Markus Fugger (Marx Fugger) ''von der Lilie'' (14 February 1529 – 18 June 1597) was a German politician and businessman of the Fugger family. He was the eldest son of

Anton Fugger Anton Fugger (10 June 1493 – 14 September 1560) was a German merchant and member of the Fugger family. He was a nephew of Jakob Fugger. Biography Anton was the third and youngest son of George Fugger and Regina Imhof. He was born in Augsburg ...

. He achieved several high offices - chamberlain to

Archduke Ernest of Austria Archduke Ernest of Austria (german: Ernst von Österreich; 15 June 1553 – 20 February 1595) was an Austrian prince, the son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Maria of Spain. Biography Born in Vienna, he was educated with his broth ...

, Kammerpräsident, member of the kurbayrische (

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

n) council, Pfleger ( reeve) in the Landshut, and city-pfleger in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the '' ...

Life

On his father's death in 1560, he and his brothers Hans and Jakob jointly managed their father's business. When they split up the business in 1575, Markus took its northern division. With other family members, he took over part of the

Fuggerhäuser The Fuggerhäuser (''Fugger houses'') is a complex of houses on the Maximilianstraße in Augsburg, built for the Fugger family of businessmen. It is now owned by the Fugger-Babenhausen branch of the Fugger family who resides at Wellenburg castle ...

in Augsburg. Similarly, on his father's death, as eldest son Markus led the newly founded Marx Fugger and Brothers Firm (Firma Marx Fugger und Gebrüder) for 30 years. He was interested in church history, acted as a patron to artists and collected books and antiquities, taking on Nikolaus Juvenel as a portrait painter in Augsburg. He organised sumptuous parties with hour-long firework displays. In 1595 he suffered a stroke, from which he never recovered, and so the business passed to his brother Hans.

Marriage and issue

In 1557, he married

Gräfin (feminine: ) is a historical title of the German nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "co ...

(countess) Sibylla von Eberstein (1531–1589), allying the Fugger family with a number of noble families in south-west Germany - the Margraves of Baden-Sponheim, the Counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg and the

Counts of Eberstein The County of Eberstein was a territory within the Holy Roman Empire, situated in the southwest of modern Germany. From 1085 up into the 13th century, the Counts of Eberstein lived in the castle known today as Alt Eberstein which lies on a mo ...

. The marriage produced 13 children (8 girls and 5 boys), though the male-line descent from Markus died out in 1671.

Family tree

Bibliography

* Klaus Lötzsch: ''Historische Beziehungen der Grafschaft Hanau-Lichtenberg nach Schwaben im 16. Jahrhundert. Dynastische Verbindung zum Hause Fugger – Graf Philipp IV. auf dem Reichstag zu Augsburg 1566.'' In: Babenhäuser Mosaik = Babenhausen einst und jetzt 20. Babenhausen 1990. S. 7–19. * Mark Häberlein: ''Die Fugger. Geschichte einer Augsburger Familie (1367–1650).'' Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2006, * Franz Herre: ''Die Fugger in ihrer Zeit'', Wißner Verlag, Augsburg, 12. Auflage, 2005 * Martin Kluger: ''Die Fugger. Die deutschen Medici in und um Augsburg'', Context Verlag, Augsburg 2009
Literature on and by Markus Fugger
in the catalogue of the

Deutschen Nationalbibliothek The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

1529 births 1597 deaths Markus {{Germany-business-bio-stub