Dancing Plague of Strasbourg

Historical Overview

The dancing plague of Strasbourg occurred during the summer of 1518 when large numbers of people suddenly began dancing uncontrollably in the streets of Strasbourg for days at a time. Some participants collapsed from exhaustion or died due to the intense physical strain. Contemporary reports describe a rapidly spreading phenomenon whose exact cause remains unknown today. Historians and medical experts have proposed explanations including mass hysteria, psychological stress, religious beliefs, or poisoning from ergot fungus. The dancing plague is regarded as one of the strangest events in European medical history.