This specimen of the anti-headache crown can be seen in the Museo di Storia della Medicina in in Rome (Viale dell’Università, 47/a).
This devotional crown was used during the Middle Ages as anti-headache aid. The strips of sheet iron to make the crown had to be collected as a charity during the pilgrimage the sick made to the sanctuary of the healing saint. The crown had to be blessed by a priest who placed it on the head of the sick pilgrim.
- Photo by @ (April 2008)
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Bibliography
– AA.VV., Il Museo, Istituto di Storia della Medicina dell’Università di Roma, Roma 1958, p. 114.