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		<h1>Dancing plague of 1518</h1>
		<p class="bold">The dancing plague of 1518, or dance epidemic of 1518, was a case of dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg, Alsace
			(modern-day France), in the Holy Roman Empire from July 1518 to September 1518. Somewhere between 50 and 400 people took
			to dancing for days.</p>
		<h2>Events</h2>
		<p>The outbreak began in July 1518 when a woman began to dance fervently in a street in Strasbourg.[1] By early September,
			the outbreak began to subside.[2]</p>
		<p>Historical documents, including "physician notes, cathedral sermons, local and regional chronicles, and even notes issued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;[1] it is not known why. Historical sources agree that
			there was an outbreak of dancing after a single woman started dancing,[3] a group of mostly young women joined in, and
			the dancing did not seem to die down. 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.[citation
			needed]</p>
		<p>Events similar to this are said to have occurred throughout the medieval age including 11th century in Kölbigk Saxony,
			where it was believed to be the cause of demonic possession or divine judgment.[4] In 15th century Apulia Italy,[5] a
			woman was bitten by a tarantula, the venom making her dance convulsively. The only way to cure the bite was to "shimmy"
			and to have the right sort of music available, which was an accepted remedy by scholars like Athanasius Kircher.[6]</p>
		<img src="dancing.jpg" width="100%" alt="Drawing of the dancing plague in France in 1518.">
		<h2>Modern theories</h2>
		<h3>Food poisoning</h3>
		<p>Some believe[2] the dancing could have been brought on by food poisoning caused by the toxic and psychoactive chemical
			products of ergot fungi (ergotism), which grows commonly on grains (such as rye) used for baking bread. 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. The same fungus has also been implicated in other major
			historical anomalies, including the Salem witch trials.[10][11]</p>
		<p>In The Lancet, John Waller 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. Nor would so many people have reacted to its psychotropic chemicals in the
			same way. 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".[7]</p>
		<h3>Stress-induced mass hysteria</h3>
		<p>This could have been a florid example of psychogenic movement disorder happening in mass hysteria or mass psychogenic illness,
			which involves many individuals suddenly exhibiting the same bizarre behavior. The behavior spreads rapidly and broadly
			in an epidemic pattern.[12] This kind of comportment could have been caused by elevated levels of psychological stress,
			caused by the ruthless years (even by the rough standards of the early modern period) the people of Alsace were suffering.[7]</p>
		<p>Waller speculates that the dancing was "stress-induced psychosis" on a mass level, since the region where the people danced
			was riddled with starvation and disease, and the inhabitants tended to be superstitious. Seven other cases of dancing
			plague were reported in the same region during the medieval era.[13]</p>

		<p>This psychogenic illness could have created a chorea (from the Greek khoreia meaning "to dance"), a situation comprising
			random and intricate unintentional movements that flit from body part to body part. Diverse choreas (St. Vitus' dance,
			St. John's dance, and 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.[14][15][16]</p>
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<h1>Dancing plague of 1518</h1>

<p class="bold">The dancing plague of 1518, or dance epidemic of 1518, was a case of

dancing mania that occurred in Strasbourg, Alsace

(modern-day France), in the Holy Roman Empire from July 1518 to September 1518.

Somewhere between 50 and 400 people took

to dancing for days.</p>

<h2>Events</h2>

<p>The outbreak began in July 1518 when a woman began to dance fervently in a street in

Strasbourg.[1] By early September,

the outbreak began to subside.[2]</p>

<p>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;[1] it is not known

why. Historical sources agree that

there was an outbreak of dancing after a single woman started dancing,[3] a group of

mostly young women joined in, and

the dancing did not seem to die down. 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.[citation

needed]</p>

<p>Events similar to this are said to have occurred throughout the medieval age including

11th century in Kölbigk Saxony,

where it was believed to be the cause of demonic possession or divine judgment.[4] In

15th century Apulia Italy,[5] a

woman was bitten by a tarantula, the venom making her dance convulsively. The only way

to cure the bite was to "shimmy"

and to have the right sort of music available, which was an accepted remedy by scholars

like Athanasius Kircher.[6]</p>

<h2>Modern theories</h2>

<h3>Food poisoning</h3>

<p>Some believe[2] the dancing could have been brought on by food poisoning caused by the

toxic and psychoactive chemical

products of ergot fungi (ergotism), which grows commonly on grains (such as rye) used

for baking bread. 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. The same fungus has

also been implicated in other major

historical anomalies, including the Salem witch trials.[10][11]</p>

<p>In The Lancet, John Waller 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. Nor would so many people have reacted to

its psychotropic chemicals in the

same way. 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".[7]

</p>

<h3>Stress-induced mass hysteria</h3>

<p>This could have been a florid example of psychogenic movement disorder happening in mass

hysteria or mass psychogenic illness,

which involves many individuals suddenly exhibiting the same bizarre behavior. The

behavior spreads rapidly and broadly

in an epidemic pattern.[12] This kind of comportment could have been caused by elevated

levels of psychological stress,

caused by the ruthless years (even by the rough standards of the early modern period)

the people of Alsace were suffering.[7]</p>

<p>Waller speculates that the dancing was "stress-induced psychosis" on a mass level, since

the region where the people danced

was riddled with starvation and disease, and the inhabitants tended to be

superstitious. Seven other cases of dancing

plague were reported in the same region during the medieval era.[13]</p>

<p>This psychogenic illness could have created a chorea (from the Greek khoreia meaning "to

dance"), a situation comprising

random and intricate unintentional movements that flit from body part to body part.

Diverse choreas (St. Vitus' dance,

St. John's dance, and 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.[14][15][16]</p>

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