The Ritual of the Royal Touch

It is widely believed that for many centuries the royal houses of England and France had a supernatural gift to cure scruffula. The formal practice of the ceremonial right can be traced back to the reigns of St. Louis, Louis the night of 1226 to 1270 in France and Edward the third in England. In Macbeth Act four, scene three, Shakespeare gives a striking and accurate description of the ceremony of the royal touch.