ABSTRACT
In Augsburg, a small elite, which grew richer and richer, was counterbalanced by the mass of impoverished craftsmen, day labourers and so on. No other German city has produced such a rich late medieval and early modern historiography which provides us with detailed information about events and contemporary discourses. The city council surprisingly stood aloof and did not intervene. An important factor, but far from the only one, was the presence of the wealthy merchant banking house of the Fugger family, with Jacob Fugger II as its central character. A Monatsbild, representing the months of October, November and December, probably painted by Heinrich Vogtherr the Younger around 1540, by no means gives the impression that Augsburg society had totally dispensed with the traditional, good life. During the summer of 1546, it all came to a head when Charles V began what became known as the Schmalkaldic War after extensive diplomatic preparations.
