This Strange Plague Killed People by Making Them Dance Uncontrollably
The Dancing Plague of 1518
When we hear of plagues, we often think of deadly diseases affecting a certain region, leading to many deaths.
But instead of sadness and staying in bed, imagine people dancing and laughing as the main symptom. Yes, the Dancing Plague of 1518 was quite an exception. Many people danced for days to death.
How the plague started
The Dancing Plague started with a German housewife referred to as Frau Troffea.
On one afternoon, in the middle of the year 1518, Troffea stepped out of her house in Strasbourg and immediately started dancing in the streets. She danced all day and the next day, attracting a crowd in the process. Soon, the crowd joined in the endless dance.
The dancing crowd gradually increased up to almost four hundred people. And it quickly intensified into a crisis. No one knew the cause behind the dancing. The dancers were in a lot of pain and begged for mercy in the process of dancing. But, they couldn’t stop themselves from dancing.
The Arguments about the plague
The facts leading to the death of people are controversial. It is believed that the Dancing Plague…
