Jakob Fugger
| Jakob Fugger | |
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Portrait of Jakob Fugger by Albrecht Dürer, 1518 (Staatsgalerie Altdeutsche Meister), Augsburg
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| Born |
6 March 1459 Augsburg |
| Died | 30 December 1525 (aged 66) Augsburg |
| Resting place | St. Anna's Church |
| Spouse(s) | Sibylle Artzt |
| Parent(s) | Jakob Fugger the Elder, Barbara Bäsinger |
| Relatives | Anton Fugger, nephew |
Jakob Fugger of the Lily (German: Jakob Fugger von der Lilie) (6 March 1459 – 30 December 1525), also known as Jakob Fugger the Rich or sometimes Jakob II, was a major merchant, mining entrepreneur and banker of Europe. He was a descendant of the Fugger merchant family located in the Free Imperial City of Augsburg, where he was also born and later also elevated through marriage to Grand Burgher of Augsburg (German Großbürger zu Augsburg). Within a few decades he expanded the family firm to a business operating in all of Europe. He began his education at the age of 14 in Venice, which also remained his main residence until 1487. At the same time he was a cleric and held several prebendaries, even though he never lived in a monastery. Fugger is held to be one of the wealthiest individuals in modern history, alongside the early 20th century industralists John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie.
The foundation of the family's wealth was created mainly by the textile trade with Italy. The company grew rapidly after the brothers Ulrich, Georg and Jakob began banking transactions with the House of Habsburg as well as the Roman Curia, and at the same time began mining operations in Tyrol, and from 1493 on the extraction of silver and copper in Bohemia and the Kingdom of Hungary. As of 1525 they also had the right to mine quicksilver and cinnabar in Almadén.
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