The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: The Life and Times of Jacob Fugger by Greg Steinmetz

Author:Greg Steinmetz [Steinmetz, Greg]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw
Tags: History, Biography, Medieval, Europe, Renaissance
ISBN: 9781451688559
Google: vvIMogEACAAJ
Amazon: 1451688555
Goodreads: 23492778
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2015-08-03T23:00:00+00:00

If the story of the imperial election held a universal truth it was this: Left to their own devices, many politicians will milk a financial opportunity for all it’s worth. Why shouldn’t they? After all, once in power, the point is to stay in power. The more money a politician has, the more he can spend on private armies, television commercials, ballot-box stuffing or whatever else he has to do.

The election campaign began in 1517, when Maximilian dragged his casket and weary body to the Netherlands to beg his grandson Charles to succeed him. Maximilian considered emperor to be the best job on earth. He believed that the possessor of Charlemagne’s crown could rule all of Europe. But his time was ending. He was now fifty-eight, and syphilis was eating him alive and a riding accident had badly damaged one of his legs and left him in horrible pain. He needed to set the stage for the future before it was too late. Charles, seventeen, was a confused teenager still learning how to be a king. But as monarch of Spain and the Netherlands, he already knew the burdens of the crown. The prospect of adding Germany to his duties intimidated him. Charles shared none of his grandfather’s romantic ideas about the job. Charles hesitated and Maximilian had to appeal to family honor to get him to come around.

The Golden Bull, the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, mandated an election but inertia had made the events meaningless. Just as Frederick had passed the crown to Maximilian, Maximilian believed he would pass it to Charles. Besides, before Maximilian revitalized the office with his determination, cunning and Fugger’s money, no one even wanted it. A generation earlier, the electors had to beg Maximilian’s father, Frederick, to take the imperial crown. Frederick dithered for months before agreeing because the job had few powers and could be more burden than benefit.

This election was going to be different because for the first time in memory, it was going to be contested. The French king, Francis, the dashing adventurer who had stunned Europe by defeating the mighty Swiss, feared Charles. He knew that if Charles became emperor, he’d have Francis surrounded. Charles would use his influence in Germany to attack him in Italy, then come looking for him in France. Francis could stop him by becoming emperor himself. With self-preservation in mind, he announced his candidacy. “The reason that moves me to seek the empire,” he said, “is to prevent the Spanish king from doing so.”

Francis was the better qualified of the candidates. Several years older than his rival, he was considered by Machiavelli and others to be the strongest and most capable king in Europe and, should the day come, they wanted him to lead the fight against the Turks. The fact that he was French and the empire was German posed no hurdle. The rules said nothing about nationality and, besides, Charles was no more German than he was. Charles may have spoken German to his horse, as the wags noted, but at court he spoke French.

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