In 1518, the strangest of plagues swept through modern day France. It wasn’t a plague of boils, swollen lymph nodes, or gangrene. No, this was a plague of dance. On July 14, 1518, a woman named Frau Troffea started dancing in the streets of Strasbourg and couldn’t seem to stop. Citizens couldn’t help but notice this woman dancing until her feet were bloody and bruised. They believed this could be a sign from God or a curse from St. Vitus. Frau Troffea danced for six days before she was taken to a shrine of St. Vitus. By then, others had started to join her and within a month, more than 400 people had been afflicted by the dancing plague and some even danced themselves to death.
What could cause such strange behavior? Was this a warning from God? Demonic possession? A curse? Or a physical malady such as “hot blood”? Come along with Hannah and Bob as they discuss fridge cigs (AKA Diet Coke), the Brothers Grimm’s Snow White, and was the dancing plague just the plague from The Last of Us?
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussions of plagues, death by dancing, starvation, and child deaths. Listener discretion is advised.
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Sources:
Andrews, E. (2025, May 27). What was the dancing plague of 1518? History. https://www.history.com/articles/what-was-the-dancing-plague-of-1518?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Dancing plague of 1518 Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia. https://kids.kiddle.co/Dancing_plague_of_1518?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Davis, M. (2023, July 14). The bizarre story of the deadly “dancing plague” of 1518. Big Think. https://bigthink.com/the-past/dancing-plague-middle-ages/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Pennant-Rea, N. (2018, July 10). The dancing plague of 1518. The Public Domain Review. https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/the-dancing-plague-of-1518/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Traub, C. (2024, August 15). The Strasbourg dancing plague of 1518: Myth or reality? Paris Unlocked.https://www.parisunlocked.com/around-france/french-history/the-strasbourg-dancing-plague-of-1518-fact-or-fiction/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Waller, J. (2009). The dancing plague: The strange, true story of an extraordinary illness. SourceBooks, Inc.
