Post by hi224 on Jul 24, 2020 21:20:17 GMT
In July 1518, a woman known as Frau Troffea took to the streets of the city of Strasbourg. She started to dance like she was in a trance. A week later, a hundred dancers had joined her and within a month they were four times as many. They jumped and danced like maniacs. Some danced until they couldn´t stand anymore. Many even died from heart attacks.
One may wonder what the Strasbourg authorities did to solve this unusual issue. Well, they were convinced that the best way to help the victims was to just let them keep going. To let them dance. They even brought musicians to the city and opened public buildings for the dancers. The epidemic didn´t end until September when many more of those affected had died.
What caused this insane dance hysteria? There are a few theories out there. They vary from "overheated blood" (which was treated with a then common practice called bloodletting), worshipping of dancing Gods and demonic possession.
The most likely explanation, put forward by John Waller, expert on the subject, is that the disease outbreaks were caused by mass hysteria as a result of starvation and disease caused by famine. The victims were not only physically broken. They were also depressed and broken mentally as well as spiritually. Hence John Waller came to the conclusion that they indulged in the dance in a trance-like state because of these factors.
What are your thoughts? Do you believe in the theory made by John Weller or do you think there was something more sinister going on?
The thought that ordinary people can be driven to dance until they collapse is both weird and frightening. What was behind the events of 1518 is until this day an inexplicable and disturbing mystery.
(Worth to mention is that this epidemic was not the first nor last of its kind.)
Sources:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160932708000379
interestingengineering.com/the-dancing-plague-has-got-to-be-the-weirdest-outbreak-ever-experienced
One may wonder what the Strasbourg authorities did to solve this unusual issue. Well, they were convinced that the best way to help the victims was to just let them keep going. To let them dance. They even brought musicians to the city and opened public buildings for the dancers. The epidemic didn´t end until September when many more of those affected had died.
What caused this insane dance hysteria? There are a few theories out there. They vary from "overheated blood" (which was treated with a then common practice called bloodletting), worshipping of dancing Gods and demonic possession.
The most likely explanation, put forward by John Waller, expert on the subject, is that the disease outbreaks were caused by mass hysteria as a result of starvation and disease caused by famine. The victims were not only physically broken. They were also depressed and broken mentally as well as spiritually. Hence John Waller came to the conclusion that they indulged in the dance in a trance-like state because of these factors.
What are your thoughts? Do you believe in the theory made by John Weller or do you think there was something more sinister going on?
The thought that ordinary people can be driven to dance until they collapse is both weird and frightening. What was behind the events of 1518 is until this day an inexplicable and disturbing mystery.
(Worth to mention is that this epidemic was not the first nor last of its kind.)
Sources:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160932708000379
interestingengineering.com/the-dancing-plague-has-got-to-be-the-weirdest-outbreak-ever-experienced