The Strange Dancing Plague of 1518 | The Dancing Curse | A Dance To Death?

In 1518 in Strasbourg, (in modern-day France) a woman stepped outside her house into the street and began dancing. She didn't smile, there was no music, and she apparently was unable to stop until she collapsed with weariness. Thus began the 'Dancing Plague' of 1518 along the Rhine. Those afflicted at the time believed they had been cursed by a saint, but is there a more rational explanation? This video takes a look...
For my images and footage, thanks to:
Pexels
Pixabay
Wikimedia Commons
Many of my images in this video were made with Midjourney, see if you can spot which ones!
I strive to always credit everyone whose images I use, and try as much as possible to use images freely in the public domain (purchased where not possible) - please let me know if I have missed you so I can give you due credit.

[@helpinyerdasellavon]

Thank you for another great story for this time of the year! It's amazing how different factors were taking place and evolved in such collective madness, dancing until dead 😮. That's what happened more likely when lack of knowledge was prevalent on a daily basis back then when poor people were oppressed in ignorance and fear. Love your captivating storytelling and visuals. Happy Halloween 🎃💀🦇🕷🕸👻

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Happy Halloween! 😊 🎃🧙‍♀️ And it is so amazing, as you say, how the collective madness came about from the various stresses they were under. Makes me wonder what would happen if we didn't all have our various modern ways of relaxing!

[@helpinyerdasellavon]

@@HistorysForgottenPeople indeed. At least the 'laughter' part wasn't an awful thing at all as it's much better to laugh than crying, being scared, in agony or angry. The Church didn't approve any sort of pleasure but emphasised suffering for the population back then. I was in a tour to South of Spain many years ago where there was a medieval convent that turned into a small museum and we were shown they had there small rooms or cubicles where religious practiced self inflicted punishment as whiplash for cleansing their sins. The power that religion had over people was amazing. Fancy some dancing, ma'am 🎶🎻🥁👻😜

[@JM-The_Curious]

I'd vaguely heard of St Vitus' dance but I don't think I've ever heard it explained before. Very informative, thanks!

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

My nana used to say it all the time if you got fidgety in front of her, but until I researched this, I didn't know where it came from either! It's funny how words and phrases can survive beyond the knowledge of what they really mean.

[@JM-The_Curious]

@@HistorysForgottenPeople That's so cute! I've been thinking lately how we must be losing many old phrases that were common in our parents and grandparents time. Who uses "Shankses Pony" any more?

[@Kenzalina_]

Love that we got another episode! ❤

[@colormetakenaback]

Tis the work of the Sanderson sisters!

[@MichelleBruce-lo4oc]

Hi, awesome live video I enjoyed it. How are you doing? I'm doing well happy Halloween to you. Have a great day see you next video 😊

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Happy Halloween! 😊🎃🧙‍♀️

[@JangianTV]

Boogie time! 🕺

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

**plays ye olde drums and tambourine**

[@lfgifu296]

Oh hi! A bonus video innit? I didn't notice before as my phone is still being fixed, so I have to check the channels, and since I didn't know you'd post, I didn't see it :') I love the story of the Dancing Plague- though I am sure the sufferers did not

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

No worries, I felt bad last Sunday's was only a short one! 😂And agreed about the poor sufferers - even if it was self-inflicted, it must have been horrific to go through.

[@lfgifu296]

@@HistorysForgottenPeople yeah- self inflicted histeria could arguably be even worse, because they fear it coming to them and that same fear brings it on😭😭

[@DarthDread-oh2ne]

Oh, my. It is A delight.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it! 😊

[@SophiaMusik]

You have a wonderful and fascinating channel. I just subscribed. You may want to look into the correlation of comets and plagues. I believe your viewers would be intrigued. Cheers...Thomas

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Thank you, it's great to have you here! 😊

[@SophiaMusik]

I enjoy your rational approach. Psychology was something not entertained by the Church or society till much later. A combination of stresses causing the mania makes good sense. Thank you and I love your channel !@@HistorysForgottenPeople

[@DarthDread-oh2ne]

I have A question:Have you ever heard of brief history ? And if you haven't, you gotta check out his documentary series on kings and queens of England/Britain.

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

I have heard of the channel, I think I've definitely seen some of his videos. 😊There's so many awesome history videos on KZbin, but I just don't get much spare time at the moment to watch them! 😔

[@Lincolnator721]

This is mind boggling to me how it's even possible lol but I do believe it is possible, the mind can do some crazy unusual things unfortunately

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

The really mad part is it happened more than once!

[@Lincolnator721]

@@HistorysForgottenPeople Funny thing is that I mentioned to someone that I suffer daily aura migraines, and then a couple minutes later they said just talking about the migraines is giving her a migraine. Isn't this apart of mass hysteria?

[@lfgifu296]

Which are your favourite and least favourite Art History periods? I believe I already asked your fav Fashion History one and your favourite to study, but I think this one hasnt yet been asked lol. My favourite painting wise is the Impressionism, sculpture wise the Barroque and Architecture wise probably Rococo (and Baroque too hehe). As for least favourite... Generally contemporary art, I also heavily dislike European Informalism and nearly all those movements that came after the 1960s :)

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Oooh, I do have a wishy-washy answer for this one because I can't decide between periods I like, haha! But for least favourite, I will agree with you that I generally (obviously not a blanket rule) don't like a lot of contemporary art. I can see the value in it, and totally understand that it is art, and it's always in the eye of the beholder....but this beholder just doesn't like it as much as older art periods. For my favourite, that's harder! I do like Art Deco (which I guess could be considered 'modern', as it is the forerunner of a lot of modern architecture), as it's very clean and stylish, but it still had a warmth and a richness which I think got lost, understandably, after the two World Wars. It had angular features to it, but it was also all those sweeping curves and warm, jewel-like colours. For me, Fashion History and Art History come together a bit in this one as I LOVE those old fashion/make-up adverts with the incredibly long, elegant women with short curly hair. But...I also really like the Renaissance period! For me, it's that point where the symbolism and story-telling of the medieval period ran smack into the early realism of the next few centuries of painters, and again (like Art Deco) it's a warm, rich kind of artwork. It also went hand in hand with the increased knowledge of science and nature, and the idea of looking at people as individuals, rather than a homogenous group, and the art that came from that reveals something like an awakening in society that we can still look at and chart today. 😊

[@lfgifu296]

@@HistorysForgottenPeople Yeah, conceptual art gives me the ick, among others hehe, but, as you say, to each their own innit? Ooh Art Deco architecture had its charms, for sure (and it reminds me of David Suchet's Poirot which captures it so well!). And the Renaissance was undoubtedly a game changer- Da Vinci and Holbein have me prostated with their paintings and I'm not even joking😭😭

[@crocodiledundee8685]

Twice in 1 week! Proof there is a god 😊

[@HistorysForgottenPeople]

Aww, I'm glad you liked it! I felt bad they were shorter than usual, so thought you guys deserved two. 😊

[@crocodiledundee8685]

@@HistorysForgottenPeople 👍