''The King's Two Bodies'' (subtitled, ''A Study in Mediaeval Political Theology'') is a 1957 historical book by

Ernst Kantorowicz Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz (May 3, 1895 – September 9, 1963) was a German historian of medieval political and intellectual history and art, known for his 1927 book '' Kaiser Friedrich der Zweite'' on Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and '' The K ...

. It concerns medieval

political theology Political theology is a term which has been used in discussion of the ways in which Theology, theological concepts or ways of thinking relate to politics. The term is often used to denote religious thought about political principled questions. Scho ...

and the distinctions separating the "body natural" (a monarch's corporeal being) and the "

body politic The body politic is a polity—such as a city, realm, or state—considered metaphorically as a physical body. Historically, the sovereign is typically portrayed as the body's head, and the analogy may also be extended to other anatomical part ...

". The book has had significant influence on the field of medieval studies, even as its methods and style of argumentation are viewed with wariness by contemporary scholars. It is the recipient of the Haskins medal from the Medieval Academy of America.

Stephen Greenblatt Stephen Jay Greenblatt (born November 7, 1943) is an American literary historian and author. He has served as the John Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University since 2000. Greenblatt is the general editor of ''The Nort ...

has said that the book is a "remarkably vital, generous, and generative work," while the historian Morimichi Watanabe called it a "monumental classic." Others have called it "an unnoticed volume on the shelves" that remains important and influential in disciplines including art history. It is also said to have more admirers than readers.

Horst Bredekamp Horst Bredekamp (born 29 April 1947, in Kiel) is a German art historian and visual historian. Life and work Bredekamp studied art history, archaeology, philosophy and sociology in Kiel, Munich, Berlin and Marburg. In 1974 he received his docto ...

, an art historian, has referred to the book as a "continuous success". It has been kept in print since 1957 by

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

and has been translated into Romanian, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Scholarly technique in the book includes use of art, philosophy, religion, law,

numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

, and archaeology.

Background

''The King's Two Bodies'' is described by historian

Paul Monod Paul Kléber Monod (born 25 June 1957) is a Canadian-born academic historian specializing in Jacobitism and British history in the 17th and 18th centuries. Since 1984 he has taught at Middlebury College, Vermont, where he is now A. Barton Hepburn Pr ...

as "boldly conceived, meticulously researched, and beautifully written." It attempts to show how a monarchical state developed out of Christian religious beliefs, specifically as articulated in mid-Tudor England. At that time, English legal doctrine saw the physical body of the ruler as joined to a "perfect, immutable and eternal body of the whole polity." Kantorowicz then argues that this is a culmination of Catholic teachings about the body of Christ.

Structure

The book is structured around an exploration of the numerous devices and technologies medieval theologians and lawyers developed to "defeat death" and "extend bodily existence far beyond carnal boundaries". Kantorowicz's magnum opus does not follow a linear or chronological structure. Some scholars have said it is "free-minded and unsystematic ... as though a happy society of fairies and spiders had come together to weave a learned web". It begins with an introduction to the theme of the King's "two bodies" as found in the reports of

Edmund Plowden Edmund Plowden (1519/20 – 6 February 1585) was an English lawyer, legal scholar and theorist during the late Tudor period. Early life Plowden was born at Plowden Hall, Lydbury North, Shropshire. He was the son of Humphrey Plowden (1490� ...

, an

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

jurist. It then revisits the appearance of the same ideas as developed by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

in ''

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...

''. The problem and its horizon of enquiry is thus established for the reader: what makes the "juridical fiction" of the symbolic body of the king possible? The author's excavation of these threads was not without controversy. Among

's ''Reports'', for instance, was a dispute over whether or not King

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

held the

duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is an estate of the British sovereign. The estate has its origins in the lands held by the medieval Dukes of Lancaster, which came under the direct control of the monarch when Henry Bolingbroke, the then duke of Lancast ...

as private property, or whether it belonged to the crown. The lawyers argued the latter:

the king has in him two Bodies, ''viz.'', a Body natural, and a Body politic. His Body natural (if it be considered in itself) is a Body mortal, subject to all Infirmities that come by Nature or Accident, to the Imbecility of Infancy or old Age … But his Body politic is a Body that cannot be seen or handled, consisting of Policy and Government, and constituted for the Direction of the People, and the management of the public weal, and this Body is utterly void of Infancy, and old Age, and other natural Defects and Imbecilities, which the Body natural is subject to, and for this Cause, what the King does in his Body politic, cannot be invalidated or frustrated by any Disability in his natural Body.

Whereas the medievalist

F. W. Maitland Frederic William Maitland (28 May 1850 – ) was an English historian and jurist who is regarded as the modern father of English legal history. From 1884 until his death in 1906, he was reader in English law, then Downing Professor of the Laws ...

saw "metaphysical nonsense" in remarks such as this, Kantorowicz perceived "a mystical fiction with theological roots, unconsciously transferred by Tudor jurists to the myth of the State". The remainder of the text — the argument proper — then turns to "Christ-centered Kingship", "Law-centered Kingship" and "Polity-centered Kingship". These are a rough taxonomy of the multiple manifestations of mystical and corporeal kingship, which Kantorowicz tracks throughout history in a variety of cultures. The final three sections address respectively continuity and corporations (drawing on F. W. Maitland's analysis of "The Crown as Corporation"), the immortality of the king (as transcendental, not physical, body) and "Man-centered kingship", which contains a close discussion of the work of

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

Reception and influence

A primary reason for a revival of interest in Kantorowicz's work in the post-WWII era was the use of the work by

Michel Foucault Paul-Michel Foucault ( , ; ; 15 October 192625 June 1984) was a French History of ideas, historian of ideas and Philosophy, philosopher who was also an author, Literary criticism, literary critic, Activism, political activist, and teacher. Fo ...

in his classic ''

Discipline and Punish ''Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison'' () is a 1975 book by French philosopher Michel Foucault. It is an analysis of the social and theoretical mechanisms behind the changes that occurred in Western penal systems during the modern ...

'', where he drew a parallel between the duality of the king and the body of a man condemned. Reworkings of (and homages to) Kantorowicz's title have included ''The Queen's Two Bodies'', ''The Pope's Body,'' ''The King's Two Maps,'' ''the People's Two Bodies,'' ''the King's Other Body'', and more. One of the more notable controversies involving Kantorowicz's legacy was

Norman Cantor Norman Frank Cantor (November 19, 1929 – September 18, 2004) was a Canadian-American medievalist. Known for his accessible writing and engaging narrative style, Cantor's books were among the most widely read treatments of medieval history in E ...

's claim that Kantorowicz was one of two "Nazi twins" (the other being

Percy Ernst Schramm Percy Ernst Schramm (14 October 1894 – 12 November 1970) was a German historian who specialized in art history and medieval history. Schramm was a Chair and Professor of History at the University of Göttingen from 1929 to 1963. Early lif ...

) due to the popular reception of his book on Frederick II among members of the Nazi party. Cantor's arguments, however, were later regarded as a twisting of facts and a "massive libel."

References

1957 non-fiction books Princeton University Press books Works about monarchy Political theology {{Authority control