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On a day in July 1518 Frau Troffea, a resident in Strausbourg, France began dancing in the street. Little did she know she would be dancing for weeks nonstop.. She was unable to stop herself from dancing and within few days 33 others accompanied her as well. Within a month the number of nonstop dancers reached 400 and authorities were alarmed. The only explanation they could come up with was demonic possession and hot blood and they arranged two guildhalls and musicians to facilitate dancers. Many dancers collapsed from exhaustion and some people died from heart attacks and strokes. By September the remaining dancers were sent to a mountaintop shrine to pray for absolution.
Even though this sounds like a chapter from a Grims fairy tale this event actually occurred in history. There are several historical documents to prove this incident, including the notes by Stausbourg city council, physician's notes, religious sermons and local and regional chronicles. Earliest known dancing plague occurred in 7th century and there were several occurrences 11th and 13th centuries in Europe.
Up to this date the cause of these plagues are unknown but there are few theories. Historian John Waller suggests the cause was stress induced hysteria. The second explanation is rye ergot. It is a mold that grows on rye and it contains a chemical which has similar structure to LSD. However the effects of that wears off in 24 hours and therefore that doesn't explain why people kept dancing for 2 months.
Was it a stress induced hysteria, rye ergot or some other cause? We will never never know.
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