I don’t remember where I first found out about the dancing epidemic of 1518, but I know that I’ve read the Wikipedia page for it several times over the years. And finally I decided I should follow the notes at the bottom of the page, and get a copy of A Time to Dance, A Time to Die (2008) by John Waller. He’s written another book about the phenomenon, or possibly the same book under a different title – I can certainly see why it would fascinate a researcher.
In short, in 1518 France a woman started manically dancing. She seemed to be in something of a trance, and without much knowledge of what was going on. Gradually other people in her community started dancing too. Eventually dozens – possibly hundreds and thousands; accounts differ – of people were dancing alongside her. They danced for days, and many died of exhaustion. Why did it happen?
Waller does a great job of putting it in the context of other similar events from the medieval period. In different places across Europe, contagious dancing would spring up – not that often, and sometimes only with a handful of people, but 1518 certainly wasn’t an isolated incident.
One of the reasons that 1518’s dance epidemic turned out to be so protracted and have so many casualties is that physicians and religious figures actually encouraged the dancing. They believed that the dance was a curse from St Vitus (connected now with the medical condition known as St Vitus’s dance – apparently without reference to the 1518 event). And they suggested that the only way to placate St Vitus was to voluntarily dance. A bit of a Catch 22, no?
Waller is working with fairly minimal historical documents, some of which contradict each other. There are frustrating gaps in what is available. So it’s understandable that the account he gives has those same gaps – and that he has to be a bit repetitive with what he can say. But it’s such an interesting and intriguing event that that doesn’t really matter. Better Waller’s approach than that he tried to make things up or assume too much.
The final chapter looks at other instances of mass hysteria, autosuggestion, and psychological ailments over time. This is the chapter I wish had been extended a bit – because he covers so much so quickly, and with many different cultures, histories, and manifestations amalgamated. And Waller is certainly not of the perspective that there are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in his philosophy. I suppose I was not as willing as he was to rule out the involvement of God in some of these experiences. (Which is certainly not to say that I think St Vitus was cursing people – but I also believe not everything in this world can be explained without reference to God.)
I don’t know if I learned an enormous amount about 1518 that I hadn’t already garnered on Wikipedia, but Waller’s book benefits from much better contextualisation and some narrative storytelling spark. If the idea has caught your attention – maybe start on Wikipedia and see where it takes you?