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The phrase "the empire on which the sun never sets" has been used with variations to describe certain global empires that were so extensive that there was always at least one part of their territory that was in daylight. It was originally used for the Spanish Empire, mainly in the 16th and 17th centuries, and for the British Empire, mainly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Especially in the 20th century, the phrase (usually without the word "Empire") has been transferred to refer to American power. Georg Büchmann traces the idea to a speech in Herodotus' ''Histories'', made by Xerxes I before invading Greece.〔"γῆν τὴν Περσίδα ἀποδέξομεν τῷ Διὸς αἰθέρι ὁμουρέουσαν. οὐ γὰρ δὴ χώρην γε οὐδεμίαν κατόψεται ἥλιος ὅμουρον ἐοῦσαν τῇ ἡμετέρῃ" ("We shall extend the Persian territory as far as God's heaven reaches. The sun will then shine on no land beyond our borders.") 〕 == Spain == In the early 16th century, the phrase, ''"el imperio en el que nunca se pone el sol"'' (''the empire on which the sun never sets'') originated with a remark made by Fray Francisco de Ugalde to Charles I of Spain (r. 1512 to 1556), who as king of Spain and as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, had an empire, which included many territories in Europe, islands in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, cities in North Africa and vast territories in the Americas. The phrase gained added resonance during the reign of Charles's son, Philip II of Spain, when the Philippines and several other island chains in the Pacific were obtained by Spain. When King Henry of Portugal died, Philip II pressed his claim to the Portuguese throne and was recognised as Philip I of Portugal in 1581. He then reigned over all his father's possessions in Europe, Africa and the Americas (except the Holy Roman Empire) and Asia and the Portuguese Empire, which itself included territories in the Americas, in the North and the Subsaharian Africa, in all the Asian Subcontinents, 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 (explorer), 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." In the German dramatist Friedrich Schiller's 1787 play, ''Don Carlos'', Don Carlos's father, Philip II, says, "(ドイツ語: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.").〔''Don Carlos'', Act I, Scene 6.〕 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The empire on which the sun never sets」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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