Political use of corpses (nonfiction)

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Political use of corpses refers to the use of the bodies of the dead for political purposes.

Examples

Empress Dowager Lu

Empress Dowager Lu was buried with honors due an empress dowager. However, after her burial, her body was disinterred as a magical means of cursing her grandson Liu Zixun. It was only in 468, long after Liu Zixun had been defeated, that she was reburied.

John the Fearless

In 1521, during a visit by Francis I of France to the Burgundian capital, a monk presented the skull of John the Fearless to the King of France, saying to him, "Sire, this is the hole through which the English entered France."

In the News

Fiction cross-reference

Nonfiction cross-reference