The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: The Life And Times Of Jacob Fugger, Steinmetz - B

                                               At the time of his death in 1525, Jacob Fugger's net worth was approximately 2% of the economic output of Europe. The author contends that no one has since achieved such wealth. "He was the first modern businessman in that he was the first to pursue wealth for its own sake and without fear of damnation."  The Fuggers of Augsburg were already successful merchants when the seventh son began his rise in the family business. He trained in Venice and began the family's expansion into mining. His ability to monopolize the output of a single silver mine helped him achieve the role that led to his greatest successes: financier to the Hapsburgs. In order to protect his mines in Hungary, he engineered the Hapsburg acquisition of the Hungarian crown. He extended his reach to Italy and minted coins for the Papacy. He helped the dying Emperor Maximilian arrange for his grandson Charles, King of Spain, to succeed him as Emperor. His influence was everywhere. As a Catholic, he was instrumental in the traditionalist opposition to Luther. His wealth was so substantial that he is considered one of the causes of the 1525 revolt known as  the German Peasants' War, which three hundred years later, Frederick Engels argued prefigured the clash between capitalism and communism. His nephews carried on his business for a hundred years after his death and his heirs still are prominent in Germany. The history of the era is usually told from the perspective  of kings, emperors, popes, reformers and warriors. This is an enjoyably different view.