This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license This book explores the magical and medical history of executions from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century by looking at the afterlife potency of criminal corpses, the healing activities of the executioner, and the magic of the gallows site. The use of corpses in medicine and magic has been recorded back into antiquity. The lacerated bodies of Roman gladiators were used as a source of curative blood, for instance. In early modern Europe, a great trade opened up in ancient Egyptian mummies and the fat of executed criminals, plundered as medicinal cure-alls. However, this is the first book to consider the demand for the blood of the executed, the desire for human fat, the resort to the hanged man's hand, and the trade in hanging rope in the modern era. It ends by look at the spiritual afterlife of dead criminals.

eBook - ePub
Executing Magic in the Modern Era
Criminal Bodies and the Gallows in Popular Medicine
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Executing Magic in the Modern Era
Criminal Bodies and the Gallows in Popular Medicine
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Criminal Bodies
- The Corpse Gives Life
- The Places and Tools of Execution
- Lingering Influences
- Backmatter
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Yes, you can access Executing Magic in the Modern Era by Owen Davies,Francesca Matteoni in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & British History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.