320. St. Vitus Dance

Cursed by Saint Vitus? A strange medieval affliction caused a mass hysteria event in Europe where people inexplicably and uncontrollably danced for weeks, leading to several deaths from exhaustion. Likely caused by extreme stress, famine, and disease, victims believed they were cursed by St. Vitus (290-303), an early Christian martyr during the Diocletianic Persecution from Sicily and patron saint of dancers, actors, and epileptics, traditionally associated with healing neurological disorders — specifically Sydenham's chorea known as "St. Vitus’ Dance". Dancing sickness or disease was a documented, fatal phenomenon. This and other bizarre events lead up to the infamous Massachusetts Salem Witch Trails that took place in 1692. His Feast Day is June 15.  Check out the YouTube version of this episode at https://youtu.be/KzmD1bJLVjE which has accompanying visuals including maps, charts, timelines, photos, illustrations, and diagrams. History Unplugged podcast available at https://amzn.to/3YthqYx Books about Saint Vitus at https://amzn.to/4gp75YG  Dancing Plague books at https://amzn.to/4t9wtVh Witches & Witchcraft books at https://amzn.to/4555O2X   Salem Witch Hunt books at https://amzn.to/44NsmnH ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet  SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). By the way, April 29 is International Dance Day. Mark Vinet's TIMELINE video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVine                Mark's History of North America podcast: www.parthenonpodcast.com/history-of-north-america Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 X (twitter): https://X.com/HistoricalJesu   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels   Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM   Audio credits: History Unplugged podcast with Scott Rank (Episode-Witches Weren't Burned During The Middle Ages, That Actually Happened in the Renaissance Period; 06jun2023) Salem Media, Parthenon Network. Audio excerpts reproduced under the Fair Use (Fair Dealings) Legal Doctrine for purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, education, scholarship, research and news reporting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.