30 December 1525 Jakob Fugger, banker of the Habsburgs
On December 30th. 1525, one of the most important merchants and bankers of Europe died. His name was Jakob Fugger also called the Lily or the Rich. Family Jakob Fugger was born on March 6th. 1459 as the tenth of eleven children to Jakob Fugger the Elder and his wife Barbara Bäsinger. The Fuggers already had established themselves as successful merchants in the city of Ausburg (now Germany). Jakob had older brothers. Inter alia Ulrich and Georg created the base for the rise of the company in Europe. Around 1470 they founded companies in Venice and Nuremberg, in that time important centers of trade. Royal Links The Fuggers gave loans to Emperor Frederick III. He granted the Fugger family the Lily Coat of Arms. Jakob Fugger met Archduke Maximilian of Austria (Later Holy Roman Emperor) for the first time in 1489 at a Frankfurt Fair. The Fuggers became one of the most important bankers of the Emperor. In 1511, Maximilian I elevated Jakob Fugger into the nobil