Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Was yesterday I found about this. This is amazing.
The outbreak began in July 1518, when a woman, Mrs. Troffea, began to dance fervently in a street in Strasbourg.[1] This lasted somewhere between four and six days. Within a week, 34 others had joined, and within a month, there were around 400 dancers, predominantly female. Some of these people would die from heart attacks, strokes, or exhaustion.[1] One report indicates that for a period the plague killed around fifteen people per day.[2] Historical documents, including "physician notes, cathedral sermons, local and regional chronicles, and even notes issued by the Strasbourg city council" are clear that the victims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 these people danced, some even to their deaths. As the dancing plague worsened, concerned nobles sought the advice of local physicians, who ruled out astrological and supernatural causes, instead announcing that the plague was a "natural disease" caused by "hot blood". However, instead of prescribing bleeding, authorities encouraged more dancing, in part by opening two guildhalls and a grain market, and even constructing a wooden stage. The authorities did this because they believed that the dancers would recover only if they danced continuously night and day. To increase the effectiveness of the cure, authorities even paid for musicians to keep the afflicted moving.[3] Historian John Waller stated that a marathon runner could not have lasted the intense workout that these men and women did hundreds of years ago.
Ironically, in Bulgakov's Master and Margarita, devil's servant "plagued" entire office with Singing Plague. They all sang same songs, like well trained choir and could not be stopped from doing so.
Isn't it interesting? About in times when, allegedly, they hung every redhead as a witch, they clearly " ruled out astrological and supernatural causes", what would have been the easiest, right? They clearly accommodated "dancers" in humane way.
This makes me think. Is everything they tell us about inhumanity of those ages actually true?
Isn't it interesting? About in times when, allegedly, they hung every redhead as a witch, they clearly " ruled out astrological and supernatural causes", what would have been the easiest, right? They clearly accommodated "dancers" in humane way.
This makes me think. Is everything they tell us about inhumanity of those ages actually true?
There is a lot of inaccuracy written in history books, even more recently than the 1500s. The fable of Columbus is a great example. The Salem witch trials, as well.
I think it was one of those Footloose things. The 16th Century equivalent of Kevin Bacon arrived in Strasbourg and led a rebellion against the prudishness of the Church.
More likely to accommodate, and harder to oppose, them if they believed themselves to be "brides of Christ", possessed by Jesus (not the Devil), and were credited, as such, by the religio-political authorities. Especially when it is one's own wives and daughters who've fallen into a contagious Dionysian frenzy.
Yeah, but men danced too and the first death of dancers was a male. He was a Bride to Christ also?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
