What Does the Body Signify?
One of the most notable medieval texts that treats the body through allegory is titled Policraticus. It was written by John of Salisbury and published circa 1159 CE. In this text, each character or category of the social body maps onto the physical body. Below is the political body breakdown:
Head: Prince Eyes and Mouth: Governors and Judges Heart: Senate Soul: Church Hands: Soldiers, Sheriffs, Tax Collectors Internal Organs: Bureaucratic Officials Flanks: Courtiers Feet: Peasants and Crafstmen[1]
Christine de Pizan recycles this idea in her Book of the Body Politic, circa 1404-1407 CE. Christine is widely considered one of the first women of letters in France, and she wrote this text for Louis of Guyenne, fourteen-year-old heir to the throne. The purpose of the text was to instruct the prince in orderly conduct as manners, as well as to amuse him. Its three parts dictate similar functions to each social class - princes, knights and nobles, and the common people - as does John of Salisbury's Policraticus. [2]
We'll keep this organic metaphor for social entities in mind when thinking about how objects relate to the body.
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[1] Guilfoy, Kevin, "John of Salisbury", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2015 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2015/entries/john-salisbury/>.
[2] Forhan, Kate Langdon. The Book of the Body Politic. Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought. Cambridge, UK; New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press, 1994.