Touching for the King's Evil: Difference between revisions
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One of the most dedicated and “the most successful miracle-working king” was [[Charles II]], who is said to have touched 90,000 people. | One of the most dedicated and “the most successful miracle-working king” was [[Charles II]], who is said to have touched 90,000 people. | ||
However, not all monarchs performed the ritual of Touching for the King’s Evil. [[James I]] disliked | However, not all monarchs performed the ritual of Touching for the King’s Evil. [[James I]] disliked it.[[Queen Anne]] reintroduced the procedure after some time and touched 200 sick people in 1712. One of them allegedly was the young [[Samuel Johnson]]. | ||
[[ | [[William III]] did not continue it. The [[Jacobites]] took this as a sign that the usurper did no longer have the power but that it went to the (in their opinion) rightful monarchs – the exiled [[Stuarts]]. | ||
The [[Hanoverians]] abandoned the ritual and it has not been performed since. | The [[Hanoverians]] abandoned the ritual and it has not been performed since. | ||
Revision as of 10:39, 11 May 2010
Touching for the King’s Evil is a ceremony in which the monarch would touch people suffering from scrofula in order to heal them.
Scrofula is a tuberculous swelling of the lymph glands that was called “The King’s Evil” because it was widely believed that the touch of the monarch was able to heal this particular disease. This belief dates from the time of Edward the Confessor, who is said to have been the first monarch to heal people with the touch of his hands.
From King Henry I onwards England’s monarchs claimed to have Edward’s abilities as a reaction to their rival Capetian King’s pronouncement of having divine healing powers.
In England the ceremony used to be very formal. People suffering from scrofula would line up to be healed one after the other. The monarch would touch and stroke the sufferer’s throat while a cleric would read parts from the gospels (especially Mark 16: “They shall lay their hands on the sick and they shall recover”). Since the time of Henry VII coins were handed out afterwards to be worn as a charm or amulet. The ceremony usually ended with a formal washing of hands. One of the most dedicated and “the most successful miracle-working king” was Charles II, who is said to have touched 90,000 people.
However, not all monarchs performed the ritual of Touching for the King’s Evil. James I disliked it.Queen Anne reintroduced the procedure after some time and touched 200 sick people in 1712. One of them allegedly was the young Samuel Johnson.
William III did not continue it. The Jacobites took this as a sign that the usurper did no longer have the power but that it went to the (in their opinion) rightful monarchs – the exiled Stuarts.
The Hanoverians abandoned the ritual and it has not been performed since.
Sources
Cannon,John. The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Cannon, John. The Kings and Queens of Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
"king's evil." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010. Web. 10 May 2010 <http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article-9045541>.