Ernst Kantorowicz

Radiances gathers previously unpublished essays by one of the greatest historians of the twentieth century. Although best known for The King's Two Bodies (1957), Ernst Kantorowicz's scholarly expertise ranged from classical antiquity to early modernity and from political pageantry to numismatics. These essays traverse the breadth of his expertise, exploring "radiations" of the themes that were central to his published work: sovereignty, theology, law, and iconography. The radiations in these engaging essays include the imagery of throne-sharing from the Hellenistic era and Pharaonic Egypt to early Christianity, coronation ceremonies in Byzantium and the West, the Carolingian and Burgundian Renaissances, the relationship between Rome and Christianity, the importance of history as a humanistic pursuit, and the significance of postage stamps in political myth-building. Robert E. Lerner discusses each essay's composition, themes, and place in Kantorowicz's oeuvre. Combining vast knowledge with intellectual delight, Radiances teems with the profound historical insights that distinguished Kantorowicz's scholarship.

Radiances gathers previously unpublished essays by one of the greatest historians of the twentieth century. Although best known for The King's Two Bodies (1957), Ernst Kantorowicz's scholarly expertise ranged from classical antiquity to early modernity and from political pageantry to numismatics. These essays traverse the breadth of his expertise, exploring "radiations" of the themes that were central to his published work: sovereignty, theology, law, and iconography. The radiations in these engaging essays include the imagery of throne-sharing from the Hellenistic era and Pharaonic Egypt to early Christianity, coronation ceremonies in Byzantium and the West, the Carolingian and Burgundian Renaissances, the relationship between Rome and Christianity, the importance of history as a humanistic pursuit, and the significance of postage stamps in political myth-building. Robert E. Lerner discusses each essay's composition, themes, and place in Kantorowicz's oeuvre. Combining vast knowledge with intellectual delight, Radiances teems with the profound historical insights that distinguished Kantorowicz's scholarship.

A collection of never-before-published essays by the great historian Ernst Kantorowicz, author of the classic The King’s Two BodiesErnst Kantorowicz was one of the greatest historians of the twentieth century. His 1927 biography of Frederick II is still in print, and his masterwork, The King’s Two Bodies (1957), continues to inspire scholars in a wide variety of fields. From 1935 until his death in 1963, Kantorowicz published some forty essays on an astonishing variety of subjects that reflect the superabundance of his ideas and interests. But he also left behind a number of unpublished essays that rank with his best work. Humanities and History presents for the first time Kantorowicz’s unpublished essays written in English.Seven of these essays address subjects across an enormous chronological span, from ancient Greece and Rome to the Renaissance: “Synthronos: On Throne-sharing of Gods and Men,” “Roman Coins and Christian Rites,” “Coronation Scenarios Eastern and Western,” “Charles the Bald and the Natales of the King,” “Roma and the Coal,” “Glosses on Late-Mediaeval State Imagery,” and “The Dukes of Burgundy and the Italian Renaissance.” These essays are rounded out by two worthy occasional pieces: an essay on “Humanities and History” and a talk on “Postage Stamps and the Historian.”

A collection of never-before-published essays by the great historian Ernst Kantorowicz, author of the classic The King’s Two BodiesErnst Kantorowicz was one of the greatest historians of the twentieth century. His 1927 biography of Frederick II is still in print, and his masterwork, The King’s Two Bodies (1957), continues to inspire scholars in a wide variety of fields. From 1935 until his death in 1963, Kantorowicz published some forty essays on an astonishing variety of subjects that reflect the superabundance of his ideas and interests. But he also left behind a number of unpublished essays that rank with his best work. Humanities and History presents for the first time Kantorowicz’s unpublished essays written in English.Seven of these essays address subjects across an enormous chronological span, from ancient Greece and Rome to the Renaissance: “Synthronos: On Throne-sharing of Gods and Men,” “Roman Coins and Christian Rites,” “Coronation Scenarios Eastern and Western,” “Charles the Bald and the Natales of the King,” “Roma and the Coal,” “Glosses on Late-Mediaeval State Imagery,” and “The Dukes of Burgundy and the Italian Renaissance.” These essays are rounded out by two worthy occasional pieces: an essay on “Humanities and History” and a talk on “Postage Stamps and the Historian.”

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 post mortem 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 problem posed by the "King's two bodies"--the body natural and the body politic--back to the Middle Ages and demonstrates, by placing the concept in its proper setting of medieval thought and political theory, how the early-modern Western monarchies gradually began to develop a "political theology." The king's natural body has physical attributes, suffers, and dies, naturally, as do all humans; but the king's other body, the spiritual body, transcends the earthly and serves as a symbol of his office as majesty with the divine right to rule. The notion of the two bodies allowed for the continuity of monarchy even when the monarch died, as summed up in the formulation "The king is dead. Long live the king." Bringing together liturgical works, images, and polemical material, The King's Two Bodies explores the long Christian past behind this "political theology." It provides 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. Kantorowicz fled Nazi Germany in 1938, after refusing to sign a Nazi loyalty oath, and settled in the United States. While teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, he once again refused to sign an oath of allegiance, this one designed to identify Communist Party sympathizers. He was dismissed as a result of the controversy and moved to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, where he remained for the rest of his life, and where he wrote The King's Two Bodies. Featuring a new introduction, The King's 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.