When people think of Medieval diseases, hysterical dancing is not usually what first comes to mind. Yet in 14th and 15th century Germany, dozens of ordinary people claimed to be infected by the ‘dancing plague’. What was this mysterious phenomenon? What caused it? And was it even a real disease?
Strap in as Dr. Anthony Delaney and Dr. Maddy Pelling from History Hit's After Dark podcast speak to Dr. Eleanor Janega to discover why these people just couldn’t stop dancing.
Up Next in Interviews
-
Human Evolution with Tristan Hughes
Human evolution can’t help but fascinate us - the story of where we came from. Today we, Homo sapiens, are the only human species left. But that wasn’t always the case….
For millions of years, there thrived a great range of early human species. From small-brained island dwellers in Indonesia to ...
-
The Fall of the Berlin Wall with Rory...
9 November 1989 was one of the most significant dates in 20th century history. The Berlin Wall fell, changing the entire geopolitical situation and marking the start of the decline of Russia's world standing. Author Rory MacLean was present when the Wall fell, and he talks about the jubilation of...
-
The Knights Templar: With Dan Jones
They might be more famous today for their cameos in The Da Vinci Code and Assassin’s Creed, but in real life they were an army of valiant, daring Crusaders famous for their self-discipline, who fought in the Middle Ages' most bloody battles. They were allowed no sex, no personal possessions, and ...
12 Comments