Re-reading the bits in the middle (pp. 140-64) about Jacob Fugger fin-angling the election of Charles V as Emperor of The Roman People, i.e., some German and Dutch and Austrian lands and, Spain. Jacob Fugger, according to this author, bid up the competitors, and sent smart, timely, repeated memos to his diplomats who would press the various potential heads of state to do what he wanted them to do. Mostly to those of Francis I of France and the handlers of young Charles, as well as the prominent electors in German and Austrian lands who would decide. But their decision would rest, as Fugger insured in his various ways, on where Fugger himself would promise the largest loans. The electors had to know ahead of time that Fugger would guarantee loans that any prospective emperor would need just in order to pay for the election, let alone do anything afterwards. Then they would be satisfied. So Fugger had to promise loans and bankroll the 'festivities' enticing representatives to come, and then promise to pay more than the other banks of Italy and his nearest competitors, the Wesler family. Steinmetz says bribes spent for this election totalled 852,000 florins, of which Fugger paid 544,000, nearly 64%... [p. 162].
This election was concluded on 28 June, 1519.
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Greg Steinmetz: The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: The Life and Times of Jacob Fugger Simon & Schuster, NY, 2015
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