Dec. 20, 2023

Jig of the Damned: The Dancing Plague of 1518 | 358

Show Notes

This week on Hysteria 51, we're time-traveling back to 1518, and trust us, it's not for the mead or the minstrels! We're diving feet first into one of history's most baffling mysteries – the Dancing Plague of 1518. Imagine this: one day, you're baking bread, and the next, you're busting moves in the streets of Strasbourg without a stop button!

Join us as we shimmy through the theories – from mass hysteria to ergot-fueled rye parties, and even a supernatural dance-off. Was it a curse from St. Vitus? A case of medieval Footloose? Or perhaps, an elaborate 16th-century flash mob gone incredibly wrong?

We'll explore the eerie, the bizarre, and the (unintentionally) hilarious side of this historical head-scratcher. Did the authorities try to cure it with more dancing? Spoiler alert: Yes, they did, and let's just say, their problem-solving skills were... unique.

Websites

Dancing Plague Wiki - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_plague_of_1518

Dancing Mania Wiki - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_maniav

Social Phenomenon Wiki - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_phenomenon

The Public Domain Review - https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-dancing-plague-of-1518/

The Lancet - https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(09)60386-X/fulltext

Science Direct - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160932708000379

History Skills - https://www.historyskills.com/classroom/year-8/dancing-plague/

Musical Credit

"Anxiety" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/