Rituals of Royalty
Rituals of Royalty
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GBPHeads of state today mark their rites of passage with splendid ceremonial, from Reagan's inaugural to Andropov's funeral. Such spectacles continue to be a prominent part of modern political systems, of varied ideological hue, but their precise meaning and importance often remain unclear. The essays in this book - all specially written for it - address the central problem in the understanding of royal rituals, namely the relation between power and anthropologists, and the traditional societies examined range from ancient Babylon to nineteenth-century Madagascar, from medieval Europe to contemporary Ghana.
Reviews & endorsements
'This book well represents some of the richness of recent work on ritual, ceremonial, pomp, or whatever other term one chooses to use … How power works is one of the oldest philosophical issues … one of its most essential aspects, its self-presentation, is greatly illuminated by the essays in this book.' History
'This is … a collection of fascinating studies, ranging from Babylon to twentieth-century Ghana, from China to Madagascar … Professional historians of the modern period, as well as others, would do well to take ritual seriously.' London Review of Books
Product details
April 1992Paperback
9780521428910
364 pages
217 × 139 × 26 mm
0.478kg
Available
Table of Contents
- List of illustrations
- Notes on contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction: divine rites of kings David Cannadine
- 1. Usurpation, conquest and ceremonial: from Babylon to Persia Amélie Kuhrt
- 2. From noble funerals to divine cult: the consecration of Roman emperors Simon Price
- 3. The construction of court ritual: the Byzantine Book of Ceremonies Averil Cameron
- 4. The Lord's anointed and the people's choice: Carolingian royal ritual Janet L. Nelson
- 5. Bureaucrats and cosmology: the ritual code of T'ang China David McMullen
- 6. Gifts to the gods: power, property and ceremonial in Nepal Richard Burghart
- 7. The ritual of the royal bath in Madagascar: the dissolution of death, birth and fertility into authority Maurice Bloch
- 8. The person of the king: ritual and power in a Ghanaian state Michelle Gilbert
- Index.
