A Time To Dance, A Time To Die by John Waller
The Extraordinary Story of the Dancing Plague of 1518
An engrossing history of the 1518 dancing plague in Strasbourg, tracing how one woman’s uncontrollable movements swelled into a citywide mania and revealing the social, spiritual, and medical forces that shaped it. Drawing on archival sources, it reconstructs a world racked by famine, disease, and apocalyptic fear, examines competing explanations—from ergot poisoning to mass psychogenic illness—and shows how civic and religious authorities responded, sometimes making matters worse. The result is a vivid portrait of a community under extreme stress and a probing exploration of how culture, belief, and the body can collide in moments of collective crisis.
- Published
- 2008
- Nationality
- British
- Length
- Medium
- Pages
- 288-320
- Original Language
- English
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- Alternate Titles
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