The royal touch (also known as the king's touch) was a form of laying on of hands, whereby French and English monarchs touched their subjects, regardless of social classes, with the intent to cure them of various diseases and conditions.[1][2][3][4] The thaumaturgic touch was most commonly applied to people suffering from tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis (better known as scrofula or the king's evil), and exclusively to them from the 16th century onwards.[2] The disease rarely resulted in death and often went into remission on its own, giving the impression that the monarch's touch cured it.[4] The claimed power was most notably exercised by monarchs who sought to demonstrate the legitimacy of their reign and of their newly founded dynasties.
- ^ Lane Furdell, Elizabeth (2001). The Royal Doctors, 1485–1714: Medical Personnel at the Tudor and Stuart Courts. University Rochester Press. p. 190. ISBN 1580460518.
- ^ a b Sturdy, David J. (1992). "The Royal Touch in England". European Monarchy: Its Evolution and Practice from Roman Antiquity to Modern Times. Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 190. ISBN 3515062335.
- ^ Krieger, Dolores (2002). Therapeutic Touch as Transpersonal Healing. Lantern Books. pp. 7–9. ISBN 1590560108.
- ^ a b Finley-Crosswhite, Annette (2003). Princes and Princely Culture: 1450–1650. BRILL. pp. 139–144. ISBN 9004135723.