By skyforbes 
And what is the explanation for such an event?
On TikTok, the Dancing Plague of 1518 has been talked about over and over and over. Yet, many seem to be under the impression that this did not happen.
But did it?
And if so, what would cause such a strange event?
Did it happen? And what is it?
For starters, yes, the Dancing Plague of 1518 was an actual event.
It was in a French city, Strasbourg, where it began. In the summer of 1518, a woman, allegedly named Frau Troffea or Trauffea, entered the street and danced and didn’t stop until she passed out from over-exhaustion. She rested for a few days and went right back to dancing.
In just a week, it became 30 people engaging in this odd activity. This caught the authorities’ attention, and they needed to find a solution. They thought that encouraging more dancing would solve the problem.
The city said that they:
“…arranged for guildhalls for the dancers to gather in, musicians to accompany the dancing, and the professional dancers to help the afflicted to continue dancing.”
Their plan only worsened the dancing, and up to 400 citizens joined the event. Many died due the exhaustion.
About two months later, the dancing stopped just as oddly as it had begun.
Other out-breaks
An earlier outbreak of the “Dancing Plague” was reported in 1374. It was in several towns along the Rhine River. The victims rarely stopped to eat or rest and they danced for hours on end and days as well.
There were other outbreaks as well that were less documented and were isolated from the 10th to 15th centuries.
Upon seeing outbreaks, people remarked:
“[the crowd] they danced their minds were no longer clear”
“[they went] raging like beasts over the land”
Reasoning for such events
There are many suggested explanations for these events, including:
Demonic possession/curse/cult
It was suggested that the dancers were possessed by demons or were part of an evil dancing cult.
As well, in the case of the dancing plague of 1518, there had been a city-specific belief that those who didn’t preach St. Vitus, a saint of dancers, would be cursed to forcibly dance.
Rye Flour & Ergot
It is suggested that the towns may have eaten bread made with rye flour that contained ergot, a fungal disease. Ergot was used in childbirth throughout history, and is still used today, yet it can have some very dangerous side effects, such as leading to convulsions, dizziness, and psychoses.
MPI — Mass Psychogenic Illness
MPI is the most widely accepted explanation. This is because it fits pretty well.
For instance, these types of mass hysteria events occur when a city or large group of people are under extreme stress or pressure, and develop based on local beliefs or fears.
The Dancing Plague of 1518, in the city of Strasbourg, there were many devastating diseases present like smallpox and syphilis, as well as famine, which likely stressed or overwhelmed citizens. As well, there was the local belief of St. Vitus. The correlation is very strong, and fits with how we know these mass hysteria events occur.
Further, during the times of other outbreaks, similar diseases were present in those areas, as well as floods were very common, and the prices of food were skyrocketing.
MPI presents itself in two forms: mass anxiety hysteria and mass motor hysteria. Mass anxiety hysteria is when there is a sudden intense fear/anxiety to a fake threat, which is essentially paranoia. While mass motor hysteria is when there is bottled up psychological tension that bubbles up in “dissociative states, conversion symptoms, and other psychomotor abnormalities.” These states can last for weeks or months, and are often shaped by beliefs as well.
Which was the most likely?
The theory of ergot in rye flour makes a lot of sense, and provides a solid explanation for this “dancing plague,” which makes it very probable. Although the theory of mass psychogenic illness is also very probable.
I believe the most likely is either of those, although if I had to suggest one, I would believe it was caused by MPI. This is because the citizens in areas where the disease outbreaks would occur were likely under much stress due to living conditions. As well, they had a belief, in Strasbourg specifically, where over 400 people were “infected”, that if you did not follow St. Vitus that you would be cursed to dance unwillingly.
Therefore, that could be the belief. Together, these two pieces of information have a strong correlation.
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