Radiances: Unpublished Essays on Gods, Kingship, and Images of the State

Radiances gathers together previously unpublished essays by one of the greatest historians of the twentieth century.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.

Ernst Kantorowicz (1895-1963) taught at the University of Frankfurt and University of California, Berkeley, and was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

Robert E. Lerner is the Peter B. Ritzma Professor in the Humanities, Emeritus, at Northwestern University. He is the author of Ernst Kantorowicz and several books in European medieval history.