[MR] Wikipedia: Dancing Mania

[Garth Groff via Atlantia]

Noble Friends,

A lot happened in history on this date, including the last day of the 
Battle of Bannockburn and the naval Battle of Sluys, but today I want to 
call your attention to something a bit more benign. I may have posted 
about this before, if so, my apologies, but this topic is quite unusual 
and very interesting. Besides, you are probably as tired of hearing 
about gore as I am of writing about it.

Today in 1374 a sudden outbreak of what is usually called St. John's 
Dance broke out in Aachen, within the Holy Roman Empire. You might call 
this a medieval rave. People began to dance uncontrollably, and the 
mania appears to have been contagious. The dancers continued until they 
dropped from exhaustion. Dancing mania popped up in many other places 
across Europe until the 17th century. The causes for the dancing have 
never been satisfactorily explained, and may have had different origins. 
Ergot poisoning is one possibility, meaning this could have been an 
early LSD trip.

You can read more about St. John's Dance at 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_mania

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, That Crazy Scot