The Body of the Queen: Gender And Rule in the Courtly World, 1500 - 2000

How many “bodies” does a queen have? What is the significance of multiple “bodies”? How has the gendered body been constructed and perceived within the context of the European courts during the course of the past five centuries? These are some of the questions addressed in this anthology, a contribution to the ongoing debate provoked by Ernst H. Kantorowicz in his seminal work from 1957, __The King’s Two Bodies__. On the basis of both textual self-presentations and visual representations a gradual transformation of the queen appears: A sacred/providential figure in medieval and early modern period, an ideal bourgeois wife during the late-18th and 19th Centuries, and a star-like (re-) presentation of royalty during the past century. Twentieth-century mass media has produced the celebrity and film star queens personified by the contested and enigmatic Nefertiti of ancient Egypt, the mysterious Elizabeth (Sisi) of Austria, Grace Kelly as Queen of both Hollywood and Monaco and Romy Schneider as the invented Empress. Inspired By Existential Thought, But Using Ethnographic Methods, Michael Jackson Explores A Variety Of Contemporary Topics, Including 9/11, Episodes From The War In Sierra Leone And Its Aftermath, The Marginalization Of Indigenous Australians, The Application Of New Technologies, Mundane Forms Of Ritualization, The Magical Use Of Language, The Sociality Of Violence, The Prose Of Suffering, And The Discourse Of Human Rights. Throughout This Compelling Work, Jackson Demonstrates That Existentialism, Far From Being A Philosophy Of Individual Being, Enables Us To Explore Issues Of Social Existence And Coexistence In New Ways, And To Theorise Events As The Sites Of A Dynamic Interplay Between The Finite Possibilities Of The Situations In Which Human Beings Find Themselves And The Capacities They Possess For Creating Viable Forms Of Social Life.--jacket. How Two Ladies Steal A Crown: The Memoirs Of Helene Kottannerin (1439-40) At The Court Of Queen Elisabeth Of Hungary (1409-42) / Horst Wenzel-- Elizabeth When A Princess: Early Self-representations In A Portrait And A Letter / Susan Frye -- Elizabeth Through The Looking Glass: Picturing The Queen's Two Bodies / Louis Montrose -- Royal Flesh, Gender And The Construction Of A Monarchy / Rachel Weil -- What The King Saw In The Belly Of The Beast Or How The Lion Got In The Queen: Allegories Of Royal Procreation In The 1622 Royal Entry Into Lyon / Abby E. Zanger -- Posterity And The Body Of The Princess In German Court Funeral Books / Jill Bepler -- 'madame, Ma Chere Fille' -- 'dearest Child': Letters From Imperial Mothers To Royal Daughters / Regina Schulte -- Queen Margherita (1851-1926): 'the Only Man In The House Of Savoy' / Catherine Brice -- The Double Skin: Imperial Fashion In The Nineteenth Century / Julianne Vogel -- Theatrical Monarchy: The Making Of Victoria, The Modern Family Queen / Bernd Weisbrod -- The Unmanly Emperor: Wilhelm Ii And The Fragility Of The Royal Individual / Martin Kohlrausch -- The 'berlin' Nefertiti Bust: Imperial Fantasies In Twentieth-century German Archaeological Discourse / Claudia Breger -- Imagined Queens Between Heaven And Hell: Representations Of Grace Kelly And Romy Schneider / Alexis Schwarzenbach -- Queer Queen: Elizabeth Ii In Sally Potter's Film Orlando / Katharina Sykora. Edited By Regina Schulte ; With The Assistance Of Pernille Arenfeldt, Martin Kohlrausch And Xenia Von Tippelskirch. Papers From A Conference Held Sept. 2001 In Florence, Italy. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [343]-358) And Index. Annotation How many "bodies" does a queen have? What is the significance of multiple "bodies"? How has the gendered body been constructed and perceived within the context of the European courts during the course of the past five centuries? These are some of the questions addressed in this anthology, a contribution to the ongoing debate provoked by Ernst H. Kantorowicz in his seminal work from 1957, The King's Two Bodies. On the basis of both textual self-presentations and visual representations a gradual transformation of the queen appears: A sacred/providential figure in medieval and early modern period, an ideal bourgeois wife during the late-18th and 19th Centuries, and a star-like (re-) presentation of royalty during the past century. Twentieth-century mass media has produced the celebrity and film star queens personified by the contested and enigmatic Nefertiti of ancient Egypt, the mysterious Elizabeth (Sisi) of Austria, Grace Kelly as Queen of both Hollywood and Monaco and Romy Schneider as the invented Empress Does the queen have one body, or, like the king, two (Kantorowicz 1957)?