St. Vitus's Dance; an inexplicable plague, religious phenomena, or massive hoax?
Apr 18, 2019 16:51:32 GMT
Post by hi224 on Apr 18, 2019 16:51:32 GMT
Between the mid 1000's and 1650-ish, there were numerous outbreaks in Europe of a very strange condition. People would spontaneously begin dancing, sometimes for hours or days at a time. It is generally reported that they did so involuntarily, and would continue against their will, dancing while begging for help until they collapsed from exhaustion (often in a bloody mess).
It was of course believed at the time to be religious in nature, because of course it was. A large number of incidents were well recorded, and there's little doubt that the phenomena occurred more or less as described.
Why did this happen? Many explanations have been put forth, but all are problematic.
Ergot poisoning was suggested early on as a possible cause, but it was well known phenomena even in the middle ages, and surely the doctors of the time would have thought to examine this angle. But the number of people involved makes it unlikely that this was the root cause; crowds would often dance from village to village, with new people joining them along the way.
More modern science points to a condition known as Sydenham's chorea, a side effect of streptobacteria infection that involves uncontrollable jerking motions. But this is comparatively rare, and mostly affects younger children. Again, it would not account for the large crowds.
The most plausible explanation (from our current knowledge) is mass hysteria, although I have trouble with that one too.
Thoughts?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_mania
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_plague_of_1518
www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2809%2960386-X/fulltext
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/strange-case-dancing-mania-struck-germany-six-centuries-ago-today-180959549/
It was of course believed at the time to be religious in nature, because of course it was. A large number of incidents were well recorded, and there's little doubt that the phenomena occurred more or less as described.
Why did this happen? Many explanations have been put forth, but all are problematic.
Ergot poisoning was suggested early on as a possible cause, but it was well known phenomena even in the middle ages, and surely the doctors of the time would have thought to examine this angle. But the number of people involved makes it unlikely that this was the root cause; crowds would often dance from village to village, with new people joining them along the way.
More modern science points to a condition known as Sydenham's chorea, a side effect of streptobacteria infection that involves uncontrollable jerking motions. But this is comparatively rare, and mostly affects younger children. Again, it would not account for the large crowds.
The most plausible explanation (from our current knowledge) is mass hysteria, although I have trouble with that one too.
Thoughts?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_mania
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_plague_of_1518
www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2809%2960386-X/fulltext
www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/strange-case-dancing-mania-struck-germany-six-centuries-ago-today-180959549/
