The Dancing Plague of 1518

Hysterical

In the summer of 1518, the city of Strasbourg was already burdened by hunger and hardship when Frau Troffea stepped into the street and began dancing—an unusual and unsettling sight. Her movements, seemingly triggered by the heat, started innocently enough, but soon became a relentless, fevered trance. As the days passed, more and more people joined her in this bizarre, uncontrollable dance, sparking a city-wide epidemic of mass hysteria. What began as one woman's strange behavior soon became a terrifying phenomenon, leaving doctors, priests, and citizens alike baffled. In this episode, we explore the chilling story of the dancing plague of 1518, a mysterious event that continues to confound historians and challenge our understanding of the human mind.