The head and the members
Examine how the Book of the Body Politic binds prince, nobles and people through reciprocal duties.
An original introduction. This guide accompanies the work; it is neither the complete text nor a translation.
Situating the text
Written between 1404 and 1407 for the dauphin Louis of Guyenne, it adapts the organic metaphor of John of Salisbury’s Policraticus and illustrates it with examples from Valerius Maximus. An English translation was printed in 1521. A mirror for princes in three parts: the education and virtues of the prince, the conduct of knights and nobles, and the duties of the common people, from clergy and students to merchants, artisans and laborers. The realm is healthy only when every estate is joined to the others and none is despised.
Following the arguments
Head : The prince must be educated, temperate and just, love his people as a shepherd loves his flock and avoid ruinous taxes. Arms : Knights and nobles defend the realm with courage and loyalty, keeping their oaths and sparing the defenseless. Belly and feet : Merchants, artisans and laborers sustain the whole body, and the clergy count among the common people rather than as its soul.
Continuing the reading
Read the opening chapters on the young prince alongside the third part on the common people, noting where duties turn into a warning to rulers. Written between 1404 and 1407 for the dauphin Louis of Guyenne, it adapts the organic metaphor of John of Salisbury’s Policraticus and illustrates it with examples from Valerius Maximus. An English translation was printed in 1521.
The organic image makes hierarchy a matter of mutual obligation, so that misrule wounds the ruler’s own body.
Your turn to think.
- What does the body metaphor justify, and what does it forbid the prince to do?
- Why does Christine give merchants and laborers so much attention in a book for a future king?
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