An unexplained mysterious mass disease – the Dance Plague of 1518
It all started on a summer day in Strasbourg, when Madame Trophy began dancing in the streets without stopping for almost a week. Within a month, 400 citizens of the eastern French city had been tortured to the point of falling down by the urge to dance. They did — strokes, heart attacks, exhaustion.
Authorities blamed this trance on "hot blood" and demanded that tortured dancers exorcise them day and night, even setting up stages and hiring dancers and musicians. This led to greater fanaticism. The dance plague version spread to Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
Some historians believe that the dancers accidentally ingested ergot, a toxic mold associated with spasms — but that doesn't explain their incredible endurance. Others point to pressures related to the disease and famine that have swept the area and the vulnerable suggestive crowds who believe in the "dancing curse" of St. Vith.
