Raymund Fugger

Raymund or Raimund Fugger (24 October 1489 in Augsburg – 3 December 1535 in Mickhausen) was a German businessman, Imperial Count and art collector of the 'of the Lily' (von der Lilie) branch of the Fugger family. Life He was the second son of Georg Fugger. After his father's death in 1506 his education was probably overseen by Georg's brother Jakob. From autumn 1509 to 1510 Raymund took care of his uncle's financial affairs at the court of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. Between February and May 1511 Raymund also acted as a representative at the congress of ambassadors in Mantua before staying with pope Julius II. Jakob wrote a will on 30 December 1512, making his other nephew Ulrich Fugger the Younger head of the business, to be followed by Raymond. At the same time he wrote a special contract giving Ulrich and Raymund a privileged position regarding his copper mines in Hungary and his real estate – it gave Raymund and his brother Anton a one-third share each in that real estate. Raymund next moved to Krakow, a major trading centre for his own family and for the mine-owners the Thurzos. On 16 January 1513 he married Katherina, daughter of the mining engineer and businessman János Thurzó. Raymund was also Jakob's first choice as head of the joint Fugger-Thurzo mining company in Krakow and he initially agreed, before buying the lordship of Biberach jointly with Ulrich the Younger and settling in Augsburg by 1515 at the latest, as is clear from the tax records. His wife remained in Krakow, where their second son was born and died, both in 1516. Their children included Ulrich Fugger III (1526–1584), a papal chamberlain, and Johann Jakob (1516-1575), art collector and businessman. Raymund built up a major estate in Augsburg which the humanist Beatus Rhenanus regarded as equal to the gardens of Francis I of France. He also befriended the humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam and the Protestant reformer Philipp Melanchthon as well as gathering a large library. His main interests were his own family history as well as science and classical antiquity. His collection of artworks and antiquities is now largely scattered, but was described by Rhenanus when he was allowed to visit Raymund's house and gardens on the Kleesattlergasse in 1530. It included Italian and especially Venetian paintings, although only one can be definitely traced back to Fugger's collection, namely Vincenzo Catena of Raymund.