) This new House

5494-448: The Emperor that "It is known that your imperial majesty could not have claimed the Roman crown without my help,..." ( German : „Es ist auch wissentlich und liegt am Tage, dass Eure Kaiserliche Majestät die römische Krone ohne mein Zutun nicht hätte erlangen können,…" ) The added demand of repayment of all debts eventually led to all discussions of trade restrictions and limits to monopolies being dropped. In addition to this Jakob Fugger

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5628-399: The Empire became gradually more salient as the non-religious use of Latin declined and that of national languages gained prominence during the High Middle Ages . Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg was known to be fluent in Czech, French, German, Italian and Latin. The last section of his Golden Bull of 1356 specifies that the Empire's secular prince-electors "should be instructed in

5762-686: The French on 18 May 1804. Emperor Francis I of Austria used the official full list of titles: " We , Francis the First, by the grace of God, Emperor of Austria; King of Jerusalem , Hungary , Bohemia , Dalmatia , Croatia , Slavonia , Galicia and Lodomeria ; Archduke of Austria ; Duke of Lorraine , Salzburg , Würzburg , Franconia , Styria , Carinthia , and Carniola ; Grand Duke of Cracow ; Grand Prince of Transylvania ; Margrave of Moravia ; Duke of Sandomir , Masovia , Lublin , Upper and Lower Silesia , Auschwitz and Zator , Teschen , and Friule ; Prince of Berchtesgaden and Mergentheim ; Princely Count of Habsburg, Gorizia and Gradisca and of

5896-441: The Fugger chapel in the Carmelite monastery's St. Anna church located in Augsburg . It became the burial place of the three brothers and the two nephews Raymund Fugger and Hieronymus Fugger (1499–1538). Construction began in 1509 and was finished in 1512. The chapel was modeled after Italian burial chapels with clear influences out of Venice and Rome , thereby becoming Germany's first renaissance construction. The interior

6030-422: The Fugger family enlarged the complex several times. The complex was mostly destroyed during air raids on Augsburg in World War II and rebuilt in a simplified way in 1955. The courtyards and several other rooms however are still in their original state. The houses are still owned by the Fugger family, partly being used to house the Fürst Fugger Privatbank . In 1515 Jakob Fugger advocated for an improved sermon in

6164-472: The Fugger family's coat of arms. He funded the church San Blas in Almagro , Spain and the reconstruction of the Santa Maria dell'Anima in Rome . He also built a chapel in Oberkirchberg as well as building a palace in Weißenhorn . Andreas vom Reh (1394–1457) House of Habsburg Cognatic : The House of Habsburg ( / ˈ h æ p s b ɜːr ɡ / ; German : Haus Habsburg [haʊs ˈhaːpsbʊrk] ), also known as

6298-429: The Fuggerei today, still paying an annual rent of the equivalent of one guilder (€0.88). The Fuggerei is a major tourist attraction of Augsburg and since 2006 also houses a museum. The settlement is still administered by the descendants of the Fugger family and financed through a foundation (originally from 1521). Jakob Fugger made several contributions to churches and monasteries in Augsburg some of which still show

6432-459: The Habsburg family oversee the Austrian branch of the Order of the Golden Fleece , the Order of the Starry Cross and the Imperial and Royal Order of Saint George . The current head of the family is Karl von Habsburg . The origins of Habsburg Castle 's name are uncertain. There is disagreement on whether the name is derived from the High German Habichtsburg ( hawk castle), or from the Middle High German word hab/hap meaning ford , as there

6566-415: The Habsburg possessions in Further Austria to Jakob Fugger. Maximilian I who crowned himself Holy Roman Emperor in 1508 received a payment of 50,000 guilders for these sales. More sales followed in 1508 where he sold manor Schmiechen and in 1514 where he sold the lordship Biberbach to Fugger. Maximilian I elevated Jakob Fugger into nobility in 1511 and granted him the title of Imperial Count in 1514 so

6700-443: The Habsburgs from 1440 until their extinction in the male line in 1740, and, as the Habsburg-Lorraines, from 1765 until its dissolution in 1806. The house also produced kings of Bohemia , Hungary , Croatia , Slavonia , Dalmatia , Spain , Portugal , Sicily , Lombardy-Venetia and Galicia-Lodomeria , with their respective colonies; rulers of several principalities in the Low Countries and Italy; numerous Prince-Bishoprics in

6834-469: The Habsburgs had made their own, at times impaled with the arms of the Duchy of Burgundy (ancient). After Maria Theresa married Duke Francis Stephen of Lorraine , the idea of "Habsburg" as associated with ancestral Austrian rulership was used to show that the old dynasty continued as did all its inherited rights. Some younger sons who had no prospects of the throne were given the personal title of "count of Habsburg". The surname of more recent members of

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6968-404: The Handsome or the Fair, married Joanna of Castile , also known as Joanna the Mad, heiress of Castile and Aragon . Phillip and Joan had six children, the eldest of whom became Emperor Charles V in 1516 and ruled the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon (including their colonies in the New World ), Southern Italy, Austria and the Habsburg Netherlands with his mother and nominal coruler, Joanna, who

7102-484: The Holy Roman Empire, and in the 19th century, emperors of Austria and of Austria-Hungary , as well as one emperor of Mexico . The family split several times into parallel branches, most consequentially in the mid-16th century between its Spanish and German-Austrian branches following the abdication of Emperor Charles V in 1556. Although they ruled distinct territories, the different branches nevertheless maintained close relations and frequently intermarried. Members of

7236-440: The House of Gorizia) and then by the House of Luxembourg . Instead, they were able to expand southwards: in 1311, they took over Savinja ; after the death of Henry in 1335, they assumed power in Carniola and Carinthia ; and in 1369, they succeeded his daughter Margaret in Tyrol . After the death of Albert III of Gorizia in 1374, they gained a foothold at Pazin in central Istria , followed by Trieste in 1382. Meanwhile,

7370-457: The House of Habsburg is descended from the Roman emperor Constantine the Great , an invention common in ruling dynasties at the time. In the 12th century, the Habsburgs became increasingly associated with the Staufer emperors, participating in the imperial court and the emperor's military expeditions; Werner II, Count of Habsburg died fighting for Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in Italy. This association helped them to inherit many domains as

7504-417: The Hungarians referred to their ruler as king and never emperor (see k. u. k. ). This prevailed until the Habsburgs' deposition from both Austria and Hungary in 1918 following defeat in World War I. On 11 November 1918, with his empire collapsing around him, the last Habsburg ruler, Charles I of Austria (who also reigned as Charles IV of Hungary) issued a proclamation recognizing Austria's right to determine

7638-403: The Ottomans in 1439 and that of his son Ladislaus Postumus in 1457, the Habsburgs lost Bohemia once more as well as Hungary for several decades. However, with the extinction of the House of Celje in 1456 and the House of Wallsee-Enns in 1466/1483, they managed to absorb significant secular enclaves into their territories and create a contiguous domain stretching from the border with Bohemia to

7772-442: The Palatinate as well as offering a sum of 300,000 guilders of election money. The prince-electors consisted of the three archbishops of Mainz , Cologne and Trier in addition to the King of Bohemia , the Elector of the Palatinate, the Margrave of Brandenburg and the Duke of Saxony . This was a difficult situation for Charles who now relied on the riches of Jakob Fugger to sway the election in his favor. Fugger transferred

7906-411: The Pope. However, in return for his support, Maximilian I demanded the continuous financial support of his ongoing military and political campaigns. Since the death of his brothers Georg in 1506 and Ulrich in 1510, Jakob Fugger was now running the Fugger business as the sole policy and decision maker. The company was renamed into "Jakob Fugger und Gebrüder Söhne" (Jakob Fugger and Brother's Sons). In

8040-438: The Rich or sometimes Jakob II , was a major German merchant , mining entrepreneur, and banker . He was a descendant of the Fugger merchant family located in the Free Imperial City of Augsburg . He was born and later also elevated through marriage to Grand Burgher of Augsburg ( Großbürger zu Augsburg ). Within a few decades, he expanded the family firm to a business operating in all of Europe. He began his education at

8174-466: The Rich , a count in the Breisgau who lived in the 10th century, and forthwith farther back as the medieval Adalrich, Duke of Alsace , from the Etichonids from which Habsburg derives. His grandson Radbot of Klettgau founded the Habsburg Castle . That castle was the family seat during most of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. Giovanni Thomas Marnavich in his book " Regiae Sanctitatis Illyricanae Faecunditas " dedicated to Ferdinand III , wrote that

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8308-553: The Staufers caused the extinction of many dynasties, some of which the Habsburgs were heirs to. In 1198, Rudolf II, Count of Habsburg fully dedicated the dynasty to the Staufer cause by joining the Ghibellines and funded the Staufer emperor Frederick II 's war for the throne in 1211. The emperor was made godfather to his newly born grandson, the future King Rudolf . The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, especially countship rights in Zürichgau , Aargau and Thurgau . In

8442-446: The age of 14 in Venice , which also remained his main residence until 1487. At the same time, he was a cleric and held several prebends . Even though he lived in a monastery, Jakob found time to study the history of investment in early Asian markets. American journalist Greg Steinmetz has estimated his overall wealth to be around $ 400 billion in today's money, equivalent to 2% of the GDP of Europe at that time. The foundation of

8576-436: The area between the Vosges Mountains and Lake Constance . On 1 October 1273, he was elected as a compromise candidate as King of the Romans and received the name Rudolph I of Germany . He then led a coalition against King Ottokar II of Bohemia who had taken advantage of the Great Interregnum in order to expand southwards, taking over the respective inheritances of the Babenberg ( Austria , Styria , Savinja ) and of

8710-440: The back facade of the Fuggerhäuser on Zeugplatz. The Fugger concert hall was probably in this area - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played a concert in that hall in 1777. 48°21′57″N 10°53′56″E  /  48.36583°N 10.89889°E  / 48.36583; 10.89889 Jakob Fugger Jakob Fugger of the Lily ( German : Jakob Fugger von der Lilie ; 6 March 1459 – 30 December 1525), also known as Jakob Fugger

8844-409: The chapel was consecrated to the patron saint of Jesus Christ in the altar sacrament, the Holy Virgin Mary and the Evangelist Matthew and has remained a consecrated Catholic place of worship to this day. When St. Anne's Church became Protestant in 1548, the Fugger Chapel remained Catholic because the Fugger Foundation continued to look after it and contributed to the upkeep of the church. This

8978-417: The church of his parish St. Moritz . In 1517 Pope Leo X issued a papal bull granting Fugger and his heirs the patronage to the church and being able to choose the priest. The foundation still exists and the Fugger family still recommends the priests. Beginning in 1516 Jakob Fugger funded the construction of a settlement for craftsmen and day laborers in need. In 1523, 52 houses of the estate were built. It

9112-404: The city. Hans Fugger , grandfather of Jakob Fugger, had taken up residence in Augsburg in 1367, became a burgher through marriage and acquired considerable wealth by trading textiles with Italy. A few years before his death his son Jakob Fugger the Elder was already one of the richest citizens of Augsburg. Jakob's older brothers Ulrich (1441–1510) and Georg (1453–1506) created the basis for

9246-462: The cleric Markus Fugger in 1473. In 1477 the Fugger business was responsible for transferring church revenues from Sweden to Rome. Between 1508 and 1524, the company leased the Roman mint, the Zecca , manufacturing 66 types of coins for four different popes. After this the Fugger family was represented by only one manufactory in Rome, mostly due to the 1527 Sack of Rome and the less German-friendly Medici pope Clement VII . The commodity trade played

9380-418: The company. The enormous growth potential in the mining and ore trade was very profitably harnessed by Jakob Fugger in the following years. As collateral for loans that he had given to the Habsburgs and the King of Hungary , he demanded mine revenues of Tyrol and the transfer of mining rights in Upper Hungary to him. Through this method he eventually established a dominant and almost monopolistic hold on

9514-414: The complex. The outer facade, one of the longest on Maximilianstraße, showed the Fugger family riches, since there was a tax paid according to the length of a house's facade. Inside the complex Jakob created four courtyards with arcades, mosaics, tuscan marble and water basins. The Damenhof , with its Tuscan columns supporting arcades and painted arches, was designed as a family garden for female members of

9648-730: The copper trade in Central Europe . With his business partner Hans Thurzó he founded the Hungarian trade in 1494. Mines funded by Fugger were constructed in Neusohl (present-day Banská Bystrica , Slovakia ), at the time part of the Hungarian Kingdom. The expansion continued with the construction of smelting plants in Neusohl and nearby Moschnitz , Arnoldstein in Carinthia , Hohenkirchen in Thuringia. The copper

9782-414: The curia charged a high " processing fee ". In 1514 Albert suggested to Pope Leo X that a special indulgence be announced in his three dioceses as well as in his native diocese of Brandenburg and that half of the income should be used for the construction of the new St. Peter's Basilica and half for his repayments to Jakob Fugger. An according papal bull was issued on March 31, 1515. The indulgence

9916-474: The degree of mandibular prognathism in the Habsburg family shows a statistically significant correlation with the degree of inbreeding. A correlation between maxillary deficiency and degree of inbreeding was also present but was not statistically significant. Other scientific studies, however, dispute the ideas of any linkage between fertility and consanguinity . The gene pool eventually became so small that

10050-401: The early 15th century, Strasbourg -based chronicler Jakob Twinger von Königshofen asserted that Charlemagne had mastered six languages, even though he had a preference for German. In the early years of the family's ascendancy, neither Rudolf I nor Albert I appears to have spoken French. By contrast, Charles V of Habsburg is well known as having been fluent in several languages. He

10184-461: The enormous sum of more than 850,000 guilders to the prince-electors which ultimately resulted in the unanimous election of Charles Holy Roman Emperor on 28 July 1519 . Out of this 850,000 guilders Fugger himself funded around 550,000 while another merchant house of Augsburg, the Welser family, contributed about 150,000 and three Italian bankers providing the rest. What today would be seen as bribery

10318-497: The equality of the three brothers involved in business issues, even though Tyrolean sources almost universally speak of the Jakob Fugger company and central contracts of the Hungarian trade were all signed by him. At this development the greatly increased influence of Jakob within the company can be observed. During the late 1480s Jakob Fugger dominated the company's policies, although the eldest brother Ulrich still formally led

10452-459: The export to India . Part of the copper was also transported through Wiener Neustadt and the Adriatic ports Triest and Zengg to the copper market in Venice. At the time mines from both Tyrol and Hungary provided the bulk of the total European production in copper which provided an incredibly advantageous position in the European market, albeit not a total monopoly. The Fugger family were

10586-574: The family domains and enacted the separation of the so-called Albertinian and Leopoldian family lines on 25 September 1379 by the Treaty of Neuberg . The former would maintain Austria proper (then called Niederösterreich but comprising modern Lower Austria and most of Upper Austria ), while the latter would rule over lands then labeled Oberösterreich , namely Inner Austria ( Innerösterreich ) comprising Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, and Further Austria ( Vorderösterreich ) consisting of Tyrol and

10720-616: The family of Meckau all claiming the inheritance now demanded the immediate payback of these assets which would have resulted in insolvency for Jakob Fugger. It was this situation that prompted Emperor Maximilian I to step in and assist his banker. On the condition of assisting Pope Julius II in a war against the Republic of Venice the Habsburg monarch was recognized as being the rightful heir of Cardinal Melchior von Meckau. The inheritance could now be settled by amortizing outstanding debts. Fugger also had to deliver jewels as compensation to

10854-412: The family such as Otto von Habsburg and Karl von Habsburg is taken to be " von Habsburg " or more completely "von Habsburg-Lothringen". Princes and members of the house use the tripartite arms adopted in the 18th century by Francis Stephen. The name of the dynasty is sometimes spelled in English publications as Hapsburg . Timeline The progenitor of the House of Habsburg may have been Guntram

10988-415: The family's wealth was created mainly by the textile trade with Italy . The company grew rapidly after the brothers Ulrich , Georg and Jakob began banking transactions with the House of Habsburg as well as the Roman Curia , and at the same time began mining operations in Tyrol , and from 1493 on the extraction of silver , and copper in the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary . As of 1525 they also had

11122-590: The family. The Zofenhof opens off the Damenhof , whilst the third and fourth courtyard (the Serenadenhof and Reiterhof ) abut each other at the back of the building. Larger teams of horses could enter the complex through a high and wide gate - the Adlertor (Eagle Gate) - and leave through another on the Reiterhof . After being destroyed in the Second World War, the complex was rebuilt in 1951 by Carl Fürst Fugger-Babenhausen. The front facade used to feature

11256-586: The fight against Protestantism , which led to its eradication throughout vast areas under Habsburg control. Charles formally became the sole monarch of Spain upon the death of his imprisoned mother Queen Joan in 1555. After the abdication of Charles V in 1556, the Habsburg dynasty split into the branch of the Austrian (or German) Habsburgs, led by Ferdinand, and the branch of the Spanish Habsburgs, initially led by Charles's son Philip . Ferdinand I , King of Bohemia, Hungary, and archduke of Austria in

11390-602: The first German trading house in a direct business relationship with the Roman Curia. In the year 1500, Jakob Fugger loaned the Vatican the money necessary to build the new St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, as well as other buildings within the Vatican. To repay Jakob the massive amount of money owed, Pope Leo X had to heavily tax the German people as well as sell indulgences, which was heavily unpopular with

11524-460: The following years up until his death Jakob Fugger managed to raise the family fortune which amounted to about 200,000 guilders in 1511 to more than two million guilders, perhaps 2% of Europe's GDP. Emperor Maximilian died in January 1519 and bequeathed to his grandson Charles the hereditary lands of House Habsburg with adjoining Burgundian lands as well as a disputed claim to the throne of

11658-410: The former burgher could operate his business without interference from local nobility. In the course of his life Jakob Fugger also became lord of more than 50 smaller villages. Criticism from reformer Martin Luther on the Fugger business methods and novelistic portrayal from early research have led to the notion that Jakob Fugger exercised considerable power over Maximilian I the king and emperor of

11792-401: The future of the state and renouncing any role in state affairs. Two days later, he issued a separate proclamation for Hungary. Even though he did not officially abdicate , this is considered the end of the Habsburg dynasty. In 1919, the new republican Austrian government subsequently passed a law banishing the Habsburgs from Austrian territory until they renounced all intentions of regaining

11926-577: The imperial dignity over the years, but success finally arrived on 19 March 1452, when Pope Nicholas V crowned Frederick III as the Holy Roman Emperor in a grand ceremony held in Rome. In Frederick III the Pope found an important political ally with whose help he was able to counter the conciliar movement . While in Rome Frederick III married Eleanor of Portugal , enabling him to build a network of connections with dynasties in

12060-461: The imported wares had to be ceded to the King of Portugal the operation was still profitable. Soon afterwards the King declared the spice trade a monopoly of the crown in order to secure his income and exclude foreign merchants from participating. However, the Portuguese were still largely dependent on the copper delivered by Fugger which was an essential export good for the trade with India. Unlike

12194-504: The independent silver mine owners in the Salzburg Slate Alps which had constant need for new capital. Instead of receiving the usual documents acknowledging debt, he demanded "Kuxe", which essentially made him a shareholder in the mines. Through this he forced more and more mine operators in the area of Gastein and Schladming to sell their silver directly to the Fugger family instead of intermediary traders. Jakob Fugger

12328-446: The king. Maximilian then promised to repay all loans of its predecessor to Jakob Fugger. Thus the Fugger business became one of the most important financial backers of Maximilian, who since 1486 was co-regent of the Holy Roman Empire . After his father Frederick III died in 1493 he became the reigning emperor. Despite having constant financial difficulties due to an extravagant lifestyle and many failed political projects his reign saw

12462-464: The kingdoms of Spain , Bohemia and Hungary gained for the House of Habsburg , not by waging war but through advantageous marriage arrangements which were funded with the help of Jakob Fugger. On 15 July 1507 Maximilian I sold the County of Kirchberg , located at Ulm , the adjacent lordship Weißenhorn with the associated city, as well as the lordships Wullenstetten and Pfaffenhofen (Roth) from

12596-519: The last of the Spanish line, Charles II , who was severely disabled from birth (perhaps by genetic disorders ), possessed a genome comparable to that of a child born to a brother and sister, as did his father, probably because of 'remote inbreeding '. The death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 led to the War of the Spanish Succession , and that of Emperor Charles VI in 1740 to the War of

12730-587: The long-awaited aspiration of a seat on the city council (German Stadtrat ) of Augsburg. Four years after the wedding, Jakob Fugger bought for his young wife 40,000 guilders' worth of jewels from the treasure of Burgundy , among them the jewel known as the Three Brothers , which the Fuggers later sold to Edward VI to become part of the Crown Jewels of England . Jakob wanted to demonstrate that he

12864-407: The marriages which later resulted in the House of Habsburg gaining the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary. Jakob Fugger secured his legacy and lasting fame through his foundations in Augsburg . A chapel funded by him and built from 1509 to 1512 is Germany's first renaissance building and contains the tombs of the brothers Ulrich , Georg and Jakob. The Fuggerei which was founded by Jakob in 1521

12998-592: The members of the House of Habsburg (e.g., Queen Marie Antoinette of France was born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria ). In 1457 Duke Frederick V of Inner Austria also gained the Austrian archduchy after his Albertine cousin Ladislaus the Posthumous had died without issue. 1490 saw the reunification of all Habsburg lines when Archduke Sigismund of Further Austria and Tyrol resigned in favor of Frederick's son Maximilian I . As emperor, Frederick III took

13132-574: The metal trade. His long residence in Italy also helped bring the renaissance style to the German region, with his funding the construction of the first buildings of this style that originated in Italy. Legal and architectural structures of Venice also had a significant influence on the funding of the Fuggerei which was similar to the social housing of Venice . Jakob Fugger laid the foundation of his mining business in Salzburg . He provided loans to

13266-533: The moniker "Fugger the Rich". In 1967 a bust of him was placed in the Walhalla , a "hall of fame" near Regensburg that honors laudable and distinguished Germans. Jakob Fugger was born the tenth of eleven children to Jakob Fugger the Elder (1398–1469) and his wife Barbara Bäsinger (1419–1497), daughter of Münzmeister Franz Bäsinger. The Fugger family had already established themselves as successful merchants in

13400-626: The name of his brother Charles V became suo jure monarch as well as the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor (designated as successor already in 1531 ). Philip became King of Spain and its colonial empire as Philip II , and ruler of the Habsburg domains in Italy and the Low Countries. The Spanish Habsburgs also ruled Portugal for a time, known there as the Philippine dynasty (1580–1640). The Seventeen Provinces and

13534-519: The original home territories of the Habsburgs in what is now Switzerland, including the Aargau with Habsburg Castle, were lost in the 14th century to the expanding Swiss Confederacy after the battles of Morgarten (1315) and Sempach (1386). Habsburg Castle itself was finally lost to the Swiss in 1415. Rudolf IV 's brothers Albert III and Leopold III ignored his efforts to preserve the integrity of

13668-473: The reason for the family being granted the lily coat of arms in 1473. The "of the lily" ( German : von der Lilie ) naming after this coat of arms distinguishes this line of the Fugger family from the "of the doe" ( German : vom Reh ) branch. Until 2009 historians assumed that Jakob Fugger, who was a minor order at the age of 12, had lived as a canon in a church located in Herrieden . A document from

13802-493: The right to mine quicksilver and cinnabar in Almadén . After 1487, Jakob Fugger was the de facto head of the Fugger business operations which soon had an almost monopolistic hold on the European copper market. Copper from Hungary was transported through Antwerp to Lisbon , and from there shipped to India . Jakob Fugger also contributed to the first and only trade expedition to India that German merchants cooperated in,

13936-587: The rise of the company in Europe. Around 1470 they founded manufactories in Venice and Nuremberg , then important centers of trade. Jakob Fugger's brothers Andreas and Hans both died young in Venice. His brother Markus was a cleric and from 1470 on a writer in a papal chancery in Rome where he died in 1478. His brother Peter died in an epidemic in Nuremberg in 1473. Loans given to Emperor Frederick III and supplies given to his entourage by Ulrich Fugger were

14070-528: The ruler of Austria himself. Frederick himself used just "Duke of Austria", never Archduke , until his death in 1493. The title was first granted to Frederick's younger brother, Albert VI of Austria (died 1463), who used it at least from 1458. In 1477, Frederick granted the title archduke to his first cousin Sigismund of Austria , ruler of Further Austria . Frederick's son and heir, the future Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , apparently only started to use

14204-426: The source] to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my horse." Latin was the administrative language of the Empire until the aggressive promotion of German by Joseph II in the late 18th century, which was partly reversed by his successors. From the 16th century most if not all Habsburgs spoke French as well as German and many also spoke Italian. Ferdinand I , Maximilian II and Rudolf II addressed

14338-465: The throne and accepted the status of private citizens. Charles made several attempts to regain the throne of Hungary , and in 1921 the Hungarian government passed a law that revoked Charles' rights and dethroned the Habsburgs, although Hungary remained a kingdom, albeit without a king, until 1946. The Habsburgs did not formally abandon all hope of returning to power until Otto von Habsburg , the eldest son of Charles I, on 31 May 1961 renounced all claims to

14472-412: The throne. In the interwar period, the House of Habsburg was a vehement opponent of Nazism and Communism . In Germany, Adolf Hitler diametrically opposed the centuries-old Habsburg principles of largely allowing local communities under their rule to maintain traditional ethnic, religious and language practices, and he bristled with hatred against the Habsburg family. During the Second World War there

14606-408: The time it could not raise. Hence Cardinal Melchior von Meckau was the main sponsor of the Fugger business in 1496. The Prince-Bishop had secretly and unknown to his church chapter invested 150,000 guilders in the Fugger company in return for interest, thereby evading the official church ban on interest. When he died in Rome in 1509 this investment was uncovered. The Pope, the bishopric Brixen and

14740-487: The title after the death of his wife Mary of Burgundy in 1482, as Archduke never appears in documents issued jointly by Maximilian and Mary as rulers in the Low Countries (where Maximilian is still titled "Duke of Austria"). The title appears first in documents issued under the joint rule of Maximilian and Philip (his under-age son) in the Low Countries. Archduke was initially borne by those dynasts who ruled

14874-514: The title of Archduke to place the Habsburgs on a par with the Prince-electors of the Empire, since Emperor Charles IV had omitted to give them the electoral dignity in his Golden Bull of 1356 . Charles, however, refused to recognize the title, as did his immediate successors. Duke Ernest the Iron and his descendants unilaterally assumed the title "archduke". That title was only officially recognized in 1453 by Emperor Frederick III ,

15008-466: The varieties of the different dialects and languages" and that "since they are expected in all likelihood to have naturally acquired the German language, and to have been taught it from their infancy, [they] shall be instructed in the grammar of the Italian and Slavic tongues, beginning with the seventh year of their age so that, before the fourteenth year of their age, they may be learned in the same". In

15142-401: The wedding was formally completed in 1521. Vladislaus died on 13 March 1516, and Maximilian on 12 January 1519, but the latter's designs were ultimately successful: on Louis's death in battle in 1526 Ferdinand became king of Bohemia and Hungary. The Habsburg dynasty achieved its highest position when Charles V was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519. Much of Charles's reign was dedicated to

15276-489: The west and southeast of Europe. Frederick was rather distant to his family; Eleanor, by contrast, had a great influence on the raising and education of Frederick's children and therefore played an important role in the family's rise to prominence. After Frederick III's coronation the Habsburgs were able to hold the imperial throne almost continuously until 1806. Through the forged document called privilegium maius (1358/59), Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1339–1365) introduced

15410-572: The western Habsburg lands in Alsace and Swabia . By marrying Elisabeth of Luxembourg , the daughter of Emperor Sigismund , in 1437 Duke Albert V of the Albertine line (1397–1439) became the ruler of Bohemia and Hungary, again expanding the family's political horizons. The next year Albert was crowned King of the Romans , known as such as Albert II . Following his early death in a battle against

15544-492: The young Roman-German king for the first time in 1489 at a Frankfurt fair. At that time, his plans for the independent Duchy of Tyrol had been agreed upon with the king's chancellor, Johann Waldner. On 16 March 1490 Sigismund and the Tyrol Estates came together with King Maximilian also present. The archduke had to resign under the pressure from the estates, who accused him of mismanagement, and his possessions fell to

15678-464: Was a cadet branch of the female line of the House of Habsburg and the male line of the House of Lorraine . On 6 August 1806, Emperor Francis I dissolved the Holy Roman Empire under pressure from Napoleon 's reorganization of Germany . In anticipation of the loss of his title of Holy Roman Emperor, Francis had declared himself hereditary Emperor of Austria (as Francis I) on 11 August 1804, three months after Napoleon had declared himself Emperor of

15812-724: Was a native speaker of French and also knew Dutch from his youth in Flanders . He later added some Castilian Spanish , which he was required to learn by the Castilian Cortes Generales . He could also speak some Basque , acquired by the influence of the Basque secretaries serving in the royal court. He gained a decent command of German following the Imperial election of 1519. A witticism sometimes attributed to Charles was: "I speak Spanish/Latin [depending on

15946-783: Was a strong Habsburg resistance movement in Central Europe, which was radically persecuted by the Nazis and the Gestapo . The unofficial leader of these groups was Otto von Habsburg, who campaigned against the Nazis and for a free Central Europe in France and the United States . Most of the resistance fighters, such as Heinrich Maier , who successfully passed on production sites and plans for V-2 rockets , Tiger tanks and aircraft to

16080-609: Was after all equal to the Habsburgs , at least financially. However, the jewels were left in a chest in the basement of his house for fear of theft and envy. The couple had no children. Seven weeks after her husband died, Sybille Arzt married a business partner of Jakob and converted to the Protestant faith. Jakob Fugger died on 30 December 1525. The inventory performed by his heirs revealed assets totaling 3,000,058 guilders and liabilities amounting to 867,797 guilders resulting in

16214-459: Was also recognized by the Pope owing to changes in political alliances. This had the consequence of the Roman king automatically becoming emperor without needing the Pope's consent. Emperor Charles V would be the last to be crowned by the Pope himself, at Bologna in 1530. Maximilian's rule (1493–1519) was a time of dramatic expansion for the Habsburgs. In 1497, Maximilian's son Philip , known as

16348-496: Was common practice in the election of the Emperor. Exceptional however were the immense sums involved, mainly due to the keen competition among the princely candidates. A few days later the Pope granted Charles the right to name himself Elected Emperor. It was only in 1530 that Charles V was crowned Emperor by the Pope in Bologna . He was the last Emperor to receive a papal coronation . Charles V , since his election reigning over

16482-438: Was designed with the help of many notable German artists of the time, such as Albrecht Dürer , Hans Burgkmair , Jörg Breu the Elder and Hans Daucher . The building is thought to have been built in preparation for Fugger's elevation into nobility and to distance himself from the local Patricians . Furthermore, it was a medium to preserve the name and memory of Fugger in the style of the Italian "Memoria" architecture. In 1518

16616-655: Was distributed through manufactories in Breslau , Leipzig , Kraków and Ofen . For transportation to the ports of Gdańsk , Stettin and Lübeck on the Baltic Sea Fugger funded the construction of a new road across the Jablunkov Pass . From those ports the copper was shipped to the Russian region and additionally through Antwerp to Lisbon where it was an important Portuguese trade good destined for

16750-540: Was elected King of the Romans . Taking advantage of the extinction of the Babenbergs and of his victory over Ottokar II of Bohemia at the Battle on the Marchfeld in 1278, he appointed his sons as Dukes of Austria and moved the family's power base to Vienna , where the Habsburg dynasty gained the name of "House of Austria" and ruled until 1918. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by

16884-570: Was entrusted to Albert in 1517 for publication in Saxony and Brandenburg. It cost him an additional sum of ten thousand ducats , and Albert employed Johann Tetzel for the actual preaching of the indulgence. Later, Martin Luther , then professor of theology in Wittenberg , addressed a letter of protest to Albert concerning the conduct of Tetzel. Largely in reaction to Tetzel's actions, Luther wrote his famous Ninety-five Theses , which led to

17018-426: Was first named Fuggerei in 1531. Originally it was meant to house people who were in a difficult situation through no fault of their own until they could establish a stable household on their own. The yearly rent was one symbolic guilder , though additionally requested were three daily prayers in the name of Fugger and his family . The settlement was expanded several times, lastly in 1973. About 150 people live in

17152-492: Was granted a concession to mine quicksilver and cinnabar in Almadén . The Fugger company was involved in the Spanish mining business up to the year 1645. In 1498 the 40-year-old Jakob Fugger married Sybille Arzt (also: Artzt) Grand Burgheress of Augsburg , the 18-year-old daughter of an eminent Augsburg Grand Burgher . This marriage opened the opportunity for Jakob to elevate to Grand Burgher of Augsburg (German Großbürger zu Augsburg ) and later finally giving Jakob Fugger

17286-411: Was kept under confinement. The foundations for the later empire of Austria-Hungary were laid in 1515 by a double wedding between Louis , only son of Vladislaus II, King of Bohemia and Hungary , and Maximilian's granddaughter Mary and between her brother Archduke Ferdinand and Louis's sister Anna . The wedding was celebrated in grand style on 22 July 1515. All these children were still minors, so

17420-473: Was known in his youth after his birthplace as Charles of Ghent . When he became king of Spain he was known as Charles of Spain, and after he was elected emperor, as Charles V (in French, Charles Quint ). In Spain, the dynasty was known as the Casa de Austria , including illegitimate sons such as John of Austria and John Joseph of Austria . The arms displayed in their simplest form were those of Austria, which

17554-494: Was most likely Hans Hiebe. Inside the Fuggerhäuser, the Damenhof (Ladies courtyard) was modeled after the florencian style grand courtyards, thus becoming Germany's first secular renaissance building. The complex was expanded once more in 1523 to accommodate the receiving of illustrious guests. The Fuggerhäuser were the private residence and administrative center of Jakob Fugger and his wife Sybille Fugger-Arzt. Later members of

17688-399: Was proclaimed the new King of Germany , as Maximilian I . Maximilian was initially unable to travel to Rome to receive the Imperial title from the Pope, owing to opposition from Venice and from the French who were occupying Milan , as well a refusal from the Pope owing to enemy forces being present on his territory. In 1508, Maximilian proclaimed himself to be the 'chosen Emperor', and this

17822-630: Was responsible for his family's business in Augsburg, Tyrol , Venice and Rome . Around 1485 the family also founded manufactories in Innsbruck (since 1510 in Hall , since 1539 in Schwaz ). Through a small loan he there first came into contact with Archduke Sigismund , a member of the Habsburg family. The archduke had as the sole owner of the Tyrol property rights handed out permissions for mining operations to private investors which in return had to pay

17956-461: Was the form of payment: Instead of paying the Fürst directly the Fugger family paid the money to his creditors as well as providing the wages for the royal court and craftsmen. Fugger met an engineer by the name of Jan Thurzo , and they formed a powerful copper company in the neighbouring town of Banská Bystrica in 1495. In 1517 the Fugger family financed more than half of Tyrol 's public budget. As

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