医学与王权:斯图亚特王朝时期正规医生对“国王触摸”的参与

Practice and Theory:Involvement of Orthodox Physicians in the“Royal Touch”of the Stuart Period

“国王触摸”盛行于英法两国中世纪中晚期至18世纪,传统上认为,这一仪式完全是国王主导,用以巩固王权的宗教性活动,但在1603~1714年“国王触摸”的极盛期,以希波克拉底和盖伦医学为指导,受过系统教育与培训、拥有皇家内科学院颁发的行医许可证的正规医生也参与其中。一方面,正规医生在“国王触摸”中扮演了合作者的角色,既负责预筛选患者,成为民众与君主之间的桥梁,也将常规疗法与“国王触摸”互相补充以促进“疗效”。另一方面,这些医生著书立说,用古老的盖伦医学与当时方兴未艾的机械哲学理念,赋予“国王触摸”新的理论诠释。在这个意义上,“国王触摸”不仅是王权对医学与宗教的利用,一定程度上还可视为“正统医学”为维持自身地位而与王权的合作,是观察这一时期早期临床医学发展特征的典型切片。

The“Royal Touch”prevailed in Britain and France from the middle and late Middle Ages to the 18th century.Traditionally,this ceremony was completely dominated by the king to consolidate the religious activities of the king,but in the Stuart Dynasty from 1603 to 1714,the heyday of the British“king touch”,the regular doctors at that time also participated in.In a nutshell,on the one hand,doctors played the role of collaborators in the“Royal Touch”,not only responsible for pre-screening patients,becoming a bridge between the people and the monarch,but also linking conventional therapy with the“Royal Touch”.Touch“complements each other to promote healing”.On the other hand,they wrote books and said,using the ancient Galenic medicine and the emerging mechanical philosophy concept at that time,to endow the“king touch”with a new interpretation of the theory.This interweaving of“science”and superstition is the breeding ground for the birth of early clinical medicine.This is not just a unilateral appointment by the monarch,but may even be an active“action”of“orthodox medicine”to maintain its status with the king's authority.The practice and theoretical elaboration of“Royal Touch”by professional doctors in the seventeenth century clearly reflects the development characteristics of early clinical medicine.