social spheres they represent are understood to be expressions of the same underlying reality, which transcends human time and space (the hierarchy of being).13 To be sure, priest and king play different roles in premodern societies and they have different functions relative to this transcendence, but it is not as if one can understand social order and its rulers apart from the religious beliefs and practices that substantially shape it and give it legitimacy. So when I am fully installed in a premodern