Dancing Plague of 1518

Overview

This lecture covers the Dancing Plague of 1518 in Strasbourg, exploring its symptoms, timeline, and debated causes as recorded in historical sources.

In July 1518, Strasbourg residents were suddenly compelled to dance uncontrollably in the streets.
The episode began with Frau Troffea, who danced alone for nearly a week before others joined in.
By August, up to 400 people were afflicted by the dancing mania.
Authorities built a stage, hired musicians, and brought in professional dancers to encourage the afflicted to dance out their illness.
Many participants collapsed from exhaustion; some reportedly died from strokes or heart attacks.
The dancing epidemic ended in September after victims were taken to a mountaintop shrine for prayers.

The Strasbourg dancing plague is well documented in 16th-century historical records.
Similar outbreaks occurred in Switzerland, Germany, and Holland, but none were as large or deadly.

Local physicians at the time blamed "hot blood" and advised dancing as a cure.
Some historians, like John Waller, believe belief in St. Vitus—a saint thought to curse people with uncontrollable dancing—combined with widespread famine and disease, triggered a mass psychogenic illness (hysteria).
Other theories suggest the involvement of religious cults or accidental ingestion of ergot, a hallucinogenic mold found on rye.

Dancing Plague (1518) — A mass psychogenic or physically induced dancing mania in Strasbourg, causing illness and death.
St. Vitus — Catholic saint believed to have the power to curse individuals with compulsive dancing.
Ergot — A toxic, hallucinogenic mold on rye that can cause spasms and hallucinations.
Mass Hysteria/Psychogenic Illness — Collective outbreak of physical symptoms with no organic cause, often triggered by stress or belief.

Review cases of mass hysteria for further understanding of group psychological phenomena.
Read more about the Middle Ages and unusual historical epidemics.