Gaspar Schetz

Gaspar Schetz was a rich merchant and a close friend of Sir Thomas Gresham. He was the eldest of three brothers, who were all wealthy, and partners with him in his business. Their family motto, or the motto they adopted on a medal which bore the names of Gaspar, Melchior and Ballthazar Schetz, was „Concorida res parvae crescant“ („By union small things increase“). All the brothers, like their father before them (Erasmus Schetz), are described as having a taste for letters and for arts.

Gaspar, the eldest, filled very high offices, having been successively chief factor to the emperor, Charles V, and treasurer general of the Low Countries. He was a connoisseur and collector of coins, and enjoyed besides the reputation of a poet. He was the foremost man in Antwerp, and Antwerp was then the foremost trading city in Europe, the importance of Venice and Genoa having declined ever since the discovery of the passage to India and the discovery of America.

He was the chief banker in Antwerp, financing several merchants who traded to Russia and Brazil. Gaspar was also banker to Philip II of Spain, giving him a political role and making him a leading figure in the Antwerp of the second half of the 16th century.