Article ID: CBB001420846

The French Royal Funeral Ceremony and the King's Two Bodies. Ernst H. Kantorowicz, Ralph E. Giesey and the Construction of a Paradigm (2014)

unapi

Brown, Elizabeth A. R. (Author)


Micrologus: Natura, Scienze e Società Medievali
Volume: 22
Pages: 105--137


Publication Date: 2014
Edition Details: Article in a special issue, “Le Corps du Prince”
Language: English

Because of the work of Ernst H. Kantorowicz and Ralph E. Giesey, French royal transi tombs' display of images of both corpse and living ruler, like the use of effigies in royal funerals in medieval and Renaissance France, is widely thought to reflect and express a distinction between `the king's two bodies', his body politic and his body natural. The royal images, both statues and effigies, are thus interpreted as representations of the undying body politic, contrasted with the ruler's mortal body. In this article I discuss Kantorowicz's collaboration with Giesey, explore the genesis of their ideas concerning French royal tombs and effigies, and argue that their hypotheses owe more to Kantorowicz's flair for generalization and penchant for paradigms than to medieval and early modern ideas about dignitas, effigies, and skeletal funerary monuments, and the actual use and treatment of these images.

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Article Winand, Jean (2014) Le corps du prince. La perception de l'Égypte ancienne. Micrologus: Natura, Scienze e Società Medievali (p. 3). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001420846/

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Authors & Contributors
Poinar, Hendrik
Griffith, Lisa Marie
Cova, Paolo
Willmott, Hugh
Townend, Peter
Zago, Silvia
Concepts
Funeral rites and ceremonies
Human body
Death
Tombs
Medicine
Kings and rulers
Time Periods
Medieval
Early modern
14th century
19th century
18th century
15th century
Places
England
Italy
Dublin (Ireland)
Bologna (Italy)
Scotland
United States
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