dancing plague

DANCING PLAGUE

1518

Start

O1

History

Gascón Rodríguez Alexa Rubí 506

Introduction

The dancing plague of 1518, or dance epidemic of 1518, was a case of dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg, Alsace (modern-day France), in the Holy Roman Empire from July 1518 to September 1518. Somewhere between 50 and 400 people took to dancing for weeks. There are many theories behind the phenomenon, the most popular being stress-induced mass hysteria, suggested by John Waller. Other theories include ergot and religious explanations. There is controversy concerning the number of deaths.

more info

The outbreak began in July 1518 when a woman called Frau Troffea began to dance fervently and uncontrollably in a street in Strasbourg. Troffea kept up the constant dancing for a week. Soon, three dozen others joined in. By August, the "dancing plague" had claimed 400 victims. Dancers were beginning to collapse. It is said some even died from a stroke or heart attack. No one knew what caused this reaction, which meant no one understood how to remedy it. By early September, the outbreak began to subside, when the dancers were sent to a mountain shrine to pray for absolution.

Controversy exists over whether people ultimately danced to death. Some sources claim that for a period the plague killed around fifteen people per day. The causes of death of the dancers could have been various conditions such as: strokes, exhaustion and epileptic attacks caused by dancing and fatigue.

Veracity of deaths

Theories about the dancing plague:

Food poisoning: some believe the dancing could have been brought on by food poisoning caused by the toxic and psychoactive chemical products of ergot fungi (ergotism), which grows commonly on grains (such as rye) used for baking bread.

Stress-induced mass hysteria: this could have been an example of fully developed cases of psychogenic movement disorder happening in mass hysteria or mass psychogenic illness, which involves many individuals suddenly exhibiting the same bizarre behavior. This kind of comportment could have been caused by elevated levels of psychological stress, caused by the ruthless years the people of Alsace were suffering.

Thanks for watching :)