Dancing plague of 1518

According to Ned Pennant-Rea, "Frau Troffea had started dancing on July 14th on the narrow cobbled street outside her half-timbered home.

As far as we can tell she had no musical accompaniment but simply 'began to dance' ... some of those who had witnessed her strange performance had begun to mimic her, and within days more than thirty choreomaniacs were in motion, some so monomaniacally that only death would have the power to intervene.

By early September, the outbreak began to subside,[6] when the dancers were sent to a mountain shrine to pray for absolution.

[3] Those who danced were then ordered to go to the shrine of Saint Vitus, wore red shoes that were sprinkled with holy water and had painted crosses on the tops and soles.

"[3] Apparently "forgiven by Vitus," word was spread of a successful ritual and the Dancing Plague had ended.

[3] Events similar to this are said to have occurred throughout the medieval age including 11th century in Kölbigk, Saxony, where it was believed to be the result of divine judgment.

[9] In 15th century Apulia, Italy,[10] a woman was bitten by a tarantula, the venom making her dance convulsively.

The only way to cure the bite was to "shimmy" and to have the right sort of music available, which was an accepted remedy by scholars like Athanasius Kircher.

Ergotamine is the main psychoactive product of ergot fungi; it is structurally related to the drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD-25) and is the substance from which LSD-25 was originally synthesized.

[13][14] In The Lancet, John Waller argues that "this theory does not seem tenable, since it is unlikely that those poisoned by ergot could have danced for days at a time.

The ergotism theory also fails to explain why almost every outbreak occurred somewhere along the Rhine and Moselle rivers, areas linked by water but with quite different climates and crops.

[22] The event is referenced in the 2024 song "RATKING 1518", in both title and lyrics, created by rap duo Grim Salvo.