Medicine, charm or treasure? Mediterranean red coral in England c.1600-1750.

Mediterranean red coral is currently under major ecological threat due to overfishing, habitat destruction and climate change. My project explores the importance of red coral to English beliefs about health and well-being in the early modern period c.1600-1750. While coral objects such as coral rosaries and amulets were prized in Italy, we know little about why coral continued to be so important in Protestant England. Drawing on documents such as letters, wills and medical books and coral objects held in The National Archives, V&A, British Museum, Wellcome Collection, Science Museum and National Portrait Gallery, I will explore how coral was used as a medical ingredient, as a charm against supernatural threats and was also desirable as a luxury item. My research will reveal how beliefs in the protective properties of coral in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries created a destructive demand for this precious treasure of the seas.