Dance Mania sweeps the Rhineland

1374

Crowds of pilgrims and townsfolk in Aachen and Cologne began dancing uncontrollably, foaming at the mouth, falling exhausted, only to rise and dance again. Contemporaries blamed demons; modern historians point to ergotism, hysterical contagion, or post-traumatic disorder in communities still reeling from plague. The episode crawled along the Rhine for months before dissipating.