

Goldenballs: Not for Nothing Was Jacob Fugger Known as “Jacob the Rich” - diodorus
http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21660074-not-nothing-was-jacob-fugger-known-jacob-rich-goldenballs

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sasvari
The influence and importance of the _Fuggers_ can still be seen in Augsburg
and the surrounding area today:

\- endless houses and castles [0]

\- the _Fugger foundations_ [1]: existing continuously since the 16th century

\- the _Fuggerei_ , the oldest social housing complex of the world [2],
financed by the _Fugger foundations_ : qualifying (catholic) people in need
live there for less than a euro a year

[0]
[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugger_von_der_Lilie#Baudenkm....](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugger_von_der_Lilie#Baudenkm.C3.A4ler_der_Fugger)

[1] [http://www.fugger.de/en/singleview/article/quick-
guide-5/33....](http://www.fugger.de/en/singleview/article/quick-
guide-5/33.html)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuggerei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuggerei)

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ableal
_' Fugger teamed up with another Habsburg client, for whom he had bought the
archbishopric of Mainz, and the pair began to sell indulgences (a forgiveness
of sins, which provided, for a fee, a short cut to heaven), splitting the
proceeds with Pope Leo, who used the cash to build St Peter’s Basilica. In
1517 Martin Luther was sufficiently outraged by this scheme that he wrote the
“95 Theses” that damned Rome, sparking the Protestant Reformation.'_

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caminante
paywall

edit: workaround = load the URL in incognito-mode.

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mirimir
I don't see one.

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PhasmaFelis
"Subscribe now for full access or register to continue reading. You have
reached your article limit"

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mirimir
OK, got it.

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comrade1
There's a richest person that dies every time after the last richest person
died. The idea that he was the richest person in history sounds very euro-
centric.

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dredmorbius
There are lists of same:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wealthiest_historical_figures)

Direct comparisons are, of course, difficult.

