Mystifying the Monarch
Studies on Discourse, Power, and History
Description:... The power of monarchs has traditionally been as much symbolic as actual, rooted in popular imagery of sovereignty, divinity, and authority. In Mystifying the Monarch, a distinguished group of contributors explores the changing nature of that imagery--and its political and social effects--in Europe from the Middle Ages to the present day. They demonstrate that, rather than a linear progression where perceptions of rulers moved inexorably from the sacred to the banal, in reality the history of monarchy has been one of constant tension between mystification and demystification.
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