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The King's Two Bodies
A Study in Medieval Political Theology
Series: Princeton Classics
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The King's Two Bodies
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Originally published in 1957, this classic work has guided generations of scholars through the arcane mysteries of medieval political theology. Throughout history, the notion of two bodies has permitted the post mortem continuity of monarch and monarchy, as epitomized by the statement, "The king is dead. Long live the king." In The King's Two Bodie
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
Originally published in 1957, this classic work has guided generations of scholars through the arcane mysteries of medieval political theology. Throughout history, the notion of two bodies has permitted the post mortem continuity of monarch and monarchy, as epitomised by the statement, The king is dead. Long live the king.
In The King's Two Bodies, Ernst Kantorowicz traces the historical problem posed by the "King's two bodies"โthe body natural and the body politicโback to the Middle Ages. He demonstrates, by placing the concept in its proper setting of medieval thought and political theory, how the early-modern Western monarchies gradually began to develop a "political theology."
The king's natural body has physical attributes, suffers, and dies, naturally, as do all humans; but the king's other body, the spiritual body, transcends the earthly and serves as a symbol of his office as majesty with the divine right to rule. The notion of the two bodies allowed for the continuity of monarchy even when the monarch died, summarised in the formulation The king is dead. Long live the king.
Bringing together liturgical works, images, and polemical material, The King's Two Bodies explores the long Christian past behind this "political theology." It provides a subtle history of how commonwealths developed symbolic means for establishing their sovereignty, and with such means, began to establish early forms of the nation-state.
Kantorowicz fled Nazi Germany in 1938, after refusing to sign a Nazi loyalty oath, and settled in the United States. While teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, he once again refused to sign an oath of allegiance, this one designed to identify Communist Party sympathisers. He was dismissed as a result of the controversy and moved to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he remained for the rest of his life, and where he wrote The King's Two Bodies.
Featuring a new introduction, The King's Two Bodies is a subtle history of how commonwealths developed symbolic means for establishing their sovereignty and, with such means, began to establish early forms of the nation-state.
Series: Princeton Classics
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The King's Two Bodies
Originally published in 1957, this classic work has guided generations of scholars through the arcane mysteries of medieval political theology. Throughout history, the notion of two bodies has permitted the post mortem continuity of monarch and monarchy, as epitomised by the statement, The king is dead. Long live the king. In The King's Two Bodies, Ernst Kantorowicz traces the historical...Paperback$10500Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
The King's Two Bodies by Ernst Kantorowicz is lauded as an essential and monumental work in medieval political thought. It is praised for its profound scholarship and the depth of its analysis on the development of political theology and symbolism from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. Reviewers highlight its comprehensive approach and the excellence of its scholarly foundation, marking it as a significant contribution to the study of medieval thought.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780691169231
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 10 May 2016
Country: United States
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Illustration: 32 halftones.
Contributors:
- Introduction by Conrad Leyser
- Preface by William Chester Jordan
Audience: Tertiary education
DIMENSIONS
Width: 140.0mm
Height: 216.0mm
Weight: 624g
Pages: 632
About the Author
Ernst H. Kantorowicz (18951963) taught at the University of California, Berkeley, and was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Conrad Leyser is associate professor of medieval history at Worcester College, University of Oxford. He is the author of Authority and Asceticism from Augustine to Gregory the Great. William Chester Jordan is professor of history at Princeton University. He is the author of From England to France: Felony and Exile in the High Middle Ages (Princeton).
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