Just say the name "Rothschild" and you'll open any conversation up to a world of wealth, power, and dynastic conspiracy theories.

And there is no doubt — the family pioneered international finance as we know it.

This is the story of how the generations that started the dynasty managed such a feat.

Mayer Amschel Rothschild, the first of the family to open a bank, was honored by Forbes as the seventh-most influential businessman of all time and the inventor of modern banking who introduced "concepts such as diversification, rapid communication, confidentiality, and high volume."

Simply, Mayer understood and was willing to spend money to make money.

But it wasn't all that simple. Some elements of the family's history are indeed unsettling enough to pique mass interest. For instance, Mayer's primary manner of hoarding the dynasty's wealth was to institute a policy of keeping friends close ... and family even closer.

But, as William Langley notes, one question looms large:

How did a down-on-its-luck brood of German street traders emerge, seemingly overnight, to become the prime facilitators of modern capitalism, the wielders of immense political power and, as the historian Niall Ferguson puts it in 'The House of Rothschild,' 'the richest family in all of history'?

Here's the answer; the tale of how Mayer and his sons established an international banking dynasty.

*Note: This post was first published in December 2012, Lucus Kawa no longer writes for Business Insider.