Case file · 1518 · Strange History
The Dancing Plague
The Summer Strasbourg Couldn't Stop
One woman starts dancing in Strasbourg. Hundreds follow. They can't stop.
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This 8 min episode was written from the public record. These are the sources behind it.
- The Lancet: A forgotten plague: making sense of dancing mania (John Waller, 2009)
- Endeavour (Elsevier): In a spin: the mysterious dancing epidemic of 1518 (John Waller, 2008)
- The Public Domain Review: The Dancing Plague of 1518 (essay by John Waller)
- National Geographic: What caused Strasbourg's dancing plague of 1518? (history feature)
- Wikipedia: Dancing plague of 1518 (overview)
Where a case is unresolved, the episode sets out what is known and what is disputed, and names no one as responsible beyond the official and court record. Corrections: support@realtimecomms.co.uk
