THE CORPSE GIVES LIFE - The Magical and Medical History of Executions A Live, Illustrated Zoom Talk with Historian Owen Davies Thursday 23rd September 2021 at 7:00 pm The use of the human corpse in medicine and magic dates back to antiquity. The lacerated bodies of Roman gladiators were used as a source of curative blood, while chemists in early modern Europe profited from a thriving trade in a distillation of human bones as a medicinal cure-all. In this talk on corpse medicine, historian Owen Davies sheds light on a medical practice that used the bodies of executed criminals as a source of healing revealing how this history of execution, medicine and magic prospers in the age of so-called Enlightenment. Historian Owen Davies will examine a panoply of macabre medical curiosities from the trade in human skin as talismans to the history of the healing touch of the hanged man’s hand in England and the rise of blood-drinking at beheadings in 19th century Germany and Scandinavia. Tickets £4.80 including a 20% donation to the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery. Please click here to purchase. Owen Davies Owen Davies is a British historian. He is currently Professor in History at the University of Hertfordshire. Davies's research is focused on topics such as magic, witchcraft, ghosts, and popular medicine from the ancient world to the present day. PLEASE NOTE - This talk will take place virtually via Zoom. Ticket sales will end at 5:00 pm BST on the day of the lecture. A link to the conference will be sent to the email used at checkout at 3:00 pm BST on the day of the event. Please email suzette@acuriousinvitation.com in the event your link fails to arrive.