ABSTRACT
One of the most distinctive advances in European political thought during the twelfth century was the wide application of organic or holistic imagery in order to capture and express the complexities of social relations. Whereas in earlier times such simple models as the tripartite division of society into warriors, laborers, and priests had sufficed, 1 authors of the 1100s began to devise more sophisticated and realistic metaphors for communal order. 2 This development is consonant with the increasingly naturalistic character of twelfth-century theories of government and community, 3 as well as with the newly vital conceptions of res publica and universitas encountered in the Roman law materials that had once again begun to circulate. 4 In contrast to early medieval ideas of society, which had largely revolved around the dominant theme of hierarchical subordination and rule, the holistic approach tended to promote standards of reciprocity, cooperation, and inclusion among the members of the community.
