The Royal Touch in Early Modern England: Politics, Medicine and Sin

by Stephen Brogan

Overview

First modern analysis of the custom of the "royal touch" in the Tudor and Stuart reigns.

The royal touch was the religious healing ceremony at which the monarch stroked the sores on the face and necks of people who had scrofula in order to heal them in imitation of Christ. The rite was practised by all the Tudor and Stuart sovereigns apart from William III, reaching its zenith during the Restoration when some 100,000 people were touched by Charles II and James II.

This book, the first devoted to the royal touch for almost a century, integrates political, religious, medical and intellectual history. The custom is analysed from above and below: the royal touch projected monarchical authority, but at the same time the great demand for it created numerous problemsfor those organising the ceremony. The healing rite is situated in the context of a number of early modern debates, including the cessation of miracles and the nature of the body politic. The book also assesses contemporary attitudes towards the royal touch, from belief through ambivalence to scepticism. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources including images, coins, medals, and playing cards, as well as manuscripts and printed texts, it provides animportant new perspective on the evolving relationship between politics, medicine and sin in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780861933525
Publisher:	Boydell & Brewer, Limited
Publication date:	02/21/2020
Series:	Royal Historical Society Studies in History New Series , #92
Pages:	277
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Stephen Brogan is a Visiting Lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London, where he teaches early modern history.

Table of Contents

List of illustrations vi

List of tables vii

Acknowledgements ix

Abbreviations xii

Introduction 1

1 The origins and medieval history of the royal touch, 1000-1485 23

2 The Tudors: revival and reform of royal therapeutics, 1485-1603 45

3 The royal touch and the Stuart monarchy, 1603-1688 67

4 The ritual process of the royal touch, 1660-1688 120

5 The Restoration debate: the rise of ambivalence and scepticism, 1660-1688 151

6 Tine royal touch and the early English Enlightenment, 1689-1750 183

Conclusion 218

Bibliography 223

Index 259

Editorial Reviews

An engaging and lively read.

JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY

Stephen Brogan's thorough study, the first book-length analysis of the topic since Bloch, adds considerably to our knowledge.

BULLETIN OF THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE

There is an immense amount of data here, clearly detailed and helpfully synthesized.

REVIEWS IN HISTORY

A welcome contribution, providing the reader with an accessible and fresh treatment of the subject based on a wide range of primary source material.

ISIS JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE

A fine book.

HISTORY

An engaging and lively read. JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY

Stephen Brogan's thorough study, the first book-length analysis of the topic since Bloch, adds considerably to our knowledge. BULLETIN OF THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE

A fine book. HISTORY

A welcome contribution, providing the reader with an accessible and fresh treatment of the subject based on a wide range of primary source material. ISIS JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE

There is an immense amount of data here, clearly detailed and helpfully synthesized. REVIEWS IN HISTORY

From the Publisher