Tag: the King’s-Evil
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Scrofula or the king’s evil
Left: Scrofula. Photo from the Atlas of Clinical Medicine. US National Library of Medicine. Right: Queen Mary I healing scrofula. Illustration by Levina Teerlinc in Queen Mary’s manual for blessing cramp rings and touching for Evil. Via Wikimedia. Scrofula, the old name for tuberculous lymphadenitis of neck, was once a common condition. The name was…
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The King’s-Evil and sensory experience in Richard Wiseman’s Severall Chirurgicall Treatises
Adam Komorowski Sang Song Ireland Charles II touching a patient for the King’s Evil (scrofula) Throughout many centuries, the monarchs of England maintained as royal prerogative the ability to heal the sick by virtue of their miraculous touch alone. William of Malmesbury (c.1090-c.1143) first described the use of the thaumaturgic touch by King Edward…