Kingship: The Politics of Enchantmant - Softcover

Oakley, Francis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0631226966 ISBN 13: 9780631226963

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 2009

Synopsis

From despots to powerless figureheads, and from the Neolithic era to the present, this book traces the history of kingship around the world and the tenacity of its connection with the sacred.

• Considers the many forms that kingship took during this period, including: the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt; the emperors of Japan; the Maya rulers of Mesoamerica; the medieval popes and emperors; and the English and French monarchs of early modern Europe
  
• Explores the panoply of governing roles that kingship involved – administrative, military, judicial, economic, religious and symbolic – but focussing on its connection with the sacred.
  
• Draws on the insights of cultural anthropology and comparative religion, as well as the on the resources provided by historians.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

In this book, Francis Oakley argues that kingship may be the most common form of government known to humankind. He traces its history from the time of the Neolithic revolution and the spread of agrarian modes of subsistence around the eastern Mediterranean (c.8000– 5000 BCE) down to its widespread loss of legitimacy in the modern industrial world.

The author considers the many forms that kingship took during this period, including: the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt; the emperors of Japan; the Maya rulers of Mesoamerica; the medieval popes and emperors; and the English and French monarchs of early modern Europe. While acknowledging the panoply of governing roles that kingship could involve – administrative, military, judicial, economic, religious, and purely symbolic – his central focus is on its intimate connection with the sacred.

About the Author:

Francis Oakley is the Edward Dorr Griffin Professor of the History of Ideas and President Emeritus of Williams College, Massachusetts. He is also President Emeritus of the American Council of Learned Societies, New York. In 1999 he was Isaiah Berlin Visiting Professor of the History of Ideas at Oxford University. He is the author of The Medieval Experience (1988 [1974]), Omnipotence, Covenant,and Order (1984), The Conciliarist Tradition (2003), and Natural Law, Laws of Nature, Natural Rights (2005).

About this edition

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0631226966
• ISBN 13: 9780631226963
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 212