15 Jan 2012

Giving a country away*

*not E.E.T related

"1519, Europe: Gutenberg has died for over a century and books are published in great numbers. Among them, the Holy Bible in Gothic letters and the price of gold and silver in Gothic numbers. Michael-Angelo is curving his saints and prophets under the notice: "Christ's blood is for sale".

The Church sells "Letters of Forgiveness" while everything has a price: the Pope's Throne, the King's Crown, becoming a Bishop or a Cardinal. Among all, the Holy Father mortgages Vatican's land to Bankers and near the river Rhein whoever makes the best offer gets the Crown of  the Holy Empire.

Three candidates are in the run. The Princes who decide which candidate is going to be the Emperor swear that their hands are clean and by midday, they sell the Crown of Europe to the King of Spain - Charles I - for 850.000 florins. The money came from two German Bankers: Velzer and Fugger.

Charles I, is renamed as Charles V, Emperor of Spain, Germany, Austria, Neapolis, Sicily, the Netherlands and the New World (later called Americas). 19 years old, the new Emperor is the most powerful man of History by that time.

1528, Madrid: Charles V owes a candle to every saint of the church. With Velzer and Fugger's money he managed to buy the Crown, pay for his wedding and for a great number of wars that allowed him to humiliate Rome, to deal with Flandra's revolution and scatter French aristocrats in Pavia.

The Emperor, signs a deal giving away Venezouela to the Bankers from Augsburg. The Bankers will be able to command and exploit the territory."

Abstract from Eduardo Galleano's "Las venas abiertas de América Latina"