It was the month of July in the year 1518, in Strasbourg, France. By Paul Wallis Aug 13, 2008 in Health. The Dancing Plague first appeared in July 1518 when a woman named Mrs. Frau Troffea jumped into the street and started dancing. Somewhere between 50 and 400 people took to dancing for days. In July 1518, residents of the city of Strasbourg (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) were struck by a sudden and seemingly uncontrollable urge to dance. According to him, pe… Joe Maddon, head coach of the Chicago Cubs, has an unconventional approach to handling violations of team rules. Dancing plague of 1518, event in which hundreds of citizens of Strasbourg (then a free city within the Holy Roman Empire, now in France) danced uncontrollably and apparently unwillingly for days on end. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Coined the “Dancing Plague of 1518” historians still to this day aren’t certain on what caused the event to happen. The Dancing Plague of 1518 had started. [citation needed]. Just imagine — one of your friends suddenly going off the rails and starts dancing their heads out. Diverse choreas (St. Vitus' dance, St. John's dance, tarantism) were labeled in the Middle Ages referring to the independent epidemics of "dancing mania" that happened in central Europe, particularly at the time of the plague. The ergotism theory also fails to explain why virtually every outbreak occurred somewhere along the Rhine and Moselle rivers, areas linked by water but with quite different climates and crops". Historical documents, including "physician notes, cathedral sermons, local and regional chronicles, and even notes issued by the Strasbourg city council" are clear that the victims danced. Somewhere between 50 and 400 people took to dancing for days. The sources cited by Waller that mention deaths were all from later accounts of the events. Such outbreaks take place under circumstances of extreme stress and generally take form based on local fears. The same fungus has also been implicated in other major historical anomalies, including the Salem witch trials. They kept going long past the point of injury. The Ascent 4. Updates? She has a B.A. PART A: Which of the following statements best describes a central idea of the text? Wine Connection. The Strasbourg Dancing Plague of 1518: When People Danced To Their Death Engraving of Hendrik Hondius portrays three women affected by the plague. Next Post. And so they kept dancing - for weeks. The Sacrifice 5. The event began with one person, as you’ll learn in the almost jaunty animated BBC video below, a woman known as Frau Troffea. In July of 1518, one year before Martin Luther's theses would be pasted to the door of the The residents of the city of Strasbourg, France (then part of the Holy Roman Empire), in July 1518, was struck by a sudden and uncontrollable urge to dance, where the people even ‘danced themselves to death’! Your email address will not be published. There is also uncertainty around the identity of the initial dancer (either an unnamed woman or "Frau Troffea") and the number of dancers involved (somewhere between 50 and 400). Omissions? View commonlit_the-dancing-plague-of-1518.pdf from AA 1 Text-Dependent Questions: 1. The area was riddled with diseases, including smallpox and syphilis.” … The Dancing Plague of 1518 was an occurrence of unknown origin. A number of them died from their exertions. B. The outbreak began in July 1518 when a woman began to dance fervently in… [citation needed], However, John Waller in The Lancet argues that "this theory does not seem tenable, since it is unlikely that those poisoned by ergot could have danced for days at a time. Let’s take a look at some of the most prevalent theories for what lead hundreds of unwilling dancers to their untimely demises. Sexist Theories. Death in the Streets – The Dancing Plague of 1518. by thegypsy. As per various reports, they had an uncontrollable urge to dance. There have been several theories as to the causes of the Dancing Plague of 1518, both from contemporary and modern sources. ‘Dancing Plague’ of 1518, the Bizarre Dance that Killed Dozens” explains how this stress-induced psychosis may have come to be in writing, “Having suffered severely from famine, and in many cases wiped out and reduced to begging, the region was in an ongoing crisis. The event was sparked by a woman, Frau Troffea, whom one afternoon silently began twisting and dancing in the city streets by herself. It lasted for such a long time that it attracted the attention of the Strasbourg magistrate and bishop, and some number of doctors ultimately intervened, putting the afflicted in a hospital. Ergotamine is the main psychoactive product of ergot fungi; it is structurally related to the drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) and is the substance from which LSD-25 was originally synthesized. Then there were the prevailing conditions. Leave a Reply Cancel reply. As you read, take notes on the various causes or explanations the … On July 14, 1518, a woman named Frau Troffea from the city of Strasbourg in modern-day France left her house and began to dance. [citation needed], Some believe[4] the dancing could have been brought on by food poisoning caused by the toxic and psychoactive chemical products of ergot fungi, which grows commonly on grains (such as rye) used for baking bread. This only exacerbated the contagion, and as many as 400 people were eventually consumed by the dancing compulsion. The outbreak began in July 1518 when a woman began to dance fervently in a street in Strasbourg.[1]. In July 1518, a woman whose name was given as Frau (Mrs.) Troffea (or Trauffea) stepped into the street and began dancing. Somewhere between 50 and 400 people took to dancing for days. In around 1518, the residents of the Holy Roman Empire experienced something unique and strange. American sociologist Robert Bartholomew posited that the dancers were adherents of heretical sects, dancing to attract divine favour. Dancing Plague The Mirror, released 24 August 2020 1. For some unknown reason, the dancing mania seemed to follow epidemics of the black plague. In full view of the public, this is the apogee of the choreomania that tormented Strasbourg for a midsummer month in 1518. The dancing plague, also known as the dancing mania, St John's Dance or chreomania was a societal phenomenon that primarily occurred on the mainland of Europe between the 14th and 17th centuries. dancing death domesticated history plague plants theory. On gaining consciousness her dance continued. Controversy exists over whether people ultimately danced to their deaths. The mania affected men, women, and children who danced until they collapsed from exhaustion. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.