Balthasar Eggenberger

Balthasar Eggenberger (???? – 1493), was an Austrian entrepreneur in the early days of mercantilism. He was master of the imperial mint at Graz in the Duchy of Styria and financier to Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor. He was a man cut of the same cloth as the likes of the Burgundian chancellor Nicolas Rolin, French merchant Jacques Coeur and the Medici of Italy, whose cunning, ambition and skills allowed them to advance into the ranks of the nobility from mere common ancestry in the late Middle Ages and early modern era. His activities laid an important foundation stone for the ascension of the House of Eggenberg

The exact date of birth of Balthasar Eggenberger has been lost but he was born the son of Ulrich Eggenberger sometime in the early to mid-15th century. Like most successful men of the era, Balthasar displayed the contrary character of being, on the one hand, an unscrupulous and ambitious merchant, while on the other, being extremely pious. In 1451, to help secure the salvation of his immortal soul, he established the Eckennperger Stift. This was a hospital for the poor to which he later funded the addition of a small Chapel of All Saints and a family crypt. He was a cunning businessman who laid the foundations for the ascension of the merchant house to a noble house through his friendship with king Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. Although Corvinus was an arch-rival of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, Balthasar also succeeded in the court of the emperor as his chief financier and master of the imperial mint. In 1460 Balthasar bought land on the western outskirts of the town of Graz and established the family residence there with the minting business as well as dedicating a Gothic chapel to the Virgin Mary which was recognized in a papal indulgence dated 30 May 1470. But,like Jacques Coeur, Eggenberger's fall from power when he lost favor with the emperor was as dramatic as his rise through his friendship with Matthias Corvinus had been.

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