Repost to pass the time until a new question...
... and 10 points awarded to anyone who gets the reference.


I and two accomplices hit on an insurance scam. We insured two ships carrying a load of sugar from Antwerp - one to London, the other to Ipswich. They were insured by the Fugger Bank.

One of these ships was "captured by Zeeland pirates" and we collected the insurance. This was in the form of a credit note, which we traded for Fugger bonds. These bond certificates were then copied - extensively - and cashed at branches of the Fugger bank all over Europe. Over three or five years, we pulled in almost half a million florins.

Result? The collapse of the Bank - thereby causing financial paralysis to both Emperor Charles V and the Holy See, and a political crisis throughout Europe.

Yours
Gert.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Thu 23 Jul 2009, 15:38, 7 replies)

Q?
I've read this in a book but don't remember the names or who they were working for... Gert from the well?
(Smale is stuffed, Thu 23 Jul 2009, 15:41, closed)

Hurrah!
Ten points, plus a bonus five for being so quick and comprehensive with the name.

Excellent book - and 54 by the same people (writing as Wu Ming) is just as good.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Thu 23 Jul 2009, 15:43, closed)

Hooray for me!

(Smale is stuffed, Thu 23 Jul 2009, 15:48, closed)

...
Lombards?
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Thu 23 Jul 2009, 15:42, closed)

Almost.
Anabaptists.

Heretics, all the same...
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Thu 23 Jul 2009, 15:43, closed)

Is it ...
... that film with Vin Diesel in?
(thefuckestuppest cheapened this, on, Thu 23 Jul 2009, 15:45, closed)

Minus ten points.
}:(
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Thu 23 Jul 2009, 15:48, closed)