Kingship: The Politics of Enchantment

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.

Content:
Chapter 1 Gate of the Gods: Archaic and Global Patterns of Cosmic Kingship (pages 10–43):
Chapter 2 Royal Saviors and Shepherds: Hellenistic, Roman, Biblical, and Islamic Views of Kingship (pages 44–67):
Chapter 3 The Eusebian Accommodation: Christian Rulership in Imperial Rome, Byzantium, and Russia (pages 68–86):
Chapter 4 The Carolingian Accommodation: Christian Rulership in the Germanic Successor Kingdoms of Western Europe (pages 87–107):
Chapter 5 The Sacrality of Kingship in Medieval and Early Modern Europe: Papal, Imperial, National (pages 108–131):
Chapter 6 The Fading Nimbus: Modern Kingship and its Fate in a Disenchanted World (pages 132–157):