两根柱子银币

PLUS ULTRA:OUR ETERNAL DESTINY[II Cor. 5:1-3] Kent Hughes has an illustrative introduction to this great chapter... When Spain had extended her conquests to the ends of the then-known world and controlled both sides of the Mediterranean at the Straits of Gibraltar (the fabled Pillars of Hercules), her coins proudly pictured the Pillars framing a scroll inscribed with the Latin words Ne Plus Ultra— “No More Beyond.” The Pillars gated the end of the earth. But “In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue” and discovered the New World. The proud nation then admitted her ignorance and struck the negative Ne from her coinage, leaving the words Plus Ultra—“More Beyond.” The change from the myopic “No More Beyond” to the expansive “More Beyond” effected a revolution in world culture, global economy, and geopolitics. The change also serves as a handy example of what is needed in the spiritual geography of modern men and women, because so many live in the stifling delusion that there is no more beyond. Most, including many Christians, live as if “this is it”—as in the Looney Tunes finis, “That’s all, folks!” At the same time, Plus Ultra perfectly describes the Apostle Paul and the ultimate focus of the whole of Scripture and the intensive focus of this section of 2 Corinthians 5:1-3. --------------------------------------- Norman Vincent Peale -- Easter Sermon If the idea of Jesus Christ's resurrection is astonishing to us today, what must it have been to the people of His time— to those who had seen Him walking and talking and moving in their midst? Sometimes when I try to picture the effect His resurrection had on the populace living then, I see in my mind a very rare and very old Spanish coin. The coin, minted in the 15th century, was imprinted with a drawing of the narrow strait between Europe and Africa near Gibraltar, called the Pillars of Hercules. Inscribed at the bottom were the Latin words, Ne Plus Ultra, meaning "No More Beyond." To the Spanish of that time, that was it, there was not anything else out there. Then along came Columbus, and when he proved that a new world lay beyond, they had to remove the Ne from all the coins. From that time forward they read Plus Ultra—More Beyond." ---------------------- The origin of the pillars and "PLUS ULTRA" are traced to the legendary Greek hero, Hercules, where on his journey to capture a 3-bodied monster on the island of Erythia, he erected two pillars on the sides of the Straights of Gibraltar between Europe and Africa. During those time, it was thought to mark the edge of the world, hence in latin -- "Ne Plus Ultra" (Nothing lies further). Charles I removed the word "Ne" and carried "Plus Ultra" as his motto in his ambition to expand the Spanish Empire beyond its European possessions during that period. Note that Magellan discovered the Americas during those period. ------------------------------------------------------------ "Spanish Cob" Carlos and Johanna ~ 1536-1555 Obverse: Crowned coat of arms with lions and castles enclosed, assayer and mint marks on sides, legend around rim. Reverse: Crowned pillars of Hercules with one dot in center to indicate denomination, legend for "PLUS ULTRA" below dot, legend around rim. Carlos was the son of Philip I, king of Castile and Johanna the Mad. Johanna was the third child of Ferdinand and Isabella and succeeded to the throne upon the death of her father in 1516. Due to Johanna's mental illness Carlos was formally recognized as king cojointly with his mother in 1518; therefore she never was effectively involved in the rule of Spain. Johanna died in 1555. Carlos ruled as both Carlos I King of Spain and Carlos V, Holy Roman Emperor. He maintained un untiring interest in Spain's New World possessions and worked tirelessly to encourage the expansion of New Spain. Also, he strove for establishment of better relations between the natives and their conquerors in the recently acquired lands of Peru and Mexico. The gold from the ladies did not add up to any sizable sum at this time and the spiraling debt brought on by the increasing expenses of war and expansion had reached 7,000,000 livres by 1556. It was in 1550 that 17 Spanish ships arrived, providing the king with 3,000,000 ducats and some measure of financial relief. During the reign of Carlos and Johanna the first mint in New Spain was established in Mexico City in 1536. Silver coinage was initially authorized in denominations of 3, 2, 1, 1/2 and 1/4 reales. Later in 1537 a 4 reales denomination was authorized. Carlos married Isabella, daughter of Emanuel, King of Portugal, by whom he had a son and two daughters. In 1556 he abdicated in favor of his son Philip. He died in September 1558 at the monastery of Yuste. ------------------------------------------------------------ 16世纪初，西班牙铸造了一种大的银币，名为比索(Peso)。 “比索”是8枚“里亚尔”小币的意思。 “比索”的图案， 一面是皇冠和王徽(狮子和城堡) ； 另一面是两根柱子 ，这是西方神话中的大力士赫居里斯的柱子， 它代表直布罗陀两岸的山岩，传说欧洲和非洲原来在这里相连 ，后来才被赫居里斯拉开的 。 Non plus ultra! (Nec plus ultra!)Nothing above that! Latin: NE PLUS ULTRA English: NOTHING MORE BEYOND Plus ultra (Latin for "further beyond"; in Spanish, más allá) is the national motto of Spain. It is adopted from the personal motto of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (and King of Spain as Charles I) and is a Latin translation from Plus Oultre, his original motto in Old French (Charles' native language). the motto is closely associated with the Pillars of Hercules, which according to Greek mythology were built by Hercules, near the Straits of Gibraltar, marking the edge of the then known world. According to mythology the pillars bore the warning Nec plus ultra (also Non plus ultra, "nothing further beyond"), serving as a warning to sailors and navigators to go no further. HISPANIARVM ET INDIARVM (of the Spains and the Indies) CAROLVS ET IOHANA REGES (Charles and Johanna rulers) peso (meaning weight in Spanish) was the name of a coin Pieces of eight are historical Spanish dollar coins minted in the Americas from the late 15th century through the 19th century. Made of silver, they were in nearly worldwide circulation by the late 19th century and were legal currency in the United States until 1857. The Spanish dollar coin was worth eight reales and could be physically cut into eight pieces, or "bits," to make change — hence the colloquial name "pieces of eight." The dollar coin could also be cut into quarters, and "two bits" became American slang for a quarter dollar, or 25 cents. The American dollar used today was based on the Spanish dollar. the peso de ocho reales, the “piece of eight reals” or “eight-real piece” – just as a dime might be called a “ten-cent piece.” The Spanish dollar (also known as the piece of eight (peso de ocho), the real de a ocho or the eight-real coin) is a silver coin, of approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. the Pillars of Hercules. This signified the end of the world according to the ancient classical writers. Between the columns is a banner with the word PLVS (or an abbreviated form on smaller denominations) for the motto PLUS ULTRA, which translates as "More Beyond," alluding to the Spanish discovery and conquest of the New World. the two crowned pillars of Hercules were placed in water, representing their actual location at the Straits of Gibraltar. This image symbolized the ocean passage from the Old World to the New.