We present fully three-dimensional equations to describe the rotations of a body made of a deformable mantle and a fluid core. The model in its essence is similar to that used by INPOP (Integration Planétaire de l'Observatoire de Paris), e.g. , and by JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), e.g. Folkner et al. (2014), to represent the Moon. The intended advantages of our model are: straightforward use of any linearviscoelastic model for the rheology of the mantle; easy numerical implementation in time-domain (no time lags are necessary); all parameters, including those related to the "permanent deformation", have a physical interpretation.The paper also contains: 1) A physical model to explain the usual lack of hydrostaticity of the mantle (permanent deformation). 2) Formulas for free librations of bodies in and out-of spin-orbit resonance that are valid for any linear viscoelastic rheology of the mantle. 3) Formulas for the offset between the mantle and the idealized rigid-body motion (Peale's Cassini states). 4) C. Ragazzo (ORCID 0000-0002-4277-4173