The Dancing Plague of 1518

One day in July of 1518, a woman took to the street in Strasbourg, Alsace (France), and began to dance. She danced feverishly throughout the day and into the night and on, and on without pause. While this may seem like a case of one individual suffering from a psychological illness, and that may have partially been the case, the story becomes even more strange when you find out that although she started off alone, her dance routine didn’t end that way.

Dance like nobody’s watching

Historical documents of the time including physician notes,  church sermons, news articles, and notes made by the Strasbourg city council all state a similar case; from July to September of 1518 an unknown amount of people believed to be between 50 to 400, followed the woman’s lead, one or several at a time, dancing into the streets as if in a trance for weeks on end. The affair caused such a stir that the city leaders would have no choice but to intervene, tasking local physicians to commit many of those affected by the madness. 

Although one might assume that the constant and strenuous activity of the revelers would likely have at the very least led to dehydration and exhaustion, save even more serious medical conditions, no accounts of injuries or fatalities are known to have been recorded. What’s more, no definitive explanation has ever been given as to the cause of the hysteria, though it doesn’t mean a few haven’t tried.

They Must Be Trippin’

Being that we are talking about an event that had taken place in a period of time where witches were hanged, vampires staked through the heart, and alchemy still considered to be at the forefront of science, the most sensible explanation at the time was demonic possession. A modern attempt at solving the puzzle focuses on the possibility of food poisoning, as it is now known that a rather toxic and psychoactive chemical (the one from which LSD was originally synthesized) is a product of particular fungi known to grow on the grain used to make bread. Though this theory has some weight, it heavily relies on the assumption that all 400 people would react the exact same way after consuming the hallucinogen, leaving the notion possible but not plausible.

Mass Hysteria

Another theory puts forth the notion that this particular group of partygoers were simply reacting to the years of extreme pressures and ruthlessness that was the medieval period, and all in one sudden and simultaneous explosion of psychological stress, came together to vent their frustrations. 

While the exact cause of the Dancing Plague of 1518 will probably never be uncovered, it seems the most that we can hope for is that all involved had a good time, at least the ones who weren’t committed anyway.

“Dancing Plague”, wikipedia