Abstract
The Liber Testamentorum, a twelfth-century cartulary produced by Bishop Pelayo of Oviedo, is distinctive for its elaborate cycle of miniatures depicting the kings and queens of Asturias and Castilla-León. Produced to influence and impress Queen Urraca, ruling Castilla-León in her own right at the time, they show kings with traditional insignia of power and military strength, and queens with objects associated with religious life and practice, like haloes, Psalters, and chalices. Interpreted in the light of the discussion of sacred kingship in Ernst Kantorowicz’s The Kings Two Bodies, this article suggests these images show not the king himself with two bodies, secular and spiritual, human and Christ-like, but rather the spiritual and secular functions literally divided between two bodies, those of the king and queen, with the king in change of protection and the queen responsible for prayer for the kingdom.
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