The house at the moment required a strong hand and the ability of another great Jacob. The enormous calls upon its treasury had impaired even its wonderful resources, and the unfriendliness of Philip II. of Spain had proved that even lending to princes has its drawbacks, especially when no army stands at the back of the creditors to enforce the collection of their loans. The times were bad: during the years 1557 to 1562 the financial and commercial credit of all Europe was shaken to its foundations. Charles V., who owed his throne to these princes of commerce, grew more indifferent to his obligations, while the bonds which he had lodged with them became less and less of a security. Anthony lived to know that his house was threatened but not long enough to bring it safely through the panic. From that time the business began to decline as a world power in finance. Competition was strong and everlasting vigilance is the price of success in commerce as truly as in battles or diplomacy, and for this vigilance the business must look to its chief. Hans Jacob Fugger was the first head of the family who possessed no marked ability for business. He was endowed by nature with splendid intellectual gifts and a noble mind, but business capabilities and a devotion to the needs of the firm were not his. Further details are unnecessary. The house of Fugger, though no longer a dominating power in Europe, still enjoys a position of importance in Augsburg, where the splendid palace built by Jacob is a continual reminder of its wonderful achievements in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. H The house at the moment required a strong hand and the ability of another great Jacob. The enormous calls upon its treasury had impaired even its wonderful resources, and the unfriendliness of Philip II. of Spain had proved that even lending to princes has its drawbacks, especially when no army stands at the back of the creditors to enforce the collection of their loans. The times were bad: during the years 1557 to 1562 the financial and commercial credit of all Europe was shaken to its foundations. Charles V., who owed his throne to these princes of commerce, grew more indifferent to his obligations, while the bonds which he had lodged with them became less and less of a security. Anthony lived to know that his house was threatened but not long enough to bring it safely through the panic. From that time the business began to decline as a world power in finance. Competition was strong and everlasting vigilance is the price of success in commerce as truly as in battles or diplomacy, and for this vigilance the business must look to its chief. Hans Jacob Fugger was the first head of the family who possessed no marked ability for business. He was endowed by nature with splendid intellectual gifts and a noble mind, but business capabilities and a devotion to the needs of the firm were not his. Further details are unnecessary. The house of Fugger, though no longer a dominating power in Europe, still enjoys a position of importance in Augsburg, where the splendid palace built by Jacob is a continual reminder of its wonderful achievements in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. H translation of the Bible as signifying a society and union of men, particularly in the sense of combatants. It is applied to the band of men who came to capture Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane." But the actual and accepted formation of the confederation was a matter of slow growth. Its very existence was illegal, unions and associations being forbidden within the Empire. Kings and princes were greatly opposed to it, of course (who can blame them ?), for its aim was to win and hold a certain power which royal families had always regarded as their own peculiar right, and it was only in 1370, after the combined cities had waged a great war against Waldemar of Denmark and concluded it with the Peace of Stralsund, that the cities came out into the open, as it were, and officially took the title of "The Hanseatic League.' The honour that is due to pioneers must be given in this instance to the city of Lubeck, which induced and indeed forced the several other cities of Hamburg, Bremen, Cologne, and Weimar to join in insisting on their rights. Each act of injustice, each arbitrary deed based on no principle but might, served but to strengthen their determination. And the climax was brought about, as we have said, over the matter of herrings. Europe was then Catholic from end to end, and, in obedience to the teachings of that faith, fish formed the chief food of the people on every seventh day, and fish took the place of meat throughout the six weeks of Lent. Herrings were a cheap and favourite article of food, and the great Baltic Sea was the best fishing ground in the then known world for these small but much desired members of the finny tribe. But the Baltic was controlled by Denmark, then a powerful nation whose king was mighty and autocratic and entirely disinclined to listen to suggestion or interference from anyone. This was the redoubtable Waldemar III., the Waldemar who came to the throne in 1326 as a boy of only twelve, but what a boy! He |