Écu au soleil

Front and back of a under Ludwig XII. (1498–1514) minted Écu au soleil .

Christ as Sol invictus with the 7-rayed sun crown of Helios in the sun chariot, ceiling mosaic, detail, mausoleum of Iulii, Vatican necropolis , St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, 3rd century

Écu au soleil (also: Écu sol , German sun crown ) is the name of one of the French King Louis XI. (1461–1483) created in 1475 écu , a gold coin .

The Écu au soleil replaced the Écu à la couronne , from which it differed in that a small sun hovered over the crown of the front; the reverse showed the lily cross . The inscription on the front read “LVDOVICVS DEI GRA [TIA] FRANCORVM REX” (French Louis, par la grâce de Dieu, roi des Francs , German Ludwig, by God's grace French king ), the reverse “XPC VINCIT XPC REGNAT XPC IMPERAT “(XPC, ChRS in Latin letters, is the Greek abbreviation for Christ; French Le Christ vainc, le Christ règne, le Christ commande , English Christ conquers, Christ rules, Christ commands ).

The weight and fineness of the coin fluctuated: the first écu au soleil weighed 3.496 grams and contained 3.356 grams of gold , since 1519 3.436 grams with 3.257 grams, since 1559 3.376 grams with 3.235. Its face value was only 33 sols , since 1487 36 sols 3 deniers , since 1516 40 sols , since 1533 45 sols .

Under Henry II (1547–1559) the Écu au soleil was replaced by the Henridor .

Sun crown in iconography

The old church still depicted Jesus Christ as Sol invictus with a sun crown .

literature

Article Écu au soleil , in: Friedrich von Schrötter: Dictionary der Münzkunde, Berlin [u. a.] 1930, pp. 170f.

Individual evidence

↑ mosaic title: 'Christ as Sol Invictus ', interpreted as a Christ- Sol . The early Gentile Christians combine early Christian and pagan beliefs in this mosaic of Jesus Christ as the sun god . The triumphant God Jesus is pulled by two horses in his sun chariot. The vine tendrils of Dionysus , who, according to Greco-Roman mythology, came back / rose from the underworld, become the vine tendrils of Jesus.

Web links

Commons : Écu au soleil - collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] saic title: 'Christ as Sol Invictus ', interpreted as a Christ- Sol . The early Gentile Christians combine early Christian and pagan beliefs in this mosaic of Jesus Christ as the sun god . The triumphant God Jesus is pulled by two horses in his sun chariot. The vine tendrils of Dionysus , who, according to Greco-Roman mythology, came back / rose from the underworld, become the vine tendrils of Jesus.