The Empire On Which The Sun Never Sets - Spain

Spain

In the 16th century, the Spanish phrase, "El imperio en el que nunca se pone el sol," was first used to describe the Spanish Empire. It originated with a remark made by Fray Francisco de Ugalde to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (Charles I of Spain), who as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Spain, had a large empire, which included many territories in Europe and vast territories in the Americas.

The phrase gained added resonance during the reign of Charles's son, King Philip II of Spain. The Philippines was obtained by Spain in 1565. When King Henry of Portugal died, Philip II was recognised as King of Portugal in 1581, resulting in a personal union of the crowns. He now reigned over all his father's possessions (except the Holy Roman Empire) and the Portuguese Empire, which included territories in South America, Africa, Asia and islands in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.

In 1585, Giovanni Battista Guarini wrote Il pastor fido to mark the marriage of Catherine Michelle, daughter of Philip II, to Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy. Guarini's dedication read, "Altera figlia / Di qel Monarca, a cui / Nö anco, quando annotta, il Sol tramonta." ("The proud daughter / of that monarch to whom / when it grows dark the sun never sets.").

In the early 17th century, the phrase was familiar to John Smith of Jamestown, and to Francis Bacon, who writes: "both the East and the West Indies being met in the crown of Spain, it is come to pass, that, as one saith in a brave kind of expression, the sun never sets in the Spanish dominions, but ever shines upon one part or other of them : which, to say truly, is a beam of glory ". Thomas Urquhart wrote of "that great Don Philippe, Tetrarch of the world, upon whose subjects the sun never sets."

At the beginning of the 18th century, the Bourbon kings of Spain added to their Royal Arms the emblem, "A solis ortu usque ad occasum", a phrase taken from Psalm 113:3 which is translated as, "From the rising of the sun to its setting."

In the German dramatist Friedrich Schiller's 1787 play, Don Carlos, Don Carlos's father, Philip II, says, "German: Ich heiße / der reichste Mann in der getauften Welt; / Die Sonne geht in meinem Staat nicht unter." ("I am called / The richest monarch in the Christian world; / The sun in my dominion never sets.").

Joseph Fouché recalled Napoleon saying before the Peninsular War, "Reflect that the sun never sets in the immense inheritance of Charles V, and that I shall have the empire of both worlds." This was cited in Walter Scott's Life of Napoleon

It has been claimed that Louis XIV of France's emblem of the "Sun King" and associated motto, "Nec pluribus impar" were based on the solar emblem and motto of Philip II.