There is a golden thread that runs through the entire history of humanity. It is not found in books, nor in the borders of ancient empires, but it is as real as the stones of temples or the blood of conquests. That thread is gold. Not as a simple metal, but as a symbol laden with meaning: divinity, power, beauty, wealth, and control. 

From the moment humans discovered the ability to work with precious metals, these metals became a mirror in which each civilisation projected its dreams and fears. For the Egyptians, gold was the flesh of the gods; for the Romans, the key to world domination; for the medieval Church, the materialisation of divine glory; and for modern states, the basis for controlling the global economy. 

Over the centuries, gold has changed form, but not function. It has been idolised and plundered, buried and unearthed, turned into currency, reliquary or state jewel. It has built palaces, but it has also destroyed empires. Not only that, but it has symbolised both eternity and decadence.

Gold in Egypt, a reflection of Pharaonic eternity

In Ancient Egypt, gold was not just a valuable resource. It was, literally, the flesh of the gods. This symbolic conception is reflected in many sacred texts, such as the “Book of the Dead”, which describes the relationship between the god Ra—the supreme solar deity—and the precious metal. Gold, impervious to corrosion and the passage of time, became the perfect symbol of divine eternity.

The pharaohs, conceived as living incarnations of Horus and sons of Ra, used gold to legitimise and perpetuate their power. Not only did they decorate tombs and temples with this metal, but many ritual objects, sarcophagi, masks and liturgical jewellery were also crafted from pure gold, such as the famous funeral mask of Tutankhamen (14th century BC), which in itself is an exaltation of gold as a symbol of immortality.

Gold in Rome, currency of conquest and imperial rule

If for the Egyptians gold was divine flesh, for the Romans it became the driving force of an empire. With Rome, the noble metal was de-divinised and transformed into a tool of earthly power: the foundation of a monetary system, the reward of a legionary, the key to bribery and the symbol of imperial greatness.

The first major step was taken by Julius Caesar, who between 46 and 44 BC minted large quantities of aureus to finance his ambitious military expansion. The aureus, a gold coin of the highest purity, was equivalent to 25 silver denarii and symbolised not only wealth but also authority.

Gold in the Carolingian world and the renewal of the Empire

With the fall of Rome, the Western world entered a long period of transition. But gold did not disappear: it changed hands and meaning. It was Charlemagne, King of the Franks and first Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, who reformulated the role of gold as a tool of political and religious legitimacy.

His reign, which lasted from 742 to 814, marked a turning point. In Aachen, the symbolic capital of his power, a monumental palatine chapel was built, inspired by the Byzantine model of San Vitale in Ravenna. Domes, mosaics, and relics framed in gold show that the new Rome will not be a city, but an idea: the Renovatio Imperii Romanorum. Charlemagne himself was crowned by surprise by Pope Leo III in 800, in a ceremony full of golden liturgy that sought to consolidate the alliance between the throne and the altar. 

The Renovatio Imperii Romanorum is thus based on a return to order, law and faith. Gold, in this context, is not a currency in regular circulation — since the Frankish economy is essentially rural — but a symbol of hierarchy, the sacred and mission. It is the halo of power incarnate. 

Al-Andalus gold: splendour, refinement and wisdom

At the same time, another vision of gold flourished on the Iberian Peninsula. Under Abd al-Rahman III, the Caliphate of Córdoba reached its peak, becoming one of the most brilliant cultural centres of the Middle Age. Here, gold was not just power: it was refinement, science, and beauty.

The Mosque of Córdoba, enlarged and embellished during his reign, makes masterful use of gold in its interior decoration. Byzantine mosaics, imported directly from Constantinople, cover the mihrab with subtle gilding that captures the light and elevates the space. Unlike Christian monumentality, here gold does not impose: it seduces.

The Caliphate mints the dinar, a gold coin with Koranic inscriptions, which circulates throughout al-Andalus and the Maghreb, demonstrating the commercial and political dynamism of Islam on the peninsula. But it is not just an economic issue: the dinar also acts as a calling card for Muslim power, at a time when calligraphy replaces iconography as an expression of faith. 

The court of Córdoba also became a centre for translation, astronomy, medicine, and philosophy. Gold financed libraries, schools, and gardens. In fact, the people of Córdoba understood wealth differently: not as accumulation, but as cultural fertility. Thus, while the Carolingians reinforced the sacralisation of power with liturgical gold, the Umayyads of Córdoba saw it as a way to project sophistication and intellectual leadership. Two ways of shining in the same era.

Feudal gold: financing churches, castles, and crusades

The European Middle Ages were a fragmented, rural and theocratic world. In this context, gold—scarcer than in previous eras—took on a heightened value: it was not only wealth, but also a means of accessing divine grace or projecting feudal authority.

With the start of the Crusades in the 11th century, this metal began to move on a large scale once again. The expedition of the European monarchies to Jerusalem cannot be understood without the financial support of the feudal lords, who mortgaged lands, sold titles and even ceded castles to obtain gold. Under the religious pretext, the real objective was the possession of territories in the Holy Land, as spoils of war and control of the trade routes between East and West.

Thus, medieval gold was not everyday currency—silver dominated minor transactions—but it was a privileged instrument for connecting land, faith, and sword. Its presence in relics, altarpieces and processional crosses testifies to a value that transcends economics: gold as a visual language of transcendence.

The gold of Mali: African splendour and global impact

While Europe ploughed fields and built cathedrals, an empire of bewildering wealth flourished in the heart of Africa: the Mali Empire. And its most emblematic ruler, Mansa Musa I, has gone down in history—not only for his devotion—but for being the richest person humanity has ever known.

His journey to Mecca in 1324 is legendary. According to the Arab historian Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari, Musa distributed so many kilos of gold in the markets of Cairo that the price of the metal plummeted for a decade. He brought thousands of slaves, horses, and camels laden with pure gold from the mines of Bambouk and Bure, in present-day Mali. This episode is not a romantic exaggeration: it is documented by various sources and even appears in the famous Catalan Atlas (1375), where Mansa Musa is depicted holding a golden sphere in his hand.

His reign marked a cultural and architectural explosion: the great mosque of Djenné was founded, and the city of Timbuktu became a centre of learning, where manuscripts were copied and Greco-Arabic knowledge was preserved. Mali’s gold was not used to conquer: it was used to educate, trade and establish relations with the Islamic and Mediterranean worlds.

Mexico’s gold: sacred symbol and sweat of the sun

When the Spanish conquistadors set foot in Tenochtitlan in 1519, they were so impressed by the order, symmetry, and monumentality of the city that Cortés himself compared it to Venice. But there was one element that eclipsed all others: gold.

In the Aztec religious universe, gold was not currency or an accumulable asset. It was, literally, the sweat of the sun —teocuitlatl—, a sacred material that could only be worked by specialised craftsmen, the Toltecs. It was used to make masks, ceremonial discs, ornaments for the gods and ritual objects. Its function was symbolic and spiritual, not commercial. Unlike in Europe, there were no gold coins or banking systems here, but rather an economy based on tribute and barter, with cocoa as the most common means of payment.

Moctezuma II, emperor of the Aztecs, maintained a refined court where gold was part of divine worship and state ceremonies. Sources such as Cortés’s Letters of Relation and Bernal Díaz del Castillo’s True History of the Conquest of New Spain describe the riches of the imperial palace with fascination and greed: ‘They had so many pieces of gold, so beautiful and mysterious, that no Christian king possessed any like them.’

But that same gold, which was sacred in Aztec logic, was capital to the Europeans. The misunderstanding between the two visions was absolute. The Aztecs offered gold to Cortés as a sign of respect and hospitality. He interpreted it as submission. From then on, the plundering began.

Gold in Castile: from greed to imperial decline

With the conquest of America, the Spanish monarchy—first under the Catholic Monarchs, and later under Charles I and Philip II—gained access to quantities of gold and silver that had been unthinkable until then. Between 1503 and 1660 alone, it is estimated that more than 180 tonnes of gold and 16,000 tonnes of silver arrived in Seville from the colonies, especially Peru and Mexico. This flow, known as the “gold of the Indies”, became the backbone of Castilian imperial power.

But this treasure, far from consolidating a stable empire, poisoned the peninsular economy. Gold made it possible to wage continuous wars in Flanders and Italy, but it was not reinvested in productive structures. Unlike England or Holland, Castile opted for military spending and imports, causing rampant inflation and foreign dependence. The metaphor is clear: a rich empire… but a poor one.

Philip II symbolises this paradox. Under his reign, El Escorial was built, a palace-monastery-fortress that was intended to be both the religious and administrative centre of the empire. Its architecture is severe, hieratic, almost otherworldly, but laden with symbols of power. The gold does not shine as it does at Versailles: it weighs heavily. It is the material reminder of an empire that aspires to dominate the world from a stone desert.

Papal gold: from luxury to eternal art

In Rome, however, gold takes on another function. With the Renaissance, the Catholic Church promotes artistic and spiritual renewal… and gold becomes God’s favourite pigment. Pope Julius II, known as “the warrior pope”, understood that in order to reaffirm Rome’s spiritual power, it was necessary to master the language of beauty. And gold was the perfect medium.

During his pontificate, he hired the best artists of the time: Michelangelo, Raphael, Bramante… and promoted the construction of the new St. Peter’s Basilica, with a dome that still defines the Roman skyline today. Gold covers altars, domes, frescoes, liturgical objects and altarpieces. But here it is not just belief: it is a visual catechesis. The message is clear: the glory of God must be tangible. In a Europe divided by the first Protestant criticisms, Rome speaks through art. And gold becomes the language of faith.

Gold in France: the backdrop for absolute power

If in Rome gold is sacred art, in France it becomes the theatre of absolute power. With Louis XIV —the Sun King— Versailles is transformed into a monumental backdrop where every cornice, every mirror and every golden ornament communicates a single idea: everything revolves around the king.

The gold of Versailles is not used to pay for wars—of which there will be many, as it is the basis of mercantilism—nor to convince the people—who are starving—but to project the myth of the omnipotent monarch. In the words of Louis XIV himself: ‘I am the State.’

This means that gold is not distributed: it is concentrated. In the Hall of Mirrors, with more than 350 mirrors facing 17 gilded windows, the multiple reflections of the king create an illusion of infinity. It is the theatricalisation of power made palace.

Gold in England: regulation, trust and an invisible empire

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution and the development of the modern banking system, gold no longer circulates in sacks or carriages. Now, it is stored in security vaults and underpins the value of currency. It is the era of the gold standard.

England, a pioneer in centralised banking, established the gold standard in 1717 with the reform of the monetary system led by Isaac Newton, then director of the Royal Mint. Newton officially set the value of the pound sterling based on a specific amount of gold. This established a new relationship: gold = trust.

The Goldsmiths’ Company of London, founded in 1327, became one of the key institutions in the development of this system. Initially a guild of goldsmiths, it eventually evolved into a regulatory body and guarantor of the weight and purity of gold, creating standards that still govern the market today (Good Delivery List).

With the gold standard, the major industrial powers stabilised their currencies and generated international confidence. Gold does not need to be seen, it is enough to know that it is there. And so an invisible empire was built, with central banks holding tons of gold — such as the Bank of England or the Federal Reserve Bank of New York — making the metal a silent pillar of the world order.

Gold became the dollar. And the world became dollarised

After two world wars, European states are ruined, but the United States retains massive gold reserves. Thus, in July 1944, in Bretton Woods (New Hampshire), a new international monetary system is decided: all currencies will be linked to the dollar, and the dollar in turn to gold: £35 per ounce of gold.
Thus, the dollar becomes the new gold, and the United States its manager. This decision transforms the world: international trade, finance, diplomatic relations… everything begins to revolve around the dollar. It is a monetary hegemony with a gold base.

But at the same time, the great contradiction began: the US printed more dollars than it could back with gold. Europe and Japan grew, the Vietnam War became extremely expensive, and confidence faltered. Suddenly, gold weighed too much… or too little.

The dollar abandons the gold standard. The world is thrown off balance

On 15 August 1971, Richard Nixon unilaterally announces the suspension of the dollar’s convertibility into gold. The Bretton Woods system collapses. For the first time, money no longer has an objective physical reference. Now, its value is based solely on trust and the management of central banks.

This marks the beginning of the era of fiat money, in which banknotes and digital zeros have value because… we decide they do. This opens the door to debt expansion, financial liberalisation and speculative bubbles.

Meanwhile, gold — expelled from the system — once again grows as a safe-haven asset. The oil crises (1973 and 1979), rampant inflation in the 1980s, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the financial crises of the 21st century (2008, 2020…) mean that gold is once again considered insurance against uncertainty.

When all else fails, gold remains

Today, in the 21st century, when cryptocurrencies are fluctuating wildly, public debt is reaching astronomical levels, and mistrust of institutions is becoming chronic, gold remains a silent but powerful benchmark.

Central banks in countries such as China, Russia, Turkey, and India are buying tonnes of gold to de-dollarise their reserves. Institutional investors see it as insurance against inflation and volatility. And more and more citizens see it as a form of personal sovereignty, outside the banking system.

Gold does not pay interest. It does not promise returns. But it does not lie. It is tangible, finite, universally recognised. When everything else falters — when stock markets fall, when governments falter, when currencies fluctuate — gold remains. And that is why, after millennia, it remains the eternal reflection of civilisations.

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