Story
In the summer of 1518, something very strange happened in the city of Strasbourg, which was then part of the Holy Roman Empire (today, it is in France). It began with one woman, known as Frau Troffea, who started dancing in the streets for no clear reason. She danced alone for hours without stopping. The next day, she continued. Within a week, dozens of people had joined her, all moving wildly to music that no one could hear.
At first, the townspeople thought the dancers were celebrating or performing a religious act. But soon it became clear that something was terribly wrong. The people could not stop. Men, women, and even children kept dancing day and night, often until they collapsed from exhaustion. Some fainted, while others suffered heart attacks or strokes. The event became known as the Dancing Plague of 1518.
City leaders were alarmed. They called doctors for help, but medical knowledge at the time was limited. The physicians decided that the dancers were suffering from “hot blood,” a condition they believed could be cured by more dancing. So they built a stage and hired musicians, hoping the dancers would tire themselves out and recover.
However, the plan made things worse. The music encouraged more people to join, and the number of dancers grew to hundreds. Eyewitnesses said that people danced until their shoes were soaked with blood. For nearly a month, the strange dancing continued through the streets of Strasbourg.
Finally, the authorities changed their minds. They realized that music was not the answer. The dancers were taken to a nearby shrine, a holy place where priests prayed for them and gave them rest. Slowly, the movement stopped, and the dancers returned to normal life. But the question remained—what had caused the outbreak?
Even today, historians and scientists are not sure. Some believe it was a form of mass hysteria, where people’s emotions and fears spread like a disease. In 1518, Europe was suffering from famine, disease, and poverty. Life was full of fear and stress, and people may have released their emotions through dancing without control.
Another theory suggests that the dancers ate bread made from moldy grain infected with a fungus called ergot, which can cause hallucinations and muscle spasms. This same fungus was later linked to other strange behavior in history.
Whatever the cause, the Dancing Plague of 1518 remains one of the strangest events ever recorded. It reminds us how mysterious the human mind can be—and how, even in history, not every story has a clear explanation.
In Strasbourg today, the story is still remembered. Historians study it as an example of how stress and fear can affect whole communities. Visitors can walk the same streets where, centuries ago, hundreds of people danced without rest—caught in one of the most mysterious rhythms the world has ever known.
Vocabulary List
Tap the speaker to hear each word.
- exhaustion — Extreme tiredness.
- physician — A medical doctor.
- eyewitness — A person who sees an event and can describe it.
- authorities — People or groups with power to make decisions (like city leaders).
- shrine — A holy place used for worship or prayer.
- outbreak — A sudden start of something negative, like disease or violence.
- mass hysteria — A situation where many people show strong emotions or unusual behavior at the same time.
- ergot — A fungus that can grow on grains and cause sickness or hallucinations.
- hallucination — Seeing or hearing something that is not really there.
- poverty — The state of being very poor.
Comprehension Questions
- Who began the dancing in Strasbourg, and what happened in the first week?
- Why did the city leaders first hire musicians, and what was the result?
- How did the authorities later try to stop the dancing?
- What does the theory of mass hysteria suggest about the cause?
- How could ergot poisoning explain the strange behavior?
- Why is the Dancing Plague still studied by historians today?
- What does this event teach us about the human mind and communities?