Jakob Fugger

Jakob Fugger was born in Augsburg, Germany, into a family of weavers who had become successful cloth merchants. As a younger son he was first meant for the Church, but he joined the family business and trained in Venice, learning double-entry bookkeeping. He lent money to Archduke Sigismund of Tyrol and later to the Habsburg emperor Maximilian I, receiving in return the output of silver and copper mines in Tyrol and Hungary, and the Fuggers came to dominate the European metal trade. His firm also handled payments for the papacy, including money from the sale of indulgences, which helped spark Luther's protest. In 1519 Jakob lent most of the huge sum the young Charles of Spain used to win election as Holy Roman Emperor, and later reminded Charles in a letter that he could not have gained the crown without him. In Augsburg he founded the Fuggerei, a housing settlement for poor working families, whose rent of one Rhenish guilder a year has never changed; it is still in use today. He died in 1525.

Faith: Remained Catholic when Augsburg turned toward the Protestant Reformation. Source: Wikipedia