Wellcome MS 407, an early 15th-century English manuscript, gives a charm for a physician to perform at a patient's bedside. The physician melts lead, which melts at about 327 degrees Celsius, pours it into a mould and presses crosses into the plate. He places it on the wound while prayers are read and the patient recites five Ave Marias. The five crosses may echo Christ's five wounds, letting the patient imitate Christ's wound and hope for healing. The manuscript's diagrams show exactly where each cross goes, so the book scripts the performance.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.