“Only for Specialist” Medical Charms: Holistic Therapy in the German Medieval and Early Modern Tradition

In this study, a corpus of almost unknown medieval and early modern healing-related charms is presented and discussed as being part of a holistic practical therapy combining conventional medical and surgical remedies with verbal formulas aimed at reinforcing the practitioner-patient-relationship and at propitiating the good outcome of the healing process. In this respect, these texts constitute a specific category of charms specifically addressing physicians and surgeons who recited them before or during a procedure.