The Terrifying Dancing Plague of 1518

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In 1518, hundreds of people started dancing and couldn't stop until they died. Uncover the terrifying true mystery of the Dancing Plague.

Full transcript of The Terrifying Dancing Plague of 1518

In July 1518, a woman stepped into a street and started dancing. It sounds like the setup to a medieval joke. But it became one of history's most terrifying mysteries. Her name was Frau Troffea, and she danced for six days straight. Her feet bled through her leather shoes. Her face twisted in agony, but her body refused to stop. Within a week, the bizarre affliction began to spread. Thirty-four other villagers fell into the exact same trance. They didn't smile, and they didn't speak. The town square was completely silent. Except for the relentless, sickening thud of shuffling feet. The city council panicked and called in the local physicians. The doctors examined the manic crowd. They blamed the phenomenon on overheated blood. Their prescribed cure was shockingly stupid: more dancing. The authorities actually built a massive wooden stage in the market. They even hired professional musicians to keep the tempo going. The idea was to let the dancers burn themselves out. Instead, it backfired horribly. The music only drew more people into the hysterical frenzy. Dancers began dropping to the cobblestone, gasping for air. They were dying of strokes, heart attacks, and pure exhaustion. At its peak, over four hundred people were dancing involuntarily. The brutal summer heat turned the town square into an oven. Wagons had to be brought in to haul away the dead. So, what actually caused the Dancing Plague of 1518? Modern scientists suspect ergot poisoning from toxic, moldy rye bread. Others believe it was mass psychogenic illness driven by extreme stress. The truth is, we will never know for sure. But it proves that sometimes, the human mind is the most dangerous disease of all.