The King's Two Bodies: A Study in Medieval Political TheologyOriginally 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 King’s Two Bodies, Ernst Kantorowicz traces the historical dilemma posed by the “King’s two bodies”—the body natural and the body politic—back to the Middle Ages. |
From inside the book
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... royal body, which then is progressively secularized. In search of royal sacrality, he fun38 K. J. Leyser, “Some Reflections on Twelfth-Century Kings and Kingship,” in Medieval Germany and its Neighbours (London, 1982); M. Sahlins ...
... royal; and he has not a Body natural distinct and divided by itself from the Office and Dignity royal, but a Body natural and a Body politic together indivisible; and these two Bodies are incorporated in one Person, and make one Body ...
... royal ..., but the Reason was, because to the Body natural, in which he held the land, the Body politic was associated and conjoined, during which Association or Conjunction the Body natural partakes of the Nature and Effects of the ...
... royal was not doubted. The frequent assertion that only the king's body natural could suffer from the “Infirmities that come by Nature or Accident,” and that his body politic “is not subject to Passions or Death as the other is,” does ...
... royal actions once the body natural "has the Estate royal united to it, which can do nothing without record"; cf. Plowden, Reports, 213a. Some of these differences have been touched upon by Maitland, in his Introduction to Gierke ...
Contents
3 | |
7 | |
24 | |
III CHRISTCENTERED KINGSHIP | 42 |
IV LAWCENTERED KINGSHIP | 87 |
CORPUS MYSTICUM | 193 |
VI ON CONTINUITY AND CORPORATIONS | 273 |
VII THE KING NEVER DIES | 314 |
DANTE | 451 |
IX EPILOGUE | 496 |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS | 507 |
ILLUSTRATIONS | 513 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY and INDEX | 515 |
ADDENDA | 568 |
Other editions - View all
The King's Two Bodies: A Study in Mediaeval Political Theology Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz Limited preview - 1997 |
The King's Two Bodies: A Study in Mediaeval Political Theology Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz No preview available - 2016 |