Fugger, Family

FUGGER, FAMILY. - German merchants and bankers of the 15th and 16th centuries, established in Augsburg in the second half of the 14th century. Their most eminent representative was JAMES II, called the RICH (1459-1525), who abandoned the spice, wool and silk trade, until then traditional in the family, to devote himself to more profitable activities, and above all to banking operations. Having entered into business relations with the Emperor Maximilian, James F. repeatedly subsidized him with loans, obtaining in exchange the exploitation of the very rich copper and silver mines of the Tyrol. The election of Charles V as emperor (1519) was above all due to the F., who on that occasion advanced more than half a million florins.

Under the pontificate of Alexander VI, the F. also became bankers of the Holy See, and were entrusted with the collection of the servitia, and under Leo X with the collection of contributions for indulgences, especially in central-eastern Europe. On the death of James III the Rich, his nephew ANTHONY (d. 1560) became head of the firm, under whose leadership the business reached its greatest prosperity. Later, during the so-called third generation of the F., the period of decline began, determined in large part by bad deals concluded with the king of Spain. The F. failed definitively within the first half of the 17th century.

Silvio Furlani