The King's Two Bodies: A Study in Medieval Political Theology (Princeton Classics)

ISBN: 0691169233

Author: Kantorowicz, Ernst

Condition: New

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 postmortem continuity of monarch and monarchy, as epitomized by the statement, The king is dead. Long live the king. In The Kings Two Bodies, Ernst Kantorowicz traces the historical dilemma posed by the Kings two bodies-the body natural and the body politic-back to the Middle Ages.The kings natural body has physical attributes, suffers, and dies, as do all humans; however the kings spiritual body transcends the earth and serves as a symbol of his office as majesty with the divine right to rule. Bringing together liturgical works, images, and polemical material, Kantorowicz demonstrates how early modern Western monarchies gradually began to develop a political theology. Featuring a new introduction and preface, The Kings 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.