Between the 14th and 17th century, a unique plague repeatedly struck Europe: St. Vitus’ Plague, known also as the Dancing Plague. Large groups of people, including entire villages, would abruptly break out into dance, which could last for days, weeks, or even months, only seldomly stopping for food or rest. Many people died of exhaustion during the breakouts of St. Vitus’ Plague. One incident, the Dancing Plague of 1518, affected over 400 people, lasting for a full month.
Other, related, phenomenon existed contemporaneously to St. Vitus' Plague. Tarantism is the best known example- it was a form of dancing mania claimed to have caused by a spider bite or performed as a cure for its venom. Scientists and historians today mostly agree that spiders weren’t involved, however.
Ergot poisoning was also widely present around this time. Ergot is a fungus that grows on wet rye, one of the primary grains in the diet of medieval Europeans. It has a wide variety of nasty effects when eaten; including headaches, nausea, vomiting, gangrene-like symptoms, hallucinations, mania, and psychosis. These last three are the most important for our purposes- they've been directly linked to St. Vitus' Plague.
In light of all this, Disney movies take on a more sinister cast. How many Disney movies have you seen where the townsfolk break into spontaneous song and dance? For years now we've treated it as harmless fun, but what if Disney is showing us something much more ominous? How many innocent Disney extras have died offscreen from dancing induced exhaustion?
The St Vitus' Plague ergot poisoning theory has ample evidence available in Disney films. In the introductory song in Beauty and the Beast, the baker is not only shown early on in the song, but is written prominently into the beginning of the song. In the Kingdom Dance in Tangled, bread is not only featured at the beginning of a dance sequence, but other grain products are featured throughout it as well.
We shouldn’t be amused and entertained by these song and dance sequences- we should be properly, respectfully somber, in honor of the victims of St. Victus’ Plague. Wipe that grin off, history shouldn’t be fun- learning about it should be a process of misery and degradation to the student.
Bibliography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_mania
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergotism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantism
I've never reposted a steemit post before, nor do I have any future plans to do so, but this is one of my single favorite things I've written, and basically no one saw it when I first posted it five months ago. I feel a little uncomfortable about it, and I'd definitely appreciate hearing people's thoughts on the matter. Also, I'm just a little mentally exhausted from doing that six part, nearly 10,000 word long research intensive series on extinction.
Was this plague and fungus caused by a cooling
period? A good friend of mine @elew recently
posted about Jack frost stories. Interesting many
lately have been wondering about the songs, stories,
signs and symbols from the past we've forgotten
the meanings of.
I have wondered about all the song and dance
not just in Disney movies but many others.
Ancient info about changes in and around our
world. Glad you reposted this @mountainwashere!
This is an important one too, because alot of the grains over this past growing season have been growing fungus from all the heavy rains and flooding, different types come with different grains...
Ergotism was a huge problem in the middle ages. Not all epidemics "just" lead to dancing - https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergotismus#Geschichte
Oh yeah, ergotism could get seriously, seriously nasty- I didn't bring that up due to this being primarily a humor post. Also, I can't read German. :D
oh dammit, I should've posted the English version. Sorry^^
Wow! Never knew about the dance plaque, thanks for posting at least now i know i shouldnt be overjoyed wit disney dances!
Hi @mountainwashere. Nice post! Thank's for share.
On July 1518, a woman by the name of Frau Troffea began to viciously dance in the streets of the urban center of Strasbourg, France, in full view of her neighbors. There was no music to dance to as her face showed no expression of enjoyment, she seemed unable to stop herself from the delirium. If the incident had remained isolated the city elders might have deduced it a case of madness or demonic possession.
Excellent post!
Now if you could find an explanation for 70s disco...
I’ve never heard of this plague! The side effects remind me of the Salem Witch Trials. A theory about the Salem Witch Trials claims that the “witches” were actually being poisoned by moldy wheat. Hence, the erratic behavior. However, it’s also been proposed that if she weighs the same as a duck, then she must be made of wood, which floats the same as duck. Therefore, she’s a witch!
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Wow talk about changing a view on history.