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

Stephen Brogan

doi:10.1017/9781782045106

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 ground-breaking 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 problems for those organising the ceremony. The healing rite is situated in the context of a number ofearly 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 toscepticism. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources including images, coins, medals, and playing cards, as well as manuscripts and printed texts, it provides an important new perspective on the evolving relationship between politics, medicine and sin in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England.

- Aa Reduce text
- Aa Enlarge text

View selected items
Save to my bookmarks
Export citations
Download PDF (zip)
Save to Kindle
Save to Dropbox
Save to Google Drive
Save content to
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to .

To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Please be advised that item(s) you selected are not available.
You are about to save
Your Kindle email address

Please provide your Kindle email.

@free.kindle.com @kindle.com (service fees apply)

By using this service, you agree that you will only keep content for personal use, and will not openly distribute them via Dropbox, Google Drive or other file sharing services

Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Contents
pp v-v
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

List of Illustrations
pp vi-vii
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

List of Tables
pp vii-vii
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Dedication
pp viii-viii
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Acknowledgements
pp ix-xi
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Abbreviations
pp xii-xii
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Introduction
pp 1-22
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

1 - The origins and medieval history of the royal touch, 1000–1485
pp 23-44
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

2 - The Tudors: revival and reform of royal therapeutics, 1485–1603
pp 45-66
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

3 - The royal touch and the Stuart monarchy, 1603–1688
pp 67-119
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

4 - The ritual process of the royal touch, 1660–1688
pp 120-150
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

5 - The Restoration debate: the rise of ambivalence and scepticism, 1660–1688
pp 151-182
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

6 - The royal touch and the early English Enlightenment, 1689–1750
pp 183-217
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Conclusion
pp 218-222
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Bibliography
pp 223-258
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Index
pp 259-265
- - Get access
    
    Check if you have access via personal or institutional login
    
    Log in Register
- Export citation

Metrics

Total number of HTML views: 0

Total number of PDF views: 0 *

Loading metrics...

Total views: 0 *

Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

Why this information is here

This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

Accessibility Information

Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.

The Royal Touch in Early Modern England

Politics, Medicine and Sin

This Book has been cited by the following publications. This list is generated based on data provided by Crossref.

Book description

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-v

List of Illustrations
pp vi-vii

List of Tables
pp vii-vii

Dedication
pp viii-viii

Acknowledgements
pp ix-xi

Abbreviations
pp xii-xii

Introduction
pp 1-22

1 - The origins and medieval history of the royal touch, 1000–1485
pp 23-44

2 - The Tudors: revival and reform of royal therapeutics, 1485–1603
pp 45-66

3 - The royal touch and the Stuart monarchy, 1603–1688
pp 67-119

4 - The ritual process of the royal touch, 1660–1688
pp 120-150

5 - The Restoration debate: the rise of ambivalence and scepticism, 1660–1688
pp 151-182

6 - The royal touch and the early English Enlightenment, 1689–1750
pp 183-217

Conclusion
pp 218-222

Bibliography
pp 223-258

Index
pp 259-265

Metrics

Full text views

Book summary page views

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Why this information is here

Accessibility Information

The Royal Touch in Early Modern England

Politics, Medicine and Sin

Book description

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Save Search

Contents

Metrics

Full text views

Book summary page views

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Why this information is here

Accessibility Information