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.The Liber Testamentorum, a twelfth-century cartulary from Oviedo still preserved in its cathedral, is an exceptional manuscript without precedent or peer. 1 Among its most distinctive features are a series of lavish royal portraits of deceased kings and queens making gifts to the cathedral of Oviedo. The queens in these images are especially prominent. Veiled and wearing gold haloes, some carry Psalters or gold coins while others are accompanied by maidservants who bear leafy branches and, in one case, a basin and dish that mimic a chalice and paten. The meanings of the attributes associated with these queens confounded the only scholar to have made a detailed and comprehensive study of the manuscript's illustrations, Joaquin Yarza Luaces. Though he was unable to formulate a global theory that would explain the sets of attributes associated with each queen, he did conclude that the reason for the prominence of the royal women was that the manuscript was produced during the reign of Queen Urraca, a woman who ruled Castilla-León (1109-1126) in her own right. 2 Yarza Luaces is cer-
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