King's Evil

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King's Evil

For centuries, the kings of England and France were credited with the ability to cure scrofula by touching the sufferer with their fingers, a healing by touch ritual known as "touching for the king's evil." Many thousands of subjects regularly assembled for this royal touch, and some English kings were credited with hundreds of cures. The custom seems to have arisen during the reign of Edward the Confessor as a result of a young woman's dream. It was discontinued in England during the Hanoverian period, when it was considered a papal gift.