91桃色

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, 鈥淭he king is dead. Long live the king.鈥� In The King鈥檚 Two Bodies, Ernst Kantorowicz traces the historical dilemma posed by the 鈥淜ing鈥檚 two bodies鈥濃�攖he body natural and the body politic鈥攂ack to the Middle Ages.

The king鈥檚 natural body has physical attributes, suffers, and dies, as do all humans; however the king鈥檚 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 King鈥檚 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.