The Rest of History

The Dancing Plague That Saved a Revolution

Episode Summary

In 1518, a woman named Frau Troffea began dancing in the streets of Strasbourg and couldn't stop. Within days, hundreds joined her in a deadly dance marathon that killed dozens—but also accidentally prevented a peasant uprising that would have crushed the early Protestant Reformation in its cradle. The story of how mass hysteria, medieval medicine, and one very superstitious bishop changed the course of religious history.