The Dancing Plague of 1518: Etiology and Theories

 

The provided texts offer a comprehensive overview of the Dancing Plague of 1518 in Strasbourg, an event where hundreds of people danced uncontrollably until some died from exhaustion. Sources widely discuss the dominant and competing historical explanations for this phenomenon, primarily focusing on Mass Psychogenic Illness (MPI), or mass hysteria, and Ergotism, which is poisoning from a fungus found on rye grain. The MPI theory is favored by many modern scholars, as the afflicted individuals’ behavior was culturally "scripted" by the fear of divine punishment from St. Vitus and was triggered by extreme socio-economic stress from famine and disease. Conversely, Ergotism, or "Saint Anthony's Fire," is largely discounted as the sole cause because its painful, convulsive symptoms are incompatible with the sustained, rhythmic dancing described in historical records. Ultimately, the sources agree that the plague was a complex public health conundrum resulting from a convergence of cultural beliefs, severe adversity, and social contagion.