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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1739-h.zip b/1739-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e13e08a --- /dev/null +++ b/1739-h.zip diff --git a/1739-h/1739-h.htm b/1739-h/1739-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..33f735f --- /dev/null +++ b/1739-h/1739-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4917 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>The Black Death, and The Dancing Mania</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4 { + text-align: left; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + TD { vertical-align: top; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: gray;} + + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h2> +<a href="#startoftext">The Black Death, and The Dancing Mania, by Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker</a> +</h2> +<pre> +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Black Death, and The Dancing Mania, by +Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker, Edited by Henry Morley, Translated by +Benjamin Guy Babington + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Black Death, and The Dancing Mania + + +Author: Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker + +Editor: Henry Morley + +Release Date: May 7, 2007 [eBook #1739] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK DEATH, AND THE DANCING +MANIA*** +</pre> +<p><a name="startoftext"></a></p> +<p>Transcribed from the 1888 Cassell & Company edition by +Jane Duff, proofed by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org.</p> +<h1>The Black Death<br /> +and<br /> +The Dancing Mania.</h1> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">from the german +of</span><br /> +J. F. C. HECKER.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">translated +by</span><br /> +B. G. BABINGTON.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">CASSELL & COMPANY, <span +class="smcap">Limited</span>:<br /> +<span class="smcap"><i>london</i></span>, <span +class="smcap"><i>paris</i></span>, <span class="smcap"><i>new +york & melbourne</i></span>.<br /> +1888.</p> +<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> +<p>Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker was one of three generations of +distinguished professors of medicine. His father, August +Friedrich Hecker, a most industrious writer, first practised as a +physician in Frankenhausen, and in 1790 was appointed Professor +of Medicine at the University of Erfurt. In 1805 he was +called to the like professorship at the University of +Berlin. He died at Berlin in 1811.</p> +<p>Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker was born at Erfurt in January, +1795. He went, of course—being then ten years +old—with his father to Berlin in 1805, studied at Berlin in +the Gymnasium and University, but interrupted his studies at the +age of eighteen to fight as a volunteer in the war for a +renunciation of Napoleon and all his works. After Waterloo +he went back to his studies, took his doctor’s degree in +1817 with a treatise on the “Antiquities of +Hydrocephalus,” and became privat-docent in the Medical +Faculty of the Berlin University. His inclination was +strong from the first towards the historical side of inquiries +into Medicine. This caused him to undertake a +“History of Medicine,” of which the first volume +appeared in 1822. It obtained rank for him at Berlin as +Extraordinary Professor of the History of Medicine. This +office was changed into an Ordinary professorship of the same +study in 1834, and Hecker held that office until his death in +1850.</p> +<p>The office was created for a man who had a special genius for +this form of study. It was delightful to himself, and he +made it delightful to others. He is regarded as the founder +of historical pathology. He studied disease in relation to +the history of man, made his study yield to men outside his own +profession an important chapter in the history of civilisation, +and even took into account physical phenomena upon the surface of +the globe as often affecting the movement and character of +epidemics.</p> +<p>The account of “The Black Death” here translated +by Dr. Babington was Hecker’s first important work of this +kind. It was published in 1832, and was followed in the +same year by his account of “The Dancing +Mania.” The books here given are the two that first +gave Hecker a wide reputation. Many other such treatises +followed, among them, in 1865, a treatise on the “Great +Epidemics of the Middle Ages.” Besides his +“History of Medicine,” which, in its second volume, +reached into the fourteenth century, and all his smaller +treatises, Hecker wrote a large number of articles in +Encyclopædias and Medical Journals. Professor J.F.K. +Hecker was, in a more interesting way, as busy as Professor A.F. +Hecker, his father, had been. He transmitted the family +energies to an only son, Karl von Hecker, born in 1827, who +distinguished himself greatly as a Professor of Midwifery, and +died in 1882.</p> +<p>Benjamin Guy Babington, the translator of these books of +Hecker’s, belonged also to a family in which the study of +Medicine has passed from father to son, and both have been +writers. B.G. Babington was the son of Dr. William +Babington, who was physician to Guy’s Hospital for some +years before 1811, when the extent of his private practice caused +him to retire. He died in 1833. His son, Benjamin Guy +Babington, was educated at the Charterhouse, saw service as a +midshipman, served for seven years in India, returned to England, +graduated as physician at Cambridge in 1831. He +distinguished himself by inquiries into the cholera epidemic in +1832, and translated these pieces of Hecker’s in 1833, for +publication by the Sydenham Society. He afterwards +translated Hecker’s other treatises on epidemics of the +Middle Ages. Dr. B.G. Babington was Physician to +Guy’s Hospital from 1840 to 1855, and was a member of the +Medical Council of the General Board of Health. He died on +the 8th of April, 1866.</p> +<p>H.M.</p> +<h2>THE BLACK DEATH</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I—GENERAL OBSERVATIONS</h3> +<p>That Omnipotence which has called the world with all its +living creatures into one animated being, especially reveals +Himself in the desolation of great pestilences. The powers +of creation come into violent collision; the sultry dryness of +the atmosphere; the subterraneous thunders; the mist of +overflowing waters, are the harbingers of destruction. +Nature is not satisfied with the ordinary alternations of life +and death, and the destroying angel waves over man and beast his +flaming sword.</p> +<p>These revolutions are performed in vast cycles, which the +spirit of man, limited, as it is, to a narrow circle of +perception, is unable to explore. They are, however, +greater terrestrial events than any of those which proceed from +the discord, the distress, or the passions of nations. By +annihilations they awaken new life; and when the tumult above and +below the earth is past, nature is renovated, and the mind +awakens from torpor and depression to the consciousness of an +intellectual existence.</p> +<p>Were it in any degree within the power of human research to +draw up, in a vivid and connected form, an historical sketch of +such mighty events, after the manner of the historians of wars +and battles, and the migrations of nations, we might then arrive +at clear views with respect to the mental development of the +human race, and the ways of Providence would be more plainly +discernible. It would then be demonstrable, that the mind +of nations is deeply affected by the destructive conflict of the +powers of nature, and that great disasters lead to striking +changes in general civilisation. For all that exists in +man, whether good or evil, is rendered conspicuous by the +presence of great danger. His inmost feelings are +roused—the thought of self-preservation masters his +spirit—self-denial is put to severe proof, and wherever +darkness and barbarism prevail, there the affrighted mortal flies +to the idols of his superstition, and all laws, human and divine, +are criminally violated.</p> +<p>In conformity with a general law of nature, such a state of +excitement brings about a change, beneficial or detrimental, +according to circumstances, so that nations either attain a +higher degree of moral worth, or sink deeper in ignorance and +vice. All this, however, takes place upon a much grander +scale than through the ordinary vicissitudes of war and peace, or +the rise and fall of empires, because the powers of nature +themselves produce plagues, and subjugate the human will, which, +in the contentions of nations, alone predominates.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER II—THE DISEASE</h3> +<p>The most memorable example of what has been advanced is +afforded by a great pestilence of the fourteenth century, which +desolated Asia, Europe, and Africa, and of which the people yet +preserve the remembrance in gloomy traditions. It was an +oriental plague, marked by inflammatory boils and tumours of the +glands, such as break out in no other febrile disease. On +account of these inflammatory boils, and from the black spots, +indicatory of a putrid decomposition, which appeared upon the +skin, it was called in Germany and in the northern kingdoms of +Europe the Black Death, and in Italy, <i>la mortalega grande</i>, +the Great Mortality.</p> +<p>Few testimonies are presented to us respecting its symptoms +and its course, yet these are sufficient to throw light upon the +form of the malady, and they are worthy of credence, from their +coincidence with the signs of the same disease in modern +times.</p> +<p>The imperial writer, Kantakusenos, whose own son, Andronikus, +died of this plague in Constantinople, notices great imposthumes +of the thighs and arms of those affected, which, when opened, +afforded relief by the discharge of an offensive matter. +Buboes, which are the infallible signs of the oriental plague, +are thus plainly indicated, for he makes separate mention of +smaller boils on the arms and in the face, as also in other parts +of the body, and clearly distinguishes these from the blisters, +which are no less produced by plague in all its forms. In +many cases, black spots broke out all over the body, either +single, or united and confluent.</p> +<p>These symptoms were not all found in every case. In +many, one alone was sufficient to cause death, while some +patients recovered, contrary to expectation, though afflicted +with all. Symptoms of cephalic affection were frequent; +many patients became stupefied and fell into a deep sleep, losing +also their speech from palsy of the tongue; others remained +sleepless and without rest. The fauces and tongue were +black, and as if suffused with blood; no beverage could assuage +their burning thirst, so that their sufferings continued without +alleviation until terminated by death, which many in their +despair accelerated with their own hands. Contagion was +evident, for attendants caught the disease of their relations and +friends, and many houses in the capital were bereft even of their +last inhabitant. Thus far the ordinary circumstances only +of the oriental plague occurred. Still deeper sufferings, +however, were connected with this pestilence, such as have not +been felt at other times; the organs of respiration were seized +with a putrid inflammation; a violent pain in the chest attacked +the patient; blood was expectorated, and the breath diffused a +pestiferous odour.</p> +<p>In the West, the following were the predominating symptoms on +the eruption of this disease. An ardent fever, accompanied +by an evacuation of blood, proved fatal in the first three +days. It appears that buboes and inflammatory boils did not +at first come out at all, but that the disease, in the form of +carbuncular (<i>anthrax-artigen</i>) affection of the lungs, +effected the destruction of life before the other symptoms were +developed.</p> +<p>Thus did the plague rage in Avignon for six or eight weeks, +and the pestilential breath of the sick, who expectorated blood, +caused a terrible contagion far and near; for even the vicinity +of those who had fallen ill of plague was certain death; so that +parents abandoned their infected children, and all the ties of +kindred were dissolved. After this period, buboes in the +axilla and in the groin, and inflammatory boils all over the +body, made their appearance; but it was not until seven months +afterwards that some patients recovered with matured buboes, as +in the ordinary milder form of plague.</p> +<p>Such is the report of the courageous Guy de Chauliac, who +vindicated the honour of medicine, by bidding defiance to danger; +boldly and constantly assisting the affected, and disdaining the +excuse of his colleagues, who held the Arabian notion, that +medical aid was unavailing, and that the contagion justified +flight. He saw the plague twice in Avignon, first in the +year 1348, from January to August, and then twelve years later, +in the autumn, when it returned from Germany, and for nine months +spread general distress and terror. The first time it raged +chiefly among the poor, but in the year 1360, more among the +higher classes. It now also destroyed a great many +children, whom it had formerly spared, and but few women.</p> +<p>The like was seen in Egypt. Here also inflammation of +the lungs was predominant, and destroyed quickly and infallibly, +with burning heat and expectoration of blood. Here too the +breath of the sick spread a deadly contagion, and human aid was +as vain as it was destructive to those who approached the +infected.</p> +<p>Boccacio, who was an eye-witness of its incredible fatality in +Florence, the seat of the revival of science, gives a more lively +description of the attack of the disease than his non-medical +contemporaries.</p> +<p>It commenced here, not as in the East, with bleeding at the +nose, a sure sign of inevitable death; but there took place at +the beginning, both in men and women, tumours in the groin and in +the axilla, varying in circumference up to the size of an apple +or an egg, and called by the people, pest-boils +(gavoccioli). Then there appeared similar tumours +indiscriminately over all parts of the body, and black or blue +spots came out on the arms or thighs, or on other parts, either +single and large, or small and thickly studded. These spots +proved equally fatal with the pest-boils, which had been from the +first regarded as a sure sign of death. No power of +medicine brought relief—almost all died within the first +three days, some sooner, some later, after the appearance of +these signs, and for the most part entirely without fever or +other symptoms. The plague spread itself with the greater +fury, as it communicated from the sick to the healthy, like fire +among dry and oily fuel, and even contact with the clothes and +other articles which had been used by the infected, seemed to +induce the disease. As it advanced, not only men, but +animals fell sick and shortly expired, if they had touched things +belonging to the diseased or dead. Thus Boccacio himself +saw two hogs on the rags of a person who had died of plague, +after staggering about for a short time, fall down dead as if +they had taken poison. In other places multitudes of dogs, +cats, fowls, and other animals, fell victims to the contagion; +and it is to be presumed that other epizootes among animals +likewise took place, although the ignorant writers of the +fourteenth century are silent on this point.</p> +<p>In Germany there was a repetition in every respect of the same +phenomena. The infallible signs of the oriental bubo-plague +with its inevitable contagion were found there as everywhere +else; but the mortality was not nearly so great as in the other +parts of Europe. The accounts do not all make mention of +the spitting of blood, the diagnostic symptom of this fatal +pestilence; we are not, however, thence to conclude that there +was any considerable mitigation or modification of the disease, +for we must not only take into account the defectiveness of the +chronicles, but that isolated testimonies are often contradicted +by many others. Thus the chronicles of Strasburg, which +only take notice of boils and glandular swellings in the +axillæ and groins, are opposed by another account, +according to which the mortal spitting of blood was met with in +Germany; but this again is rendered suspicious, as the narrator +postpones the death of those who were thus affected, to the +sixth, and (even the) eighth day, whereas, no other author +sanctions so long a course of the disease; and even in Strasburg, +where a mitigation of the plague may, with most probability, be +assumed since the year 1349, only 16,000 people were carried off, +the generality expired by the third or fourth day. In +Austria, and especially in Vienna, the plague was fully as +malignant as anywhere, so that the patients who had red spots and +black boils, as well as those afflicted with tumid glands, died +about the third day; and lastly, very frequent sudden deaths +occurred on the coasts of the North Sea and in Westphalia, +without any further development of the malady.</p> +<p>To France, this plague came in a northern direction from +Avignon, and was there more destructive than in Germany, so that +in many places not more than two in twenty of the inhabitants +survived. Many were struck, as if by lightning, and died on +the spot, and this more frequently among the young and strong +than the old; patients with enlarged glands in the axillæ +and groins scarcely survive two or three days; and no sooner did +these fatal signs appear, than they bid adieu to the world, and +sought consolation only in the absolution which Pope Clement VI. +promised them in the hour of death.</p> +<p>In England the malady appeared, as at Avignon, with spitting +of blood, and with the same fatality, so that the sick who were +afflicted either with this symptom or with vomiting of blood, +died in some cases immediately, in others within twelve hours, or +at the latest two days. The inflammatory boils and buboes +in the groins and axillæ were recognised at once as +prognosticating a fatal issue, and those were past all hope of +recovery in whom they arose in numbers all over the body. +It was not till towards the close of the plague that they +ventured to open, by incision, these hard and dry boils, when +matter flowed from them in small quantity, and thus, by +compelling nature to a critical suppuration, many patients were +saved. Every spot which the sick had touched, their breath, +their clothes, spread the contagion; and, as in all other places, +the attendants and friends who were either blind to their danger, +or heroically despised it, fell a sacrifice to their +sympathy. Even the eyes of the patient were considered a +sources of contagion, which had the power of acting at a +distance, whether on account of their unwonted lustre, or the +distortion which they always suffer in plague, or whether in +conformity with an ancient notion, according to which the sight +was considered as the bearer of a demoniacal enchantment. +Flight from infected cities seldom availed the fearful, for the +germ of the disease adhered to them, and they fell sick, remote +from assistance, in the solitude of their country houses.</p> +<p>Thus did the plague spread over England with unexampled +rapidity, after it had first broken out in the county of Dorset, +whence it advanced through the counties of Devon and Somerset, to +Bristol, and thence reached Gloucester, Oxford and London. +Probably few places escaped, perhaps not any; for the annuals of +contemporaries report that throughout the land only a tenth part +of the inhabitants remained alive.</p> +<p>From England the contagion was carried by a ship to Bergen, +the capital of Norway, where the plague then broke out in its +most frightful form, with vomiting of blood; and throughout the +whole country, spared not more than a third of the +inhabitants. The sailors found no refuge in their ships; +and vessels were often seen driving about on the ocean and +drifting on shore, whose crews had perished to the last man.</p> +<p>In Poland the affected were attacked with spitting blood, and +died in a few days in such vast numbers, that, as it has been +affirmed, scarcely a fourth of the inhabitants were left.</p> +<p>Finally, in Russia the plague appeared two years later than in +Southern Europe; yet here again, with the same symptoms as +elsewhere. Russian contemporaries have recorded that it +began with rigor, heat, and darting pain in the shoulders and +back; that it was accompanied by spitting of blood, and +terminated fatally in two, or at most three days. It is not +till the year 1360 that we find buboes mentioned as occurring in +the neck, in the axillæ, and in the groins, which are +stated to have broken out when the spitting of blood had +continued some time. According to the experience of Western +Europe, however, it cannot be assumed that these symptoms did not +appear at an earlier period.</p> +<p>Thus much, from authentic sources, on the nature of the Black +Death. The descriptions which have been communicated +contain, with a few unimportant exceptions, all the symptoms of +the oriental plague which have been observed in more modern +times. No doubt can obtain on this point. The facts +are placed clearly before our eyes. We must, however, bear +in mind that this violent disease does not always appear in the +same form, and that while the essence of the poison which it +produces, and which is separated so abundantly from the body of +the patient, remains unchanged, it is proteiform in its +varieties, from the almost imperceptible vesicle, unaccompanied +by fever, which exists for some time before it extends its poison +inwardly, and then excites fever and buboes, to the fatal form in +which carbuncular inflammations fall upon the most important +viscera.</p> +<p>Such was the form which the plague assumed in the fourteenth +century, for the accompanying chest affection which appeared in +all the countries whereof we have received any account, cannot, +on a comparison with similar and familiar symptoms, be considered +as any other than the inflammation of the lungs of modern +medicine, a disease which at present only appears sporadically, +and, owing to a putrid decomposition of the fluids, is probably +combined with hemorrhages from the vessels of the lungs. +Now, as every carbuncle, whether it be cutaneous or internal, +generates in abundance the matter of contagion which has given +rise to it, so, therefore, must the breath of the affected have +been poisonous in this plague, and on this account its power of +contagion wonderfully increased; wherefore the opinion appears +incontrovertible, that owing to the accumulated numbers of the +diseased, not only individual chambers and houses, but whole +cities were infected, which, moreover, in the Middle Ages, were, +with few exceptions, narrowly built, kept in a filthy state, and +surrounded with stagnant ditches. Flight was, in +consequence, of no avail to the timid; for even though they had +sedulously avoided all communication with the diseased and the +suspected, yet their clothes were saturated with the pestiferous +atmosphere, and every inspiration imparted to them the seeds of +the destructive malady, which, in the greater number of cases, +germinated with but too much fertility. Add to which, the +usual propagation of the plague through clothes, beds, and a +thousand other things to which the pestilential poison +adheres—a propagation which, from want of caution, must +have been infinitely multiplied; and since articles of this kind, +removed from the access of air, not only retain the matter of +contagion for an indefinite period, but also increase its +activity and engender it like a living being, frightful +ill-consequences followed for many years after the first fury of +the pestilence was past.</p> +<p>The affection of the stomach, often mentioned in vague terms, +and occasionally as a vomiting of blood, was doubtless only a +subordinate symptom, even if it be admitted that actual +hematemesis did occur. For the difficulty of distinguishing +a flow of blood from the stomach, from a pulmonic expectoration +of that fluid, is, to non-medical men, even in common cases, not +inconsiderable. How much greater then must it have been in +so terrible a disease, where assistants could not venture to +approach the sick without exposing themselves to certain +death? Only two medical descriptions of the malady have +reached us, the one by the brave Guy de Chauliac, the other by +Raymond Chalin de Vinario, a very experienced scholar, who was +well versed in the learning of the time. The former takes +notice only of fatal coughing of blood; the latter, besides this, +notices epistaxis, hematuria, and fluxes of blood from the +bowels, as symptoms of such decided and speedy mortality, that +those patients in whom they were observed usually died on the +same or the following day.</p> +<p>That a vomiting of blood may not, here and there, have taken +place, perhaps have been even prevalent in many places, is, from +a consideration of the nature of the disease, by no means to be +denied; for every putrid decomposition of the fluids begets a +tendency to hemorrhages of all kinds. Here, however, it is +a question of historical certainty, which, after these doubts, is +by no means established. Had not so speedy a death followed +the expectoration of blood, we should certainly have received +more detailed intelligence respecting other hemorrhages; but the +malady had no time to extend its effects further over the +extremities of the vessels. After its first fury, however, +was spent, the pestilence passed into the usual febrile form of +the oriental plague. Internal carbuncular inflammations no +longer took place, and hemorrhages became phenomena, no more +essential in this than they are in any other febrile +disorders. Chalin, who observed not only the great +mortality of 1348, and the plague of 1360, but also that of 1373 +and 1382, speaks moreover of affections of the throat, and +describes the back spots of plague patients more satisfactorily +than any of his contemporaries. The former appeared but in +few cases, and consisted in carbuncular inflammation of the +gullet, with a difficulty of swallowing, even to suffocation, to +which, in some instances, was added inflammation of the +ceruminous glands of the ears, with tumours, producing great +deformity. Such patients, as well as others, were affected +with expectoration of blood; but they did not usually die before +the sixth, and, sometimes, even as late as the fourteenth +day. The same occurrence, it is well known, is not uncommon +in other pestilences; as also blisters on the surface of the +body, in different places, in the vicinity of which, tumid glands +and inflammatory boils, surrounded by discoloured and black +streaks, arose, and thus indicated the reception of the +poison. These streaked spots were called, by an apt +comparison, the girdle, and this appearance was justly considered +extremely dangerous.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER III—CAUSES—SPREAD</h3> +<p>An inquiry into the causes of the Black Death will not be +without important results in the study of the plagues which have +visited the world, although it cannot advance beyond +generalisation without entering upon a field hitherto +uncultivated, and, to this hour entirely unknown. Mighty +revolutions in the organism of the earth, of which we have +credible information, had preceded it. From China to the +Atlantic, the foundations of the earth were +shaken—throughout Asia and Europe the atmosphere was in +commotion, and endangered, by its baneful influence, both +vegetable and animal life.</p> +<p>The series of these great events began in the year 1333, +fifteen years before the plague broke out in Europe: they first +appeared in China. Here a parching drought, accompanied by +famine, commenced in the tract of country watered by the rivers +Kiang and Hoai. This was followed by such violent torrents +of rain, in and about Kingsai, at that time the capital of the +empire, that, according to tradition, more than 400,000 people +perished in the floods. Finally the mountain Tsincheou fell +in, and vast clefts were formed in the earth. In the +succeeding year (1334), passing over fabulous traditions, the +neighbourhood of Canton was visited by inundations; whilst in +Tche, after an unexampled drought, a plague arose, which is said +to have carried off about 5,000,000 of people. A few months +afterwards an earthquake followed, at and near Kingsai; and +subsequent to the falling in of the mountains of Ki-ming-chan, a +lake was formed of more than a hundred leagues in circumference, +where, again, thousands found their grave. In Houkouang and +Honan, a drought prevailed for five months; and innumerable +swarms of locusts destroyed the vegetation; while famine and +pestilence, as usual, followed in their train. Connected +accounts of the condition of Europe before this great catastrophe +are not to be expected from the writers of the fourteenth +century. It is remarkable, however, that simultaneously +with a drought and renewed floods in China, in 1336, many +uncommon atmospheric phenomena, and in the winter, frequent +thunderstorms, were observed in the north of France; and so early +as the eventful year of 1333 an eruption of Etna took +place. According to the Chinese annuals, about 4,000,000 of +people perished by famine in the neighbourhood of Kiang in 1337; +and deluges, swarms of locusts, and an earthquake which lasted +six days, caused incredible devastation. In the same year, +the first swarms of locusts appeared in Franconia, which were +succeeded in the following year by myriads of these +insects. In 1338 Kingsai was visited by an earthquake of +ten days’ duration; at the same time France suffered from a +failure in the harvest; and thenceforth, till the year 1342, +there was in China a constant succession of inundations, +earthquakes, and famines. In the same year great floods +occurred in the vicinity of the Rhine and in France, which could +not be attributed to rain alone; for, everywhere, even on tops of +mountains, springs were seen to burst forth, and dry tracts were +laid under water in an inexplicable manner. In the +following year, the mountain Hong-tchang, in China, fell in, and +caused a destructive deluge; and in Pien-tcheon and Leang-tcheou, +after three months’ rain, there followed unheard-of +inundations, which destroyed seven cities. In Egypt and +Syria, violent earthquakes took place; and in China they became, +from this time, more and more frequent; for they recurred, in +1344, in Ven-tcheou, where the sea overflowed in consequence; in +1345, in Ki-tcheou, and in both the following years in Canton, +with subterraneous thunder. Meanwhile, floods and famine +devastated various districts, until 1347, when the fury of the +elements subsided in China.</p> +<p>The signs of terrestrial commotions commenced in Europe in the +year 1348, after the intervening districts of country in Asia had +probably been visited in the same manner.</p> +<p>On the island of Cyprus, the plague from the East had already +broken out; when an earthquake shook the foundations of the +island, and was accompanied by so frightful a hurricane, that the +inhabitants who had slain their Mahometan slaves, in order that +they might not themselves be subjugated by them, fled in dismay, +in all directions. The sea overflowed—the ships were +dashed to pieces on the rocks, and few outlived the terrific +event, whereby this fertile and blooming island was converted +into a desert. Before the earthquake, a pestiferous wind +spread so poisonous an odour, that many, being overpowered by it, +fell down suddenly and expired in dreadful agonies.</p> +<p>This phenomenon is one of the rarest that has ever been +observed, for nothing is more constant than the composition of +the air; and in no respect has nature been more careful in the +preservation of organic life. Never have naturalists +discovered in the atmosphere foreign elements, which, evident to +the senses, and borne by the winds, spread from land to land, +carrying disease over whole portions of the earth, as is +recounted to have taken place in the year 1348. It is, +therefore, the more to be regretted, that in this extraordinary +period, which, owing to the low condition of science, was very +deficient in accurate observers, so little that can be depended +on respecting those uncommon occurrences in the air, should have +been recorded. Yet, German accounts say expressly, that a +thick, stinking mist advanced from the East, and spread itself +over Italy; and there could be no deception in so palpable a +phenomenon. The credibility of unadorned traditions, +however little they may satisfy physical research, can scarcely +be called in question when we consider the connection of events; +for just at this time earthquakes were more general than they had +been within the range of history. In thousands of places +chasms were formed, from whence arose noxious vapours; and as at +that time natural occurrences were transformed into miracles, it +was reported, that a fiery meteor, which descended on the earth +far in the East, had destroyed everything within a circumference +of more than a hundred leagues, infecting the air far and +wide. The consequences of innumerable floods contributed to +the same effect; vast river districts had been converted into +swamps; foul vapours arose everywhere, increased by the odour of +putrified locusts, which had never perhaps darkened the sun in +thicker swarms, and of countless corpses, which even in the +well-regulated countries of Europe, they knew not how to remove +quickly enough out of the sight of the living. It is +probable, therefore, that the atmosphere contained foreign, and +sensibly perceptible, admixtures to a great extent, which, at +least in the lower regions, could not be decomposed, or rendered +ineffective by separation.</p> +<p>Now, if we go back to the symptoms of the disease, the ardent +inflammation of the lungs points out, that the organs of +respiration yielded to the attack of an atmospheric +poison—a poison which, if we admit the independent origin +of the Black Plague at any one place of the globe, which, under +such extraordinary circumstances, it would be difficult to doubt, +attacked the course of the circulation in as hostile a manner as +that which produces inflammation of the spleen, and other animal +contagions that cause swelling and inflammation of the lymphatic +glands.</p> +<p>Pursuing the course of these grand revolutions further, we +find notice of an unexampled earthquake, which, on the 25th +January, 1348, shook Greece, Italy, and the neighbouring +countries. Naples, Rome, Pisa, Bologna, Padua, Venice, and +many other cities, suffered considerably; whole villages were +swallowed up. Castles, houses, and churches were +overthrown, and hundreds of people were buried beneath their +ruins. In Carinthia, thirty villages, together with all the +churches, were demolished; more than a thousand corpses were +drawn out of the rubbish; the city of Villach was so completely +destroyed that very few of its inhabitants were saved; and when +the earth ceased to tremble it was found that mountains had been +moved from their positions, and that many hamlets were left in +ruins. It is recorded that during this earthquake the wine +in the casks became turbid, a statement which may be considered +as furnishing proof that changes causing a decomposition of the +atmosphere had taken place; but if we had no other information +from which the excitement of conflicting powers of nature during +these commotions might be inferred, yet scientific observations +in modern times have shown that the relation of the atmosphere to +the earth is changed by volcanic influences. Why then, may +we not, from this fact, draw retrospective inferences respecting +those extraordinary phenomena?</p> +<p>Independently of this, however, we know that during this +earthquake, the duration of which is stated by some to have been +a week, and by others a fortnight, people experienced an unusual +stupor and headache, and that many fainted away.</p> +<p>These destructive earthquakes extended as far as the +neighbourhood of Basle, and recurred until the year 1360 +throughout Germany, France, Silesia, Poland, England, and +Denmark, and much further north.</p> +<p>Great and extraordinary meteors appeared in many places, and +were regarded with superstitious horror. A pillar of fire, +which on the 20th of December, 1348, remained for an hour at +sunrise over the pope’s palace in Avignon; a fireball, +which in August of the same year was seen at sunset over Paris, +and was distinguished from similar phenomena by its longer +duration, not to mention other instances mixed up with wonderful +prophecies and omens, are recorded in the chronicles of that +age.</p> +<p>The order of the seasons seemed to be inverted; rains, flood, +and failures in crops were so general that few places were exempt +from them; and though an historian of this century assure us that +there was an abundance in the granaries and storehouses, all his +contemporaries, with one voice, contradict him. The +consequences of failure in the crops were soon felt, especially +in Italy and the surrounding countries, where, in this year, a +rain, which continued for four months, had destroyed the +seed. In the larger cities they were compelled, in the +spring of 1347, to have recourse to a distribution of bread among +the poor, particularly at Florence, where they erected large +bakehouses, from which, in April, ninety-four thousand loaves of +bread, each of twelve ounces in weight, were daily +dispensed. It is plain, however, that humanity could only +partially mitigate the general distress, not altogether obviate +it.</p> +<p>Diseases, the invariable consequence of famine, broke out in +the country as well as in cities; children died of hunger in +their mother’s arms—want, misery, and despair were +general throughout Christendom.</p> +<p>Such are the events which took place before the eruption of +the Black Plague in Europe. Contemporaries have explained +them after their own manner, and have thus, like their posterity, +under similar circumstances, given a proof that mortals possess +neither senses nor intellectual powers sufficiently acute to +comprehend the phenomena produced by the earth’s organism, +much less scientifically to understand their effects. +Superstition, selfishness in a thousand forms, the presumption of +the schools, laid hold of unconnected facts. They vainly +thought to comprehend the whole in the individual, and perceived +not the universal spirit which, in intimate union with the mighty +powers of nature, animates the movements of all existence, and +permits not any phenomenon to originate from isolated +causes. To attempt, five centuries after that age of +desolation, to point out the causes of a cosmical commotion, +which has never recurred to an equal extent, to indicate +scientifically the influences, which called forth so terrific a +poison in the bodies of men and animals, exceeds the limits of +human understanding. If we are even now unable, with all +the varied resources of an extended knowledge of nature, to +define that condition of the atmosphere by which pestilences are +generated, still less can we pretend to reason retrospectively +from the nineteenth to the fourteenth century; but if we take a +general view of the occurrences, that century will give us +copious information, and, as applicable to all succeeding times, +of high importance.</p> +<p>In the progress of connected natural phenomena from east to +west, that great law of nature is plainly revealed which has so +often and evidently manifested itself in the earth’s +organism, as well as in the state of nations dependent upon +it. In the inmost depths of the globe that impulse was +given in the year 1333, which in uninterrupted succession for six +and twenty years shook the surface of the earth, even to the +western shores of Europe. From the very beginning the air +partook of the terrestrial concussion, atmospherical waters +overflowed the land, or its plants and animals perished under the +scorching heat. The insect tribe was wonderfully called +into life, as if animated beings were destined to complete the +destruction which astral and telluric powers had begun. +Thus did this dreadful work of nature advance from year to year; +it was a progressive infection of the zones, which exerted a +powerful influence both above and beneath the surface of the +earth; and after having been perceptible in slighter indications, +at the commencement of the terrestrial commotions in China, +convulsed the whole earth.</p> +<p>The nature of the first plague in China is unknown. We +have no certain intelligence of the disease until it entered the +western countries of Asia. Here it showed itself as the +Oriental plague, with inflammation of the lungs; in which form it +probably also may have begun in China, that is to say, as a +malady which spreads, more than any other, by contagion—a +contagion that, in ordinary pestilences, requires immediate +contact, and only under favourable circumstances of rare +occurrence is communicated by the mere approach to the +sick. The share which this cause had in the spreading of +the plague over the whole earth was certainly very great; and the +opinion that the Black Death might have been excluded from +Western Europe by good regulations, similar to those which are +now in use, would have all the support of modern experience, +provided it could be proved that this plague had been actually +imported from the East, or that the Oriental plague in general, +whenever it appears in Europe, has its origin in Asia or +Egypt. Such a proof, however, can by no means be produced +so as to enforce conviction; for it would involve the impossible +assumption, either that there is no essential difference between +the degree of civilisation of the European nations, in the most +ancient and in modern times, or that detrimental circumstances, +which have yielded only to the civilisation of human society and +the regular cultivation of countries, could not formerly keep up +the glandular plague.</p> +<p>The plague was, however, known in Europe before nations were +united by the bonds of commerce and social intercourse; hence +there is ground for supposing that it sprang up spontaneously, in +consequence of the rude manner of living and the uncultivated +state of the earth, influences which peculiarly favour the origin +of severe diseases. Now we need not go back to the earlier +centuries, for the fourteenth itself, before it had half expired, +was visited by five or six pestilences.</p> +<p>If, therefore, we consider the peculiar property of the +plague, that in countries which it has once visited it remains +for a long time in a milder form, and that the epidemic +influences of 1342, when it had appeared for the last time, were +particularly favourable to its unperceived continuance, till +1348, we come to the notion that in this eventful year also the +germs of plague existed in Southern Europe, which might be +vivified by atmospherical deteriorations; and that thus, at least +in part, the Black Plague may have originated in Europe +itself. The corruption of the atmosphere came from the +East; but the disease itself came not upon the wings of the wind, +but was only excited and increased by the atmosphere where it had +previously existed.</p> +<p>This source of the Black Plague was not, however, the only +one; for far more powerful than the excitement of the latent +elements of the plague by atmospheric influences was the effect +of the contagion communicated from one people to another on the +great roads and in the harbours of the Mediterranean. From +China the route of the caravans lay to the north of the Caspian +Sea, through Central Asia, to Tauris. Here ships were ready +to take the produce of the East to Constantinople, the capital of +commerce, and the medium of connection between Asia, Europe, and +Africa. Other caravans went from India to Asia Minor, and +touched at the cities south of the Caspian Sea, and, lastly, from +Bagdad through Arabia to Egypt; also the maritime communication +on the Red Sea, from India to Arabia and Egypt, was not +inconsiderable. In all these directions contagion made its +way; and, doubtless, Constantinople and the harbours of Asia +Minor are to be regarded as the foci of infection, whence it +radiated to the most distant seaports and islands.</p> +<p>To Constantinople the plague had been brought from the +northern coast of the Black Sea, after it had depopulated the +countries between those routes of commerce, and appeared as early +as 1347 in Cyprus, Sicily, Marseilles, and some of the seaports +of Italy. The remaining islands of the Mediterranean, +particularly Sardinia, Corsica, and Majorca, were visited in +succession. Foci of contagion existed also in full activity +along the whole southern coast of Europe; when, in January, 1348, +the plague appeared in Avignon, and in other cities in the south +of France and north of Italy, as well as in Spain.</p> +<p>The precise days of its eruption in the individual towns are +no longer to be ascertained; but it was not simultaneous; for in +Florence the disease appeared in the beginning of April, in +Cesena the 1st June, and place after place was attacked +throughout the whole year; so that the plague, after it had +passed through the whole of France and Germany—where, +however, it did not make its ravages until the following +year—did not break out till August in England, where it +advanced so gradually, that a period of three months elapsed +before it reached London. The northern kingdoms were +attacked by it in 1349; Sweden, indeed, not until November of +that year, almost two years after its eruption in Avignon. +Poland received the plague in 1349, probably from Germany, if not +from the northern countries; but in Russia it did not make its +appearance until 1351, more than three years after it had broken +out in Constantinople. Instead of advancing in a +north-westerly direction from Tauris and from the Caspian Sea, it +had thus made the great circuit of the Black Sea, by way of +Constantinople, Southern and Central Europe, England, the +northern kingdoms, and Poland, before it reached the Russian +territories, a phenomenon which has not again occurred with +respect to more recent pestilences originating in Asia.</p> +<p>Whether any difference existed between the indigenous plague, +excited by the influence of the atmosphere, and that which was +imported by contagion, can no longer be ascertained from facts; +for the contemporaries, who in general were not competent to make +accurate researches of this kind, have left no data on the +subject. A milder and a more malignant form certainly +existed, and the former was not always derived from the latter, +as is to be supposed from this circumstance—that the +spitting of blood, the infallible diagnostic of the latter, on +the first breaking out of the plague, is not similarly mentioned +in all the reports; and it is therefore probable that the milder +form belonged to the native plague—the more malignant, to +that introduced by contagion. Contagion was, however, in +itself, only one of many causes which gave rise to the Black +Plague.</p> +<p>This disease was a consequence of violent commotions in the +earth’s organism—if any disease of cosmical origin +can be so considered. One spring set a thousand others in +motion for the annihilation of living beings, transient or +permanent, of mediate or immediate effect. The most +powerful of all was contagion; for in the most distant countries, +which had scarcely yet heard the echo of the first concussion, +the people fell a sacrifice to organic poison—the untimely +offspring of vital energies thrown into violent commotion.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER IV—MORTALITY</h3> +<p>We have no certain measure by which to estimate the ravages of +the Black Plague, if numerical statements were wanted, as in +modern times. Let us go back for a moment to the fourteenth +century. The people were yet but little civilised. +The Church had indeed subdued them; but they all suffered from +the ill consequences of their original rudeness. The +dominion of the law was not yet confirmed. Sovereigns had +everywhere to combat powerful enemies to internal tranquillity +and security. The cities were fortresses for their own +defence. Marauders encamped on the roads. The +husbandman was a feudal slave, without possessions of his +own. Rudeness was general, humanity as yet unknown to the +people. Witches and heretics were burned alive. +Gentle rulers were contemned as weak; wild passions, severity and +cruelty, everywhere predominated. Human life was little +regarded. Governments concerned not themselves about the +numbers of their subjects, for whose welfare it was incumbent on +them to provide. Thus, the first requisite for estimating +the loss of human life, namely, a knowledge of the amount of the +population, is altogether wanting; and, moreover, the traditional +statements of the amount of this loss are so vague, that from +this source likewise there is only room for probable +conjecture.</p> +<p>Cairo lost daily, when the plague was raging with its greatest +violence, from 10,000 to 15,000; being as many as, in modern +times, great plagues have carried off during their whole +course. In China, more than thirteen millions are said to +have died; and this is in correspondence with the certainly +exaggerated accounts from the rest of Asia. India was +depopulated. Tartary, the Tartar kingdom of Kaptschak, +Mesopotamia, Syria, Armenia, were covered with dead +bodies—the Kurds fled in vain to the mountains. In +Caramania and Cæsarea none were left alive. On the +roads—in the camps—in the +caravansaries—unburied bodies alone were seen; and a few +cities only (Arabian historians name Maarael-Nooman, Schisur, and +Harem) remained, in an unaccountable manner, free. In +Aleppo, 500 died daily; 22,000 people, and most of the animals, +were carried off in Gaza, within six weeks. Cyprus lost +almost all its inhabitants; and ships without crews were often +seen in the Mediterranean, as afterwards in the North Sea, +driving about, and spreading the plague wherever they went on +shore. It was reported to Pope Clement, at Avignon, that +throughout the East, probably with the exception of China, +23,840,000 people had fallen victims to the plague. +Considering the occurrences of the fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries, we might, on first view, suspect the accuracy of this +statement. How (it might be asked) could such great wars +have been carried on—such powerful efforts have been made; +how could the Greek Empire, only a hundred years later, have been +overthrown, if the people really had been so utterly +destroyed?</p> +<p>This account is nevertheless rendered credible by the +ascertained fact, that the palaces of princes are less accessible +to contagious diseases than the dwellings of the multitude; and +that in places of importance, the influx from those districts +which have suffered least, soon repairs even the heaviest +losses. We must remember, also, that we do not gather much +from mere numbers without an intimate knowledge of the state of +society. We will therefore confine ourselves to exhibiting +some of the more credible accounts relative to European +cities.</p> +<p>In Florence there died of the Black Plague—60,000<br /> +In Venice—100,000<br /> +In Marseilles, in one month—16,000<br /> +In Siena—70,000<br /> +In Paris—50,000<br /> +In St. Denys—14,000<br /> +In Avignon—60,000<br /> +In Strasburg—16,000<br /> +In Lübeck—9,000<br /> +In Basle—14,000<br /> +In Erfurt, at least—16,000<br /> +In Weimar—5,000<br /> +In Limburg—2,500<br /> +In London, at least—100,000<br /> +In Norwich—51,100</p> +<p>To which may be added—</p> +<p>Franciscan Friars in German—124,434<br /> +Minorites in Italy—30,000</p> +<p>This short catalogue might, by a laborious and uncertain +calculation, deduced from other sources, be easily further +multiplied, but would still fail to give a true picture of the +depopulation which took place. Lübeck, at that time +the Venice of the North, which could no longer contain the +multitudes that flocked to it, was thrown into such consternation +on the eruption of the plague, that the citizens destroyed +themselves as if in frenzy.</p> +<p>Merchants whose earnings and possessions were unbounded, +coldly and willingly renounced their earthly goods. They +carried their treasures to monasteries and churches, and laid +them at the foot of the altar; but gold had no charms for the +monks, for it brought them death. They shut their gates; +yet, still it was cast to them over the convent walls. +People would brook no impediment to the last pious work to which +they were driven by despair. When the plague ceased, men +thought they were still wandering among the dead, so appalling +was the livid aspect of the survivors, in consequence of the +anxiety they had undergone, and the unavoidable infection of the +air. Many other cities probably presented a similar +appearance; and it is ascertained that a great number of small +country towns and villages, which have been estimated, and not +too highly, at 200,000, were bereft of all their inhabitants.</p> +<p>In many places in France, not more than two out of twenty of +the inhabitants were left alive, and the capital felt the fury of +the plague, alike in the palace and the cot.</p> +<p>Two queens, one bishop, and great numbers of other +distinguished persons, fell a sacrifice to it, and more than 500 +a day died in the Hôtel Dieu, under the faithful care of +the sisters of charity, whose disinterested courage, in this age +of horror, displayed the most beautiful traits of human +virtue. For although they lost their lives, evidently from +contagion, and their numbers were several times renewed, there +was still no want of fresh candidates, who, strangers to the +unchristian fear of death, piously devoted themselves to their +holy calling.</p> +<p>The churchyards were soon unable to contain the dead, and many +houses, left without inhabitants, fell to ruins.</p> +<p>In Avignon, the Pope found it necessary to consecrate the +Rhone, that bodies might be thrown into the river without delay, +as the churchyards would no longer hold them; so likewise, in all +populous cities, extraordinary measures were adopted, in order +speedily to dispose of the dead. In Vienna, where for some +time 1,200 inhabitants died daily, the interment of corpses in +the churchyards and within the churches was forthwith prohibited; +and the dead were then arranged in layers, by thousands, in six +large pits outside the city, as had already been done in Cairo +and Paris. Yet, still many were secretly buried; for at all +times the people are attached to the consecrated cemeteries of +their dead, and will not renounce the customary mode of +interment.</p> +<p>In many places it was rumoured that plague patients were +buried alive, as may sometimes happen through senseless alarm and +indecent haste; and thus the horror of the distressed people was +everywhere increased. In Erfurt, after the churchyards were +filled, 12,000 corpses were thrown into eleven great pits; and +the like might, more or less exactly, be stated with respect to +all the larger cities. Funeral ceremonies, the last +consolation of the survivors, were everywhere impracticable.</p> +<p>In all Germany, according to a probable calculation, there +seem to have died only 1,244,434 inhabitants; this country, +however, was more spared than others: Italy, on the contrary, was +most severely visited. It is said to have lost half its +inhabitants; and this account is rendered credible from the +immense losses of individual cities and provinces: for in +Sardinia and Corsica, according to the account of the +distinguished Florentine, John Villani, who was himself carried +off by the Black Plague, scarcely a third part of the population +remained alive; and it is related of the Venetians, that they +engaged ships at a high rate to retreat to the islands; so that +after the plague had carried off three-fourths of her +inhabitants, that proud city was left forlorn and desolate. +In Padua, after the cessation of the plague, two-thirds of the +inhabitants were wanting; and in Florence it was prohibited to +publish the numbers of dead, and to toll the bells at their +funerals, in order that the living might not abandon themselves +to despair.</p> +<p>We have more exact accounts of England; most of the great +cities suffered incredible losses; above all, Yarmouth, in which +7,052 died; Bristol, Oxford, Norwich, Leicester, York, and +London, where in one burial ground alone, there were interred +upwards of 50,000 corpses, arranged in layers, in large +pits. It is said that in the whole country scarcely a tenth +part remained alive; but this estimate is evidently too +high. Smaller losses were sufficient to cause those +convulsions, whose consequences were felt for some centuries, in +a false impulse given to civil life, and whose indirect +influence, unknown to the English, has perhaps extended even to +modern times.</p> +<p>Morals were deteriorated everywhere, and the service of God +was in a great measure laid aside; for, in many places, the +churches were deserted, being bereft of their priests. The +instruction of the people was impeded; covetousness became +general; and when tranquillity was restored, the great increase +of lawyers was astonishing, to whom the endless disputes +regarding inheritances offered a rich harvest. The want of +priests too, throughout the country, operated very detrimentally +upon the people (the lower classes being most exposed to the +ravages of the plague, whilst the houses of the nobility were, in +proportion, much more spared), and it was no compensation that +whole bands of ignorant laymen, who had lost their wives during +the pestilence, crowded into the monastic orders, that they might +participate in the respectability of the priesthood, and in the +rich heritages which fell in to the Church from all +quarters. The sittings of Parliament, of the King’s +Bench, and of most of the other courts, were suspended as long as +the malady raged. The laws of peace availed not during the +dominion of death. Pope Clement took advantage of this +state of disorder to adjust the bloody quarrel between Edward III +and Philip VI; yet he only succeeded during the period that the +plague commanded peace. Philip’s death (1350) +annulled all treaties; and it is related that Edward, with other +troops indeed, but with the same leaders and knights, again took +the field. Ireland was much less heavily visited that +England. The disease seems to have scarcely reached the +mountainous districts of that kingdom; and Scotland too would +perhaps have remained free, had not the Scots availed themselves +of the discomfiture of the English to make an irruption into +their territory, which terminated in the destruction of their +army, by the plague and by the sword, and the extension of the +pestilence, through those who escaped, over the whole +country.</p> +<p>At the commencement, there was in England a superabundance of +all the necessaries of life; but the plague, which seemed then to +be the sole disease, was soon accompanied by a fatal murrain +among the cattle. Wandering about without herdsmen, they +fell by thousands; and, as has likewise been observed in Africa, +the birds and beasts of prey are said not to have touched +them. Of what nature this murrain may have been, can no +more be determined, than whether it originated from communication +with plague patients, or from other causes; but thus much is +certain, that it did not break out until after the commencement +of the Black Death. In consequence of this murrain, and the +impossibility of removing the corn from the fields, there was +everywhere a great rise in the price of food, which to many was +inexplicable, because the harvest had been plentiful; by others +it was attributed to the wicked designs of the labourers and +dealers; but it really had its foundation in the actual +deficiency arising from circumstances by which individual classes +at all times endeavour to profit. For a whole year, until +it terminated in August, 1349, the Black Plague prevailed in this +beautiful island, and everywhere poisoned the springs of comfort +and prosperity.</p> +<p>In other countries, it generally lasted only half a year, but +returned frequently in individual places; on which account, some, +without sufficient proof, assigned to it a period of seven +years.</p> +<p>Spain was uninterruptedly ravaged by the Black Plague till +after the year 1350, to which the frequent internal feuds and the +wars with the Moors not a little contributed. Alphonso XI., +whose passion for war carried him too far, died of it at the +siege of Gibraltar, on the 26th of March, 1350. He was the +only king in Europe who fell a sacrifice to it; but even before +this period, innumerable families had been thrown into +affliction. The mortality seems otherwise to have been +smaller in Spain than in Italy, and about as considerable as in +France.</p> +<p>The whole period during which the Black Plague raged with +destructive violence in Europe was, with the exception of Russia, +from the year 1347 to 1350. The plagues which in the sequel +often returned until the year 1383, we do not consider as +belonging to “the Great Mortality.” They were +rather common pestilences, without inflammation of the lungs, +such as in former times, and in the following centuries, were +excited by the matter of contagion everywhere existing, and +which, on every favourable occasion, gained ground anew, as is +usually the case with this frightful disease.</p> +<p>The concourse of large bodies of people was especially +dangerous; and thus the premature celebration of the Jubilee to +which Clement VI. cited the faithful to Rome (1350) during the +great epidemic, caused a new eruption of the plague, from which +it is said that scarcely one in a hundred of the pilgrims +escaped.</p> +<p>Italy was, in consequence, depopulated anew; and those who +returned, spread poison and corruption of morals in all +directions. It is therefore the less apparent how that +Pope, who was in general so wise and considerate, and who knew +how to pursue the path of reason and humanity under the most +difficult circumstances, should have been led to adopt a measure +so injurious; since he himself was so convinced of the salutary +effect of seclusion, that during the plague in Avignon he kept up +constant fires, and suffered no one to approach him; and in other +respects gave such orders as averted, or alleviated, much +misery.</p> +<p>The changes which occurred about this period in the north of +Europe are sufficiently memorable to claim a few moments’ +attention. In Sweden two princes died—Haken and Knut, +half-brothers of King Magnus; and in Westgothland alone, 466 +priests. The inhabitants of Iceland and Greenland found in +the coldness of their inhospitable climate no protection against +the southern enemy who had penetrated to them from happier +countries. The plague caused great havoc among them. +Nature made no allowance for their constant warfare with the +elements, and the parsimony with which she had meted out to them +the enjoyments of life. In Denmark and Norway, however, +people were so occupied with their own misery, that the +accustomed voyages to Greenland ceased. Towering icebergs +formed at the same time on the coast of East Greenland, in +consequence of the general concussion of the earth’s +organism; and no mortal, from that time forward, has ever seen +that shore or its inhabitants.</p> +<p>It has been observed above, that in Russia the Black Plague +did not break out until 1351, after it had already passed through +the south and north of Europe. In this country also, the +mortality was extraordinarily great; and the same scenes of +affliction and despair were exhibited, as had occurred in those +nations which had already passed the ordeal: the same mode of +burial—the same horrible certainty of death—the same +torpor and depression of spirits. The wealthy abandoned +their treasures, and gave their villages and estates to the +churches and monasteries; this being, according to the notions of +the age, the surest way of securing the favour of Heaven and the +forgiveness of past sins. In Russia, too, the voice of +nature was silenced by fear and horror. In the hour of +danger, fathers and mothers deserted their children, and children +their parents.</p> +<p>Of all the estimates of the number of lives lost in Europe, +the most probable is, that altogether a fourth part of the +inhabitants were carried off. Now, if Europe at present +contain 210,000,000 inhabitants, the population, not to take a +higher estimate, which might easily by justified, amounted to at +least 105,000,000 in the sixteenth century.</p> +<p>It may therefore be assumed, without exaggeration, that Europe +lost during the Black Death 25,000,000 of inhabitants.</p> +<p>That her nations could so quickly overcome such a fearful +concussion in their external circumstances, and, in general, +without retrograding more than they actually did, could so +develop their energies in the following century, is a most +convincing proof of the indestructibility of human society as a +whole. To assume, however, that it did not suffer any +essential change internally, because in appearance everything +remained as before, is inconsistent with a just view of cause and +effect. Many historians seem to have adopted such an +opinion; accustomed, as usual, to judge of the moral condition of +the people solely according to the vicissitudes of earthly power, +the events of battles, and the influence of religion, but to pass +over with indifference the great phenomena of nature, which +modify, not only the surface of the earth, but also the human +mind. Hence, most of them have touched but superficially on +the “Great Mortality” of the fourteenth +century. We, for our parts, are convinced that in the +history of the world the Black Death is one of the most important +events which have prepared the way for the present state of +Europe.</p> +<p>He who studies the human mind with attention, and forms a +deliberate judgment on the intellectual powers which set people +and States in motion, may perhaps find some proofs of this +assertion in the following observations:—at that time, the +advancement of the hierarchy was, in most countries, +extraordinary; for the Church acquired treasures and large +properties in land, even to a greater extent than after the +Crusades; but experience has demonstrated that such a state of +things is ruinous to the people, and causes them to retrograde, +as was evinced on this occasion.</p> +<p>After the cessation of the Black Plague, a greater fecundity +in women was everywhere remarkable—a grand phenomenon, +which, from its occurrence after every destructive pestilence, +proves to conviction, if any occurrence can do so, the prevalence +of a higher power in the direction of general organic life. +Marriages were, almost without exception, prolific; and double +and triple births were more frequent than at other times; under +which head, we should remember the strange remark, that after the +“Great Mortality” the children were said to have got +fewer teeth than before; at which contemporaries were mightily +shocked, and even later writers have felt surprise.</p> +<p>If we examine the grounds of this oft-repeated assertion, we +shall find that they were astonished to see children, cut twenty, +or at most, twenty-two teeth, under the supposition that a +greater number had formerly fallen to their share. Some +writers of authority, as, for example, the physician Savonarola, +at Ferrara, who probably looked for twenty-eight teeth in +children, published their opinions on this subject. Others +copied from them, without seeing for themselves, as often happens +in other matters which are equally evident; and thus the world +believed in the miracle of an imperfection in the human body +which had been caused by the Black Plague.</p> +<p>The people gradually consoled themselves after the sufferings +which they had undergone; the dead were lamented and forgotten; +and, in the stirring vicissitudes of existence, the world +belonged to the living.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER V—MORAL EFFECTS</h3> +<p>The mental shock sustained by all nations during the +prevalence of the Black Plague is without parallel and beyond +description. In the eyes of the timorous, danger was the +certain harbinger of death; many fell victims to fear on the +first appearance of the distemper, and the most stout-hearted +lost their confidence. Thus, after reliance on the future +had died away, the spiritual union which binds man to his family +and his fellow-creatures was gradually dissolved. The pious +closed their accounts with the world—eternity presented +itself to their view—their only remaining desire was for a +participation in the consolations of religion, because to them +death was disarmed of its sting.</p> +<p>Repentance seized the transgressor, admonishing him to +consecrate his remaining hours to the exercise of Christian +virtues. All minds were directed to the contemplation of +futurity; and children, who manifest the more elevated feelings +of the soul without alloy, were frequently seen, while labouring +under the plague, breathing out their spirit with prayer and +songs of thanksgiving.</p> +<p>An awful sense of contrition seized Christians of every +communion; they resolved to forsake their vices, to make +restitution for past offences, before they were summoned hence, +to seek reconciliation with their Maker, and to avert, by +self-chastisement, the punishment due to their former sins. +Human nature would be exalted, could the countless noble actions +which, in times of most imminent danger, were performed in +secret, be recorded for the instruction of future +generations. They, however, have no influence on the course +of worldly events. They are known only to silent +eyewitnesses, and soon fall into oblivion. But hypocrisy, +illusion, and bigotry stalk abroad undaunted; they desecrate what +is noble, they pervert what is divine, to the unholy purposes of +selfishness, which hurries along every good feeling in the false +excitement of the age. Thus it was in the years of this +plague. In the fourteenth century, the monastic system was +still in its full vigour, the power of the ecclesiastical orders +and brotherhoods was revered by the people, and the hierarchy was +still formidable to the temporal power. It was therefore in +the natural constitution of society that bigoted zeal, which in +such times makes a show of public acts of penance, should avail +itself of the semblance of religion. But this took place in +such a manner, that unbridled, self-willed penitence, degenerated +into lukewarmness, renounced obedience to the hierarchy, and +prepared a fearful opposition to the Church, paralysed as it was +by antiquated forms.</p> +<p>While all countries were filled with lamentations and woe, +there first arose in Hungary, and afterwards in Germany, the +Brotherhood of the Flagellants, called also the Brethren of the +Cross, or Cross-bearers, who took upon themselves the repentance +of the people for the sins they had committed, and offered +prayers and supplications for the averting of this plague. +This Order consisted chiefly of persons of the lower class, who +were either actuated by sincere contrition, or who joyfully +availed themselves of this pretext for idleness, and were hurried +along with the tide of distracting frenzy. But as these +brotherhoods gained in repute, and were welcomed by the people +with veneration and enthusiasm, many nobles and ecclesiastics +ranged themselves under their standard; and their bands were not +unfrequently augmented by children, honourable women, and nuns; +so powerfully were minds of the most opposite temperaments +enslaved by this infatuation. They marched through the +cities, in well-organised processions, with leaders and singers; +their heads covered as far as the eyes; their look fixed on the +ground, accompanied by every token of the deepest contrition and +mourning. They were robed in sombre garments, with red +crosses on the breast, back, and cap, and bore triple scourges, +tied in three or four knots, in which points of iron were +fixed. Tapers and magnificent banners of velvet and cloth +of gold were carried before them; wherever they made their +appearance, they were welcomed by the ringing bells, and the +people flocked from all quarters to listen to their hymns and to +witness their penance with devotion and tears.</p> +<p>In the year 1349, two hundred Flagellants first entered +Strasburg, where they were received with great joy, and +hospitably lodged by citizens. Above a thousand joined the +brotherhood, which now assumed the appearance of a wandering +tribe, and separated into two bodies, for the purpose of +journeying to the north and to the south. For more than +half a year, new parties arrived weekly; and on each arrival +adults and children left their families to accompany them; till +at length their sanctity was questioned, and the doors of houses +and churches were closed against them. At Spires, two +hundred boys, of twelve years of age and under, constituted +themselves into a Brotherhood of the Cross, in imitation of the +children who, about a hundred years before, had united, at the +instigation of some fanatic monks, for the purpose of recovering +the Holy Sepulchre. All the inhabitants of this town were +carried away by the illusion; they conducted the strangers to +their houses with songs of thanksgiving, to regale them for the +night. The women embroidered banners for them, and all were +anxious to augment their pomp; and at every succeeding pilgrimage +their influence and reputation increased.</p> +<p>It was not merely some individual parts of the country that +fostered them: all Germany, Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, Silesia, +and Flanders, did homage to the mania; and they at length became +as formidable to the secular as they were to the ecclesiastical +power. The influence of this fanaticism was great and +threatening, resembling the excitement which called all the +inhabitants of Europe into the deserts of Syria and Palestine +about two hundred and fifty years before. The appearance in +itself was not novel. As far back as the eleventh century, +many believers in Asia and Southern Europe afflicted themselves +with the punishment of flagellation. Dominicus Loricatus, a +monk of St. Croce d’Avellano, is mentioned as the master +and model of this species of mortification of the flesh; which, +according to the primitive notions of the Asiatic Anchorites, was +deemed eminently Christian. The author of the solemn +processions of the Flagellants is said to have been St. Anthony; +for even in his time (1231) this kind of penance was so much in +vogue, that it is recorded as an eventful circumstance in the +history of the world. In 1260, the Flagellants appeared in +Italy as <i>Devoti</i>. “When the land was polluted +by vices and crimes, an unexampled spirit of remorse suddenly +seized the minds of the Italians. The fear of Christ fell +upon all: noble and ignoble, old and young, and even children of +five years of age, marched through the streets with no covering +but a scarf round the waist. They each carried a scourge of +leathern thongs, which they applied to their limbs, amid sighs +and tears, with such violence that the blood flowed from the +wounds. Not only during the day, but even by night, and in +the severest winter, they traversed the cities with burning +torches and banners, in thousands and tens of thousands, headed +by their priests, and prostrated themselves before the +altars. They proceeded in the same manner in the villages: +and the woods and mountains resounded with the voices of those +whose cries were raised to God. The melancholy chaunt of +the penitent alone was heard. Enemies were reconciled; men +and women vied with each other in splendid works of charity, as +if they dreaded that Divine Omnipotence would pronounce on them +the doom of annihilation.”</p> +<p>The pilgrimages of the Flagellants extended throughout all the +province of Southern Germany, as far as Saxony, Bohemia, and +Poland, and even further; but at length the priests resisted this +dangerous fanaticism, without being able to extirpate the +illusion, which was advantageous to the hierarchy as long as it +submitted to its sway. Regnier, a hermit of Perugia, is +recorded as a fanatic preacher of penitence, with whom the +extravagance originated. In the year 1296 there was a great +procession of the Flagellants in Strasburg; and in 1334, fourteen +years before the Great Mortality, the sermon of Venturinus, a +Dominican friar of Bergamo, induced above 10,000 persons to +undertake a new pilgrimage. They scourged themselves in the +churches, and were entertained in the market-places at the public +expense. At Rome, Venturinus was derided, and banished by +the Pope to the mountains of Ricondona. He patiently +endured all—went to the Holy Land, and died at Smyrna, +1346. Hence we see that this fanaticism was a mania of the +middle ages, which, in the year 1349, on so fearful an occasion, +and while still so fresh in remembrance, needed no new founder; +of whom, indeed, all the records are silent. It probably +arose in many places at the same time; for the terror of death, +which pervaded all nations and suddenly set such powerful +impulses in motion, might easily conjure up the fanaticism of +exaggerated and overpowering repentance.</p> +<p>The manner and proceedings of the Flagellants of the +thirteenth and fourteenth centuries exactly resemble each +other. But, if during the Black Plague, simple credulity +came to their aid, which seized, as a consolation, the grossest +delusion of religious enthusiasm, yet it is evident that the +leaders must have been intimately united, and have exercised the +power of a secret association. Besides, the rude band was +generally under the control of men of learning, some of whom at +least certainly had other objects in view independent of those +which ostensibly appeared. Whoever was desirous of joining +the brotherhood, was bound to remain in it thirty-four days, and +to have fourpence per day at his own disposal, so that he might +not be burthensome to any one; if married, he was obliged to have +the sanction of his wife, and give the assurance that he was +reconciled to all men. The Brothers of the Cross were not +permitted to seek for free quarters, or even to enter a house +without having been invited; they were forbidden to converse with +females; and if they transgressed these rules, or acted without +discretion, they were obliged to confess to the Superior, who +sentenced them to several lashes of the scourge, by way of +penance. Ecclesiastics had not, as such, any pre-eminence +among them; according to their original law, which, however, was +often transgressed, they could not become Masters, or take part +in the Secret Councils. Penance was performed twice every +day: in the morning and evening they went abroad in pairs, +singing psalms amid the ringing of the bells; and when they +arrived at the place of flagellation, they stripped the upper +part of their bodies and put off their shoes, keeping on only a +linen dress, reaching from the waist to the ankles. They +then lay down in a large circle, in different positions, +according to the nature of the crime: the adulterer with his face +to the ground; the perjurer on one side, holding up three of his +fingers, &c., and were then castigated, some more and some +less, by the Master, who ordered them to rise in the words of a +prescribed form. Upon this they scourged themselves, amid +the singing of psalms and loud supplications for the averting of +the plague, with genuflexions and other ceremonies, of which +contemporary writers give various accounts; and at the same time +constantly boasted of their penance, that the blood of their +wounds was mingled with that of the Saviour. One of them, +in conclusion, stoop up to read a letter, which it was pretended +an angel had brought from heaven to St. Peter’s Church, at +Jerusalem, stating that Christ, who was sore displeased at the +sins of man, had granted, at the intercession of the Holy Virgin +and of the angels, that all who should wander about for +thirty-four days and scourge themselves, should be partakers of +the Divine grace. This scene caused as great a commotion +among the believers as the finding of the holy spear once did at +Antioch; and if any among the clergy inquired who had sealed the +letter, he was boldly answered, the same who had sealed the +Gospel!</p> +<p>All this had so powerful an effect, that the Church was in +considerable danger; for the Flagellants gained more credit than +the priests, from whom they so entirely withdrew themselves, that +they even absolved each other. Besides, they everywhere +took possession of the churches, and their new songs, which went +from mouth to mouth, operated strongly on the minds of the +people. Great enthusiasm and originally pious feelings are +clearly distinguishable in these hymns, and especially in the +chief psalm of the Cross-bearers, which is still extant, and +which was sung all over Germany in different dialects, and is +probably of a more ancient date. Degeneracy, however, soon +crept in; crimes were everywhere committed; and there was no +energetic man capable of directing the individual excitement to +purer objects, even had an effectual resistance to the tottering +Church been at that early period seasonable, and had it been +possible to restrain the fanaticism. The Flagellants +sometimes undertook to make trial of their power of working +miracles; as in Strasburg, where they attempted, in their own +circle, to resuscitate a dead child: they, however, failed, and +their unskilfulness did them much harm, though they succeeded +here and there in maintaining some confidence in their holy +calling, by pretending to have the power of casting out evil +spirits.</p> +<p>The Brotherhood of the Cross announced that the pilgrimage of +the Flagellants was to continue for a space of thirty-four years; +and many of the Masters had doubtless determined to form a +lasting league against the Church; but they had gone too +far. So early as the first year of their establishment, the +general indignation set bounds to their intrigues: so that the +strict measures adopted by the Emperor Charles IV., and Pope +Clement, who, throughout the whole of this fearful period, +manifested prudence and noble-mindedness, and conducted himself +in a manner every way worthy of his high station, were easily put +into execution.</p> +<p>The Sorbonne, at Paris, and the Emperor Charles, had already +applied to the Holy See for assistance against these formidable +and heretical excesses, which had well-nigh destroyed the +influence of the clergy in every place; when a hundred of the +Brotherhood of the Cross arrived at Avignon from Basle, and +desired admission. The Pope, regardless of the intercession +of several cardinals, interdicted their public penance, which he +had not authorised; and, on pain of excommunication, prohibited +throughout Christendom the continuance of these +pilgrimages. Philip VI., supported by the condemnatory +judgment of the Sorbonne, forbade their reception in +France. Manfred, King of Sicily, at the same time +threatened them with punishment by death; and in the East they +were withstood by several bishops, among whom was Janussius, of +Gnesen, and Preczlaw, of Breslau, who condemned to death one of +their Masters, formerly a deacon; and, in conformity with the +barbarity of the times, had him publicly burnt. In +Westphalia, where so shortly before they had venerated the +Brothers of the Cross, they now persecuted them with relentless +severity; and in the Mark, as well as in all the other countries +of Germany, they pursued them as if they had been the authors of +every misfortune.</p> +<p>The processions of the Brotherhood of the Cross undoubtedly +promoted the spreading of the plague; and it is evident that the +gloomy fanaticism which gave rise to them would infuse a new +poison into the already desponding minds of the people.</p> +<p>Still, however, all this was within the bounds of barbarous +enthusiasm; but horrible were the persecutions of the Jews, which +were committed in most countries, with even greater exasperation +than in the twelfth century, during the first Crusades. In +every destructive pestilence the common people at first attribute +the mortality to poison. No instruction avails; the +supposed testimony of their eyesight is to them a proof, and they +authoritatively demand the victims of their rage. On whom, +then, was it so likely to fall as on the Jews, the usurers and +the strangers who lived at enmity with the Christians? They +were everywhere suspected of having poisoned the wells or +infected the air. They alone were considered as having +brought this fearful mortality upon the Christians. They +were, in consequence, pursued with merciless cruelty; and either +indiscriminately given up to the fury of the populace, or +sentenced by sanguinary tribunals, which, with all the forms of +the law, ordered them to be burnt alive. In times like +these, much is indeed said of guilt and innocence; but hatred and +revenge bear down all discrimination, and the smallest +probability magnifies suspicion into certainty. These +bloody scenes, which disgraced Europe in the fourteenth century, +are a counterpart to a similar mania of the age, which was +manifested in the persecutions of witches and sorcerers; and, +like these, they prove that enthusiasm, associated with hatred, +and leagued with the baser passions, may work more powerfully +upon whole nations than religion and legal order; nay, that it +even knows how to profit by the authority of both, in order the +more surely to satiate with blood the sword of long-suppressed +revenge.</p> +<p>The persecution of the Jews commenced in September and +October, 1348, at Chillon, on the Lake of Geneva, where the first +criminal proceedings were instituted against them, after they had +long before been accused by the people of poisoning the wells; +similar scenes followed in Bern and Freyburg, in January, +1349. Under the influence of excruciating suffering, the +tortured Jews confessed themselves guilty of the crime imputed to +them; and it being affirmed that poison had in fact been found in +a well at Zoffingen, this was deemed a sufficient proof to +convince the world; and the persecution of the abhorred culprits +thus appeared justifiable. Now, though we can take as +little exception at these proceedings as at the multifarious +confessions of witches, because the interrogatories of the +fanatical and sanguinary tribunals were so complicated, that by +means of the rack the required answer must inevitably be +obtained; and it is, besides, conformable to human nature that +crimes which are in everybody’s mouth may, in the end, be +actually committed by some, either from wantonness, revenge, or +desperate exasperation: yet crimes and accusations are, under +circumstances like these, merely the offspring of a revengeful, +frenzied spirit in the people; and the accusers, according to the +fundamental principles of morality, which are the same in every +age, are the more guilty transgressors.</p> +<p>Already in the autumn of 1348 a dreadful panic, caused by this +supposed empoisonment, seized all nations; in Germany especially +the springs and wells were built over, that nobody might drink of +them or employ their contents for culinary purposes; and for a +long time the inhabitants of numerous towns and villages used +only river and rain water. The city gates were also guarded +with the greatest caution: only confidential persons were +admitted; and if medicine or any other article, which might be +supposed to be poisonous, was found in the possession of a +stranger—and it was natural that some should have these +things by them for their private use—they were forced to +swallow a portion of it. By this trying state of privation, +distrust, and suspicion, the hatred against the supposed +poisoners became greatly increased, and often broke out in +popular commotions, which only served still further to infuriate +the wildest passions. The noble and the mean fearlessly +bound themselves by an oath to extirpate the Jews by fire and +sword, and to snatch them from their protectors, of whom the +number was so small, that throughout all Germany but few places +can be mentioned where these unfortunate people were not regarded +as outlaws and martyred and burnt. Solemn summonses were +issued from Bern to the towns of Basle, Freyburg in the Breisgau, +and Strasburg, to pursue the Jews as poisoners. The +burgomasters and senators, indeed, opposed this requisition; but +in Basle the populace obliged them to bind themselves by an oath +to burn the Jews, and to forbid persons of that community from +entering their city for the space of two hundred years. +Upon this all the Jews in Basle, whose number could not have been +inconsiderable, were enclosed in a wooden building, constructed +for the purpose, and burnt together with it, upon the mere outcry +of the people, without sentence or trial, which, indeed, would +have availed them nothing. Soon after the same thing took +place at Freyburg. A regular Diet was held at Bennefeld, in +Alsace, where the bishops, lords, and barons, as also deputies of +the counties and towns, consulted how they should proceed with +regard to the Jews; and when the deputies of Strasburg—not +indeed the bishop of this town, who proved himself a violent +fanatic—spoke in favour of the persecuted, as nothing +criminal was substantiated against them, a great outcry was +raised, and it was vehemently asked, why, if so, they had covered +their wells and removed their buckets. A sanguinary decree +was resolved upon, of which the populace, who obeyed the call of +the nobles and superior clergy, became but the too willing +executioners. Wherever the Jews were not burnt, they were +at least banished; and so being compelled to wander about, they +fell into the hands of the country people, who, without humanity, +and regardless of all laws, persecuted them with fire and +sword. At Spires, the Jews, driven to despair, assembled in +their own habitations, which they set on fire, and thus consumed +themselves with their families. The few that remained were +forced to submit to baptism; while the dead bodies of the +murdered, which lay about the streets, were put into empty +wine-casks and rolled into the Rhine, lest they should infect the +air. The mob was forbidden to enter the ruins of the +habitations that were burnt in the Jewish quarter; for the senate +itself caused search to be made for the treasure, which is said +to have been very considerable. At Strasburg two thousand +Jews were burnt alive in their own burial-ground, where a large +scaffold had been erected: a few who promised to embrace +Christianity were spared, and their children taken from the +pile. The youth and beauty of several females also excited +some commiseration, and they were snatched from death against +their will; many, however, who forcibly made their escape from +the flames were murdered in the streets.</p> +<p>The senate ordered all pledges and bonds to be returned to the +debtors, and divided the money among the work-people. Many, +however, refused to accept the base price of blood, and, +indignant at the scenes of bloodthirsty avarice, which made the +infuriated multitude forget that the plague was raging around +them, presented it to monasteries, in conformity with the advice +of their confessors. In all the countries on the Rhine, +these cruelties continued to be perpetrated during the succeeding +months; and after quiet was in some degree restored, the people +thought to render an acceptable service to God, by taking the +bricks of the destroyed dwellings, and the tombstones of the +Jews, to repair churches and to erect belfries.</p> +<p>In Mayence alone, 12,000 Jews are said to have been put to a +cruel death. The Flagellants entered that place in August; +the Jews, on this occasion, fell out with the Christians and +killed several; but when they saw their inability to withstand +the increasing superiority of their enemies, and that nothing +could save them from destruction, they consumed themselves and +their families by setting fire to their dwellings. Thus +also, in other places, the entry of the Flagellants gave rise to +scenes of slaughter; and as thirst for blood was everywhere +combined with an unbridled spirit of proselytism, a fanatic zeal +arose among the Jews to perish as martyrs to their ancient +religion. And how was it possible that they could from the +heart embrace Christianity, when its precepts were never more +outrageously violated? At Eslingen the whole Jewish +community burned themselves in their synagogue, and mothers were +often seen throwing their children on the pile, to prevent their +being baptised, and then precipitating themselves into the +flames. In short, whatever deeds fanaticism, revenge, +avarice and desperation, in fearful combination, could instigate +mankind to perform,—and where in such a case is the +limit?—were executed in the year 1349 throughout Germany, +Italy, and France, with impunity, and in the eyes of all the +world. It seemed as if the plague gave rise to scandalous +acts and frantic tumults, not to mourning and grief; and the +greater part of those who, by their education and rank, were +called upon to raise the voice of reason, themselves led on the +savage mob to murder and to plunder. Almost all the Jews +who saved their lives by baptism were afterwards burnt at +different times; for they continued to be accused of poisoning +the water and the air. Christians also, whom philanthropy +or gain had induced to offer them protection, were put on the +rack and executed with them. Many Jews who had embraced +Christianity repented of their apostacy, and, returning to their +former faith, sealed it with their death.</p> +<p>The humanity and prudence of Clement VI. must, on this +occasion, also be mentioned to his honour; but even the highest +ecclesiastical power was insufficient to restrain the unbridled +fury of the people. He not only protected the Jews at +Avignon, as far as lay in his power, but also issued two bulls, +in which he declared them innocent; and admonished all +Christians, though without success, to cease from such groundless +persecutions. The Emperor Charles IV. was also favourable +to them, and sought to avert their destruction wherever he could; +but he dared not draw the sword of justice, and even found +himself obliged to yield to the selfishness of the Bohemian +nobles, who were unwilling to forego so favourable an opportunity +of releasing themselves from their Jewish creditors, under favour +of an imperial mandate. Duke Albert of Austria burnt and +pillaged those of his cities which had persecuted the +Jews—a vain and inhuman proceeding, which, moreover, is not +exempt from the suspicion of covetousness; yet he was unable, in +his own fortress of Kyberg, to protect some hundreds of Jews, who +had been received there, from being barbarously burnt by the +inhabitants. Several other princes and counts, among whom +was Ruprecht von der Pfalz, took the Jews under their protection, +on the payment of large sums: in consequence of which they were +called “Jew-masters,” and were in danger of being +attacked by the populace and by their powerful neighbours. +These persecuted and ill-used people, except indeed where humane +individuals took compassion on them at their own peril, or when +they could command riches to purchase protection, had no place of +refuge left but the distant country of Lithuania, where Boleslav +V., Duke of Poland (1227-1279) had before granted them liberty of +conscience; and King Casimir the Great (1333-1370), yielding to +the entreaties of Esther, a favourite Jewess, received them, and +granted them further protection; on which account, that country +is still inhabited by a great number of Jews, who by their +secluded habits have, more than any people in Europe, retained +the manners of the Middle Ages.</p> +<p>But to return to the fearful accusations against the Jews; it +was reported in all Europe that they were in connection with +secret superiors in Toledo, to whose decrees they were subject, +and from whom they had received commands respecting the coining +of base money, poisoning, the murder of Christian children, +&c; that they received the poison by sea from remote parts, +and also prepared it themselves from spiders, owls, and other +venomous animals; but, in order that their secret might not be +discovered, that it was known only to their Rabbis and rich +men. Apparently there were but few who did not consider +this extravagant accusation well founded; indeed, in many +writings of the fourteenth century, we find great acrimony with +regard to the suspected poison-mixers, which plainly demonstrates +the prejudice existing against them. Unhappily, after the +confessions of the first victims in Switzerland, the rack +extorted similar ones in various places. Some even +acknowledged having received poisonous powder in bags, and +injunctions from Toledo, by secret messengers. Bags of this +description were also often found in wells, though it was not +unfrequently discovered that the Christians themselves had thrown +them in; probably to give occasion to murder and pillage; similar +instances of which may be found in the persecutions of the +witches.</p> +<p>This picture needs no additions. A lively image of the +Black Plague, and of the moral evil which followed in its train, +will vividly represent itself to him who is acquainted with +nature and the constitution of society. Almost the only +credible accounts of the manner of living, and of the ruin which +occurred in private life during this pestilence, are from Italy; +and these may enable us to form a just estimate of the general +state of families in Europe, taking into consideration what is +peculiar in the manners of each country.</p> +<p>“When the evil had become universal” (speaking of +Florence), “the hearts of all the inhabitants were closed +to feelings of humanity. They fled from the sick and all +that belonged to them, hoping by these means to save +themselves. Others shut themselves up in their houses, with +their wives, their children and households, living on the most +costly food, but carefully avoiding all excess. None were +allowed access to them; no intelligence of death or sickness was +permitted to reach their ears; and they spent their time in +singing and music, and other pastimes. Others, on the +contrary, considered eating and drinking to excess, amusements of +all descriptions, the indulgence of every gratification, and an +indifference to what was passing around them, as the best +medicine, and acted accordingly. They wandered day and +night from one tavern to another, and feasted without moderation +or bounds. In this way they endeavoured to avoid all +contact with the sick, and abandoned their houses and property to +chance, like men whose death-knell had already tolled.</p> +<p>“Amid this general lamentation and woe, the influence +and authority of every law, human and divine, vanished. +Most of those who were in office had been carried off by the +plague, or lay sick, or had lost so many members of their family, +that they were unable to attend to their duties; so that +thenceforth every one acted as he thought proper. Others in +their mode of living chose a middle course. They ate and +drank what they pleased, and walked abroad, carrying odoriferous +flowers, herbs, or spices, which they smelt to from time to time, +in order to invigorate the brain, and to avert the baneful +influence of the air, infected by the sick and by the innumerable +corpses of those who had died of the plague. Others carried +their precaution still further, and thought the surest way to +escape death was by flight. They therefore left the city; +women as well as men abandoning their dwellings and their +relations, and retiring into the country. But of these also +many were carried off, most of them alone and deserted by all the +world, themselves having previously set the example. Thus +it was that one citizen fled from another—a neighbour from +his neighbours—a relation from his relations; and in the +end, so completely had terror extinguished every kindlier +feeling, that the brother forsook the brother—the sister +the sister—the wife her husband; and at last, even the +parent his own offspring, and abandoned them, unvisited and +unsoothed, to their fate. Those, therefore, that stood in +need of assistance fell a prey to greedy attendants, who, for an +exorbitant recompense, merely handed the sick their food and +medicine, remained with them in their last moments, and then not +unfrequently became themselves victims to their avarice and lived +not to enjoy their extorted gain. Propriety and decorum +were extinguished among the helpless sick. Females of rank +seemed to forget their natural bashfulness, and committed the +care of their persons, indiscriminately, to men and women of the +lowest order. No longer were women, relatives or friends, +found in the house of mourning, to share the grief of the +survivors—no longer was the corpse accompanied to the grave +by neighbours and a numerous train of priests, carrying wax +tapers and singing psalms, nor was it borne along by other +citizens of equal rank. Many breathed their last without a +friend to soothe their dying pillow; and few indeed were they who +departed amid the lamentations and tears of their friends and +kindred. Instead of sorrow and mourning, appeared +indifference, frivolity and mirth; this being considered, +especially by the females, as conducive to health. Seldom +was the body followed by even ten or twelve attendants; and +instead of the usual bearers and sextons, mercenaries of the +lowest of the populace undertook the office for the sake of gain; +and accompanied by only a few priests, and often without a single +taper, it was borne to the very nearest church, and lowered into +the grave that was not already too full to receive it. +Among the middling classes, and especially among the poor, the +misery was still greater. Poverty or negligence induced +most of these to remain in their dwellings, or in the immediate +neighbourhood; and thus they fell by thousands; and many ended +their lives in the streets by day and by night. The stench +of putrefying corpses was often the first indication to their +neighbours that more deaths had occurred. The survivors, to +preserve themselves from infection, generally had the bodies +taken out of the houses and laid before the doors; where the +early morning found them in heaps, exposed to the affrighted gaze +of the passing stranger. It was no longer possible to have +a bier for every corpse—three or four were generally laid +together—husband and wife, father and mother, with two or +three children, were frequently borne to the grave on the same +bier; and it often happened that two priests would accompany a +coffin, bearing the cross before it, and be joined on the way by +several other funerals; so that instead of one, there were five +or six bodies for interment.”</p> +<p>Thus far Boccacio. On the conduct of the priests, +another contemporary observes: “In large and small towns +they had withdrawn themselves through fear, leaving the +performance of ecclesiastical duties to the few who were found +courageous and faithful enough to undertake them.” +But we ought not on that account to throw more blame on them than +on others; for we find proofs of the same timidity and +heartlessness in every class. During the prevalence of the +Black Plague, the charitable orders conducted themselves +admirably, and did as much good as can be done by individual +bodies in times of great misery and destruction, when compassion, +courage, and the nobler feelings are found but in the few, while +cowardice, selfishness and ill-will, with the baser passions in +their train, assert the supremacy. In place of virtue which +had been driven from the earth, wickedness everywhere reared her +rebellious standard, and succeeding generations were consigned to +the dominion of her baleful tyranny.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER VI—PHYSICIANS</h3> +<p>If we now turn to the medical talent which encountered the +“Great Mortality,” the Middle Ages must stand +excused, since even the moderns are of opinion that the art of +medicine is not able to cope with the Oriental plague, and can +afford deliverance from it only under particularly favourable +circumstances. We must bear in mind, also, that human +science and art appear particularly weak in great pestilences, +because they have to contend with the powers of nature, of which +they have no knowledge; and which, if they had been, or could be, +comprehended in their collective effects, would remain +uncontrollable by them, principally on account of the disordered +condition of human society. Moreover, every new plague has +its peculiarities, which are the less easily discovered on first +view because, during its ravages, fear and consternation humble +the proud spirit.</p> +<p>The physicians of the fourteenth century, during the Black +Death, did what human intellect could do in the actual condition +of the healing art; and their knowledge of the disease was by no +means despicable. They, like the rest of mankind, have +indulged in prejudices, and defended them, perhaps, with too much +obstinacy: some of these, however, were founded on the mode of +thinking of the age, and passed current in those days as +established truths; others continue to exist to the present +hour.</p> +<p>Their successors in the nineteenth century ought not therefore +to vaunt too highly the pre-eminence of their knowledge, for they +too will be subjected to the severe judgment of +posterity—they too will, with reason, be accused of human +weakness and want of foresight.</p> +<p>The medical faculty of Paris, the most celebrated of the +fourteenth century, were commissioned to deliver their opinion on +the causes of the Black Plague, and to furnish some appropriate +regulations with regard to living during its prevalence. +This document is sufficiently remarkable to find a place +here.</p> +<p>“We, the Members of the College of Physicians of Paris, +have, after mature consideration and consultation on the present +mortality, collected the advice of our old masters in the art, +and intend to make known the causes of this pestilence more +clearly than could be done according to the rules and principles +of astrology and natural science; we, therefore, declare as +follows:—</p> +<p>“It is known that in India and the vicinity of the Great +Sea, the constellations which combated the rays of the sun, and +the warmth of the heavenly fire, exerted their power especially +against that sea, and struggled violently with its waters. +(Hence vapours often originate which envelop the sun, and convert +his light into darkness.) These vapours alternately rose +and fell for twenty-eight days; but, at last, sun and fire acted +so powerfully upon the sea that they attracted a great portion of +it to themselves, and the waters of the ocean arose in the form +of vapour; thereby the waters were in some parts so corrupted +that the fish which they contained died. These corrupted +waters, however, the heat of the sun could not consume, neither +could other wholesome water, hail or snow and dew, originate +therefrom. On the contrary, this vapour spread itself +through the air in many places on the earth, and enveloped them +in fog.</p> +<p>“Such was the case all over Arabia, in a part of India, +in Crete, in the plains and valleys of Macedonia, in Hungary, +Albania, and Sicily. Should the same thing occur in +Sardinia, not a man will be left alive, and the like will +continue so long as the sun remains in the sign of Leo, on all +the islands and adjoining countries to which this corrupted +sea-wind extends, or has already extended, from India. If +the inhabitants of those parts do not employ and adhere to the +following or similar means and precepts, we announce to them +inevitable death, except the grace of Christ preserve their +lives.</p> +<p>“We are of opinion that the constellations, with the aid +of nature, strive by virtue of their Divine might, to protect and +heal the human race; and to this end, in union with the rays of +the sun, acting through the power of fire, endeavour to break +through the mist. Accordingly, within the next ten days, +and until the 17th of the ensuing month of July, this mist will +be converted into a stinking deleterious rain, whereby the air +will be much purified. Now, as soon as this rain shall +announce itself by thunder or hail, every one of you should +protect himself from the air; and, as well before as after the +rain, kindle a large fire of vine-wood, green laurel, or other +green wood; wormwood and camomile should also be burnt in great +quantity in the market-places, in other densely inhabited +localities, and in the houses. Until the earth is again +completely dry, and for three days afterwards, no one ought to go +abroad in the fields. During this time the diet should be +simple, and people should be cautious in avoiding exposure in the +cool of the evening, at night, and in the morning. Poultry +and water-fowl, young pork, old beef, and fat meat in general, +should not be eaten; but, on the contrary, meat of a proper age, +of a warm and dry, but on no account of a heating and exciting +nature. Broth should be taken, seasoned with ground pepper, +ginger, and cloves, especially by those who are accustomed to +live temperately, and are yet choice in their diet. Sleep +in the day-time is detrimental; it should be taken at night until +sunrise, or somewhat longer. At breakfast one should drink +little; supper should be taken an hour before sunset, when more +may be drunk than in the morning. Clear light wine, mixed +with a fifth or six part of water, should be used as a +beverage. Dried or fresh fruits, with wine, are not +injurious, but highly so without it. Beet-root and other +vegetables, whether eaten pickled or fresh, are hurtful; on the +contrary, spicy pot-herbs, as sage or rosemary, are +wholesome. Cold, moist, watery food in is general +prejudicial. Going out at night, and even until three +o’clock in the morning, is dangerous, on account of +dew. Only small river fish should be used. Too much +exercise is hurtful. The body should be kept warmer than +usual, and thus protected from moisture and cold. +Rain-water must not be employed in cooking, and every one should +guard against exposure to wet weather. If it rain, a little +fine treacle should be taken after dinner. Fat people +should not sit in the sunshine. Good clear wine should be +selected and drunk often, but in small quantities, by day. +Olive oil as an article of food is fatal. Equally injurious +are fasting and excessive abstemiousness, anxiety of mind, anger, +and immoderate drinking. Young people, in autumn +especially, must abstain from all these things if they do not +wish to run a risk of dying of dysentery. In order to keep +the body properly open, an enema, or some other simple means, +should be employed when necessary. Bathing is +injurious. Men must preserve chastity as they value their +lives. Every one should impress this on his recollection, +but especially those who reside on the coast, or upon an island +into which the noxious wind has penetrated.”</p> +<p>On what occasion these strange precepts were delivered can no +longer be ascertained, even if it were an object to know +it. It must be acknowledged, however, that they do not +redound to the credit either of the faculty of Paris, or of the +fourteenth century in general. This famous faculty found +themselves under the painful necessity of being wise at command, +and of firing a point-blank shot of erudition at an enemy who +enveloped himself in a dark mist, of the nature of which they had +no conception. In concealing their ignorance by +authoritative assertions, they suffered themselves, therefore, to +be misled; and while endeavouring to appear to the world with +<i>éclat</i>, only betrayed to the intelligent their +lamentable weakness. Now some might suppose that, in the +condition of the sciences of the fourteenth century, no +intelligent physicians existed; but this is altogether at +variance with the laws of human advancement, and is contradicted +by history. The real knowledge of an age is shown only in +the archives of its literature. Here alone the genius of +truth speaks audibly—here alone men of talent deposit the +results of their experience and reflection without vanity or a +selfish object. There is no ground for believing that in +the fourteenth century men of this kind were publicly questioned +regarding their views; and it is, therefore, the more necessary +that impartial history should take up their cause, and do justice +to their merits.</p> +<p>The first notice on this subject is due to a very celebrated +teacher in Perugia, Gentilis of Foligno, who, on the 18th of +June, 1348, fell a sacrifice to the plague, in the faithful +discharge of his duty. Attached to Arabian doctrines, and +to the universally respected Galen, he, in common with all his +contemporaries, believed in a putrid corruption of the blood in +the lungs and in the heart, which was occasioned by the +pestilential atmosphere, and was forthwith communicated to the +whole body. He thought, therefore, that everything depended +upon a sufficient purification of the air, by means of large +blazing fires of odoriferous wood, in the vicinity of the healthy +as well as of the sick, and also upon an appropriate manner of +living, so that the putridity might not overpower the +diseased. In conformity with notions derived from the +ancients, he depended upon bleeding and purging, at the +commencement of the attack, for the purpose of purification; +ordered the healthy to wash themselves frequently with vinegar or +wine, to sprinkle their dwellings with vinegar, and to smell +often to camphor, or other volatile substances. Hereupon he +gave, after the Arabian fashion, detailed rules, with an +abundance of different medicines, of whose healing powers +wonderful things were believed. He had little stress upon +super-lunar influences, so far as respected the malady itself; on +which account, he did not enter into the great controversies of +the astrologers, but always kept in view, as an object of medical +attention, the corruption of the blood in the lungs and +heart. He believed in a progressive infection from country +to country, according to the notions of the present day; and the +contagious power of the disease, even in the vicinity of those +affected by plague, was, in his opinion, beyond all doubt. +On this point intelligent contemporaries were all agreed; and, in +truth, it required no great genius to be convinced of so palpable +a fact. Besides, correct notions of contagion have +descended from remote antiquity, and were maintained unchanged in +the fourteenth century. So far back as the age of Plato a +knowledge of the contagious power of malignant inflammations of +the eye, of which also no physician of the Middle Ages +entertained a doubt, was general among the people; yet in modern +times surgeons have filled volumes with partial controversies on +this subject. The whole language of antiquity has adapted +itself to the notions of the people respecting the contagion of +pestilential diseases; and their terms were, beyond comparison, +more expressive than those in use among the moderns.</p> +<p>Arrangements for the protection of the healthy against +contagious diseases, the necessity of which is shown from these +notions, were regarded by the ancients as useful; and by man, +whose circumstances permitted it, were carried into effect in +their houses. Even a total separation of the sick from the +healthy, that indispensable means of protection against infection +by contact, was proposed by physicians of the second century +after Christ, in order to check the spreading of leprosy. +But it was decidedly opposed, because, as it was alleged, the +healing art ought not to be guilty of such harshness. This +mildness of the ancients, in whose manner of thinking inhumanity +was so often and so undisguisedly conspicuous, might excite +surprise if it were anything more than apparent. The true +ground of the neglect of public protection against pestilential +diseases lay in the general notion and constitution of human +society—it lay in the disregard of human life, of which the +great nations of antiquity have given proofs in every page of +their history. Let it not be supposed that they wanted +knowledge respecting the propagation of contagious +diseases. On the contrary, they were as well informed on +this subject as the modern; but this was shown where individual +property, not where human life, on the grand scale was to be +protected. Hence the ancients made a general practice of +arresting the progress of murrains among cattle by a separation +of the diseased from the healthy. Their herds alone enjoyed +that protection which they held it impracticable to extend to +human society, because they had no wish to do so. That the +governments in the fourteenth century were not yet so far +advanced as to put into practice general regulations for checking +the plague needs no especial proof. Physicians could, +therefore, only advise public purifications of the air by means +of large fires, as had often been practised in ancient times; and +they were obliged to leave it to individual families either to +seek safety in flight, or to shut themselves up in their +dwellings, a method which answers in common plagues, but which +here afforded no complete security, because such was the fury of +the disease when it was at its height, that the atmosphere of +whole cities was penetrated by the infection.</p> +<p>Of the astral influence which was considered to have +originated the “Great Mortality,” physicians and +learned men were as completely convinced as of the fact of its +reality. A grand conjunction of the three superior planets, +Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, in the sign of Aquarius, which took +place, according to Guy de Chauliac, on the 24th of March, 1345, +was generally received as its principal cause. In fixing +the day, this physician, who was deeply versed in astrology, did +not agree with others; whereupon there arose various +disputations, of weight in that age, but of none in ours. +People, however, agree in this—that conjunctions of the +planets infallibly prognosticated great events; great revolutions +of kingdoms, new prophets, destructive plagues, and other +occurrences which bring distress and horror on mankind. No +medical author of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries omits an +opportunity of representing them as among the general prognostics +of great plagues; nor can we, for our part, regard the astrology +of the Middle Ages as a mere offspring of superstition. It +has not only, in common with all ideas which inspire and guide +mankind, a high historical importance, entirely independent of +its error or truth—for the influence of both is equally +powerful—but there are also contained in it, as in alchemy, +grand thoughts of antiquity, of which modern natural philosophy +is so little ashamed that she claims them as her property. +Foremost among these is the idea of general life which diffuses +itself throughout the whole universe, expressed by the greatest +Greek sages, and transmitted to the Middle Ages, through the new +Platonic natural philosophy. To this impression of an +universal organism, the assumption of a reciprocal influence of +terrestrial bodies could not be foreign, nor did this cease to +correspond with a higher view of nature, until astrologers +overstepped the limits of human knowledge with frivolous and +mystical calculations.</p> +<p>Guy de Chauliac considers the influence of the conjunction, +which was held to be all-potent, as the chief general cause of +the Black Plague; and the diseased state of bodies, the +corruption of the fluids, debility, obstruction, and so forth, as +the especial subordinate causes. By these, according to his +opinion, the quality of the air, and of the other elements, was +so altered that they set poisonous fluids in motion towards the +inward parts of the body, in the same manner as the magnet +attracts iron; whence there arose in the commencement fever and +the spitting of blood; afterwards, however, a deposition in the +form on glandular swellings and inflammatory boils. Herein +the notion of an epidemic constitution was set forth clearly, and +conformably to the spirit of the age. Of contagion, Guy de +Chauliac was completely convinced. He sought to protect +himself against it by the usual means; and it was probably he who +advised Pope Clement VI. to shut himself up while the plague +lasted. The preservation of this Pope’s life, +however, was most beneficial to the city of Avignon, for he +loaded the poor with judicious acts of kindness, took care to +have proper attendants provided, and paid physicians himself to +afford assistance wherever human aid could avail—an +advantage which, perhaps, no other city enjoyed. Nor was +the treatment of plague-patients in Avignon by any means +objectionable; for, after the usual depletions by bleeding and +aperients, where circumstances required them, they endeavoured to +bring the buboes to suppuration; they made incisions into the +inflammatory boils, or burned them with a red-hot iron, a +practice which at all times proves salutary, and in the Black +Plague saved many lives. In this city, the Jews, who lived +in a state of the greatest filth, were most severely visited, as +also the Spaniards, whom Chalin accuses of great +intemperance.</p> +<p>Still more distinct notions on the causes of the plague were +stated to his contemporaries in the fourteenth century by +Galeazzo di Santa Sofia, a learned man, a native of Padua, who +likewise treated plague-patients at Vienna, though in what year +is undetermined. He distinguishes carefully +<i>pestilence</i> from <i>epidemy</i> and <i>endemy</i>. +The common notion of the two first accords exactly with that of +an epidemic constitution, for both consist, according to him, in +an unknown change or corruption of the air; with this difference, +that pestilence calls forth diseases of different kinds; epidemy, +on the contrary, always the same disease. As an example of +an epidemy, he adduces a cough (influenza) which was observed in +all climates at the same time without perceptible cause; but he +recognised the approach of a pestilence, independently of unusual +natural phenomena, by the more frequent occurrence of various +kinds of fever, to which the modern physicians would assign a +nervous and putrid character. The endemy originates, +according to him, only in local telluric changes—in +deleterious influences which develop themselves in the earth and +in the water, without a corruption of the air. These +notions were variously jumbled together in his time, like +everything which human understanding separates by too fine a line +of limitation. The estimation of cosmical influences, +however, in the epidemy and pestilence, is well worthy of +commendation; and Santa Sofia, in this respect, not only agrees +with the most intelligent persons of the fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries, but he has also promulgated an opinion which must, +even now, serve as a foundation for our scarcely commenced +investigations into cosmical influences. Pestilence and +epidemy consist not in alterations of the four primary qualities, +but in a corruption of the air, powerful, though quite +immaterial, and not cognoscible by the senses—(corruptio +aëris non substantialis, sed qualitativa) in a disproportion +of the imponderables in the atmosphere, as it would be expressed +by the moderns. The causes of the pestilence and epidemy +are, first of all, astral influences, especially on occasions of +planetary conjunctions; then extensive putrefaction of animal and +vegetable bodies, and terrestrial corruptions (corruptio in +terra): to which also bad diet and want may contribute. +Santa Sofia considers the putrefaction of locusts, that had +perished in the sea and were again thrown up, combined with +astral and terrestrial influences, as the cause of the pestilence +in the eventful year of the “Great Mortality.”</p> +<p>All the fevers which were called forth by the pestilence are, +according to him, of the putrid kind; for they originate +principally from putridity of the heart’s blood, which +inevitably follows the inhalation of infected air. The +Oriental Plague is, sometimes, but by no means always occasioned +by <i>pestilence</i> (?), which imparts to it a character +(<i>qualitas occulta</i>) hostile to human nature. It +originates frequently from other causes, among which this +physician was aware that contagion was to be reckoned; and it +deserves to be remarked that he held epidemic small-pox and +measles to be infallible forerunners of the plague, as do the +physicians and people of the East at the present day.</p> +<p>In the exposition of his therapeutical views of the plague, a +clearness of intellect is again shown by Santa Sofia, which +reflects credit on the age. It seemed to him to depend, +1st, on an evacuation of putrid matters by purgatives and +bleeding; yet he did not sanction the employment of these means +indiscriminately and without consideration; least of all where +the condition of the blood was healthy. He also declared +himself decidedly against bleeding <i>ad deliquium</i> +(<i>venæ sectio eradicativa</i>). 2nd, Strengthening +of the heart and prevention of putrescence. 3rd, +Appropriate regimen. 4th, Improvement of the air. +5th, Appropriate treatment of tumid glands and inflammatory +boils, with emollient, or even stimulating poultices (mustard, +lily-bulbs), as well as with red-hot gold and iron. Lastly, +6th, Attention to prominent symptoms. The stores of the +Arabian pharmacy, which he brought into action to meet all these +indications, were indeed very considerable; it is to be observed, +however, that, for the most part, gentle means were accumulated, +which, in case of abuse, would do no harm: for the character of +the Arabian system of medicine, whose principles were everywhere +followed at this time, was mildness and caution. On this +account, too, we cannot believe that a very prolix treatise by +Marsigli di Santa Sofia, a contemporary relative of Galeazzo, on +the prevention and treatment of plague, can have caused much +harm, although perhaps, even in the fourteenth century, an +agreeable latitude and confident assertions respecting things +which no mortal has investigated, or which it is quite a matter +of indifference to distinguish, were considered as proofs of a +valuable practical talent.</p> +<p>The agreement of contemporary and later writers shows that the +published views of the most celebrated physicians of the +fourteenth century were those generally adopted. Among +these, Chalin de Vinario is the most experienced. Though +devoted to astrology still more than his distinguished +contemporary, he acknowledges the great power of terrestrial +influences, and expresses himself very sensibly on the +indisputable doctrine of contagion, endeavouring thereby to +apologise for many surgeons and physicians of his time who +neglected their duty. He asserted boldly and with truth, +“<i>that all epidemic diseases might become contagious</i>, +<i>and all fevers epidemic</i>,” which attentive observers +of all subsequent ages have confirmed.</p> +<p>He delivered his sentiments on blood-letting with sagacity, as +an experienced physician; yet he was unable, as may be imagined, +to moderate the desire for bleeding shown by the ignorant +monks. He was averse to draw blood from the veins of +patients under fourteen years of age; but counteracted +inflammatory excitement in them by cupping, and endeavoured to +moderate the inflammation of the tumid glands by leeches. +Most of those who were bled, died; he therefore reserved this +remedy for the plethoric; especially for the papal courtiers and +the hypocritical priests, whom he saw gratifying their sensual +desires, and imitating Epicurus, whilst they pompously pretended +to follow Christ. He recommended burning the boils with a +red-hot iron only in the plague without fever, which occurred in +single cases; and was always ready to correct those over-hasty +surgeons who, with fire and violent remedies, did irremediable +injury to their patients. Michael Savonarola, professor in +Ferrara (1462), reasoning on the susceptibility of the human +frame to the influence of pestilential infection, as the cause of +such various modifications of disease, expresses himself as a +modern physician would on this point; and an adoption of the +principle of contagion was the foundation of his definition of +the plague. No less worthy of observation are the views of +the celebrated Valescus of Taranta, who, during the final +visitation of the Black Death, in 1382, practised as a physician +at Montpellier, and handed down to posterity what has been +repeated in innumerable treatises on plague, which were written +during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.</p> +<p>Of all these notions and views regarding the plague, whose +development we have represented, there are two especially, which +are prominent in historical importance:—1st, The opinion of +learned physicians, that the pestilence, or epidemic +constitution, is the parent of various kinds of disease; that the +plague sometimes, indeed, but by no means always, originates from +it: that, to speak in the language of the moderns, the pestilence +bears the same relation to contagion that a predisposing cause +does to an occasional cause; and 2ndly, the universal conviction +of the contagious power of that disease.</p> +<p>Contagion gradually attracted more notice: it was thought that +in it the most powerful occasional cause might be avoided; the +possibility of protecting whole cities by separation became +gradually more evident; and so horrifying was the recollection of +the eventful year of the “Great Mortality,” that +before the close of the fourteenth century, ere the ill effects +of the Black Plague had ceased, nations endeavoured to guard +against the return of this enemy by an earnest and effectual +defence.</p> +<p>The first regulation which was issued for this purpose, +originated with Viscount Bernabo, and is dated the 17th January, +1374. “Every plague-patient was to be taken out of +the city into the fields, there to die or to recover. Those +who attended upon a plague-patient, were to remain apart for ten +days before they again associated with anybody. The priests +were to examine the diseased, and point out to special +commissioners the persons infected, under punishment of the +confiscation of their goods and of being burned alive. +Whoever imported the plague, the state condemned his goods to +confiscation. Finally, none except those who were appointed +for that purpose were to attend plague-patients, under penalty of +death and confiscation.”</p> +<p>These orders, in correspondence with the spirit of the +fourteenth century, are sufficiently decided to indicate a +recollection of the good effects of confinement, and of keeping +at a distance those suspected of having plague. It was said +that Milan itself, by a rigorous barricade of three houses in +which the plague had broken out, maintained itself free from the +“Great Mortality” for a considerable time; and +examples of the preservation of individual families, by means of +a strict separation, were certainly very frequent. That +these orders must have caused universal affliction from their +uncommon severity, as we know to have been especially the case in +the city of Reggio, may be easily conceived; but Bernabo did not +suffer himself to be deterred from his purpose by fear—on +the contrary, when the plague returned in the year 1383, he +forbade the admission of people from infected places into his +territories on pain of death. We have now, it is true, no +account how far he succeeded; yet it is to be supposed that he +arrested the disease, for it had long lost the property of the +Black Death, to spread abroad in the air the contagious matter +which proceeded from the lungs, charged with putridity, and to +taint the atmosphere of whole cities by the vast numbers of the +sick. Now that it had resumed its milder form, so that it +infected only by contact, it admitted being confined within +individual dwellings, as easily as in modern times.</p> +<p>Bernabo’s example was imitated; nor was there any +century more appropriate for recommending to governments strong +regulations against the plague that the fourteenth; for when it +broke out in Italy, in the year 1399, and still demanded new +victims, it was for the sixteenth time, without reckoning +frequent visitations of measles and small-pox. In this same +year, Viscount John, in milder terms than his predecessor, +ordered that no stranger should be admitted from infected places, +and that the city gates should be strictly guarded. +Infected houses were to be ventilated for at least eight or ten +days, and purified from noxious vapours by fires, and by +fumigations with balsamic and aromatic substances. Straw, +rags, and the like were to be burned; and the bedsteads which had +been used, set out for four days in the rain or the sunshine, so +that by means of the one or the other, the morbific vapour might +be destroyed. No one was to venture to make use of clothes +or beds out of infected dwellings unless they had been previously +washed and dried either at the fire or in the sun. People +were, likewise, to avoid, as long as possible, occupying houses +which had been frequented by plague-patients.</p> +<p>We cannot precisely perceive in these an advance towards +general regulations; and perhaps people were convinced of the +insurmountable impediments which opposed the separation of open +inland countries, where bodies of people connected together could +not be brought, even by the most obdurate severity, to renounce +the habit of profitable intercourse.</p> +<p>Doubtless it is nature which has done the most to banish the +Oriental plague from western Europe, where the increasing +cultivation of the earth, and the advancing order in civilised +society, have prevented it from remaining domesticated, which it +most probably was in the more ancient times.</p> +<p>In the fifteenth century, during which it broke out seventeen +times in different places in Europe, it was of the more +consequence to oppose a barrier to its entrance from Asia, +Africa, and Greece (which had become Turkish); for it would have +been difficult for it to maintain itself indigenously any +longer. Among the southern commercial states, however, +which were called on to make the greatest exertions to this end, +it was principally Venice, formerly so severely attacked by the +Black Plague, that put the necessary restraint upon perilous +profits of the merchant. Until towards the end of the +fifteenth century, the very considerable intercourse with the +East was free and unimpeded. Ships of commercial cities had +often brought over the plague: nay, the former irruption of the +“Great Mortality” itself had been occasioned by +navigators. For, as in the latter end of autumn, 1347, four +ships full of plague-patients returned from the Levant to Genoa, +the disease spread itself there with astonishing rapidity. +On this account, in the following year, the Genoese forbade the +entrance of suspected ships into their port. These sailed +to Pisa and other cities on the coast, where already nature had +made such mighty preparations for the reception of the Black +Plague, and what we have already described took place in +consequence.</p> +<p>In the year 1485, when, among the cities of northern Italy, +Milan especially felt the scourge of the plague, a special +Council of Health, consisting of three nobles, was established at +Venice, who probably tried everything in their power to prevent +the entrance of this disease, and gradually called into activity +all those regulations which have served in later times as a +pattern for the other southern states of Europe. Their +endeavours were, however, not crowned with complete success; on +which account their powers were increased, in the year 1504, by +granting them the right of life and death over those who violated +the regulations. Bills of health were probably first +introduced in the year 1527, during a fatal plague which visited +Italy for five years (1525-30), and called forth redoubled +caution.</p> +<p>The first lazarettos were established upon islands at some +distance from the city, seemingly as early as the year +1485. Here all strangers coming from places where the +existence of plague was suspected were detained. If it +appeared in the city itself, the sick were despatched with their +families to what was called the Old Lazaretto, were there +furnished with provisions and medicines, and when they were +cured, were detained, together with all those who had had +intercourse with them, still forty days longer in the New +Lazaretto, situated on another island. All these +regulations were every year improved, and their needful rigour +was increased, so that from the year 1585 onwards, no appeal was +allowed from the sentence of the Council of Health; and the other +commercial nations gradually came to the support of the +Venetians, by adopting corresponding regulations. Bills of +health, however, were not general until the year 1665.</p> +<p>The appointment of a forty days’ detention, whence +quarantines derive their name, was not dictated by caprice, but +probably had a medical origin, which is derivable in part from +the doctrine of critical days; for the fortieth day, according to +the most ancient notions, has been always regarded as the last of +ardent diseases, and the limit of separation between these and +those which are chronic. It was the custom to subject +lying-in women for forty days to a more exact +superintendence. There was a good deal also said in medical +works of forty-day epochs in the formation of the foetus, not to +mention that the alchemists expected more durable revolutions in +forty days, which period they called the philosophical month.</p> +<p>This period being generally held to prevail in natural +processes, it appeared reasonable to assume, and legally to +establish it, as that required for the development of latent +principles of contagion, since public regulations cannot dispense +with decisions of this kind, even though they should not be +wholly justified by the nature of the case. Great stress +has likewise been laid on theological and legal grounds, which +were certainly of greater weight in the fifteenth century than in +the modern times.</p> +<p>On this matter, however, we cannot decide, since our only +object here is to point out the origin of a political means of +protection against a disease which has been the greatest +impediment to civilisation within the memory of man; a means +that, like Jenner’s vaccine, after the small-pox had +ravaged Europe for twelve hundred years, has diminished the check +which mortality puts on the progress of civilisation, and thus +given to the life and manners of the nations of this part of the +world a new direction, the result of which we cannot +foretell.</p> +<h2>THE DANCING MANIA</h2> +<h3>CHAPTER I—THE DANCING MANIA IN GERMANY AND THE +NETHERLANDS</h3> +<h4>SECT. 1—ST. JOHN’S DANCE</h4> +<p>The effects of the Black Death had not yet subsided, and the +graves of millions of its victims were scarcely closed, when a +strange delusion arose in Germany, which took possession of the +minds of men, and, in spite of the divinity of our nature, +hurried away body and soul into the magic circle of hellish +superstition. It was a convulsion which in the most +extraordinary manner infuriated the human frame, and excited the +astonishment of contemporaries for more than two centuries, since +which time it has never reappeared. It was called the dance +of St. John or of St. Vitus, on account of the Bacchantic leaps +by which it was characterised, and which gave to those affected, +whilst performing their wild dance, and screaming and foaming +with fury, all the appearance of persons possessed. It did +not remain confined to particular localities, but was propagated +by the sight of the sufferers, like a demoniacal epidemic, over +the whole of Germany and the neighbouring countries to the +north-west, which were already prepared for its reception by the +prevailing opinions of the time.</p> +<p>So early as the year 1374, assemblages of men and women were +seen at Aix-la-Chapelle, who had come out of Germany, and who, +united by one common delusion, exhibited to the public both in +the streets and in the churches the following strange +spectacle. They formed circles hand in hand, and appearing +to have lost all control over their senses, continued dancing, +regardless of the bystanders, for hours together, in wild +delirium, until at length they fell to the ground in a state of +exhaustion. They then complained of extreme oppression, and +groaned as if in the agonies of death, until they were swathed in +cloths bound tightly round their waists, upon which they again +recovered, and remained free from complaint until the next +attack. This practice of swathing was resorted to on +account of the tympany which followed these spasmodic ravings, +but the bystanders frequently relieved patients in a less +artificial manner, by thumping and trampling upon the parts +affected. While dancing they neither saw nor heard, being +insensible to external impressions through the senses, but were +haunted by visions, their fancies conjuring up spirits whose +names they shrieked out; and some of them afterwards asserted +that they felt as if they had been immersed in a stream of blood, +which obliged them to leap so high. Others, during the +paroxysm, saw the heavens open and the Saviour enthroned with the +Virgin Mary, according as the religious notions of the age were +strangely and variously reflected in their imaginations.</p> +<p>Where the disease was completely developed, the attack +commenced with epileptic convulsions. Those affected fell +to the ground senseless, panting and labouring for breath. +They foamed at the mouth, and suddenly springing up began their +dance amidst strange contortions. Yet the malady doubtless +made its appearance very variously, and was modified by temporary +or local circumstances, whereof non-medical contemporaries but +imperfectly noted the essential particulars, accustomed as they +were to confound their observation of natural events with their +notions of the world of spirits.</p> +<p>It was but a few months ere this demoniacal disease had spread +from Aix-la-Chapelle, where it appeared in July, over the +neighbouring Netherlands. In Liege, Utrecht, Tongres, and +many other towns of Belgium, the dancers appeared with garlands +in their hair, and their waists girt with cloths, that they +might, as soon as the paroxysm was over, receive immediate relief +on the attack of the tympany. This bandage was, by the +insertion of a stick, easily twisted tight: many, however, +obtained more relief from kicks and blows, which they found +numbers of persons ready to administer: for, wherever the dancers +appeared, the people assembled in crowds to gratify their +curiosity with the frightful spectacle. At length the +increasing number of the affected excited no less anxiety than +the attention that was paid to them. In towns and villages +they took possession of the religious houses, processions were +everywhere instituted on their account, and masses were said and +hymns were sung, while the disease itself, of the demoniacal +origin of which no one entertained the least doubt, excited +everywhere astonishment and horror. In Liege the priests +had recourse to exorcisms, and endeavoured by every means in +their power to allay an evil which threatened so much danger to +themselves; for the possessed assembling in multitudes, +frequently poured forth imprecations against them, and menaced +their destruction. They intimidated the people also to such +a degree that there was an express ordinance issued that no one +should make any but square-toed shoes, because these fanatics had +manifested a morbid dislike to the pointed shoes which had come +into fashion immediately after the “Great Mortality” +in 1350. They were still more irritated at the sight of red +colours, the influence of which on the disordered nerves might +lead us to imagine an extraordinary accordance between this +spasmodic malady and the condition of infuriated animals; but in +the St. John’s dancers this excitement was probably +connected with apparitions consequent upon their +convulsions. There were likewise some of them who were +unable to endure the sight of persons weeping. The clergy +seemed to become daily more and more confirmed in their belief +that those who were affected were a kind of sectarians, and on +this account they hastened their exorcisms as much as possible, +in order that the evil might not spread amongst the higher +classes, for hitherto scarcely any but the poor had been +attacked, and the few people of respectability among the laity +and clergy who were to be found among them, were persons whose +natural frivolity was unable to withstand the excitement of +novelty, even though it proceeded from a demoniacal +influence. Some of the affected had indeed themselves +declared, when under the influence of priestly forms of exorcism, +that if the demons had been allowed only a few weeks’ more +time, they would have entered the bodies of the nobility and +princes, and through these have destroyed the clergy. +Assertions of this sort, which those possessed uttered whilst in +a state which may be compared with that of magnetic sleep, +obtained general belief, and passed from mouth to mouth with +wonderful additions. The priesthood were, on this account, +so much the more zealous in their endeavours to anticipate every +dangerous excitement of the people, as if the existing order of +things could have been seriously threatened by such incoherent +ravings. Their exertions were effectual, for exorcism was a +powerful remedy in the fourteenth century; or it might perhaps be +that this wild infatuation terminated in consequence of the +exhaustion which naturally ensued from it; at all events, in the +course of ten or eleven months the St. John’s dancers were +no longer to be found in any of the cities of Belgium. The +evil, however, was too deeply rooted to give way altogether to +such feeble attacks.</p> +<p>A few months after this dancing malady had made its appearance +at Aix-la-Chapelle, it broke out at Cologne, where the number of +those possessed amounted to more than five hundred, and about the +same time at Metz, the streets of which place are said to have +been filled with eleven hundred dancers. Peasants left +their ploughs, mechanics their workshops, housewives their +domestic duties, to join the wild revels, and this rich +commercial city became the scene of the most ruinous +disorder. Secret desires were excited, and but too often +found opportunities for wild enjoyment; and numerous beggars, +stimulated by vice and misery, availed themselves of this new +complaint to gain a temporary livelihood. Girls and boys +quitted their parents, and servants their masters, to amuse +themselves at the dances of those possessed, and greedily imbibed +the poison of mental infection. Above a hundred unmarried +women were seen raving about in consecrated and unconsecrated +places, and the consequences were soon perceived. Gangs of +idle vagabonds, who understood how to imitate to the life the +gestures and convulsions of those really affected, roved from +place to place seeking maintenance and adventures, and thus, +wherever they went, spreading this disgusting spasmodic disease +like a plague; for in maladies of this kind the susceptible are +infected as easily by the appearance as by the reality. At +last it was found necessary to drive away these mischievous +guests, who were equally inaccessible to the exorcisms of the +priests and the remedies of the physicians. It was not, +however, until after four months that the Rhenish cities were +able to suppress these impostures, which had so alarmingly +increased the original evil. In the meantime, when once +called into existence, the plague crept on, and found abundant +food in the tone of thought which prevailed in the fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries, and even, though in a minor degree, +throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth, causing a permanent +disorder of the mind, and exhibiting in those cities to whose +inhabitants it was a novelty, scenes as strange as they were +detestable.</p> +<h4>SECT. 2—ST. VITUS’S DANCE</h4> +<p>Strasburg was visited by the “Dancing Plague” in +the year 1418, and the same infatuation existed among the people +there, as in the towns of Belgium and the Lower Rhine. Many +who were seized at the sight of those affected, excited attention +at first by their confused and absurd behaviour, and then by +their constantly following swarms of dancers. These were +seen day and night passing through the streets, accompanied by +musicians playing on bagpipes, and by innumerable spectators +attracted by curiosity, to which were added anxious parents and +relations, who came to look after those among the misguided +multitude who belonged to their respective families. +Imposture and profligacy played their part in this city also, but +the morbid delusion itself seems to have predominated. On +this account religion could only bring provisional aid, and +therefore the town council benevolently took an interest in the +afflicted. They divided them into separate parties, to each +of which they appointed responsible superintendents to protect +them from harm, and perhaps also to restrain their +turbulence. They were thus conducted on foot and in +carriages to the chapels of St. Vitus, near Zabern and Rotestein, +where priests were in attendance to work upon their misguided +minds by masses and other religious ceremonies. After +divine worship was completed, they were led in solemn procession +to the altar, where they made some small offering of alms, and +where it is probable that many were, through the influence of +devotion and the sanctity of the place, cured of this lamentable +aberration. It is worthy of observation, at all events, +that the Dancing Mania did not recommence at the altars of the +saint, and that from him alone assistance was implored, and +through his miraculous interposition a cure was expected, which +was beyond the reach of human skill. The personal history +of St. Vitus is by no means important in this matter. He +was a Sicilian youth, who, together with Modestus and Crescentia, +suffered martyrdom at the time of the persecution of the +Christians, under Diocletian, in the year 303. The legends +respecting him are obscure, and he would certainly have been +passed over without notice among the innumerable apocryphal +martyrs of the first centuries, had not the transfer of his body +to St. Denys, and thence, in the year 836, to Corvey, raised him +to a higher rank. From this time forth it may be supposed +that many miracles were manifested at his new sepulchre, which +were of essential service in confirming the Roman faith among the +Germans, and St. Vitus was soon ranked among the fourteen saintly +helpers (Nothhelfer or Apotheker). His altars were +multiplied, and the people had recourse to them in all kinds of +distresses, and revered him as a powerful intercessor. As +the worship of these saints was, however, at that time stripped +of all historical connections, which were purposely obliterated +by the priesthood, a legend was invented at the beginning of the +fifteenth century, or perhaps even so early as the fourteenth, +that St. Vitus had, just before he bent his neck to the sword, +prayed to God that he might protect from the Dancing Mania all +those who should solemnise the day of his commemoration, and fast +upon its eve, and that thereupon a voice from heaven was heard, +saying, “Vitus, thy prayer is accepted.” Thus +St. Vitus became the patron saint of those afflicted with the +Dancing Plague, as St. Martin of Tours was at one time the +succourer of persons in small-pox, St. Antonius of those +suffering under the “hellish fire,” and as St. +Margaret was the Juno Lucina of puerperal women.</p> +<h4>SECT. 3—CAUSES</h4> +<p>The connection which John the Baptist had with the Dancing +Mania of the fourteenth century was of a totally different +character. He was originally far from being a protecting +saint to those who were attacked, or one who would be likely to +give them relief from a malady considered as the work of the +devil. On the contrary, the manner in which he was +worshipped afforded an important and very evident cause for its +development. From the remotest period, perhaps even so far +back as the fourth century, St. John’s day was solemnised +with all sorts of strange and rude customs, of which the +originally mystical meaning was variously disfigured among +different nations by superadded relics of heathenism. Thus +the Germans transferred to the festival of St. John’s day +an ancient heathen usage, the kindling of the +“Nodfyr,” which was forbidden them by St. Boniface, +and the belief subsists even to the present day that people and +animals that have leaped through these flames, or their smoke, +are protected for a whole year from fevers and other diseases, as +if by a kind of baptism by fire. Bacchanalian dances, which +have originated in similar causes among all the rude nations of +the earth, and the wild extravagancies of a heated imagination, +were the constant accompaniments of this half-heathen, +half-Christian festival. At the period of which we are +treating, however, the Germans were not the only people who gave +way to the ebullitions of fanaticism in keeping the festival of +St. John the Baptist. Similar customs were also to be found +among the nations of Southern Europe and of Asia, and it is more +than probable that the Greeks transferred to the festival of John +the Baptist, who is also held in high esteem among the +Mahomedans, a part of their Bacchanalian mysteries, an absurdity +of a kind which is but too frequently met with in human +affairs. How far a remembrance of the history of St. +John’s death may have had an influence on this occasion, we +would leave learned theologians to decide. It is only of +importance here to add that in Abyssinia, a country entirely +separated from Europe, where Christianity has maintained itself +in its primeval simplicity against Mahomedanism, John is to this +day worshipped, as protecting saint of those who are attacked +with the dancing malady. In these fragments of the dominion +of mysticism and superstition, historical connection is not to be +found.</p> +<p>When we observe, however, that the first dancers in +Aix-la-Chapelle appeared in July with St. John’s name in +their mouths, the conjecture is probable that the wild revels of +St. John’s day, A.D. 1374, gave rise to this mental plague, +which thenceforth has visited so many thousands with incurable +aberration of mind, and disgusting distortions of body.</p> +<p>This is rendered so much the more probable because some months +previously the districts in the neighbourhood of the Rhine and +the Main had met with great disasters. So early as +February, both these rivers had overflowed their banks to a great +extent; the walls of the town of Cologne, on the side next the +Rhine, had fallen down, and a great many villages had been +reduced to the utmost distress. To this was added the +miserable condition of western and southern Germany. +Neither law nor edict could suppress the incessant feuds of the +Barons, and in Franconia especially, the ancient times of club +law appeared to be revived. Security of property there was +none; arbitrary will everywhere prevailed; corruption of morals +and rude power rarely met with even a feeble opposition; whence +it arose that the cruel, but lucrative, persecutions of the Jews +were in many places still practised through the whole of this +century with their wonted ferocity. Thus, throughout the +western parts of Germany, and especially in the districts +bordering on the Rhine, there was a wretched and oppressed +populace; and if we take into consideration that among their +numerous bands many wandered about, whose consciences were +tormented with the recollection of the crimes which they had +committed during the prevalence of the Black Plague, we shall +comprehend how their despair sought relief in the intoxication of +an artificial delirium. There is hence good ground for +supposing that the frantic celebration of the festival of St. +John, A.D. 1374, only served to bring to a crisis a malady which +had been long impending; and if we would further inquire how a +hitherto harmless usage, which like many others had but served to +keep up superstition, could degenerate into so serious a disease, +we must take into account the unusual excitement of men’s +minds, and the consequences of wretchedness and want. The +bowels, which in many were debilitated by hunger and bad food, +were precisely the parts which in most cases were attacked with +excruciating pain, and the tympanitic state of the intestines +points out to the intelligent physician an origin of the disorder +which is well worth consideration.</p> +<h4>SECT. 4—MORE ANCIENT DANCING PLAGUES</h4> +<p>The Dancing Mania of the year 1374 was, in fact, no new +disease, but a phenomenon well known in the Middle Ages, of which +many wondrous stories were traditionally current among the +people. In the year 1237 upwards of a hundred children were +said to have been suddenly seized with this disease at Erfurt, +and to have proceeded dancing and jumping along the road to +Arnstadt. When they arrived at that place they fell +exhausted to the ground, and, according to an account of an old +chronicle, many of them, after they were taken home by their +parents, died, and the rest remained affected, to the end of +their lives, with a permanent tremor. Another occurrence +was related to have taken place on the Moselle Bridge at Utrecht, +on the 17th day of June, A.D. 1278, when two hundred fanatics +began to dance, and would not desist until a priest passed, who +was carrying the Host to a person that was sick, upon which, as +if in punishment of their crime, the bridge gave way, and they +were all drowned. A similar event also occurred so early as +the year 1027, near the convent church of Kolbig, not far from +Bernburg. According to an oft-repeated tradition, eighteen +peasants, some of whose names are still preserved, are said to +have disturbed divine service on Christmas Eve by dancing and +brawling in the churchyard, whereupon the priest, Ruprecht, +inflicted a curse upon them, that they should dance and scream +for a whole year without ceasing. This curse is stated to +have been completely fulfilled, so that the unfortunate sufferers +at length sank knee-deep into the earth, and remained the whole +time without nourishment, until they were finally released by the +intercession of two pious bishops. It is said that, upon +this, they fell into a deep sleep, which lasted three days, and +that four of them died; the rest continuing to suffer all their +lives from a trembling of their limbs. It is not worth +while to separate what may have been true, and what the addition +of crafty priests, in this strangely distorted story. It is +sufficient that it was believed, and related with astonishment +and horror, throughout the Middle Ages; so that when there was +any exciting cause for this delirious raving and wild rage for +dancing, it failed not to produce its effects upon men whose +thoughts were given up to a belief in wonders and +apparitions.</p> +<p>This disposition of mind, altogether so peculiar to the Middle +Ages, and which, happily for mankind, has yielded to an improved +state of civilisation and the diffusion of popular instruction, +accounts for the origin and long duration of this extraordinary +mental disorder. The good sense of the people recoiled with +horror and aversion from this heavy plague, which, whenever +malevolent persons wished to curse their bitterest enemies and +adversaries, was long after used as a malediction. The +indignation also that was felt by the people at large against the +immorality of the age, was proved by their ascribing this +frightful affliction to the inefficacy of baptism by unchaste +priests, as if innocent children were doomed to atone, in +after-years, for this desecration of the sacrament administered +by unholy hands. We have already mentioned what perils the +priests in the Netherlands incurred from this belief. They +now, indeed, endeavoured to hasten their reconciliation with the +irritated, and, at that time, very degenerate people, by +exorcisms, which, with some, procured them greater respect than +ever, because they thus visibly restored thousands of those who +were affected. In general, however, there prevailed a want +of confidence in their efficacy, and then the sacred rites had as +little power in arresting the progress of this deeply-rooted +malady as the prayers and holy services subsequently had at the +altars of the greatly-revered martyr St. Vitus. We may +therefore ascribe it to accident merely, and to a certain +aversion to this demoniacal disease, which seemed to lie beyond +the reach of human skill, that we meet with but few and imperfect +notices of the St. Vitus’s dance in the second half of the +fifteenth century. The highly-coloured descriptions of the +sixteenth century contradict the notion that this mental plague +had in any degree diminished in its severity, and not a single +fact is to be found which supports the opinion that any one of +the essential symptoms of the disease, not even excepting the +tympany, had disappeared, or that the disorder itself had become +milder in its attacks. The physicians never, as it seems, +throughout the whole of the fifteenth century, undertook the +treatment of the Dancing Mania, which, according to the +prevailing notions, appertained exclusively to the servants of +the Church. Against demoniacal disorders they had no +remedies, and though some at first did promulgate the opinion +that the malady had its origin in natural circumstances, such as +a hot temperament, and other causes named in the phraseology of +the schools, yet these opinions were the less examined as it did +not appear worth while to divide with a jealous priesthood the +care of a host of fanatical vagabonds and beggars.</p> +<h4>SECT. 5—PHYSICIANS</h4> +<p>It was not until the beginning of the sixteenth century that +the St. Vitus’s dance was made the subject of medical +research, and stripped of its unhallowed character as a work of +demons. This was effected by Paracelsus, that mighty but, +as yet, scarcely comprehended reformer of medicine, whose aim it +was to withdraw diseases from the pale of miraculous +interpositions and saintly influences, and explain their causes +upon principles deduced from his knowledge of the human +frame. “We will not, however, admit that the saints +have power to inflict diseases, and that these ought to be named +after them, although many there are who, in their theology, lay +great stress on this supposition, ascribing them rather to God +than to nature, which is but idle talk. We dislike such +nonsensical gossip as is not supported by symptoms, but only by +faith—a thing which is not human, whereon the gods +themselves set no value.”</p> +<p>Such were the words which Paracelsus addressed to his +contemporaries, who were, as yet, incapable of appreciating +doctrines of this sort; for the belief in enchantment still +remained everywhere unshaken, and faith in the world of spirits +still held men’s minds in so close a bondage that thousands +were, according to their own conviction, given up as a prey to +the devil; while at the command of religion, as well as of law, +countless piles were lighted, by the flames of which human +society was to be purified.</p> +<p>Paracelsus divides the St. Vitus’s dance into three +kinds. First, that which arises from imagination +(<i>Vitista</i>, <i>Chorea imaginativa</i>, +<i>æstimativa</i>), by which the original Dancing Plague is +to be understood. Secondly, that which arises from sensual +desires, depending on the will (<i>Chorea lasciva</i>). +Thirdly, that which arises from corporeal causes (Chorea +naturalis, coacta), which, according to a strange notion of his +own, he explained by maintaining that in certain vessels which +are susceptible of an internal pruriency, and thence produce +laughter, the blood is set in commotion in consequence of an +alteration in the vital spirits, whereby involuntary fits of +intoxicating joy and a propensity to dance are occasioned. +To this notion he was, no doubt, led from having observed a +milder form of St. Vitus’s dance, not uncommon in his time, +which was accompanied by involuntary laughter; and which bore a +resemblance to the hysterical laughter of the moderns, except +that it was characterised by more pleasurable sensations and by +an extravagant propensity to dance. There was no howling, +screaming, and jumping, as in the severer form; neither was the +disposition to dance by any means insuperable. Patients +thus affected, although they had not a complete control over +their understandings, yet were sufficiently self-possessed during +the attack to obey the directions which they received. +There were even some among them who did not dance at all, but +only felt an involuntary impulse to allay the internal sense of +disquietude, which is the usual forerunner of an attack of this +kind, by laughter and quick walking carried to the extent of +producing fatigue. This disorder, so different from the +original type, evidently approximates to the modern chorea; or, +rather, is in perfect accordance with it, even to the less +essential symptom of laughter. A mitigation in the form of +the Dancing Mania had thus clearly taken place at the +commencement of the sixteenth century.</p> +<p>On the communication of the St. Vitus’s dance by +sympathy, Paracelsus, in his peculiar language, expresses himself +with great spirit, and shows a profound knowledge of the nature +of sensual impressions, which find their way to the +heart—the seat of joys and emotions—which overpower +the opposition of reason; and whilst “all other qualities +and natures” are subdued, incessantly impel the patient, in +consequence of his original compliance, and his all-conquering +imagination, to imitate what he has seen. On his treatment +of the disease we cannot bestow any great praise, but must be +content with the remark that it was in conformity with the +notions of the age in which he lived. For the first kind, +which often originated in passionate excitement, he had a mental +remedy, the efficacy of which is not to be despised, if we +estimate its value in connection with the prevalent opinions of +those times. The patient was to make an image of himself in +wax or resin, and by an effort of thought to concentrate all his +blasphemies and sins in it. “Without the intervention +of any other persons, to set his whole mind and thoughts +concerning these oaths in the image;” and when he had +succeeded in this, he was to burn the image, so that not a +particle of it should remain. In all this there was no +mention made of St. Vitus, or any of the other mediatory saints, +which is accounted for by the circumstance that at this time an +open rebellion against the Romish Church had begun, and the +worship of saints was by many rejected as idolatrous. For +the second kind of St. Vitus’s dance, arising from sensual +irritation, with which women were far more frequently affected +than men, Paracelsus recommended harsh treatment and strict +fasting. He directed that the patients should be deprived +of their liberty; placed in solitary confinement, and made to sit +in an uncomfortable place, until their misery brought them to +their senses and to a feeling of penitence. He then +permitted them gradually to return to their accustomed +habits. Severe corporal chastisement was not omitted; but, +on the other hand, angry resistance on the part of the patient +was to be sedulously avoided, on the ground that it might +increase his malady, or even destroy him: moreover, where it +seemed proper, Paracelsus allayed the excitement of the nerves by +immersion in cold water. On the treatment of the third kind +we shall not here enlarge. It was to be effected by all +sorts of wonderful remedies, composed of the quintessences; and +it would require, to render it intelligible, a more extended +exposition of peculiar principles than suits our present +purpose.</p> +<h4>SECT. 6—DECLINE AND TERMINATION OF THE DANCING +PLAGUE</h4> +<p>About this time the St. Vitus’s dance began to decline, +so that milder forms of it appeared more frequently, while the +severer cases became more rare; and even in these, some of the +important symptoms gradually disappeared. Paracelsus makes +no mention of the tympanites as taking place after the attacks, +although it may occasionally have occurred; and Schenck von +Graffenberg, a celebrated physician of the latter half of the +sixteenth century, speaks of this disease as having been frequent +only in the time of his forefathers; his descriptions, however, +are applicable to the whole of that century, and to the close of +the fifteenth. The St. Vitus’s dance attacked people +of all stations, especially those who led a sedentary life, such +as shoemakers and tailors; but even the most robust peasants +abandoned their labours in the fields, as if they were possessed +by evil spirits; and thus those affected were seen assembling +indiscriminately, from time to time, at certain appointed places, +and, unless prevented by the lookers-on, continuing to dance +without intermission, until their very last breath was +expended. Their fury and extravagance of demeanour so +completely deprived them of their senses, that many of them +dashed their brains out against the walls and corners of +buildings, or rushed headlong into rapid rivers, where they found +a watery grave. Roaring and foaming as they were, the +bystanders could only succeed in restraining them by placing +benches and chairs in their way, so that, by the high leaps they +were thus tempted to take, their strength might be +exhausted. As soon as this was the case, they fell as it +were lifeless to the ground, and, by very slow degrees, again +recovered their strength. Many there were who, even with +all this exertion, had not expended the violence of the tempest +which raged within them, but awoke with newly-revived powers, and +again and again mixed with the crowd of dancers, until at length +the violent excitement of their disordered nerves was allayed by +the great involuntary exertion of their limbs; and the mental +disorder was calmed by the extreme exhaustion of the body. +Thus the attacks themselves were in these cases, as in their +nature they are in all nervous complaints, necessary crises of an +inward morbid condition which was transferred from the sensorium +to the nerves of motion, and, at an earlier period, to the +abdominal plexus, where a deep-seated derangement of the system +was perceptible from the secretion of flatus in the +intestines.</p> +<p>The cure effected by these stormy attacks was in many cases so +perfect, that some patients returned to the factory or the plough +as if nothing had happened. Others, on the contrary, paid +the penalty of their folly by so total a loss of power, that they +could not regain their former health, even by the employment of +the most strengthening remedies. Medical men were +astonished to observe that women in an advanced state of +pregnancy were capable of going through an attack of the disease +without the slightest injury to their offspring, which they +protected merely by a bandage passed round the waist. Cases +of this kind were not infrequent so late as Schenck’s +time. That patients should be violently affected by music, +and their paroxysms brought on and increased by it, is natural +with such nervous disorders, where deeper impressions are made +through the ear, which is the most intellectual of all the +organs, than through any of the other senses. On this +account the magistrates hired musicians for the purpose of +carrying the St. Vitus’s dancers so much the quicker +through the attacks, and directed that athletic men should be +sent among them in order to complete the exhaustion, which had +been often observed to produce a good effect. At the same +time there was a prohibition against wearing red garments, +because, at the sight of this colour, those affected became so +furious that they flew at the persons who wore it, and were so +bent upon doing them an injury that they could with difficulty be +restrained. They frequently tore their own clothes whilst +in the paroxysm, and were guilty of other improprieties, so that +the more opulent employed confidential attendants to accompany +them, and to take care that they did no harm either to themselves +or others. This extraordinary disease was, however, so +greatly mitigated in Schenck’s time, that the St. +Vitus’s dancers had long since ceased to stroll from town +to town; and that physician, like Paracelsus, makes no mention of +the tympanitic inflation of the bowels. Moreover, most of +those affected were only annually visited by attacks; and the +occasion of them was so manifestly referable to the prevailing +notions of that period, that if the unqualified belief in the +supernatural agency of saints could have been abolished, they +would not have had any return of the complaint. Throughout +the whole of June, prior to the festival of St. John, patients +felt a disquietude and restlessness which they were unable to +overcome. They were dejected, timid, and anxious; wandered +about in an unsettled state, being tormented with twitching +pains, which seized them suddenly in different parts, and eagerly +expected the eve of St. John’s day, in the confident hope +that by dancing at the altars of this saint, or of St. Vitus (for +in the Breisgau aid was equally sought from both), they would be +freed from all their sufferings. This hope was not +disappointed; and they remained, for the rest of the year, exempt +from any further attack, after having thus, by dancing and raving +for three hours, satisfied an irresistible demand of +nature. There were at that period two chapels in the +Breisgau visited by the St. Vitus’s dancers; namely, the +Chapel of St. Vitus at Biessen, near Breisach, and that of St. +John, near Wasenweiler; and it is probable that in the south-west +of Germany the disease was still in existence in the seventeenth +century.</p> +<p>However, it grew every year more rare, so that at the +beginning of the seventeenth century it was observed only +occasionally in its ancient form. Thus in the spring of the +year 1623, G. Horst saw some women who annually performed a +pilgrimage to St. Vitus’s chapel at Drefelhausen, near +Weissenstein, in the territory of Ulm, that they might wait for +their dancing fit there, in the same manner as those in the +Breisgau did, according to Schenck’s account. They +were not satisfied, however, with a dance of three hours’ +duration, but continued day and night in a state of mental +aberration, like persons in an ecstasy, until they fell exhausted +to the ground; and when they came to themselves again they felt +relieved from a distressing uneasiness and painful sensation of +weight in their bodies, of which they had complained for several +weeks prior to St. Vitus’s Day.</p> +<p>After this commotion they remained well for the whole year; +and such was their faith in the protecting power of the saint, +that one of them had visited this shrine at Drefelhausen more +than twenty times, and another had already kept the saint’s +day for the thirty-second time at this sacred station.</p> +<p>The dancing fit itself was excited here, as it probably was in +other places, by music, from the effects of which the patients +were thrown into a state of convulsion. Many concurrent +testimonies serve to show that music generally contributed much +to the continuance of the St. Vitus’s dance, originated and +increased its paroxysms, and was sometimes the cause of their +mitigation. So early as the fourteenth century the swarms +of St. John’s dancers were accompanied by minstrels playing +upon noisy instruments, who roused their morbid feelings; and it +may readily be supposed that by the performance of lively +melodies, and the stimulating effects which the shrill tones of +fifes and trumpets would produce, a paroxysm that was perhaps but +slight in itself, might, in many cases, be increased to the most +outrageous fury, such as in later times was purposely induced in +order that the force of the disease might be exhausted by the +violence of its attack. Moreover, by means of intoxicating +music a kind of demoniacal festival for the rude multitude was +established, which had the effect of spreading this unhappy +malady wider and wider. Soft harmony was, however, employed +to calm the excitement of those affected, and it is mentioned as +a character of the tunes played with this view to the St. +Vitus’s dancers, that they contained transitions from a +quick to a slow measure, and passed gradually from a high to a +low key. It is to be regretted that no trace of this music +has reached out times, which is owing partly to the disastrous +events of the seventeenth century, and partly to the circumstance +that the disorder was looked upon as entirely national, and only +incidentally considered worthy of notice by foreign men of +learning. If the St. Vitus’s dance was already on the +decline at the commencement of the seventeenth century, the +subsequent events were altogether adverse to its +continuance. Wars carried on with animosity, and with +various success, for thirty years, shook the west of Europe; and +although the unspeakable calamities which they brought upon +Germany, both during their continuance and in their immediate +consequences, were by no means favourable to the advance of +knowledge, yet, with the vehemence of a purifying fire, they +gradually effected the intellectual regeneration of the Germans; +superstition, in her ancient form, never again appeared, and the +belief in the dominion of spirits, which prevailed in the middle +ages, lost for ever its once formidable power.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER II—THE DANCING MANIA IN ITALY</h3> +<h4>SECT. 1—TARANTISM</h4> +<p>It was of the utmost advantage to the St. Vitus’s +dancers that they made choice of a favourite patron saint; for, +not to mention that people were inclined to compare them to the +possessed with evil spirits described in the Bible, and thence to +consider them as innocent victims to the power of Satan, the name +of their great intercessor recommended them to general +commiseration, and a magic boundary was thus set to every harsh +feeling, which might otherwise have proved hostile to their +safety. Other fanatics were not so fortunate, being often +treated with the most relentless cruelty, whenever the notions of +the middle ages either excused or commanded it as a religious +duty. Thus, passing over the innumerable instances of the +burning of witches, who were, after all, only labouring under a +delusion, the Teutonic knights in Prussia not unfrequently +condemned those maniacs to the stake who imagined themselves to +be metamorphosed into wolves—an extraordinary species of +insanity, which, having existed in Greece before our era, spread, +in process of time over Europe, so that it was communicated not +only to the Romaic, but also to the German and Sarmatian nations, +and descended from the ancients as a legacy of affliction to +posterity. In modern times Lycanthropy—such was the +name given to this infatuation—has vanished from the earth, +but it is nevertheless well worthy the consideration of the +observer of human aberrations, and a history of it by some writer +who is equally well acquainted with the middle ages as with +antiquity is still a desideratum. We leave it for the +present without further notice, and turn to a malady most +extraordinary in all its phenomena, having a close connection +with the St. Vitus’s dance, and, by a comparison of facts +which are altogether similar, affording us an instructive subject +for contemplation. We allude to the disease called +Tarantism, which made its first appearance in Apulia, and thence +spread over the other provinces of Italy, where, during some +centuries, it prevailed as a great epidemic. In the present +times, it has vanished, or at least has lost altogether its +original importance, like the St. Vitus’s dance, +lycanthropy, and witchcraft.</p> +<h4>SECT. 2—MOST ANCIENT TRACES—CAUSES</h4> +<p>The learned Nicholas Perotti gives the earliest account of +this strange disorder. Nobody had the least doubt that it +was caused by the bite of the tarantula, a ground-spider common +in Apulia: and the fear of this insect was so general that its +bite was in all probability much oftener imagined, or the sting +of some other kind of insect mistaken for it, than actually +received. The word tarantula is apparently the same as +terrantola, a name given by the Italians to the stellio of the +old Romans, which was a kind of lizard, said to be poisonous, and +invested by credulity with such extraordinary qualities, that, +like the serpent of the Mosaic account of the Creation, it +personified, in the imaginations of the vulgar, the notion of +cunning, so that even the jurists designated a cunning fraud by +the appellation of a “stellionatus.” Perotti +expressly assures us that this reptile was called by the Romans +tarantula; and since he himself, who was one of the most +distinguished authors of his time, strangely confounds spiders +and lizards together, so that he considers the Apulian tarantula, +which he ranks among the class of spiders, to have the same +meaning as the kind of lizard called +ασκαλ +βωτης, it is the less extraordinary +that the unlearned country people of Apulia should confound the +much-dreaded ground-spider with the fabulous star-lizard, and +appropriate to the one the name of the other. The +derivation of the word tarantula, from the city of Tarentum, or +the river Thara, in Apulia, on the banks of which this insect is +said to have been most frequently found, or, at least, its bite +to have had the most venomous effect, seems not to be supported +by authority. So much for the name of this famous spider, +which, unless we are greatly mistaken, throws no light whatever +upon the nature of the disease in question. Naturalists +who, possessing a knowledge of the past, should not misapply +their talents by employing them in establishing the dry +distinction of forms, would find here much that calls for +research, and their efforts would clear up many a perplexing +obscurity.</p> +<p>Perotti states that the tarantula—that is, the spider so +called—was not met with in Italy in former times, but that +in his day it had become common, especially in Apulia, as well as +in some other districts. He deserves, however, no great +confidence as a naturalist, notwithstanding his having delivered +lectures in Bologna on medicine and other sciences. He at +least has neglected to prove his assertion, which is not borne +out by any analogous phenomenon observed in modern times with +regard to the history of the spider species. It is by no +means to be admitted that the tarantula did not make its +appearance in Italy before the disease ascribed to its bite +became remarkable, even though tempests more violent than those +unexampled storms which arose at the time of the Black Death in +the middle of the fourteenth century had set the insect world in +motion; for the spider is little if at all susceptible of those +cosmical influences which at times multiply locusts and other +winged insects to a wonderful extent, and compel them to +migrate.</p> +<p>The symptoms which Perotti enumerates as consequent on the +bite of the tarantula agree very exactly with those described by +later writers. Those who were bitten, generally fell into a +state of melancholy, and appeared to be stupefied, and scarcely +in possession of their senses. This condition was, in many +cases, united with so great a sensibility to music, that at the +very first tones of their favourite melodies they sprang up, +shouting for joy, and danced on without intermission, until they +sank to the ground exhausted and almost lifeless. In +others, the disease did not take this cheerful turn. They +wept constantly, and as if pining away with some unsatisfied +desire, spent their days in the greatest misery and +anxiety. Others, again, in morbid fits of love, cast their +longing looks on women, and instances of death are recorded, +which are said to have occurred under a paroxysm of either +laughing or weeping.</p> +<p>From this description, incomplete as it is, we may easily +gather that tarantism, the essential symptoms of which are +mentioned in it, could not have originated in the fifteenth +century, to which Perotti’s account refers; for that author +speaks of it as a well-known malady, and states that the omission +to notice it by older writers was to be ascribed solely to the +want of education in Apulia, the only province probably where the +disease at that time prevailed. A nervous disorder that had +arrived at so high a degree of development must have been long in +existence, and doubtless had required an elaborate preparation by +the concurrence of general causes.</p> +<p>The symptoms which followed the bite of venomous spiders were +well known to the ancients, and had excited the attention of +their best observers, who agree in their descriptions of +them. It is probable that among the numerous species of +their phalangium, the Apulian tarantula is included, but it is +difficult to determine this point with certainty, more especially +because in Italy the tarantula was not the only insect which +caused this nervous affection, similar results being likewise +attributed to the bite of the scorpion. Lividity of the +whole body, as well as of the countenance, difficulty of speech, +tremor of the limbs, icy coldness, pale urine, depression of +spirits, headache, a flow of tears, nausea, vomiting, sexual +excitement, flatulence, syncope, dysuria, watchfulness, lethargy, +even death itself, were cited by them as the consequences of +being bitten by venomous spiders, and they made little +distinction as to their kinds. To these symptoms we may add +the strange rumour, repeated throughout the middle ages, that +persons who were bitten, ejected by the bowels and kidneys, and +even by vomiting, substances resembling a spider’s web.</p> +<p>Nowhere, however, do we find any mention made that those +affected felt an irresistible propensity to dancing, or that they +were accidentally cured by it. Even Constantine of Africa, +who lived 500 years after Aëtius, and, as the most learned +physician of the school of Salerno, would certainly not have +passed over so acceptable a subject of remark, knows nothing of +such a memorable course of this disease arising from poison, and +merely repeats the observations of his Greek predecessors. +Gariopontus, a Salernian physician of the eleventh century, was +the first to describe a kind of insanity, the remote affinity of +which to the tarantula disease is rendered apparent by a very +striking symptom. The patients in their sudden attacks +behaved like maniacs, sprang up, throwing their arms about with +wild movements, and, if perchance a sword was at hand, they +wounded themselves and others, so that it became necessary +carefully to secure them. They imagined that they heard +voices and various kinds of sounds, and if, during this state of +illusion, the tones of a favourite instrument happened to catch +their ear, they commenced a spasmodic dance, or ran with the +utmost energy which they could muster until they were totally +exhausted. These dangerous maniacs, who, it would seem, +appeared in considerable numbers, were looked upon as a legion of +devils, but on the causes of their malady this obscure writer +adds nothing further than that he believes (oddly enough) that it +may sometimes be excited by the bite of a mad dog. He calls +the disease Anteneasmus, by which is meant no doubt the +Enthusiasmus of the Greek physicians. We cite this +phenomenon as an important forerunner of tarantism, under the +conviction that we have thus added to the evidence that the +development of this latter must have been founded on +circumstances which existed from the twelfth to the end of the +fourteenth century; for the origin of tarantism itself is +referable, with the utmost probability, to a period between the +middle and the end of this century, and is consequently +contemporaneous with that of the St. Vitus’s dance +(1374). The influence of the Roman Catholic religion, +connected as this was, in the middle ages, with the pomp of +processions, with public exercises of penance, and with +innumerable practices which strongly excited the imaginations of +its votaries, certainly brought the mind to a very favourable +state for the reception of a nervous disorder. Accordingly, +so long as the doctrines of Christianity were blended with so +much mysticism, these unhallowed disorders prevailed to an +important extent, and even in our own days we find them +propagated with the greatest facility where the existence of +superstition produces the same effect, in more limited districts, +as it once did among whole nations. But this is not +all. Every country in Europe, and Italy perhaps more than +any other, was visited during the middle ages by frightful +plagues, which followed each other in such quick succession that +they gave the exhausted people scarcely any time for +recovery. The Oriental bubo-plague ravaged Italy sixteen +times between the years 1119 and 1340. Small-pox and +measles were still more destructive than in modern times, and +recurred as frequently. St. Anthony’s fire was the +dread of town and country; and that disgusting disease, the +leprosy, which, in consequence of the Crusades, spread its +insinuating poison in all directions, snatched from the paternal +hearth innumerable victims who, banished from human society, +pined away in lonely huts, whither they were accompanied only by +the pity of the benevolent and their own despair. All these +calamities, of which the moderns have scarcely retained any +recollection, were heightened to an incredible degree by the +Black Death, which spread boundless devastation and misery over +Italy. Men’s minds were everywhere morbidly +sensitive; and as it happened with individuals whose senses, when +they are suffering under anxiety, become more irritable, so that +trifles are magnified into objects of great alarm, and slight +shocks, which would scarcely affect the spirits when in health, +gave rise in them to severe diseases, so was it with this whole +nation, at all times so alive to emotions, and at that period so +sorely oppressed with the horrors of death.</p> +<p>The bite of venomous spiders, or rather the unreasonable fear +of its consequences, excited at such a juncture, though it could +not have done so at an earlier period, a violent nervous +disorder, which, like St. Vitus’s dance in Germany, spread +by sympathy, increasing in severity as it took a wider range, and +still further extending its ravages from its long +continuance. Thus, from the middle of the fourteenth +century, the furies of <i>the Dance</i> brandished their scourge +over afflicted mortals; and music, for which the inhabitants of +Italy, now probably for the first time, manifested susceptibility +and talent, became capable of exciting ecstatic attacks in those +affected, and then furnished the magical means of exorcising +their melancholy.</p> +<h4>SECT. 3—INCREASE</h4> +<p>At the close of the fifteenth century we find that tarantism +had spread beyond the boundaries of Apulia, and that the fear of +being bitten by venomous spiders had increased. Nothing +short of death itself was expected from the wound which these +insects inflicted, and if those who were bitten escaped with +their lives, they were said to be seen pining away in a +desponding state of lassitude. Many became weak-sighted or +hard of hearing, some lost the power of speech, and all were +insensible to ordinary causes of excitement. Nothing but +the flute or the cithern afforded them relief. At the sound +of these instruments they awoke as it were by enchantment, opened +their eyes, and moving slowly at first, according to the measure +of the music, were, as the time quickened, gradually hurried on +to the most passionate dance. It was generally observable +that country people, who were rude, and ignorant of music, +evinced on these occasions an unusual degree of grace, as if they +had been well practised in elegant movements of the body; for it +is a peculiarity in nervous disorders of this kind, that the +organs of motion are in an altered condition, and are completely +under the control of the over-strained spirits. Cities and +villages alike resounded throughout the summer season with the +notes of fifes, clarinets, and Turkish drums; and patients were +everywhere to be met with who looked to dancing as their only +remedy. Alexander ab Alexandro, who gives this account, saw +a young man in a remote village who was seized with a violent +attack of tarantism. He listened with eagerness and a fixed +stare to the sound of a drum, and his graceful movements +gradually became more and more violent, until his dancing was +converted into a succession of frantic leaps, which required the +utmost exertion of his whole strength. In the midst of this +over-strained exertion of mind and body the music suddenly +ceased, and he immediately fell powerless to the ground, where he +lay senseless and motionless until its magical effect again +aroused him to a renewal of his impassioned performances.</p> +<p>At the period of which we are treating there was a general +conviction, that by music and dancing the poison of the tarantula +was distributed over the whole body, and expelled through the +skin, but that if there remained the slightest vestige of it in +the vessels, this became a permanent germ of the disorder, so +that the dancing fits might again and again be excited ad +infinitum by music. This belief, which resembled the +delusion of those insane persons who, being by artful management +freed from the imagined causes of their sufferings, are but for a +short time released from their false notions, was attended with +the most injurious effects: for in consequence of it those +affected necessarily became by degrees convinced of the incurable +nature of their disorder. They expected relief, indeed, but +not a cure, from music; and when the heat of summer awakened a +recollection of the dances of the preceding year, they, like the +St. Vitus’s dancers of the same period before St. +Vitus’s day, again grew dejected and misanthropic, until, +by music and dancing, they dispelled the melancholy which had +become with them a kind of sensual enjoyment.</p> +<p>Under such favourable circumstances, it is clear that +tarantism must every year have made further progress. The +number of those affected by it increased beyond all belief, for +whoever had either actually been, or even fancied that he had +been, once bitten by a poisonous spider or scorpion, made his +appearance annually wherever the merry notes of the tarantella +resounded. Inquisitive females joined the throng and caught +the disease, not indeed from the poison of the spider, but from +the mental poison which they eagerly received through the eye; +and thus the cure of the tarantati gradually became established +as a regular festival of the populace, which was anticipated with +impatient delight.</p> +<p>Without attributing more to deception and fraud than to the +peculiar nature of a progressive mental malady, it may readily be +conceived that the cases of this strange disorder now grew more +frequent. The celebrated Matthioli, who is worthy of entire +confidence, gives his account as an eye-witness. He saw the +same extraordinary effects produced by music as Alexandro, for, +however tortured with pain, however hopeless of relief the +patients appeared, as they lay stretched on the couch of +sickness, at the very first sounds of those melodies which made +an impression on them—but this was the case only with the +tarantellas composed expressly for the purpose—they sprang +up as if inspired with new life and spirit, and, unmindful of +their disorder, began to move in measured gestures, dancing for +hour together without fatigue, until, covered with a kindly +perspiration, they felt a salutary degree of lassitude, which +relieved them for a time at least, perhaps even for a whole year, +from their defection and oppressive feeling of general +indisposition. Alexandro’s experience of the +injurious effects resulting from a sudden cessation of the music +was generally confirmed by Matthioli. If the clarinets and +drums ceased for a single moment, which, as the most skilful +payers were tired out by the patients, could not but happen +occasionally, they suffered their limbs to fall listless, again +sank exhausted to the ground, and could find no solace but in a +renewal of the dance. On this account care was taken to +continue the music until exhaustion was produced; for it was +better to pay a few extra musicians, who might relieve each +other, than to permit the patient, in the midst of this curative +exercise, to relapse into so deplorable a state of +suffering. The attack consequent upon the bite of the +tarantula, Matthioli describes as varying much in its +manner. Some became morbidly exhilarated, so that they +remained for a long while without sleep, laughing, dancing, and +singing in a state of the greatest excitement. Others, on +the contrary, were drowsy. The generality felt nausea and +suffered from vomiting, and some had constant tremors. +Complete mania was no uncommon occurrence, not to mention the +usual dejection of spirits and other subordinate symptoms.</p> +<h4>SECT. 4—IDIOSYNCRASIES—MUSIC</h4> +<p>Unaccountable emotions, strange desires, and morbid sensual +irritations of all kinds, were as prevalent as in the St. +Vitus’s dance and similar great nervous maladies. So +late as the sixteenth century patients were seen armed with +glittering swords which, during the attack, they brandished with +wild gestures, as if they were going to engage in a fencing +match. Even women scorned all female delicacy, and, +adopting this impassioned demeanour, did the same; and this +phenomenon, as well as the excitement which the tarantula dancers +felt at the sight of anything with metallic lustre, was quite +common up to the period when, in modern times, the disease +disappeared.</p> +<p>The abhorrence of certain colours, and the agreeable +sensations produced by others, were much more marked among the +excitable Italians than was the case in the St. Vitus’s +dance with the more phlegmatic Germans. Red colours, which +the St. Vitus’s dancers detested, they generally liked, so +that a patient was seldom seen who did not carry a red +handkerchief for his gratification, or greedily feast his eyes on +any articles of red clothing worn by the bystanders. Some +preferred yellow, others black colours, of which an explanation +was sought, according to the prevailing notions of the times, in +the difference of temperaments. Others, again, were +enraptured with green; and eye-witnesses describe this rage for +colours as so extraordinary, that they can scarcely find words +with which to express their astonishment. No sooner did the +patients obtain a sight of the favourite colour than, new as the +impression was, they rushed like infuriated animals towards the +object, devoured it with their eager looks, kissed and caressed +it in every possible way, and gradually resigning themselves to +softer sensations, adopted the languishing expression of +enamoured lovers, and embraced the handkerchief, or whatever +other article it might be, which was presented to them, with the +most intense ardour, while the tears streamed from their eyes as +if they were completely overwhelmed by the inebriating impression +on their senses.</p> +<p>The dancing fits of a certain Capuchin friar in Tarentum +excited so much curiosity, that Cardinal Cajetano proceeded to +the monastery, that he might see with his own eyes what was going +on. As soon as the monk, who was in the midst of his dance, +perceived the spiritual prince clothed in his red garments, he no +longer listened to the tarantella of the musicians, but with +strange gestures endeavoured to approach the Cardinal, as if he +wished to count the very threads of his scarlet robe, and to +allay his intense longing by its odour. The interference of +the spectators, and his own respect, prevented his touching it, +and thus the irritation of his senses not being appeased, he fell +into a state of such anguish and disquietude, that he presently +sank down in a swoon, from which he did not recover until the +Cardinal compassionately gave him his cape. This he +immediately seized in the greatest ecstasy, and pressed now to +his breast, now to his forehead and cheeks, and then again +commenced his dance as if in the frenzy of a love fit.</p> +<p>At the sight of colours which they disliked, patients flew +into the most violent rage, and, like the St. Vitus’s +dancers when they saw red objects, could scarcely be restrained +from tearing the clothes of those spectators who raised in them +such disagreeable sensations.</p> +<p>Another no less extraordinary symptom was the ardent longing +for the sea which the patients evinced. As the St. +John’s dancers of the fourteenth century saw, in the +spirit, the heavens open and display all the splendour of the +saints, so did those who were suffering under the bite of the +tarantula feel themselves attracted to the boundless expanse of +the blue ocean, and lost themselves in its contemplation. +Some songs, which are still preserved, marked this peculiar +longing, which was moreover expressed by significant music, and +was excited even by the bare mention of the sea. Some, in +whom this susceptibility was carried to the greatest pitch, cast +themselves with blind fury into the blue waves, as the St. +Vitus’s dancers occasionally did into rapid rivers. +This condition, so opposite to the frightful state of +hydrophobia, betrayed itself in others only in the pleasure +afforded them by the sight of clear water in glasses. These +they bore in their hands while dancing, exhibiting at the same +time strange movements, and giving way to the most extravagant +expressions of their feeling. They were delighted also +when, in the midst of the space allotted for this exercise, more +ample vessels, filled with water, and surrounded by rushes and +water plants, were placed, in which they bathed their heads and +arms with evident pleasure. Others there were who rolled +about on the ground, and were, by their own desire, buried up to +the neck in the earth, in order to alleviate the misery of their +condition; not to mention an endless variety of other symptoms +which showed the perverted action of the nerves.</p> +<p>All these modes of relief, however, were as nothing in +comparison with the irresistible charms of musical sound. +Attempts had indeed been made in ancient times to mitigate the +pain of sciatica, or the paroxysms of mania, by the soft melody +of the flute, and, what is still more applicable to the present +purpose, to remove the danger arising from the bite of vipers by +the same means. This, however, was tried only to a very +small extent. But after being bitten by the tarantula, +there was, according to popular opinion, no way of saving life +except by music; and it was hardly considered as an exception to +the general rule, that every now and then the bad effects of a +wound were prevented by placing a ligature on the bitten limb, or +by internal medicine, or that strong persons occasionally +withstood the effects of the poison, without the employment of +any remedies at all. It was much more common, and is quite +in accordance with the nature of so exquisite a nervous disease, +to hear accounts of many who, when bitten by the tarantula, +perished miserably because the tarantella, which would have +afforded them deliverance, was not played to them. It was +customary, therefore, so early as the commencement of the +seventeenth century, for whole bands of musicians to traverse +Italy during the summer months, and, what is quite unexampled +either in ancient or modern times, the cure of the Tarantati in +the different towns and villages was undertaken on a grand +scale. This season of dancing and music was called +“the women’s little carnival,” for it was women +more especially who conducted the arrangements; so that +throughout the whole country they saved up their spare money, for +the purpose of rewarding the welcome musicians, and many of them +neglected their household employments to participate in this +festival of the sick. Mention is even made of one +benevolent lady (Mita Lupa) who had expended her whole fortune on +this object.</p> +<p>The music itself was of a kind perfectly adapted to the nature +of the malady, and it made so deep an impression on the Italians, +that even to the present time, long since the extinction of the +disorder, they have retained the tarantella, as a particular +species of music employed for quick, lively dancing. The +different kinds of tarantella were distinguished, very +significantly, by particular names, which had reference to the +moods observed in the patients. Whence it appears that they +aimed at representing by these tunes even the idiosyncrasies of +the mind as expressed in the countenance. Thus there was +one kind of tarantella which was called “Panno +rosso,” a very lively, impassioned style of music, to which +wild dithyrambic songs were adapted; another, called “Panno +verde,” which was suited to the milder excitement of the +senses caused by green colours, and set to Idyllian songs of +verdant fields and shady groves. A third was named +“Cinque tempi:” a fourth “Moresca,” which +was played to a Moorish dance; a fifth, “Catena;” and +a sixth, with a very appropriate designation, +“Spallata,” as if it were only fit to be played to +dancers who were lame in the shoulder. This was the slowest +and least in vogue of all. For those who loved water they +took care to select love songs, which were sung to corresponding +music, and such persons delighted in hearing of gushing springs +and rushing cascades and streams. It is to be regretted +that on this subject we are unable to give any further +information, for only small fragments of songs, and a very few +tarantellas, have been preserved which belong to a period so +remote as the beginning of the seventeenth, or at furthest the +end of the sixteenth century.</p> +<p>The music was almost wholly in the Turkish style (aria +Turchesca), and the ancient songs of the peasantry of Apulia, +which increased in number annually, were well suited to the +abrupt and lively notes of the Turkish drum and the +shepherd’s pipe. These two instruments were the +favourites in the country, but others of all kinds were played in +towns and villages, as an accompaniment to the dances of the +patients and the songs of the spectators. If any particular +melody was disliked by those affected, they indicated their +displeasure by violent gestures expressive of aversion. +They could not endure false notes, and it is remarkable that +uneducated boors, who had never in their lives manifested any +perception of the enchanting power of harmony, acquired, in this +respect, an extremely refined sense of hearing, as if they had +been initiated into the profoundest secrets of the musical +art. It was a matter of every day’s experience, that +patients showed a predilection for certain tarantellas, in +preference to others, which gave rise to the composition of a +great variety of these dances. They were likewise very +capricious in their partialities for particular instruments; so +that some longed for the shrill notes of the trumpet, others for +the softest music produced by the vibration of strings.</p> +<p>Tarantism was at its greatest height in Italy in the +seventeenth century, long after the St. Vitus’s Dance of +Germany had disappeared. It was not the natives of the +country only who were attacked by this complaint. +Foreigners of every colour and of every race, negroes, gipsies, +Spaniards, Albanians, were in like manner affected by it. +Against the effects produced by the tarantula’s bite, or by +the sight of the sufferers, neither youth nor age afforded any +protection; so that even old men of ninety threw aside their +crutches at the sound of the tarantella, and, as if some magic +potion, restorative of youth and vigour, were flowing through +their veins, joined the most extravagant dancers. +Ferdinando saw a boy five years old seized with the dancing +mania, in consequence of the bite of a tarantula, and, what is +almost past belief, were it not supported by the testimony of so +credible an eye-witness, even deaf people were not exempt from +this disorder, so potent in its effect was the very sight of +those affected, even without the exhilarating emotions caused by +music.</p> +<p>Subordinate nervous attacks were much more frequent during +this century than at any former period, and an extraordinary icy +coldness was observed in those who were the subject of them; so +that they did not recover their natural heat until they had +engaged in violent dancing. Their anguish and sense of +oppression forced from them a cold perspiration; the secretion +from the kidneys was pale, and they had so great a dislike to +everything cold, that when water was offered them they pushed it +away with abhorrence. Wine, on the contrary, they all drank +willingly, without being heated by it, or in the slightest degree +intoxicated. During the whole period of the attack they +suffered from spasms in the stomach, and felt a disinclination to +take food of any kind. They used to abstain some time +before the expected seizures from meat and from snails, which +they thought rendered them more severe, and their great thirst +for wine may therefore in some measure be attributable to the +want of a more nutritious diet; yet the disorder of the nerves +was evidently its chief cause, and the loss of appetite, as well +as the necessity for support by wine, were its effects. +Loss of voice, occasional blindness, vertigo, complete insanity, +with sleeplessness, frequent weeping without any ostensible +cause, were all usual symptoms. Many patients found relief +from being placed in swings or rocked in cradles; others required +to be roused from their state of suffering by severe blows on the +soles of their feet; others beat themselves, without any +intention of making a display, but solely for the purpose of +allaying the intense nervous irritation which they felt; and a +considerable number were seen with their bellies swollen, like +those of the St. John’s dancers, while the violence of the +intestinal disorder was indicated in others by obstinate +constipation or diarrhoea and vomiting. These pitiable +objects gradually lost their strength and their colour, and +creeping about with injected eyes, jaundiced complexions, and +inflated bowels, soon fell into a state of profound melancholy, +which found food and solace in the solemn tolling of the funeral +bell, and in an abode among the tombs of cemeteries, as is +related of the Lycanthropes of former times.</p> +<p>The persuasion of the inevitable consequences of being bitten +by the tarantula, exercised a dominion over men’s minds +which even the healthiest and strongest could not shake +off. So late as the middle of the sixteenth century, the +celebrated Fracastoro found the robust bailiff of his landed +estate groaning, and, with the aspect of a person in the +extremity of despair, suffering the very agonies of death from a +sting in the neck, inflicted by an insect which was believed to +be a tarantula. He kindly administered without delay a +potion of vinegar and Armenian bole, the great remedy of those +days for the plague of all kinds of animal poisons, and the dying +man was, as if by a miracle, restored to life and the power of +speech. Now, since it is quite out of the question that the +bole could have anything to do with the result in this case, +notwithstanding Fracastoro’s belief in its virtues, we can +only account for the cure by supposing, that a confidence in so +great a physician prevailed over this fatal disease of the +imagination, which would otherwise have yielded to scarcely any +other remedy except the tarantella. Ferdinando was +acquainted with women who, for thirty years in succession, had +overcome the attacks of this disorder by a renewal of their +annual dance—so long did they maintain their belief in the +yet undestroyed poison of the tarantula’s bite, and so long +did that mental affection continue to exist, after it had ceased +to depend on any corporeal excitement.</p> +<p>Wherever we turn, we find that this morbid state of mind +prevailed, and was so supported by the opinions of the age, that +it needed only a stimulus in the bite of the tarantula, and the +supposed certainty of its very disastrous consequences, to +originate this violent nervous disorder. Even in +Ferdinando’s time there were many who altogether denied the +poisonous effects of the tarantula’s bite, whilst they +considered the disorder, which annually set Italy in commotion, +to be a melancholy depending on the imagination. They +dearly expiated this scepticism, however, when they were led, +with an inconsiderate hardihood, to test their opinions by +experiment; for many of them became the subjects of severe +tarantism, and even a distinguished prelate, Jo. Baptist +Quinzato, Bishop of Foligno, having allowed himself, by way of a +joke, to be bitten by a tarantula, could obtain a cure in no +other way than by being, through the influence of the tarantella, +compelled to dance. Others among the clergy, who wished to +shut their ears against music, because they considered dancing +derogatory to their station, fell into a dangerous state of +illness by thus delaying the crisis of the malady, and were +obliged at last to save themselves from a miserable death by +submitting to the unwelcome but sole means of cure. Thus it +appears that the age was so little favourable to freedom of +thought, that even the most decided sceptics, incapable of +guarding themselves against the recollection of what had been +presented to the eye, were subdued by a poison, the powers of +which they had ridiculed, and which was in itself inert in its +effect.</p> +<h4>SECT. 5—HYSTERIA</h4> +<p>Different characteristics of the morbidly excited vitality +having been rendered prominent by tarantism in different +individuals, it could not but happen that other derangements of +the nerves would assume the form of this whenever circumstances +favoured such a transition. This was more especially the +case with hysteria, that proteiform and mutable disorder, in +which the imaginations, the superstitions, and the follies of all +ages have been evidently reflected. The “Carnevaletto +delle Donne” appeared most opportunely for those who were +hysterical. Their disease received from it, as it had at +other times from other extraordinary customs, a peculiar +direction; so that, whether bitten by the tarantula or not, they +felt compelled to participate in the dances of those affected, +and to make their appearance at this popular festival, where they +had an opportunity of triumphantly exhibiting their +sufferings. Let us here pause to consider the kind of life +which the women in Italy led. Lonely, and deprived by cruel +custom of social intercourse, that fairest of all enjoyments, +they dragged on a miserable existence. Cheerfulness and an +inclination to sensual pleasures passed into compulsory idleness, +and, in many, into black despondency. Their imaginations +became disordered—a pallid countenance and oppressed +respiration bore testimony to their profound sufferings. +How could they do otherwise, sunk as they were in such extreme +misery, than seize the occasion to burst forth from their prisons +and alleviate their miseries by taking part in the delights of +music? Nor should we here pass unnoticed a circumstance +which illustrates, in a remarkable degree, the psychological +nature of hysterical sufferings, namely, that many chlorotic +females, by joining the dancers at the Carnevaletto, were freed +from their spasms and oppression of breathing for the whole year, +although the corporeal cause of their malady was not +removed. After such a result, no one could call their +self-deception a mere imposture, and unconditionally condemn it +as such.</p> +<p>This numerous class of patients certainly contributed not a +little to the maintenance of the evil, for their fantastic +sufferings, in which dissimulation and reality could scarcely be +distinguished even by themselves, much less by their physicians, +were imitated in the same way as the distortions of the St. +Vitus’s dancers by the impostors of that period. It +was certainly by these persons also that the number of +subordinate symptoms was increased to an endless extent, as may +be conceived from the daily observation of hysterical patients +who, from a morbid desire to render themselves remarkable, +deviate from the laws of moral propriety. Powerful sexual +excitement had often the most decided influence over their +condition. Many of them exposed themselves in the most +indecent manner, tore their hair out by the roots, with howling +and gnashing of their teeth; and when, as was sometimes the case, +their unsatisfied passion hurried them on to a state of frenzy, +they closed their existence by self destruction; it being common +at that time for these unfortunate beings to precipitate +themselves into the wells.</p> +<p>It might hence seem that, owing to the conduct of patients of +this description, so much of fraud and falsehood would be mixed +up with the original disorder that, having passed into another +complaint, it must have been itself destroyed. This, +however, did not happen in the first half of the seventeenth +century; for, as a clear proof that tarantism remained +substantially the same and quite unaffected by hysteria, there +were in many places, and in particular at Messapia, fewer women +affected than men, who, in their turn, were in no small +proportion led into temptation by sexual excitement. In +other places, as, for example, at Brindisi, the case was +reversed, which may, as in other complaints, be in some measure +attributable to local causes. Upon the whole it appears, +from concurrent accounts, that women by no means enjoyed the +distinction of being attacked by tarantism more frequently than +men.</p> +<p>It is said that the cicatrix of the tarantula bite, on the +yearly or half-yearly return of the fit, became discoloured, but +on this point the distinct testimony of good observers is wanting +to deprive the assertion of its utter improbability.</p> +<p>It is not out of place to remark here that, about the same +time that tarantism attained its greatest height in Italy, the +bite of venomous spiders was more feared in distant parts of Asia +likewise than it had ever been within the memory of man. +There was this difference, however—that the symptoms +supervening on the occurrence of this accident were not +accompanied by the Apulian nervous disorder, which, as has been +shown in the foregoing pages, had its origin rather in the +melancholic temperament of the inhabitants of the south of Italy +than in the nature of the tarantula poison itself. This +poison is therefore, doubtless, to be considered only as a remote +cause of the complaint, which, but for that temperament, would be +inadequate to its production. The Persians employed a very +rough means of counteracting the bad consequences of a poison of +this sort. They drenched the wounded person with milk, and +then, by a violent rotatory motion in a suspended box, compelled +him to vomit.</p> +<h4>SECT. 6—DECREASE</h4> +<p>The Dancing Mania, arising from the tarantula bite, continued +with all those additions of self-deception and of the +dissimulation which is such a constant attendant on nervous +disorders of this kind, through the whole course of the +seventeenth century. It was indeed, gradually on the +decline, but up to the termination of this period showed such +extraordinary symptoms that Baglivi, one of the best physicians +of that time, thought he did a service to science by making them +the subject of a dissertation. He repeats all the +observations of Ferdinando, and supports his own assertions by +the experience of his father, a physician at Lecce, whose +testimony, as an eye-witness, may be admitted as +unexceptionable.</p> +<p>The immediate consequences of the tarantula bite, the +supervening nervous disorder, and the aberrations and fits of +those who suffered from hysteria, he describes in a masterly +style, not does he ever suffer his credulity to diminish the +authenticity of his account, of which he has been unjustly +accused by later writers.</p> +<p>Finally, tarantism has declined more and more in modern times, +and is now limited to single cases. How could it possibly +have maintained itself unchanged in the eighteenth century, when +all the links which connected it with the Middle Ages had long +since been snapped asunder? Imposture grew more frequent, +and wherever the disease still appeared in its genuine form, its +chief cause, namely, a peculiar cast of melancholy, which +formerly had been the temperament of thousands, was now possessed +only occasionally by unfortunate individuals. It might, +therefore, not unreasonably be maintained that the tarantism of +modern times bears nearly the same relation to the original +malady as the St. Vitus’s dance which still exists, and +certainly has all along existed, bears, in certain cases, to the +original dancing mania of the dancers of St. John.</p> +<p>To conclude. Tarantism, as a real disease, has been +denied in toto, and stigmatised as an imposition by most +physicians and naturalists, who in this controversy have shown +the narrowness of their views and their utter ignorance of +history. In order to support their opinion they have +instituted some experiments apparently favourable to it, but +under circumstances altogether inapplicable, since, for the most +part, they selected as the subjects of them none but healthy men, +who were totally uninfluenced by a belief in this once so dreaded +disease. From individual instances of fraud and +dissimulation, such as are found in connection with most nervous +affections without rendering their reality a matter of any doubt, +they drew a too hasty conclusion respecting the general +phenomenon, of which they appeared not to know that it had +continued for nearly four hundred years, having originated in the +remotest periods of the Middle Ages. The most learned and +the most acute among these sceptics is Serao the +Neapolitan. His reasonings amount to this, that he +considers the disease to be a very marked form of melancholia, +and compares the effect of the tarantula bite upon it to +stimulating with spurs a horse which is already running. +The reality of that effect he thus admits, and, therefore, +directly confirms what in appearance only he denies. By +shaking the already vacillating belief in this disorder he is +said to have actually succeeded in rendering it less frequent, +and in setting bounds to imposture; but this no more disproves +the reality of its existence than the oft repeated detection of +imposition has been able in modern times to banish magnetic sleep +from the circle of natural phenomena, though such detection has, +on its side, rendered more rare the incontestable effects of +animal magnetism. Other physicians and naturalists have +delivered their sentiments on tarantism, but as they have not +possessed an enlarged knowledge of its history their views do not +merit particular exposition. It is sufficient for the +comprehension of everyone that we have presented the facts from +all extraneous speculation.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER III—THE DANCING MANIA IN ABYSSINIA</h3> +<h4>SECT. 1—TIGRETIER</h4> +<p>Both the St. Vitus’s dance and tarantism belonged to the +ages in which they appeared. They could not have existed +under the same latitude at any other epoch, for at no other +period were the circumstances which prepared the way for them +combined in a similar relation to each other, and the mental as +well as corporeal temperaments of nations, which depend on causes +such as have been stated, are as little capable of renewal as the +different stages of life in individuals. This gives so much +the more importance to a disease but cursorily alluded to in the +foregoing pages, which exists in Abyssinia, and which nearly +resembles the original mania of the St. John’s dancers, +inasmuch as it exhibits a perfectly similar ecstasy, with the +same violent effect on the nerves of motion. It occurs most +frequently in the Tigre country, being thence call Tigretier, and +is probably the same malady which is called in Ethiopian language +Astaragaza. On this subject we will introduce the testimony +of Nathaniel Pearce, an eye-witness, who resided nine years in +Abyssinia. “The Tigretier,” he says he, +“is more common among the women than among the men. +It seizes the body as if with a violent fever, and from that +turns to a lingering sickness, which reduces the patients to +skeletons, and often kills them if the relations cannot procure +the proper remedy. During this sickness their speech is +changed to a kind of stuttering, which no one can understand but +those afflicted with the same disorder. When the relations +find the malady to be the real tigretier, they join together to +defray the expense of curing it; the first remedy they in general +attempt is to procure the assistance of a learned Dofter, who +reads the Gospel of St. John, and drenches the patient with cold +water daily for the space of seven days, an application that very +often proves fatal. The most effectual cure, though far +more expensive than the former, is as follows:—The +relations hire for a certain sum of money a band of trumpeters, +drummers, and fifers, and buy a quantity of liquor; then all the +young men and women of the place assemble at the patient’s +house to perform the following most extraordinary ceremony.</p> +<p>“I was once called in by a neighbour to see his wife, a +very young woman, who had the misfortune to be afflicted with +this disorder; and the man being an old acquaintance of mine, and +always a close comrade in the camp, I went every day, when at +home, to see her, but I could not be of any service to her, +though she never refused my medicines. At this time I could +not understand a word she said, although she talked very freely, +nor could any of her relations understand her. She could +not bear the sight of a book or a priest, for at the sight of +either she struggled, and was apparently seized with acute agony, +and a flood of tears, like blood mingled with water, would pour +down her face from her eyes. She had lain three months in +this lingering state, living upon so little that it seemed not +enough to keep a human body alive; at last her husband agreed to +employ the usual remedy, and, after preparing for the maintenance +of the band during the time it would take to effect the cure, he +borrowed from all his neighbours their silver ornaments, and +loaded her legs, arms and neck with them.</p> +<p>“The evening that the band began to play I seated myself +close by her side as she lay upon the couch, and about two +minutes after the trumpets had begun to sound I observed her +shoulders begin to move, and soon afterwards her head and breast, +and in less than a quarter of an hour she sat upon her +couch. The wild look she had, though sometimes she smiled, +made me draw off to a greater distance, being almost alarmed to +see one nearly a skeleton move with such strength; her head, +neck, shoulders, hands and feet all made a strong motion to the +sound of the music, and in this manner she went on by degrees, +until she stood up on her legs upon the floor. Afterwards +she began to dance, and at times to jump about, and at last, as +the music and noise of the singers increased, she often sprang +three feet from the ground. When the music slackened she +would appear quite out of temper, but when it became louder she +would smile and be delighted. During this exercise she +never showed the least symptom of being tired, though the +musicians were thoroughly exhausted; and when they stopped to +refresh themselves by drinking and resting a little she would +discover signs of discontent.</p> +<p>“Next day, according to the custom in the cure of this +disorder, she was taken into the market-place, where several jars +of maize or tsug were set in order by the relations, to give +drink to the musicians and dancers. When the crowd had +assembled, and the music was ready, she was brought forth and +began to dance and throw herself into the maddest postures +imaginable, and in this manner she kept on the whole day. +Towards evening she began to let fall her silver ornaments from +her neck, arms, and legs, one at a time, so that in the course of +three hours she was stripped of every article. A relation +continually kept going after her as she danced, to pick up the +ornaments, and afterwards delivered them to the owners from whom +they were borrowed. As the sun went down she made a start +with such swiftness that the fastest runner could not come up +with her, and when at the distance of about two hundred yards she +dropped on a sudden as if shot. Soon afterwards a young +man, on coming up with her, fired a matchlock over her body, and +struck her upon the back with the broad side of his large knife, +and asked her name, to which she answered as when in her common +senses—a sure proof of her being cured; for during the time +of this malady those afflicted with it never answer to their +Christian names. She was now taken up in a very weak +condition and carried home, and a priest came and baptised her +again in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, which +ceremony concluded her cure. Some are taken in this manner +to the market-place for many days before they can be cured, and +it sometimes happens that they cannot be cured at all. I +have seen them in these fits dance with a <i>bruly</i>, or bottle +of maize, upon their heads without spilling the liquor, or +letting the bottle fall, although they have put themselves into +the most extravagant postures.</p> +<p>“I could not have ventured to write this from hearsay, +nor could I conceive it possible, until I was obliged to put this +remedy in practice upon my own wife, who was seized with the same +disorder, and then I was compelled to have a still nearer view of +this strange disorder. I at first thought that a whip would +be of some service, and one day attempted a few strokes when +unnoticed by any person, we being by ourselves, and I having a +strong suspicion that this ailment sprang from the weak minds of +women, who were encouraged in it for the sake of the grandeur, +rich dress, and music which accompany the cure. But how +much was I surprised, the moment I struck a light blow, thinking +to do good, to find that she became like a corpse, and even the +joints of her fingers became so stiff that I could not straighten +them; indeed, I really thought that she was dead, and immediately +made it known to the people in the house that she had fainted, +but did not tell them the cause, upon which they immediately +brought music, which I had for many days denied them, and which +soon revived her; and I then left the house to her relations to +cure her at my expense, in the manner I have before mentioned, +though it took a much longer time to cure my wife than the woman +I have just given an account of. One day I went privately, +with a companion, to see my wife dance, and kept at a short +distance, as I was ashamed to go near the crowd. On looking +steadfastly upon her, while dancing or jumping, more like a deer +than a human being, I said that it certainly was not my wife; at +which my companion burst into a fit of laughter, from which he +could scarcely refrain all the way home. Men are sometimes +afflicted with this dreadful disorder, but not frequently. +Among the Amhara and Galla it is not so common.”</p> +<p>Such is the account of Pearce, who is every way worthy of +credit, and whose lively description renders the traditions of +former times respecting the St. Vitus’s dance and tarantism +intelligible, even to those who are sceptical respecting the +existence of a morbid state of the mind and body of the kind +described, because, in the present advanced state of civilisation +among the nations of Europe, opportunities for its development no +longer occur. The credibility of this energetic but by no +means ambitious man is not liable to the slightest suspicion, +for, owing to his want of education, he had no knowledge of the +phenomena in question, and his work evinces throughout his +attractive and unpretending impartiality.</p> +<p>Comparison is the mother of observation, and may here +elucidate one phenomenon by another—the past by that which +still exists. Oppression, insecurity, and the influence of +a very rude priestcraft, are the powerful causes which operated +on the Germans and Italians of the Middle Ages, as they now +continue to operate on the Abyssinians of the present day. +However these people may differ from us in their descent, their +manners and their customs, the effects of the above mentioned +causes are the same in Africa as they were in Europe, for they +operate on man himself independently of the particular locality +in which he may be planted; and the conditions of the Abyssinians +of modern times is, in regard to superstition, a mirror of the +condition of the European nations of the middle ages. +Should this appear a bold assertion it will be strengthened by +the fact that in Abyssinia two examples of superstitions occur +which are completely in accordance with occurrences of the Middle +Ages that took place contemporarily with the dancing mania. +<i>The Abyssinians have their Christian flagellants, and there +exists among them a belief in a Zoomorphism, which presents a +lively image of the lycanthropy of the Middle Ages</i>. +Their flagellants are called Zackarys. They are united into +a separate Christian fraternity, and make their processions +through the towns and villages with great noise and tumult, +scourging themselves till they draw blood, and wounding +themselves with knives. They boast that they are +descendants of St. George. It is precisely in Tigre, the +country of the Abyssinian dancing mania, where they are found in +the greatest numbers, and where they have, in the neighbourhood +of Axum, a church of their own, dedicated to their patron saint, +<i>Oun Arvel</i>. Here there is an ever-burning lamp, and +they contrive to impress a belief that this is kept alight by +supernatural means. They also here keep a holy water, which +is said to be a cure for those who are affected by the dancing +mania.</p> +<p>The Abyssinian Zoomorphism is a no less important phenomenon, +and shows itself a manner quite peculiar. The blacksmiths +and potters form among the Abyssinians a society or caste called +in Tigre <i>Tebbib</i>, and in Amhara <i>Buda</i>, which is held +in some degree of contempt, and excluded from the sacrament of +the Lord’s Supper, because it is believed that they can +change themselves into hyænas and other beasts of prey, on +which account they are feared by everybody, and regarded with +horror. They artfully contrive to keep up this +superstition, because by this separation they preserve a monopoly +of their lucrative trades, and as in other respects they are good +Christians (but few Jews or Mahomedans live among them), they +seem to attach no great consequence to their +excommunication. As a badge of distinction they wear a +golden ear-ring, which is frequently found in the ears of +Hyænas that are killed, without its having ever been +discovered how they catch these animals, so as to decorate them +with this strange ornament, and this removes in the minds of the +people all doubt as to the supernatural powers of the smiths and +potters. To the Budas is also ascribed the gift of +enchantment, especially that of the influence of the evil +eye. They nevertheless live unmolested, and are not +condemned to the flames by fanatical priests, as the lycanthropes +were in the Middle Ages.</p> +<h3>CHAPTER IV—SYMPATHY</h3> +<p>Imitation—compassion—sympathy, these are imperfect +designations for a common bond of union among human +beings—for an instinct which connects individuals with the +general body, which embraces with equal force reason and folly, +good and evil, and diminishes the praise of virtue as well as the +criminality of vice. In this impulse there are degrees, but +no essential differences, from the first intellectual efforts of +the infant mind, which are in a great measure based on imitation, +to that morbid condition of the soul in which the sensible +impression of a nervous malady fetters the mind, and finds its +way through the eye directly to the diseased texture, as the +electric shock is propagated by contact from body to body. +To this instinct of imitation, when it exists in its highest +degree, is united a loss of all power over the will, which occurs +as soon as the impression on the senses has become firmly +established, producing a condition like that of small animals +when they are fascinated by the look of a serpent. By this +mental bondage morbid sympathy is clearly and definitely +distinguished from all subordinate degrees of this instinct, +however closely allied the imitation of a disorder may seem to be +to that of a mere folly, of an absurd fashion, of an awkward +habit in speech and manner, or even of a confusion of +ideas. Even these latter imitations, however, directed as +they are to foolish and pernicious objects, place the +self-independence of the greater portion of mankind in a very +doubtful light, and account for their union into a social +whole. Still more nearly allied to morbid sympathy than the +imitation of enticing folly, although often with a considerable +admixture of the latter, is the diffusion of violent excitements, +especially those of a religious or political character, which +have so powerfully agitated the nations of ancient and modern +times, and which may, after an incipient compliance, pass into a +total loss of power over the will, and an actual disease of the +mind. Far be it from us to attempt to awaken all the +various tones of this chord, whose vibrations reveal the profound +secrets which lie hid in the inmost recesses of the soul. +We might well want powers adequate to so vast an +undertaking. Our business here is only with that morbid +sympathy by the aid of which the dancing mania of the Middle Ages +grew into a real epidemic. In order to make this apparent +by comparison, it may not be out of place, at the close of this +inquiry, to introduce a few striking examples:—</p> +<p>1. “At a cotton manufactory at Hodden Bridge, in +Lancashire, a girl, on the fifteenth of February, 1787, put a +mouse into the bosom of another girl, who had a great dread of +mice. The girl was immediately thrown into a fit, and +continued in it, with the most violent convulsions, for +twenty-four hours. On the following day three more girls +were seized in the same manner, and on the 17th six more. +By this time the alarm was so great that the whole work, in which +200 or 300 were employed, was totally stopped, and an idea +prevailed that a particular disease had been introduced by a bag +of cotton opened in the house. On Sunday the 18th, Dr. St. +Clare was sent for from Preston; before he arrived three more +were seized, and during that night and the morning of the 19th, +eleven more, making in all twenty-four. Of these, +twenty-one were young women, two were girls of about ten years of +age, and one man, who had been much fatigued with holding the +girls. Three of the number lived about two miles from the +place where the disorder first broke out, and three at another +factory at Clitheroe, about five miles distant, which last and +two more were infected entirely from report, not having seen the +other patients, but, like them and the rest of the country, +strongly impressed with the idea of the plague being caught from +the cotton. The symptoms were anxiety, strangulation, and +very strong convulsions; and these were so violent as to last +without any intermission from a quarter of an hour to twenty-four +hours, and to require four or five persons to prevent the +patients from tearing their hair and dashing their heads against +the floor or walls. Dr. St. Clare had taken with him a +portable electrical machine, and by electric shocks the patients +were universally relieved without exception. As soon as the +patients and the country were assured that the complaint was +merely nervous, easily cured, and not introduced by the cotton, +no fresh person was affected. To dissipate their +apprehensions still further, the best effects were obtained by +causing them to take a cheerful glass and join in a dance. +On Tuesday the 20th, they danced, and the next day were all at +work, except two or three, who were much weakened by their +fits.”</p> +<p>The occurrence here described is remarkable on this account, +that there was no important predisposing cause for convulsions in +these young women, unless we consider as such their miserable and +confined life in the work-rooms of a spinning manufactory. +It did not arise from enthusiasm, nor is it stated that the +patients had been the subject of any other nervous +disorders. In another perfectly analogous case, those +attacked were all suffering from nervous complaints, which roused +a morbid sympathy in them at the sight of a person seized with +convulsions. This, together with the supervention of +hysterical fits, may aptly enough be compared to tarantism.</p> +<p>2. “A young woman of the lowest order, twenty-one +years of age, and of a strong frame, came on the 13th of January, +1801, to visit a patient in the Charité Hospital at +Berlin, where she had herself been previously under treatment for +an inflammation of the chest with tetanic spasms, and immediately +on entering the ward, fell down in strong convulsions. At +the sight of her violent contortions six other female patients +immediately became affected in the same way, and by degrees eight +more were in like manner attacked with strong convulsions. +All these patients were from sixteen to twenty-five years of age, +and suffered without exception, one from spasms in the stomach, +another from palsy, a third from lethargy, a fourth from fits +with consciousness, a fifth from catalepsy, a sixth from syncope, +&c. The convulsions, which alternated in various ways +with tonic spasms, were accompanied by loss of sensibility, and +were invariably preceded by languor with heavy sleep, which was +followed by the fits in the course of a minute or two; and it is +remarkable that in all these patients their former nervous +disorders, not excepting paralysis, disappeared, returning, +however, after the subsequent removal of their new +complaint. The treatment, during the course of which two of +the nurses, who were young women, suffered similar attacks, was +continued for four months. It was finally successful, and +consisted principally in the administration of opium, at that +time the favourite remedy.”</p> +<p>Now every species of enthusiasm, every strong affection, every +violent passion, may lead to convulsions—to mental +disorders—to a concussion of the nerves, from the sensorium +to the very finest extremities of the spinal chord. The +whole world is full of examples of this afflicting state of +turmoil, which, when the mind is carried away by the force of a +sensual impression that destroys its freedom, is irresistibly +propagated by imitation. Those who are thus infected do not +spare even their own lives, but as a hunted flock of sheep will +follow their leader and rush over a precipice, so will whole +hosts of enthusiasts, deluded by their infatuation, hurry on to a +self-inflicted death. Such has ever been the case, from the +days of the Milesian virgins to the modern associations for +self-destruction. Of all enthusiastic infatuations, +however, that of religion is the most fertile in disorders of the +mind as well as of the body, and both spread with the greatest +facility by sympathy. The history of the Church furnishes +innumerable proofs of this, but we need go no further than the +most recent times.</p> +<p>3. In a methodist chapel at Redruth, a man during divine +service cried out with a loud voice, “What shall I do to be +saved?” at the same time manifesting the greatest +uneasiness and solicitude respecting the condition of his +soul. Some other members of the congregation, following his +example, cried out in the same form of words, and seemed shortly +after to suffer the most excruciating bodily pain. This +strange occurrence was soon publicly known, and hundreds of +people who had come thither, either attracted by curiosity or a +desire from other motives to see the sufferers, fell into the +same state. The chapel remained open for some days and +nights, and from that point the new disorder spread itself, with +the rapidity of lightning, over the neighbouring towns of +Camborne, Helston, Truro, Penryn and Falmouth, as well as over +the villages in the vicinity. Whilst thus advancing, it +decreased in some measure at the place where it had first +appeared, and it confined itself throughout to the Methodist +chapels. It was only by the words which have been mentioned +that it was excited, and it seized none but people of the lowest +education. Those who were attacked betrayed the greatest +anguish, and fell into convulsions; others cried out, like +persons possessed, that the Almighty would straightway pour out +His wrath upon them, that the wailings of tormented spirits rang +in their ears, and that they saw hell open to receive them. +The clergy, when in the course of their sermons they perceived +that persons were thus seized, earnestly exhorted them to confess +their sins, and zealously endeavoured to convince them that they +were by nature enemies to Christ; that the anger of God had +therefore fallen upon them; and that if death should surprise +them in the midst of their sins the eternal torments of hell +would be their portion. The over-excited congregation upon +this repeated their words, which naturally must have increased +the fury of their convulsive attacks. When the discourse +had produced its full effect the preacher changed his subject; +reminded those who were suffering of the power of the Saviour, as +well as of the grace of God, and represented to them in glowing +colours the joys of heaven. Upon this a remarkable reaction +sooner or later took place. Those who were in convulsions +felt themselves raised from the lowest depths of misery and +despair to the most exalted bliss, and triumphantly shouted out +that their bonds were loosed, their sins were forgiven, and that +they were translated to the wonderful freedom of the children of +God. In the meantime their convulsions continued, and they +remained during this condition so abstracted from every earthly +thought that they stayed two and sometimes three days and nights +together in the chapels, agitated all the time by spasmodic +movements, and taking neither repose nor nourishment. +According to a moderate computation, 4,000 people were, within a +very short time, affected with this convulsive malady.</p> +<p>The course and symptoms of the attacks were in general as +follows:—There came on at first a feeling of faintness, +with rigour and a sense of weight at the pit of the stomach, soon +after which the patient cried out, as if in the agonies of death +or the pains of labour. The convulsions then began, first +showing themselves in the muscles of the eyelids, though the eyes +themselves were fixed and staring. The most frightful +contortions of the countenance followed, and the convulsions now +took their course downwards, so that the muscles of the neck and +trunk were affected, causing a sobbing respiration, which was +performed with great effort. Tremors and agitation ensued, +and the patients screamed out violently, and tossed their heads +about from side to side. As the complaint increased it +seized the arms, and its victims beat their breasts, clasped +their hands, and made all sorts of strange gestures. The +observer who gives this account remarked that the lower +extremities were in no instance affected. In some cases +exhaustion came on in a very few minutes, but the attack usually +lasted much longer, and there were even cases in which it was +known to continue for sixty or seventy hours. Many of those +who happened to be seated when the attack commenced bent their +bodies rapidly backwards and forwards during its continuance, +making a corresponding motion with their arms, like persons +sawing wood. Others shouted aloud, leaped about, and threw +their bodies into every possible posture, until they had +exhausted their strength. Yawning took place at the +commencement in all cases, but as the violence of the disorder +increased the circulation and respiration became accelerated, so +that the countenance assumed a swollen and puffed +appearance. When exhaustion came on patients usually +fainted, and remained in a stiff and motionless state until their +recovery. The disorder completely resembled the St. +Vitus’s dance, but the fits sometimes went on to an +extraordinarily violent extent, so that the author of the account +once saw a woman who was seized with these convulsions resist the +endeavours of four or five strong men to restrain her. +Those patients who did not lose their consciousness were in +general made more furious by every attempt to quiet them by +force, on which account they were in general suffered to continue +unmolested until nature herself brought on exhaustion. +Those affected complained more or less of debility after the +attacks, and cases sometimes occurred in which they passed into +other disorders; thus some fell into a state of melancholy, +which, however, in consequence of their religious ecstasy, was +distinguished by the absence of fear and despair; and in one +patient inflammation of the brain is said to have taken +place. No sex or age was exempt from this epidemic +malady. Children five years old and octogenarians were +alike affected by it, and even men of the most powerful frame +were subject to its influence. Girls and young women, +however, were its most frequent victims.</p> +<p>4. For the last hundred years a nervous affection of a +perfectly similar kind has existed in the Shetland Islands, which +furnishes a striking example, perhaps the only one now existing, +of the very lasting propagation by sympathy of this species of +disorders. The origin of the malady was very +insignificant. An epileptic woman had a fit in church, and +whether it was that the minds of the congregation were excited by +devotion, or that, being overcome at the sight of the strong +convulsions, their sympathy was called forth, certain it is that +many adult women, and even children, some of whom were of the +male sex, and not more than six years old, began to complain +forthwith of palpitation, followed by faintness, which passed +into a motionless and apparently cataleptic condition. +These symptoms lasted more than an hour, and probably recurred +frequently. In the course of time, however, this malady is +said to have undergone a modification, such as it exhibits at the +present day. Women whom it has attacked will suddenly fall +down, toss their arms about, writhe their bodies into various +shapes, move their heads suddenly from side to side, and with +eyes fixed and staring, utter the most dismal cries. If the +fit happen on any occasion of pubic diversion, they will, as soon +as it has ceased, mix with their companions and continue their +amusement as if nothing had happened. Paroxysms of this +kind used to prevail most during the warm months of summer, and +about fifty years ago there was scarcely a Sabbath in which they +did not occur. Strong passions of the mind, induced by +religious enthusiasm, are also exciting causes of these fits, but +like all such false tokens of divine workings, they are easily +encountered by producing in the patient a different frame of +mind, and especially by exciting a sense of shame: thus those +affected are under the control of any sensible preacher, who +knows how to “administer to a mind diseased,” and to +expose the folly of voluntarily yielding to a sympathy so easily +resisted, or of inviting such attacks by affectation. An +intelligent and pious minister of Shetland informed the +physician, who gives an account of this disorder as an +eye-witness, that being considerably annoyed on his first +introduction into the country by these paroxysms, whereby the +devotions of the church were much impeded, he obviated their +repetition by assuring his parishioners that no treatment was +more effectual than immersion in cold water; and as his kirk was +fortunately contiguous to a freshwater lake, he gave notice that +attendants should be at hand during divine service to ensure the +proper means of cure. The sequel need scarcely be +told. The fear of being carried out of the church, and into +the water, acted like a charm; not a single Naiad was made, and +the worthy minister for many years had reason to boast of one of +the best regulated congregations in Scotland. As the +physician above alluded to was attending divine service in the +kirk of Baliasta, on the Isle of Unst, a female shriek, the +indication of a convulsion fit, was heard; the minister, Mr. +Ingram, of Fetlar, very properly stopped his discourse until the +disturber was removed; and after advising all those who thought +they might be similarly affected to leave the church, he gave out +in the meantime a psalm. The congregation was thus +preserved from further interruption; yet the effect of sympathy +was not prevented, for as the narrator of the account was leaving +the church he saw several females writhing and tossing about +their arms on the green grass, who durst not, for fear of a +censure from the pulpit, exhibit themselves after this manner +within the sacred walls of the kirk.</p> +<p>In the production of this disorder, which no doubt still +exists, fanaticism certainly had a smaller share than the +irritable state of women out of health, who only needed +excitement, no matter of what kind, to throw them into prevailing +nervous paroxysms. When, however, that powerful cause of +nervous disorders takes the lead, we find far more remarkable +symptoms developed, and it then depends on the mental condition +of the people among whom they appear whether in their spread they +shall take a narrow or an extended range—whether confined +to some small knot of zealots they are to vanish without a trace, +or whether they are to attain even historical importance.</p> +<p>5. The appearance of the <i>Convulsionnaires</i> in +France, whose inhabitants, from the greater mobility of their +blood, have in general been the less liable to fanaticism, is in +this respect instructive and worthy of attention. In the +year 1727 there died in the capital of that country the Deacon +Pâris, a zealous opposer of the Ultramontanists, division +having arisen in the French Church on account of the bull +“Unigenitus.” People made frequent visits to +his tomb in the cemetery of St. Medard, and four years afterwards +(in September, 1731) a rumour was spread that miracles took place +there. Patients were seized with convulsions and tetanic +spasms, rolled upon the ground like persons possessed, were +thrown into violent contortions of their heads and limbs, and +suffered the greatest oppression, accompanied by quickness and +irregularity of pulse. This novel occurrence excited the +greatest sensation all over Paris, and an immense concourse of +people resorted daily to the above-named cemetery in order to see +so wonderful a spectacle, which the Ultramontanists immediately +interpreted as a work of Satan, while their opponents ascribed it +to a divine influence. The disorder soon increased, until +it produced, in nervous women, <i>clairvoyance</i> +(<i>Schlafwachen</i>), a phenomenon till then unknown; for one +female especially attracted attention, who, blindfold, and, as it +was believed, by means of the sense of smell, read every writing +that was placed before her, and distinguished the characters of +unknown persons. The very earth taken from the grave of the +Deacon was soon thought to possess miraculous power. It was +sent to numerous sick persons at a distance, whereby they were +said to have been cured, and thus this nervous disorder spread +far beyond the limits of the capital, so that at one time it was +computed that there were more than eight hundred decided +Convulsionnaires, who would hardly have increased so much in +numbers had not Louis XV directed that the cemetery should be +closed. The disorder itself assumed various forms, and +augmented by its attacks the general excitement. Many +persons, besides suffering from the convulsions, became the +subjects of violent pain, which required the assistance of their +brethren of the faith. On this account they, as well as +those who afforded them aid, were called by the common title of +<i>Secourists</i>. The modes of relief adopted were +remarkably in accordance with those which were administered to +the St. John’s dancers and the Tarantati, and they were in +general very rough; for the sufferers were beaten and goaded in +various parts of the body with stones, hammers, swords, clubs, +&c., of which treatment the defenders of this extraordinary +sect relate the most astonishing examples in proof that severe +pain is imperatively demanded by nature in this disorder as an +effectual counter-irritant. The Secourists used wooden +clubs in the same manner as paviors use their mallets, and it is +stated that some <i>Convulsionnaires</i> have borne daily from +six to eight thousand blows thus inflicted without danger. +One Secourist administered to a young woman who was suffering +under spasm of the stomach the most violent blows on that part, +not to mention other similar cases which occurred everywhere in +great numbers. Sometimes the patients bounded from the +ground, impelled by the convulsions, like fish when out of water; +and this was so frequently imitated at a later period that the +women and girls, when they expected such violent contortions, not +wishing to appear indecent, put on gowns make like sacks, closed +at the feet. If they received any bruises by falling down +they were healed with earth from the grave of the uncanonised +saint. They usually, however, showed great agility in this +respect, and it is scarcely necessary to remark that the female +sex especially was distinguished by all kinds of leaping and +almost inconceivable contortions of body. Some spun round +on their feet with incredible rapidity, as is related of the +dervishes; others ran their heads against walls, or curved their +bodies like rope-dancers, so that their heels touched their +shoulders.</p> +<p>All this degenerated at length into decided insanity. A +certain Convulsionnaire, at Vernon, who had formerly led rather a +loose course of life, employed herself in confessing the other +sex; in other places women of this sect were seen imposing +exercises of penance on priests, during which these were +compelled to kneel before them. Others played with +children’s rattles, or drew about small carts, and gave to +these childish acts symbolical significations. One +Convulsionnaire even made believe to shave her chin, and gave +religious instruction at the same time, in order to imitate +Pâris, the worker of miracles, who, during this operation, +and whilst at table, was in the habit of preaching. Some +had a board placed across their bodies, upon which a whole row of +men stood; and as, in this unnatural state of mind, a kind of +pleasure is derived from excruciating pain, some too were seen +who caused their bosoms to be pinched with tongs, while others, +with gowns closed at the feet, stood upon their heads, and +remained in that position longer than would have been possible +had they been in health. Pinault, the advocate, who +belonged to this sect, barked like a dog some hours every day, +and even this found imitation among the believers.</p> +<p>The insanity of the Convulsionnaires lasted without +interruption until the year 1790, and during these fifty-nine +years called forth more lamentable phenomena that the enlightened +spirits of the eighteenth century would be willing to +allow. The grossest immorality found in the secret meetings +of the believers a sure sanctuary, and in their bewildering +devotional exercises a convenient cloak. It was of no avail +that, in the year 1762, the Grand Secours was forbidden by act of +parliament; for thenceforth this work was carried on in secrecy, +and with greater zeal than ever; it was in vain, too, that some +physicians, and among the rest the austere, pious Hecquet, and +after him Lorry, attributed the conduct of the Convulsionnaires +to natural causes. Men of distinction among the upper +classes, as, for instance, Montgeron the deputy, and Lambert an +ecclesiastic (obt. 1813), stood forth as the defenders of this +sect; and the numerous writings which were exchanged on the +subject served, by the importance which they thus attached to it, +to give it stability. The revolution finally shook the +structure of this pernicious mysticism. It was not, +however, destroyed; for even during the period of the greatest +excitement the secret meetings were still kept up; prophetic +books, by Convulsionnaires of various denominations, have +appeared even in the most recent times, and only a few years ago +(in 1828) this once celebrated sect still existed, although +without the convulsions and the extraordinarily rude aid of the +brethren of the faith, which, amidst the boasted pre-eminence of +French intellectual advancement, remind us most forcibly of the +dark ages of the St. John’s dancers.</p> +<p>6. Similar fanatical sects exhibit among all nations of +ancient and modern times the same phenomena. An +overstrained bigotry is in itself, and considered in a medical +point of view, a destructive irritation of the senses, which +draws men away from the efficiency of mental freedom, and +peculiarly favours the most injurious emotions. Sensual +ebullitions, with strong convulsions of the nerves, appear sooner +or later, and insanity, suicidal disgust of life, and incurable +nervous disorders, are but too frequently the consequences of a +perverse, and, indeed, hypocritical zeal, which has ever +prevailed, as well in the assemblies of the Mænades and +Corybantes of antiquity as under the semblance of religion among +the Christians and Mahomedans.</p> +<p>There are some denominations of English Methodists which +surpass, if possible, the French Convulsionnaires; and we may +here mention in particular the Jumpers, among whom it is still +more difficult than in the example given above to draw the line +between religious ecstasy and a perfect disorder of the nerves; +sympathy, however, operates perhaps more perniciously on them +than on other fanatical assemblies. The sect of Jumpers was +founded in the year 1760, in the county of Cornwall, by two +fanatics, who were, even at that time, able to collect together a +considerable party. Their general doctrine is that of the +Methodists, and claims our consideration here only in so far as +it enjoins them during their devotional exercises to fall into +convulsions, which they are able to effect in the strangest +manner imaginable. By the use of certain unmeaning words +they work themselves up into a state of religious frenzy, in +which they seem to have scarcely any control over their +senses. They then begin to jump with strange gestures, +repeating this exercise with all their might until they are +exhausted, so that it not unfrequently happens that women who, +like the Maenades, practise these religious exercises, are +carried away from the midst of them in a state of syncope, whilst +the remaining members of the congregations, for miles together, +on their way home, terrify those whom they meet by the sight of +such demoniacal ravings. There are never more than a few +ecstatics, who, by their example, excite the rest to jump, and +these are followed by the greatest part of the meeting, so that +these assemblages of the Jumpers resemble for hours together the +wildest orgies, rather than congregations met for Christian +edification.</p> +<p>In the United States of North America communities of +Methodists have existed for the last sixty years. The +reports of credible witnesses of their assemblages for divine +service in the open air (camp meetings), to which many thousands +flock from great distances, surpass, indeed, all belief; for not +only do they there repeat all the insane acts of the French +Convulsionnaires and of the English Jumpers, but the disorder of +their minds and of their nerves attains at these meetings a still +greater height. Women have been seen to miscarry whilst +suffering under the state of ecstasy and violent spasms into +which they are thrown, and others have publicly stripped +themselves and jumped into the rivers. They have swooned +away by hundreds, worn out with ravings and fits; and of the +Barkers, who appeared among the Convulsionnaires only here and +there, in single cases of complete aberration of intellect, whole +bands are seen running on all fours, and growling as if they +wished to indicate, even by their outward form, the shocking +degradation of their human nature. At these camp-meetings +the children are witnesses of this mad infatuation, and as their +weak nerves are with the greatest facility affected by sympathy, +they, together with their parents, fall into violent fits, though +they know nothing of their import, and many of them retain for +life some severe nervous disorder which, having arisen from +fright and excessive excitement, will not afterwards yield to any +medical treatment.</p> +<p>But enough of these extravagances, which even in our now days +embitter the lives of so many thousands, and exhibit to the world +in the nineteenth century the same terrific form of mental +disturbance as the St. Vitus’s dance once did to the +benighted nations of the Middle Ages.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK DEATH, AND THE DANCING +MANIA***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 1739-h.htm or 1739-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/3/1739 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Black Death, and The Dancing Mania + + +Author: Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker + +Editor: Henry Morley + +Release Date: May 7, 2007 [eBook #1739] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK DEATH, AND THE DANCING +MANIA*** + + + + +Transcribed from the 1888 Cassell & Company edition by Jane Duff, proofed +by David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org. + + + + + +The Black Death +and +The Dancing Mania. + + +FROM THE GERMAN OF +J. F. C. HECKER. + +TRANSLATED BY +B. G. BABINGTON. + +CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED: +_LONDON_, _PARIS_, _NEW YORK & MELBOURNE_. +1888. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker was one of three generations of +distinguished professors of medicine. His father, August Friedrich +Hecker, a most industrious writer, first practised as a physician in +Frankenhausen, and in 1790 was appointed Professor of Medicine at the +University of Erfurt. In 1805 he was called to the like professorship at +the University of Berlin. He died at Berlin in 1811. + +Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker was born at Erfurt in January, 1795. He +went, of course--being then ten years old--with his father to Berlin in +1805, studied at Berlin in the Gymnasium and University, but interrupted +his studies at the age of eighteen to fight as a volunteer in the war for +a renunciation of Napoleon and all his works. After Waterloo he went +back to his studies, took his doctor's degree in 1817 with a treatise on +the "Antiquities of Hydrocephalus," and became privat-docent in the +Medical Faculty of the Berlin University. His inclination was strong +from the first towards the historical side of inquiries into Medicine. +This caused him to undertake a "History of Medicine," of which the first +volume appeared in 1822. It obtained rank for him at Berlin as +Extraordinary Professor of the History of Medicine. This office was +changed into an Ordinary professorship of the same study in 1834, and +Hecker held that office until his death in 1850. + +The office was created for a man who had a special genius for this form +of study. It was delightful to himself, and he made it delightful to +others. He is regarded as the founder of historical pathology. He +studied disease in relation to the history of man, made his study yield +to men outside his own profession an important chapter in the history of +civilisation, and even took into account physical phenomena upon the +surface of the globe as often affecting the movement and character of +epidemics. + +The account of "The Black Death" here translated by Dr. Babington was +Hecker's first important work of this kind. It was published in 1832, +and was followed in the same year by his account of "The Dancing Mania." +The books here given are the two that first gave Hecker a wide +reputation. Many other such treatises followed, among them, in 1865, a +treatise on the "Great Epidemics of the Middle Ages." Besides his +"History of Medicine," which, in its second volume, reached into the +fourteenth century, and all his smaller treatises, Hecker wrote a large +number of articles in Encyclopaedias and Medical Journals. Professor +J.F.K. Hecker was, in a more interesting way, as busy as Professor A.F. +Hecker, his father, had been. He transmitted the family energies to an +only son, Karl von Hecker, born in 1827, who distinguished himself +greatly as a Professor of Midwifery, and died in 1882. + +Benjamin Guy Babington, the translator of these books of Hecker's, +belonged also to a family in which the study of Medicine has passed from +father to son, and both have been writers. B.G. Babington was the son of +Dr. William Babington, who was physician to Guy's Hospital for some years +before 1811, when the extent of his private practice caused him to +retire. He died in 1833. His son, Benjamin Guy Babington, was educated +at the Charterhouse, saw service as a midshipman, served for seven years +in India, returned to England, graduated as physician at Cambridge in +1831. He distinguished himself by inquiries into the cholera epidemic in +1832, and translated these pieces of Hecker's in 1833, for publication by +the Sydenham Society. He afterwards translated Hecker's other treatises +on epidemics of the Middle Ages. Dr. B.G. Babington was Physician to +Guy's Hospital from 1840 to 1855, and was a member of the Medical Council +of the General Board of Health. He died on the 8th of April, 1866. + +H.M. + + + + +THE BLACK DEATH + + +CHAPTER I--GENERAL OBSERVATIONS + + +That Omnipotence which has called the world with all its living creatures +into one animated being, especially reveals Himself in the desolation of +great pestilences. The powers of creation come into violent collision; +the sultry dryness of the atmosphere; the subterraneous thunders; the +mist of overflowing waters, are the harbingers of destruction. Nature is +not satisfied with the ordinary alternations of life and death, and the +destroying angel waves over man and beast his flaming sword. + +These revolutions are performed in vast cycles, which the spirit of man, +limited, as it is, to a narrow circle of perception, is unable to +explore. They are, however, greater terrestrial events than any of those +which proceed from the discord, the distress, or the passions of nations. +By annihilations they awaken new life; and when the tumult above and +below the earth is past, nature is renovated, and the mind awakens from +torpor and depression to the consciousness of an intellectual existence. + +Were it in any degree within the power of human research to draw up, in a +vivid and connected form, an historical sketch of such mighty events, +after the manner of the historians of wars and battles, and the +migrations of nations, we might then arrive at clear views with respect +to the mental development of the human race, and the ways of Providence +would be more plainly discernible. It would then be demonstrable, that +the mind of nations is deeply affected by the destructive conflict of the +powers of nature, and that great disasters lead to striking changes in +general civilisation. For all that exists in man, whether good or evil, +is rendered conspicuous by the presence of great danger. His inmost +feelings are roused--the thought of self-preservation masters his +spirit--self-denial is put to severe proof, and wherever darkness and +barbarism prevail, there the affrighted mortal flies to the idols of his +superstition, and all laws, human and divine, are criminally violated. + +In conformity with a general law of nature, such a state of excitement +brings about a change, beneficial or detrimental, according to +circumstances, so that nations either attain a higher degree of moral +worth, or sink deeper in ignorance and vice. All this, however, takes +place upon a much grander scale than through the ordinary vicissitudes of +war and peace, or the rise and fall of empires, because the powers of +nature themselves produce plagues, and subjugate the human will, which, +in the contentions of nations, alone predominates. + + + +CHAPTER II--THE DISEASE + + +The most memorable example of what has been advanced is afforded by a +great pestilence of the fourteenth century, which desolated Asia, Europe, +and Africa, and of which the people yet preserve the remembrance in +gloomy traditions. It was an oriental plague, marked by inflammatory +boils and tumours of the glands, such as break out in no other febrile +disease. On account of these inflammatory boils, and from the black +spots, indicatory of a putrid decomposition, which appeared upon the +skin, it was called in Germany and in the northern kingdoms of Europe the +Black Death, and in Italy, _la mortalega grande_, the Great Mortality. + +Few testimonies are presented to us respecting its symptoms and its +course, yet these are sufficient to throw light upon the form of the +malady, and they are worthy of credence, from their coincidence with the +signs of the same disease in modern times. + +The imperial writer, Kantakusenos, whose own son, Andronikus, died of +this plague in Constantinople, notices great imposthumes of the thighs +and arms of those affected, which, when opened, afforded relief by the +discharge of an offensive matter. Buboes, which are the infallible signs +of the oriental plague, are thus plainly indicated, for he makes separate +mention of smaller boils on the arms and in the face, as also in other +parts of the body, and clearly distinguishes these from the blisters, +which are no less produced by plague in all its forms. In many cases, +black spots broke out all over the body, either single, or united and +confluent. + +These symptoms were not all found in every case. In many, one alone was +sufficient to cause death, while some patients recovered, contrary to +expectation, though afflicted with all. Symptoms of cephalic affection +were frequent; many patients became stupefied and fell into a deep sleep, +losing also their speech from palsy of the tongue; others remained +sleepless and without rest. The fauces and tongue were black, and as if +suffused with blood; no beverage could assuage their burning thirst, so +that their sufferings continued without alleviation until terminated by +death, which many in their despair accelerated with their own hands. +Contagion was evident, for attendants caught the disease of their +relations and friends, and many houses in the capital were bereft even of +their last inhabitant. Thus far the ordinary circumstances only of the +oriental plague occurred. Still deeper sufferings, however, were +connected with this pestilence, such as have not been felt at other +times; the organs of respiration were seized with a putrid inflammation; +a violent pain in the chest attacked the patient; blood was expectorated, +and the breath diffused a pestiferous odour. + +In the West, the following were the predominating symptoms on the +eruption of this disease. An ardent fever, accompanied by an evacuation +of blood, proved fatal in the first three days. It appears that buboes +and inflammatory boils did not at first come out at all, but that the +disease, in the form of carbuncular (_anthrax-artigen_) affection of the +lungs, effected the destruction of life before the other symptoms were +developed. + +Thus did the plague rage in Avignon for six or eight weeks, and the +pestilential breath of the sick, who expectorated blood, caused a +terrible contagion far and near; for even the vicinity of those who had +fallen ill of plague was certain death; so that parents abandoned their +infected children, and all the ties of kindred were dissolved. After +this period, buboes in the axilla and in the groin, and inflammatory +boils all over the body, made their appearance; but it was not until +seven months afterwards that some patients recovered with matured buboes, +as in the ordinary milder form of plague. + +Such is the report of the courageous Guy de Chauliac, who vindicated the +honour of medicine, by bidding defiance to danger; boldly and constantly +assisting the affected, and disdaining the excuse of his colleagues, who +held the Arabian notion, that medical aid was unavailing, and that the +contagion justified flight. He saw the plague twice in Avignon, first in +the year 1348, from January to August, and then twelve years later, in +the autumn, when it returned from Germany, and for nine months spread +general distress and terror. The first time it raged chiefly among the +poor, but in the year 1360, more among the higher classes. It now also +destroyed a great many children, whom it had formerly spared, and but few +women. + +The like was seen in Egypt. Here also inflammation of the lungs was +predominant, and destroyed quickly and infallibly, with burning heat and +expectoration of blood. Here too the breath of the sick spread a deadly +contagion, and human aid was as vain as it was destructive to those who +approached the infected. + +Boccacio, who was an eye-witness of its incredible fatality in Florence, +the seat of the revival of science, gives a more lively description of +the attack of the disease than his non-medical contemporaries. + +It commenced here, not as in the East, with bleeding at the nose, a sure +sign of inevitable death; but there took place at the beginning, both in +men and women, tumours in the groin and in the axilla, varying in +circumference up to the size of an apple or an egg, and called by the +people, pest-boils (gavoccioli). Then there appeared similar tumours +indiscriminately over all parts of the body, and black or blue spots came +out on the arms or thighs, or on other parts, either single and large, or +small and thickly studded. These spots proved equally fatal with the +pest-boils, which had been from the first regarded as a sure sign of +death. No power of medicine brought relief--almost all died within the +first three days, some sooner, some later, after the appearance of these +signs, and for the most part entirely without fever or other symptoms. +The plague spread itself with the greater fury, as it communicated from +the sick to the healthy, like fire among dry and oily fuel, and even +contact with the clothes and other articles which had been used by the +infected, seemed to induce the disease. As it advanced, not only men, +but animals fell sick and shortly expired, if they had touched things +belonging to the diseased or dead. Thus Boccacio himself saw two hogs on +the rags of a person who had died of plague, after staggering about for a +short time, fall down dead as if they had taken poison. In other places +multitudes of dogs, cats, fowls, and other animals, fell victims to the +contagion; and it is to be presumed that other epizootes among animals +likewise took place, although the ignorant writers of the fourteenth +century are silent on this point. + +In Germany there was a repetition in every respect of the same phenomena. +The infallible signs of the oriental bubo-plague with its inevitable +contagion were found there as everywhere else; but the mortality was not +nearly so great as in the other parts of Europe. The accounts do not all +make mention of the spitting of blood, the diagnostic symptom of this +fatal pestilence; we are not, however, thence to conclude that there was +any considerable mitigation or modification of the disease, for we must +not only take into account the defectiveness of the chronicles, but that +isolated testimonies are often contradicted by many others. Thus the +chronicles of Strasburg, which only take notice of boils and glandular +swellings in the axillae and groins, are opposed by another account, +according to which the mortal spitting of blood was met with in Germany; +but this again is rendered suspicious, as the narrator postpones the +death of those who were thus affected, to the sixth, and (even the) +eighth day, whereas, no other author sanctions so long a course of the +disease; and even in Strasburg, where a mitigation of the plague may, +with most probability, be assumed since the year 1349, only 16,000 people +were carried off, the generality expired by the third or fourth day. In +Austria, and especially in Vienna, the plague was fully as malignant as +anywhere, so that the patients who had red spots and black boils, as well +as those afflicted with tumid glands, died about the third day; and +lastly, very frequent sudden deaths occurred on the coasts of the North +Sea and in Westphalia, without any further development of the malady. + +To France, this plague came in a northern direction from Avignon, and was +there more destructive than in Germany, so that in many places not more +than two in twenty of the inhabitants survived. Many were struck, as if +by lightning, and died on the spot, and this more frequently among the +young and strong than the old; patients with enlarged glands in the +axillae and groins scarcely survive two or three days; and no sooner did +these fatal signs appear, than they bid adieu to the world, and sought +consolation only in the absolution which Pope Clement VI. promised them +in the hour of death. + +In England the malady appeared, as at Avignon, with spitting of blood, +and with the same fatality, so that the sick who were afflicted either +with this symptom or with vomiting of blood, died in some cases +immediately, in others within twelve hours, or at the latest two days. +The inflammatory boils and buboes in the groins and axillae were +recognised at once as prognosticating a fatal issue, and those were past +all hope of recovery in whom they arose in numbers all over the body. It +was not till towards the close of the plague that they ventured to open, +by incision, these hard and dry boils, when matter flowed from them in +small quantity, and thus, by compelling nature to a critical suppuration, +many patients were saved. Every spot which the sick had touched, their +breath, their clothes, spread the contagion; and, as in all other places, +the attendants and friends who were either blind to their danger, or +heroically despised it, fell a sacrifice to their sympathy. Even the +eyes of the patient were considered a sources of contagion, which had the +power of acting at a distance, whether on account of their unwonted +lustre, or the distortion which they always suffer in plague, or whether +in conformity with an ancient notion, according to which the sight was +considered as the bearer of a demoniacal enchantment. Flight from +infected cities seldom availed the fearful, for the germ of the disease +adhered to them, and they fell sick, remote from assistance, in the +solitude of their country houses. + +Thus did the plague spread over England with unexampled rapidity, after +it had first broken out in the county of Dorset, whence it advanced +through the counties of Devon and Somerset, to Bristol, and thence +reached Gloucester, Oxford and London. Probably few places escaped, +perhaps not any; for the annuals of contemporaries report that throughout +the land only a tenth part of the inhabitants remained alive. + +From England the contagion was carried by a ship to Bergen, the capital +of Norway, where the plague then broke out in its most frightful form, +with vomiting of blood; and throughout the whole country, spared not more +than a third of the inhabitants. The sailors found no refuge in their +ships; and vessels were often seen driving about on the ocean and +drifting on shore, whose crews had perished to the last man. + +In Poland the affected were attacked with spitting blood, and died in a +few days in such vast numbers, that, as it has been affirmed, scarcely a +fourth of the inhabitants were left. + +Finally, in Russia the plague appeared two years later than in Southern +Europe; yet here again, with the same symptoms as elsewhere. Russian +contemporaries have recorded that it began with rigor, heat, and darting +pain in the shoulders and back; that it was accompanied by spitting of +blood, and terminated fatally in two, or at most three days. It is not +till the year 1360 that we find buboes mentioned as occurring in the +neck, in the axillae, and in the groins, which are stated to have broken +out when the spitting of blood had continued some time. According to the +experience of Western Europe, however, it cannot be assumed that these +symptoms did not appear at an earlier period. + +Thus much, from authentic sources, on the nature of the Black Death. The +descriptions which have been communicated contain, with a few unimportant +exceptions, all the symptoms of the oriental plague which have been +observed in more modern times. No doubt can obtain on this point. The +facts are placed clearly before our eyes. We must, however, bear in mind +that this violent disease does not always appear in the same form, and +that while the essence of the poison which it produces, and which is +separated so abundantly from the body of the patient, remains unchanged, +it is proteiform in its varieties, from the almost imperceptible vesicle, +unaccompanied by fever, which exists for some time before it extends its +poison inwardly, and then excites fever and buboes, to the fatal form in +which carbuncular inflammations fall upon the most important viscera. + +Such was the form which the plague assumed in the fourteenth century, for +the accompanying chest affection which appeared in all the countries +whereof we have received any account, cannot, on a comparison with +similar and familiar symptoms, be considered as any other than the +inflammation of the lungs of modern medicine, a disease which at present +only appears sporadically, and, owing to a putrid decomposition of the +fluids, is probably combined with hemorrhages from the vessels of the +lungs. Now, as every carbuncle, whether it be cutaneous or internal, +generates in abundance the matter of contagion which has given rise to +it, so, therefore, must the breath of the affected have been poisonous in +this plague, and on this account its power of contagion wonderfully +increased; wherefore the opinion appears incontrovertible, that owing to +the accumulated numbers of the diseased, not only individual chambers and +houses, but whole cities were infected, which, moreover, in the Middle +Ages, were, with few exceptions, narrowly built, kept in a filthy state, +and surrounded with stagnant ditches. Flight was, in consequence, of no +avail to the timid; for even though they had sedulously avoided all +communication with the diseased and the suspected, yet their clothes were +saturated with the pestiferous atmosphere, and every inspiration imparted +to them the seeds of the destructive malady, which, in the greater number +of cases, germinated with but too much fertility. Add to which, the +usual propagation of the plague through clothes, beds, and a thousand +other things to which the pestilential poison adheres--a propagation +which, from want of caution, must have been infinitely multiplied; and +since articles of this kind, removed from the access of air, not only +retain the matter of contagion for an indefinite period, but also +increase its activity and engender it like a living being, frightful ill- +consequences followed for many years after the first fury of the +pestilence was past. + +The affection of the stomach, often mentioned in vague terms, and +occasionally as a vomiting of blood, was doubtless only a subordinate +symptom, even if it be admitted that actual hematemesis did occur. For +the difficulty of distinguishing a flow of blood from the stomach, from a +pulmonic expectoration of that fluid, is, to non-medical men, even in +common cases, not inconsiderable. How much greater then must it have +been in so terrible a disease, where assistants could not venture to +approach the sick without exposing themselves to certain death? Only two +medical descriptions of the malady have reached us, the one by the brave +Guy de Chauliac, the other by Raymond Chalin de Vinario, a very +experienced scholar, who was well versed in the learning of the time. The +former takes notice only of fatal coughing of blood; the latter, besides +this, notices epistaxis, hematuria, and fluxes of blood from the bowels, +as symptoms of such decided and speedy mortality, that those patients in +whom they were observed usually died on the same or the following day. + +That a vomiting of blood may not, here and there, have taken place, +perhaps have been even prevalent in many places, is, from a consideration +of the nature of the disease, by no means to be denied; for every putrid +decomposition of the fluids begets a tendency to hemorrhages of all +kinds. Here, however, it is a question of historical certainty, which, +after these doubts, is by no means established. Had not so speedy a +death followed the expectoration of blood, we should certainly have +received more detailed intelligence respecting other hemorrhages; but the +malady had no time to extend its effects further over the extremities of +the vessels. After its first fury, however, was spent, the pestilence +passed into the usual febrile form of the oriental plague. Internal +carbuncular inflammations no longer took place, and hemorrhages became +phenomena, no more essential in this than they are in any other febrile +disorders. Chalin, who observed not only the great mortality of 1348, +and the plague of 1360, but also that of 1373 and 1382, speaks moreover +of affections of the throat, and describes the back spots of plague +patients more satisfactorily than any of his contemporaries. The former +appeared but in few cases, and consisted in carbuncular inflammation of +the gullet, with a difficulty of swallowing, even to suffocation, to +which, in some instances, was added inflammation of the ceruminous glands +of the ears, with tumours, producing great deformity. Such patients, as +well as others, were affected with expectoration of blood; but they did +not usually die before the sixth, and, sometimes, even as late as the +fourteenth day. The same occurrence, it is well known, is not uncommon +in other pestilences; as also blisters on the surface of the body, in +different places, in the vicinity of which, tumid glands and inflammatory +boils, surrounded by discoloured and black streaks, arose, and thus +indicated the reception of the poison. These streaked spots were called, +by an apt comparison, the girdle, and this appearance was justly +considered extremely dangerous. + + + +CHAPTER III--CAUSES--SPREAD + + +An inquiry into the causes of the Black Death will not be without +important results in the study of the plagues which have visited the +world, although it cannot advance beyond generalisation without entering +upon a field hitherto uncultivated, and, to this hour entirely unknown. +Mighty revolutions in the organism of the earth, of which we have +credible information, had preceded it. From China to the Atlantic, the +foundations of the earth were shaken--throughout Asia and Europe the +atmosphere was in commotion, and endangered, by its baneful influence, +both vegetable and animal life. + +The series of these great events began in the year 1333, fifteen years +before the plague broke out in Europe: they first appeared in China. Here +a parching drought, accompanied by famine, commenced in the tract of +country watered by the rivers Kiang and Hoai. This was followed by such +violent torrents of rain, in and about Kingsai, at that time the capital +of the empire, that, according to tradition, more than 400,000 people +perished in the floods. Finally the mountain Tsincheou fell in, and vast +clefts were formed in the earth. In the succeeding year (1334), passing +over fabulous traditions, the neighbourhood of Canton was visited by +inundations; whilst in Tche, after an unexampled drought, a plague arose, +which is said to have carried off about 5,000,000 of people. A few +months afterwards an earthquake followed, at and near Kingsai; and +subsequent to the falling in of the mountains of Ki-ming-chan, a lake was +formed of more than a hundred leagues in circumference, where, again, +thousands found their grave. In Houkouang and Honan, a drought prevailed +for five months; and innumerable swarms of locusts destroyed the +vegetation; while famine and pestilence, as usual, followed in their +train. Connected accounts of the condition of Europe before this great +catastrophe are not to be expected from the writers of the fourteenth +century. It is remarkable, however, that simultaneously with a drought +and renewed floods in China, in 1336, many uncommon atmospheric +phenomena, and in the winter, frequent thunderstorms, were observed in +the north of France; and so early as the eventful year of 1333 an +eruption of Etna took place. According to the Chinese annuals, about +4,000,000 of people perished by famine in the neighbourhood of Kiang in +1337; and deluges, swarms of locusts, and an earthquake which lasted six +days, caused incredible devastation. In the same year, the first swarms +of locusts appeared in Franconia, which were succeeded in the following +year by myriads of these insects. In 1338 Kingsai was visited by an +earthquake of ten days' duration; at the same time France suffered from a +failure in the harvest; and thenceforth, till the year 1342, there was in +China a constant succession of inundations, earthquakes, and famines. In +the same year great floods occurred in the vicinity of the Rhine and in +France, which could not be attributed to rain alone; for, everywhere, +even on tops of mountains, springs were seen to burst forth, and dry +tracts were laid under water in an inexplicable manner. In the following +year, the mountain Hong-tchang, in China, fell in, and caused a +destructive deluge; and in Pien-tcheon and Leang-tcheou, after three +months' rain, there followed unheard-of inundations, which destroyed +seven cities. In Egypt and Syria, violent earthquakes took place; and in +China they became, from this time, more and more frequent; for they +recurred, in 1344, in Ven-tcheou, where the sea overflowed in +consequence; in 1345, in Ki-tcheou, and in both the following years in +Canton, with subterraneous thunder. Meanwhile, floods and famine +devastated various districts, until 1347, when the fury of the elements +subsided in China. + +The signs of terrestrial commotions commenced in Europe in the year 1348, +after the intervening districts of country in Asia had probably been +visited in the same manner. + +On the island of Cyprus, the plague from the East had already broken out; +when an earthquake shook the foundations of the island, and was +accompanied by so frightful a hurricane, that the inhabitants who had +slain their Mahometan slaves, in order that they might not themselves be +subjugated by them, fled in dismay, in all directions. The sea +overflowed--the ships were dashed to pieces on the rocks, and few +outlived the terrific event, whereby this fertile and blooming island was +converted into a desert. Before the earthquake, a pestiferous wind +spread so poisonous an odour, that many, being overpowered by it, fell +down suddenly and expired in dreadful agonies. + +This phenomenon is one of the rarest that has ever been observed, for +nothing is more constant than the composition of the air; and in no +respect has nature been more careful in the preservation of organic life. +Never have naturalists discovered in the atmosphere foreign elements, +which, evident to the senses, and borne by the winds, spread from land to +land, carrying disease over whole portions of the earth, as is recounted +to have taken place in the year 1348. It is, therefore, the more to be +regretted, that in this extraordinary period, which, owing to the low +condition of science, was very deficient in accurate observers, so little +that can be depended on respecting those uncommon occurrences in the air, +should have been recorded. Yet, German accounts say expressly, that a +thick, stinking mist advanced from the East, and spread itself over +Italy; and there could be no deception in so palpable a phenomenon. The +credibility of unadorned traditions, however little they may satisfy +physical research, can scarcely be called in question when we consider +the connection of events; for just at this time earthquakes were more +general than they had been within the range of history. In thousands of +places chasms were formed, from whence arose noxious vapours; and as at +that time natural occurrences were transformed into miracles, it was +reported, that a fiery meteor, which descended on the earth far in the +East, had destroyed everything within a circumference of more than a +hundred leagues, infecting the air far and wide. The consequences of +innumerable floods contributed to the same effect; vast river districts +had been converted into swamps; foul vapours arose everywhere, increased +by the odour of putrified locusts, which had never perhaps darkened the +sun in thicker swarms, and of countless corpses, which even in the well- +regulated countries of Europe, they knew not how to remove quickly enough +out of the sight of the living. It is probable, therefore, that the +atmosphere contained foreign, and sensibly perceptible, admixtures to a +great extent, which, at least in the lower regions, could not be +decomposed, or rendered ineffective by separation. + +Now, if we go back to the symptoms of the disease, the ardent +inflammation of the lungs points out, that the organs of respiration +yielded to the attack of an atmospheric poison--a poison which, if we +admit the independent origin of the Black Plague at any one place of the +globe, which, under such extraordinary circumstances, it would be +difficult to doubt, attacked the course of the circulation in as hostile +a manner as that which produces inflammation of the spleen, and other +animal contagions that cause swelling and inflammation of the lymphatic +glands. + +Pursuing the course of these grand revolutions further, we find notice of +an unexampled earthquake, which, on the 25th January, 1348, shook Greece, +Italy, and the neighbouring countries. Naples, Rome, Pisa, Bologna, +Padua, Venice, and many other cities, suffered considerably; whole +villages were swallowed up. Castles, houses, and churches were +overthrown, and hundreds of people were buried beneath their ruins. In +Carinthia, thirty villages, together with all the churches, were +demolished; more than a thousand corpses were drawn out of the rubbish; +the city of Villach was so completely destroyed that very few of its +inhabitants were saved; and when the earth ceased to tremble it was found +that mountains had been moved from their positions, and that many hamlets +were left in ruins. It is recorded that during this earthquake the wine +in the casks became turbid, a statement which may be considered as +furnishing proof that changes causing a decomposition of the atmosphere +had taken place; but if we had no other information from which the +excitement of conflicting powers of nature during these commotions might +be inferred, yet scientific observations in modern times have shown that +the relation of the atmosphere to the earth is changed by volcanic +influences. Why then, may we not, from this fact, draw retrospective +inferences respecting those extraordinary phenomena? + +Independently of this, however, we know that during this earthquake, the +duration of which is stated by some to have been a week, and by others a +fortnight, people experienced an unusual stupor and headache, and that +many fainted away. + +These destructive earthquakes extended as far as the neighbourhood of +Basle, and recurred until the year 1360 throughout Germany, France, +Silesia, Poland, England, and Denmark, and much further north. + +Great and extraordinary meteors appeared in many places, and were +regarded with superstitious horror. A pillar of fire, which on the 20th +of December, 1348, remained for an hour at sunrise over the pope's palace +in Avignon; a fireball, which in August of the same year was seen at +sunset over Paris, and was distinguished from similar phenomena by its +longer duration, not to mention other instances mixed up with wonderful +prophecies and omens, are recorded in the chronicles of that age. + +The order of the seasons seemed to be inverted; rains, flood, and +failures in crops were so general that few places were exempt from them; +and though an historian of this century assure us that there was an +abundance in the granaries and storehouses, all his contemporaries, with +one voice, contradict him. The consequences of failure in the crops were +soon felt, especially in Italy and the surrounding countries, where, in +this year, a rain, which continued for four months, had destroyed the +seed. In the larger cities they were compelled, in the spring of 1347, +to have recourse to a distribution of bread among the poor, particularly +at Florence, where they erected large bakehouses, from which, in April, +ninety-four thousand loaves of bread, each of twelve ounces in weight, +were daily dispensed. It is plain, however, that humanity could only +partially mitigate the general distress, not altogether obviate it. + +Diseases, the invariable consequence of famine, broke out in the country +as well as in cities; children died of hunger in their mother's +arms--want, misery, and despair were general throughout Christendom. + +Such are the events which took place before the eruption of the Black +Plague in Europe. Contemporaries have explained them after their own +manner, and have thus, like their posterity, under similar circumstances, +given a proof that mortals possess neither senses nor intellectual powers +sufficiently acute to comprehend the phenomena produced by the earth's +organism, much less scientifically to understand their effects. +Superstition, selfishness in a thousand forms, the presumption of the +schools, laid hold of unconnected facts. They vainly thought to +comprehend the whole in the individual, and perceived not the universal +spirit which, in intimate union with the mighty powers of nature, +animates the movements of all existence, and permits not any phenomenon +to originate from isolated causes. To attempt, five centuries after that +age of desolation, to point out the causes of a cosmical commotion, which +has never recurred to an equal extent, to indicate scientifically the +influences, which called forth so terrific a poison in the bodies of men +and animals, exceeds the limits of human understanding. If we are even +now unable, with all the varied resources of an extended knowledge of +nature, to define that condition of the atmosphere by which pestilences +are generated, still less can we pretend to reason retrospectively from +the nineteenth to the fourteenth century; but if we take a general view +of the occurrences, that century will give us copious information, and, +as applicable to all succeeding times, of high importance. + +In the progress of connected natural phenomena from east to west, that +great law of nature is plainly revealed which has so often and evidently +manifested itself in the earth's organism, as well as in the state of +nations dependent upon it. In the inmost depths of the globe that +impulse was given in the year 1333, which in uninterrupted succession for +six and twenty years shook the surface of the earth, even to the western +shores of Europe. From the very beginning the air partook of the +terrestrial concussion, atmospherical waters overflowed the land, or its +plants and animals perished under the scorching heat. The insect tribe +was wonderfully called into life, as if animated beings were destined to +complete the destruction which astral and telluric powers had begun. Thus +did this dreadful work of nature advance from year to year; it was a +progressive infection of the zones, which exerted a powerful influence +both above and beneath the surface of the earth; and after having been +perceptible in slighter indications, at the commencement of the +terrestrial commotions in China, convulsed the whole earth. + +The nature of the first plague in China is unknown. We have no certain +intelligence of the disease until it entered the western countries of +Asia. Here it showed itself as the Oriental plague, with inflammation of +the lungs; in which form it probably also may have begun in China, that +is to say, as a malady which spreads, more than any other, by contagion--a +contagion that, in ordinary pestilences, requires immediate contact, and +only under favourable circumstances of rare occurrence is communicated by +the mere approach to the sick. The share which this cause had in the +spreading of the plague over the whole earth was certainly very great; +and the opinion that the Black Death might have been excluded from +Western Europe by good regulations, similar to those which are now in +use, would have all the support of modern experience, provided it could +be proved that this plague had been actually imported from the East, or +that the Oriental plague in general, whenever it appears in Europe, has +its origin in Asia or Egypt. Such a proof, however, can by no means be +produced so as to enforce conviction; for it would involve the impossible +assumption, either that there is no essential difference between the +degree of civilisation of the European nations, in the most ancient and +in modern times, or that detrimental circumstances, which have yielded +only to the civilisation of human society and the regular cultivation of +countries, could not formerly keep up the glandular plague. + +The plague was, however, known in Europe before nations were united by +the bonds of commerce and social intercourse; hence there is ground for +supposing that it sprang up spontaneously, in consequence of the rude +manner of living and the uncultivated state of the earth, influences +which peculiarly favour the origin of severe diseases. Now we need not +go back to the earlier centuries, for the fourteenth itself, before it +had half expired, was visited by five or six pestilences. + +If, therefore, we consider the peculiar property of the plague, that in +countries which it has once visited it remains for a long time in a +milder form, and that the epidemic influences of 1342, when it had +appeared for the last time, were particularly favourable to its +unperceived continuance, till 1348, we come to the notion that in this +eventful year also the germs of plague existed in Southern Europe, which +might be vivified by atmospherical deteriorations; and that thus, at +least in part, the Black Plague may have originated in Europe itself. The +corruption of the atmosphere came from the East; but the disease itself +came not upon the wings of the wind, but was only excited and increased +by the atmosphere where it had previously existed. + +This source of the Black Plague was not, however, the only one; for far +more powerful than the excitement of the latent elements of the plague by +atmospheric influences was the effect of the contagion communicated from +one people to another on the great roads and in the harbours of the +Mediterranean. From China the route of the caravans lay to the north of +the Caspian Sea, through Central Asia, to Tauris. Here ships were ready +to take the produce of the East to Constantinople, the capital of +commerce, and the medium of connection between Asia, Europe, and Africa. +Other caravans went from India to Asia Minor, and touched at the cities +south of the Caspian Sea, and, lastly, from Bagdad through Arabia to +Egypt; also the maritime communication on the Red Sea, from India to +Arabia and Egypt, was not inconsiderable. In all these directions +contagion made its way; and, doubtless, Constantinople and the harbours +of Asia Minor are to be regarded as the foci of infection, whence it +radiated to the most distant seaports and islands. + +To Constantinople the plague had been brought from the northern coast of +the Black Sea, after it had depopulated the countries between those +routes of commerce, and appeared as early as 1347 in Cyprus, Sicily, +Marseilles, and some of the seaports of Italy. The remaining islands of +the Mediterranean, particularly Sardinia, Corsica, and Majorca, were +visited in succession. Foci of contagion existed also in full activity +along the whole southern coast of Europe; when, in January, 1348, the +plague appeared in Avignon, and in other cities in the south of France +and north of Italy, as well as in Spain. + +The precise days of its eruption in the individual towns are no longer to +be ascertained; but it was not simultaneous; for in Florence the disease +appeared in the beginning of April, in Cesena the 1st June, and place +after place was attacked throughout the whole year; so that the plague, +after it had passed through the whole of France and Germany--where, +however, it did not make its ravages until the following year--did not +break out till August in England, where it advanced so gradually, that a +period of three months elapsed before it reached London. The northern +kingdoms were attacked by it in 1349; Sweden, indeed, not until November +of that year, almost two years after its eruption in Avignon. Poland +received the plague in 1349, probably from Germany, if not from the +northern countries; but in Russia it did not make its appearance until +1351, more than three years after it had broken out in Constantinople. +Instead of advancing in a north-westerly direction from Tauris and from +the Caspian Sea, it had thus made the great circuit of the Black Sea, by +way of Constantinople, Southern and Central Europe, England, the northern +kingdoms, and Poland, before it reached the Russian territories, a +phenomenon which has not again occurred with respect to more recent +pestilences originating in Asia. + +Whether any difference existed between the indigenous plague, excited by +the influence of the atmosphere, and that which was imported by +contagion, can no longer be ascertained from facts; for the +contemporaries, who in general were not competent to make accurate +researches of this kind, have left no data on the subject. A milder and +a more malignant form certainly existed, and the former was not always +derived from the latter, as is to be supposed from this circumstance--that +the spitting of blood, the infallible diagnostic of the latter, on the +first breaking out of the plague, is not similarly mentioned in all the +reports; and it is therefore probable that the milder form belonged to +the native plague--the more malignant, to that introduced by contagion. +Contagion was, however, in itself, only one of many causes which gave +rise to the Black Plague. + +This disease was a consequence of violent commotions in the earth's +organism--if any disease of cosmical origin can be so considered. One +spring set a thousand others in motion for the annihilation of living +beings, transient or permanent, of mediate or immediate effect. The most +powerful of all was contagion; for in the most distant countries, which +had scarcely yet heard the echo of the first concussion, the people fell +a sacrifice to organic poison--the untimely offspring of vital energies +thrown into violent commotion. + + + +CHAPTER IV--MORTALITY + + +We have no certain measure by which to estimate the ravages of the Black +Plague, if numerical statements were wanted, as in modern times. Let us +go back for a moment to the fourteenth century. The people were yet but +little civilised. The Church had indeed subdued them; but they all +suffered from the ill consequences of their original rudeness. The +dominion of the law was not yet confirmed. Sovereigns had everywhere to +combat powerful enemies to internal tranquillity and security. The +cities were fortresses for their own defence. Marauders encamped on the +roads. The husbandman was a feudal slave, without possessions of his +own. Rudeness was general, humanity as yet unknown to the people. +Witches and heretics were burned alive. Gentle rulers were contemned as +weak; wild passions, severity and cruelty, everywhere predominated. Human +life was little regarded. Governments concerned not themselves about the +numbers of their subjects, for whose welfare it was incumbent on them to +provide. Thus, the first requisite for estimating the loss of human +life, namely, a knowledge of the amount of the population, is altogether +wanting; and, moreover, the traditional statements of the amount of this +loss are so vague, that from this source likewise there is only room for +probable conjecture. + +Cairo lost daily, when the plague was raging with its greatest violence, +from 10,000 to 15,000; being as many as, in modern times, great plagues +have carried off during their whole course. In China, more than thirteen +millions are said to have died; and this is in correspondence with the +certainly exaggerated accounts from the rest of Asia. India was +depopulated. Tartary, the Tartar kingdom of Kaptschak, Mesopotamia, +Syria, Armenia, were covered with dead bodies--the Kurds fled in vain to +the mountains. In Caramania and Caesarea none were left alive. On the +roads--in the camps--in the caravansaries--unburied bodies alone were +seen; and a few cities only (Arabian historians name Maarael-Nooman, +Schisur, and Harem) remained, in an unaccountable manner, free. In +Aleppo, 500 died daily; 22,000 people, and most of the animals, were +carried off in Gaza, within six weeks. Cyprus lost almost all its +inhabitants; and ships without crews were often seen in the +Mediterranean, as afterwards in the North Sea, driving about, and +spreading the plague wherever they went on shore. It was reported to +Pope Clement, at Avignon, that throughout the East, probably with the +exception of China, 23,840,000 people had fallen victims to the plague. +Considering the occurrences of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, we +might, on first view, suspect the accuracy of this statement. How (it +might be asked) could such great wars have been carried on--such powerful +efforts have been made; how could the Greek Empire, only a hundred years +later, have been overthrown, if the people really had been so utterly +destroyed? + +This account is nevertheless rendered credible by the ascertained fact, +that the palaces of princes are less accessible to contagious diseases +than the dwellings of the multitude; and that in places of importance, +the influx from those districts which have suffered least, soon repairs +even the heaviest losses. We must remember, also, that we do not gather +much from mere numbers without an intimate knowledge of the state of +society. We will therefore confine ourselves to exhibiting some of the +more credible accounts relative to European cities. + +In Florence there died of the Black Plague--60,000 +In Venice--100,000 +In Marseilles, in one month--16,000 +In Siena--70,000 +In Paris--50,000 +In St. Denys--14,000 +In Avignon--60,000 +In Strasburg--16,000 +In Lubeck--9,000 +In Basle--14,000 +In Erfurt, at least--16,000 +In Weimar--5,000 +In Limburg--2,500 +In London, at least--100,000 +In Norwich--51,100 + +To which may be added-- + +Franciscan Friars in German--124,434 +Minorites in Italy--30,000 + +This short catalogue might, by a laborious and uncertain calculation, +deduced from other sources, be easily further multiplied, but would still +fail to give a true picture of the depopulation which took place. Lubeck, +at that time the Venice of the North, which could no longer contain the +multitudes that flocked to it, was thrown into such consternation on the +eruption of the plague, that the citizens destroyed themselves as if in +frenzy. + +Merchants whose earnings and possessions were unbounded, coldly and +willingly renounced their earthly goods. They carried their treasures to +monasteries and churches, and laid them at the foot of the altar; but +gold had no charms for the monks, for it brought them death. They shut +their gates; yet, still it was cast to them over the convent walls. +People would brook no impediment to the last pious work to which they +were driven by despair. When the plague ceased, men thought they were +still wandering among the dead, so appalling was the livid aspect of the +survivors, in consequence of the anxiety they had undergone, and the +unavoidable infection of the air. Many other cities probably presented a +similar appearance; and it is ascertained that a great number of small +country towns and villages, which have been estimated, and not too +highly, at 200,000, were bereft of all their inhabitants. + +In many places in France, not more than two out of twenty of the +inhabitants were left alive, and the capital felt the fury of the plague, +alike in the palace and the cot. + +Two queens, one bishop, and great numbers of other distinguished persons, +fell a sacrifice to it, and more than 500 a day died in the Hotel Dieu, +under the faithful care of the sisters of charity, whose disinterested +courage, in this age of horror, displayed the most beautiful traits of +human virtue. For although they lost their lives, evidently from +contagion, and their numbers were several times renewed, there was still +no want of fresh candidates, who, strangers to the unchristian fear of +death, piously devoted themselves to their holy calling. + +The churchyards were soon unable to contain the dead, and many houses, +left without inhabitants, fell to ruins. + +In Avignon, the Pope found it necessary to consecrate the Rhone, that +bodies might be thrown into the river without delay, as the churchyards +would no longer hold them; so likewise, in all populous cities, +extraordinary measures were adopted, in order speedily to dispose of the +dead. In Vienna, where for some time 1,200 inhabitants died daily, the +interment of corpses in the churchyards and within the churches was +forthwith prohibited; and the dead were then arranged in layers, by +thousands, in six large pits outside the city, as had already been done +in Cairo and Paris. Yet, still many were secretly buried; for at all +times the people are attached to the consecrated cemeteries of their +dead, and will not renounce the customary mode of interment. + +In many places it was rumoured that plague patients were buried alive, as +may sometimes happen through senseless alarm and indecent haste; and thus +the horror of the distressed people was everywhere increased. In Erfurt, +after the churchyards were filled, 12,000 corpses were thrown into eleven +great pits; and the like might, more or less exactly, be stated with +respect to all the larger cities. Funeral ceremonies, the last +consolation of the survivors, were everywhere impracticable. + +In all Germany, according to a probable calculation, there seem to have +died only 1,244,434 inhabitants; this country, however, was more spared +than others: Italy, on the contrary, was most severely visited. It is +said to have lost half its inhabitants; and this account is rendered +credible from the immense losses of individual cities and provinces: for +in Sardinia and Corsica, according to the account of the distinguished +Florentine, John Villani, who was himself carried off by the Black +Plague, scarcely a third part of the population remained alive; and it is +related of the Venetians, that they engaged ships at a high rate to +retreat to the islands; so that after the plague had carried off three- +fourths of her inhabitants, that proud city was left forlorn and +desolate. In Padua, after the cessation of the plague, two-thirds of the +inhabitants were wanting; and in Florence it was prohibited to publish +the numbers of dead, and to toll the bells at their funerals, in order +that the living might not abandon themselves to despair. + +We have more exact accounts of England; most of the great cities suffered +incredible losses; above all, Yarmouth, in which 7,052 died; Bristol, +Oxford, Norwich, Leicester, York, and London, where in one burial ground +alone, there were interred upwards of 50,000 corpses, arranged in layers, +in large pits. It is said that in the whole country scarcely a tenth +part remained alive; but this estimate is evidently too high. Smaller +losses were sufficient to cause those convulsions, whose consequences +were felt for some centuries, in a false impulse given to civil life, and +whose indirect influence, unknown to the English, has perhaps extended +even to modern times. + +Morals were deteriorated everywhere, and the service of God was in a +great measure laid aside; for, in many places, the churches were +deserted, being bereft of their priests. The instruction of the people +was impeded; covetousness became general; and when tranquillity was +restored, the great increase of lawyers was astonishing, to whom the +endless disputes regarding inheritances offered a rich harvest. The want +of priests too, throughout the country, operated very detrimentally upon +the people (the lower classes being most exposed to the ravages of the +plague, whilst the houses of the nobility were, in proportion, much more +spared), and it was no compensation that whole bands of ignorant laymen, +who had lost their wives during the pestilence, crowded into the monastic +orders, that they might participate in the respectability of the +priesthood, and in the rich heritages which fell in to the Church from +all quarters. The sittings of Parliament, of the King's Bench, and of +most of the other courts, were suspended as long as the malady raged. The +laws of peace availed not during the dominion of death. Pope Clement +took advantage of this state of disorder to adjust the bloody quarrel +between Edward III and Philip VI; yet he only succeeded during the period +that the plague commanded peace. Philip's death (1350) annulled all +treaties; and it is related that Edward, with other troops indeed, but +with the same leaders and knights, again took the field. Ireland was +much less heavily visited that England. The disease seems to have +scarcely reached the mountainous districts of that kingdom; and Scotland +too would perhaps have remained free, had not the Scots availed +themselves of the discomfiture of the English to make an irruption into +their territory, which terminated in the destruction of their army, by +the plague and by the sword, and the extension of the pestilence, through +those who escaped, over the whole country. + +At the commencement, there was in England a superabundance of all the +necessaries of life; but the plague, which seemed then to be the sole +disease, was soon accompanied by a fatal murrain among the cattle. +Wandering about without herdsmen, they fell by thousands; and, as has +likewise been observed in Africa, the birds and beasts of prey are said +not to have touched them. Of what nature this murrain may have been, can +no more be determined, than whether it originated from communication with +plague patients, or from other causes; but thus much is certain, that it +did not break out until after the commencement of the Black Death. In +consequence of this murrain, and the impossibility of removing the corn +from the fields, there was everywhere a great rise in the price of food, +which to many was inexplicable, because the harvest had been plentiful; +by others it was attributed to the wicked designs of the labourers and +dealers; but it really had its foundation in the actual deficiency +arising from circumstances by which individual classes at all times +endeavour to profit. For a whole year, until it terminated in August, +1349, the Black Plague prevailed in this beautiful island, and everywhere +poisoned the springs of comfort and prosperity. + +In other countries, it generally lasted only half a year, but returned +frequently in individual places; on which account, some, without +sufficient proof, assigned to it a period of seven years. + +Spain was uninterruptedly ravaged by the Black Plague till after the year +1350, to which the frequent internal feuds and the wars with the Moors +not a little contributed. Alphonso XI., whose passion for war carried +him too far, died of it at the siege of Gibraltar, on the 26th of March, +1350. He was the only king in Europe who fell a sacrifice to it; but +even before this period, innumerable families had been thrown into +affliction. The mortality seems otherwise to have been smaller in Spain +than in Italy, and about as considerable as in France. + +The whole period during which the Black Plague raged with destructive +violence in Europe was, with the exception of Russia, from the year 1347 +to 1350. The plagues which in the sequel often returned until the year +1383, we do not consider as belonging to "the Great Mortality." They +were rather common pestilences, without inflammation of the lungs, such +as in former times, and in the following centuries, were excited by the +matter of contagion everywhere existing, and which, on every favourable +occasion, gained ground anew, as is usually the case with this frightful +disease. + +The concourse of large bodies of people was especially dangerous; and +thus the premature celebration of the Jubilee to which Clement VI. cited +the faithful to Rome (1350) during the great epidemic, caused a new +eruption of the plague, from which it is said that scarcely one in a +hundred of the pilgrims escaped. + +Italy was, in consequence, depopulated anew; and those who returned, +spread poison and corruption of morals in all directions. It is +therefore the less apparent how that Pope, who was in general so wise and +considerate, and who knew how to pursue the path of reason and humanity +under the most difficult circumstances, should have been led to adopt a +measure so injurious; since he himself was so convinced of the salutary +effect of seclusion, that during the plague in Avignon he kept up +constant fires, and suffered no one to approach him; and in other +respects gave such orders as averted, or alleviated, much misery. + +The changes which occurred about this period in the north of Europe are +sufficiently memorable to claim a few moments' attention. In Sweden two +princes died--Haken and Knut, half-brothers of King Magnus; and in +Westgothland alone, 466 priests. The inhabitants of Iceland and +Greenland found in the coldness of their inhospitable climate no +protection against the southern enemy who had penetrated to them from +happier countries. The plague caused great havoc among them. Nature +made no allowance for their constant warfare with the elements, and the +parsimony with which she had meted out to them the enjoyments of life. In +Denmark and Norway, however, people were so occupied with their own +misery, that the accustomed voyages to Greenland ceased. Towering +icebergs formed at the same time on the coast of East Greenland, in +consequence of the general concussion of the earth's organism; and no +mortal, from that time forward, has ever seen that shore or its +inhabitants. + +It has been observed above, that in Russia the Black Plague did not break +out until 1351, after it had already passed through the south and north +of Europe. In this country also, the mortality was extraordinarily +great; and the same scenes of affliction and despair were exhibited, as +had occurred in those nations which had already passed the ordeal: the +same mode of burial--the same horrible certainty of death--the same +torpor and depression of spirits. The wealthy abandoned their treasures, +and gave their villages and estates to the churches and monasteries; this +being, according to the notions of the age, the surest way of securing +the favour of Heaven and the forgiveness of past sins. In Russia, too, +the voice of nature was silenced by fear and horror. In the hour of +danger, fathers and mothers deserted their children, and children their +parents. + +Of all the estimates of the number of lives lost in Europe, the most +probable is, that altogether a fourth part of the inhabitants were +carried off. Now, if Europe at present contain 210,000,000 inhabitants, +the population, not to take a higher estimate, which might easily by +justified, amounted to at least 105,000,000 in the sixteenth century. + +It may therefore be assumed, without exaggeration, that Europe lost +during the Black Death 25,000,000 of inhabitants. + +That her nations could so quickly overcome such a fearful concussion in +their external circumstances, and, in general, without retrograding more +than they actually did, could so develop their energies in the following +century, is a most convincing proof of the indestructibility of human +society as a whole. To assume, however, that it did not suffer any +essential change internally, because in appearance everything remained as +before, is inconsistent with a just view of cause and effect. Many +historians seem to have adopted such an opinion; accustomed, as usual, to +judge of the moral condition of the people solely according to the +vicissitudes of earthly power, the events of battles, and the influence +of religion, but to pass over with indifference the great phenomena of +nature, which modify, not only the surface of the earth, but also the +human mind. Hence, most of them have touched but superficially on the +"Great Mortality" of the fourteenth century. We, for our parts, are +convinced that in the history of the world the Black Death is one of the +most important events which have prepared the way for the present state +of Europe. + +He who studies the human mind with attention, and forms a deliberate +judgment on the intellectual powers which set people and States in +motion, may perhaps find some proofs of this assertion in the following +observations:--at that time, the advancement of the hierarchy was, in +most countries, extraordinary; for the Church acquired treasures and +large properties in land, even to a greater extent than after the +Crusades; but experience has demonstrated that such a state of things is +ruinous to the people, and causes them to retrograde, as was evinced on +this occasion. + +After the cessation of the Black Plague, a greater fecundity in women was +everywhere remarkable--a grand phenomenon, which, from its occurrence +after every destructive pestilence, proves to conviction, if any +occurrence can do so, the prevalence of a higher power in the direction +of general organic life. Marriages were, almost without exception, +prolific; and double and triple births were more frequent than at other +times; under which head, we should remember the strange remark, that +after the "Great Mortality" the children were said to have got fewer +teeth than before; at which contemporaries were mightily shocked, and +even later writers have felt surprise. + +If we examine the grounds of this oft-repeated assertion, we shall find +that they were astonished to see children, cut twenty, or at most, twenty- +two teeth, under the supposition that a greater number had formerly +fallen to their share. Some writers of authority, as, for example, the +physician Savonarola, at Ferrara, who probably looked for twenty-eight +teeth in children, published their opinions on this subject. Others +copied from them, without seeing for themselves, as often happens in +other matters which are equally evident; and thus the world believed in +the miracle of an imperfection in the human body which had been caused by +the Black Plague. + +The people gradually consoled themselves after the sufferings which they +had undergone; the dead were lamented and forgotten; and, in the stirring +vicissitudes of existence, the world belonged to the living. + + + +CHAPTER V--MORAL EFFECTS + + +The mental shock sustained by all nations during the prevalence of the +Black Plague is without parallel and beyond description. In the eyes of +the timorous, danger was the certain harbinger of death; many fell +victims to fear on the first appearance of the distemper, and the most +stout-hearted lost their confidence. Thus, after reliance on the future +had died away, the spiritual union which binds man to his family and his +fellow-creatures was gradually dissolved. The pious closed their +accounts with the world--eternity presented itself to their view--their +only remaining desire was for a participation in the consolations of +religion, because to them death was disarmed of its sting. + +Repentance seized the transgressor, admonishing him to consecrate his +remaining hours to the exercise of Christian virtues. All minds were +directed to the contemplation of futurity; and children, who manifest the +more elevated feelings of the soul without alloy, were frequently seen, +while labouring under the plague, breathing out their spirit with prayer +and songs of thanksgiving. + +An awful sense of contrition seized Christians of every communion; they +resolved to forsake their vices, to make restitution for past offences, +before they were summoned hence, to seek reconciliation with their Maker, +and to avert, by self-chastisement, the punishment due to their former +sins. Human nature would be exalted, could the countless noble actions +which, in times of most imminent danger, were performed in secret, be +recorded for the instruction of future generations. They, however, have +no influence on the course of worldly events. They are known only to +silent eyewitnesses, and soon fall into oblivion. But hypocrisy, +illusion, and bigotry stalk abroad undaunted; they desecrate what is +noble, they pervert what is divine, to the unholy purposes of +selfishness, which hurries along every good feeling in the false +excitement of the age. Thus it was in the years of this plague. In the +fourteenth century, the monastic system was still in its full vigour, the +power of the ecclesiastical orders and brotherhoods was revered by the +people, and the hierarchy was still formidable to the temporal power. It +was therefore in the natural constitution of society that bigoted zeal, +which in such times makes a show of public acts of penance, should avail +itself of the semblance of religion. But this took place in such a +manner, that unbridled, self-willed penitence, degenerated into +lukewarmness, renounced obedience to the hierarchy, and prepared a +fearful opposition to the Church, paralysed as it was by antiquated +forms. + +While all countries were filled with lamentations and woe, there first +arose in Hungary, and afterwards in Germany, the Brotherhood of the +Flagellants, called also the Brethren of the Cross, or Cross-bearers, who +took upon themselves the repentance of the people for the sins they had +committed, and offered prayers and supplications for the averting of this +plague. This Order consisted chiefly of persons of the lower class, who +were either actuated by sincere contrition, or who joyfully availed +themselves of this pretext for idleness, and were hurried along with the +tide of distracting frenzy. But as these brotherhoods gained in repute, +and were welcomed by the people with veneration and enthusiasm, many +nobles and ecclesiastics ranged themselves under their standard; and +their bands were not unfrequently augmented by children, honourable +women, and nuns; so powerfully were minds of the most opposite +temperaments enslaved by this infatuation. They marched through the +cities, in well-organised processions, with leaders and singers; their +heads covered as far as the eyes; their look fixed on the ground, +accompanied by every token of the deepest contrition and mourning. They +were robed in sombre garments, with red crosses on the breast, back, and +cap, and bore triple scourges, tied in three or four knots, in which +points of iron were fixed. Tapers and magnificent banners of velvet and +cloth of gold were carried before them; wherever they made their +appearance, they were welcomed by the ringing bells, and the people +flocked from all quarters to listen to their hymns and to witness their +penance with devotion and tears. + +In the year 1349, two hundred Flagellants first entered Strasburg, where +they were received with great joy, and hospitably lodged by citizens. +Above a thousand joined the brotherhood, which now assumed the appearance +of a wandering tribe, and separated into two bodies, for the purpose of +journeying to the north and to the south. For more than half a year, new +parties arrived weekly; and on each arrival adults and children left +their families to accompany them; till at length their sanctity was +questioned, and the doors of houses and churches were closed against +them. At Spires, two hundred boys, of twelve years of age and under, +constituted themselves into a Brotherhood of the Cross, in imitation of +the children who, about a hundred years before, had united, at the +instigation of some fanatic monks, for the purpose of recovering the Holy +Sepulchre. All the inhabitants of this town were carried away by the +illusion; they conducted the strangers to their houses with songs of +thanksgiving, to regale them for the night. The women embroidered +banners for them, and all were anxious to augment their pomp; and at +every succeeding pilgrimage their influence and reputation increased. + +It was not merely some individual parts of the country that fostered +them: all Germany, Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, Silesia, and Flanders, did +homage to the mania; and they at length became as formidable to the +secular as they were to the ecclesiastical power. The influence of this +fanaticism was great and threatening, resembling the excitement which +called all the inhabitants of Europe into the deserts of Syria and +Palestine about two hundred and fifty years before. The appearance in +itself was not novel. As far back as the eleventh century, many +believers in Asia and Southern Europe afflicted themselves with the +punishment of flagellation. Dominicus Loricatus, a monk of St. Croce +d'Avellano, is mentioned as the master and model of this species of +mortification of the flesh; which, according to the primitive notions of +the Asiatic Anchorites, was deemed eminently Christian. The author of +the solemn processions of the Flagellants is said to have been St. +Anthony; for even in his time (1231) this kind of penance was so much in +vogue, that it is recorded as an eventful circumstance in the history of +the world. In 1260, the Flagellants appeared in Italy as _Devoti_. "When +the land was polluted by vices and crimes, an unexampled spirit of +remorse suddenly seized the minds of the Italians. The fear of Christ +fell upon all: noble and ignoble, old and young, and even children of +five years of age, marched through the streets with no covering but a +scarf round the waist. They each carried a scourge of leathern thongs, +which they applied to their limbs, amid sighs and tears, with such +violence that the blood flowed from the wounds. Not only during the day, +but even by night, and in the severest winter, they traversed the cities +with burning torches and banners, in thousands and tens of thousands, +headed by their priests, and prostrated themselves before the altars. +They proceeded in the same manner in the villages: and the woods and +mountains resounded with the voices of those whose cries were raised to +God. The melancholy chaunt of the penitent alone was heard. Enemies +were reconciled; men and women vied with each other in splendid works of +charity, as if they dreaded that Divine Omnipotence would pronounce on +them the doom of annihilation." + +The pilgrimages of the Flagellants extended throughout all the province +of Southern Germany, as far as Saxony, Bohemia, and Poland, and even +further; but at length the priests resisted this dangerous fanaticism, +without being able to extirpate the illusion, which was advantageous to +the hierarchy as long as it submitted to its sway. Regnier, a hermit of +Perugia, is recorded as a fanatic preacher of penitence, with whom the +extravagance originated. In the year 1296 there was a great procession +of the Flagellants in Strasburg; and in 1334, fourteen years before the +Great Mortality, the sermon of Venturinus, a Dominican friar of Bergamo, +induced above 10,000 persons to undertake a new pilgrimage. They +scourged themselves in the churches, and were entertained in the market- +places at the public expense. At Rome, Venturinus was derided, and +banished by the Pope to the mountains of Ricondona. He patiently endured +all--went to the Holy Land, and died at Smyrna, 1346. Hence we see that +this fanaticism was a mania of the middle ages, which, in the year 1349, +on so fearful an occasion, and while still so fresh in remembrance, +needed no new founder; of whom, indeed, all the records are silent. It +probably arose in many places at the same time; for the terror of death, +which pervaded all nations and suddenly set such powerful impulses in +motion, might easily conjure up the fanaticism of exaggerated and +overpowering repentance. + +The manner and proceedings of the Flagellants of the thirteenth and +fourteenth centuries exactly resemble each other. But, if during the +Black Plague, simple credulity came to their aid, which seized, as a +consolation, the grossest delusion of religious enthusiasm, yet it is +evident that the leaders must have been intimately united, and have +exercised the power of a secret association. Besides, the rude band was +generally under the control of men of learning, some of whom at least +certainly had other objects in view independent of those which ostensibly +appeared. Whoever was desirous of joining the brotherhood, was bound to +remain in it thirty-four days, and to have fourpence per day at his own +disposal, so that he might not be burthensome to any one; if married, he +was obliged to have the sanction of his wife, and give the assurance that +he was reconciled to all men. The Brothers of the Cross were not +permitted to seek for free quarters, or even to enter a house without +having been invited; they were forbidden to converse with females; and if +they transgressed these rules, or acted without discretion, they were +obliged to confess to the Superior, who sentenced them to several lashes +of the scourge, by way of penance. Ecclesiastics had not, as such, any +pre-eminence among them; according to their original law, which, however, +was often transgressed, they could not become Masters, or take part in +the Secret Councils. Penance was performed twice every day: in the +morning and evening they went abroad in pairs, singing psalms amid the +ringing of the bells; and when they arrived at the place of flagellation, +they stripped the upper part of their bodies and put off their shoes, +keeping on only a linen dress, reaching from the waist to the ankles. +They then lay down in a large circle, in different positions, according +to the nature of the crime: the adulterer with his face to the ground; +the perjurer on one side, holding up three of his fingers, &c., and were +then castigated, some more and some less, by the Master, who ordered them +to rise in the words of a prescribed form. Upon this they scourged +themselves, amid the singing of psalms and loud supplications for the +averting of the plague, with genuflexions and other ceremonies, of which +contemporary writers give various accounts; and at the same time +constantly boasted of their penance, that the blood of their wounds was +mingled with that of the Saviour. One of them, in conclusion, stoop up +to read a letter, which it was pretended an angel had brought from heaven +to St. Peter's Church, at Jerusalem, stating that Christ, who was sore +displeased at the sins of man, had granted, at the intercession of the +Holy Virgin and of the angels, that all who should wander about for +thirty-four days and scourge themselves, should be partakers of the +Divine grace. This scene caused as great a commotion among the believers +as the finding of the holy spear once did at Antioch; and if any among +the clergy inquired who had sealed the letter, he was boldly answered, +the same who had sealed the Gospel! + +All this had so powerful an effect, that the Church was in considerable +danger; for the Flagellants gained more credit than the priests, from +whom they so entirely withdrew themselves, that they even absolved each +other. Besides, they everywhere took possession of the churches, and +their new songs, which went from mouth to mouth, operated strongly on the +minds of the people. Great enthusiasm and originally pious feelings are +clearly distinguishable in these hymns, and especially in the chief psalm +of the Cross-bearers, which is still extant, and which was sung all over +Germany in different dialects, and is probably of a more ancient date. +Degeneracy, however, soon crept in; crimes were everywhere committed; and +there was no energetic man capable of directing the individual excitement +to purer objects, even had an effectual resistance to the tottering +Church been at that early period seasonable, and had it been possible to +restrain the fanaticism. The Flagellants sometimes undertook to make +trial of their power of working miracles; as in Strasburg, where they +attempted, in their own circle, to resuscitate a dead child: they, +however, failed, and their unskilfulness did them much harm, though they +succeeded here and there in maintaining some confidence in their holy +calling, by pretending to have the power of casting out evil spirits. + +The Brotherhood of the Cross announced that the pilgrimage of the +Flagellants was to continue for a space of thirty-four years; and many of +the Masters had doubtless determined to form a lasting league against the +Church; but they had gone too far. So early as the first year of their +establishment, the general indignation set bounds to their intrigues: so +that the strict measures adopted by the Emperor Charles IV., and Pope +Clement, who, throughout the whole of this fearful period, manifested +prudence and noble-mindedness, and conducted himself in a manner every +way worthy of his high station, were easily put into execution. + +The Sorbonne, at Paris, and the Emperor Charles, had already applied to +the Holy See for assistance against these formidable and heretical +excesses, which had well-nigh destroyed the influence of the clergy in +every place; when a hundred of the Brotherhood of the Cross arrived at +Avignon from Basle, and desired admission. The Pope, regardless of the +intercession of several cardinals, interdicted their public penance, +which he had not authorised; and, on pain of excommunication, prohibited +throughout Christendom the continuance of these pilgrimages. Philip VI., +supported by the condemnatory judgment of the Sorbonne, forbade their +reception in France. Manfred, King of Sicily, at the same time +threatened them with punishment by death; and in the East they were +withstood by several bishops, among whom was Janussius, of Gnesen, and +Preczlaw, of Breslau, who condemned to death one of their Masters, +formerly a deacon; and, in conformity with the barbarity of the times, +had him publicly burnt. In Westphalia, where so shortly before they had +venerated the Brothers of the Cross, they now persecuted them with +relentless severity; and in the Mark, as well as in all the other +countries of Germany, they pursued them as if they had been the authors +of every misfortune. + +The processions of the Brotherhood of the Cross undoubtedly promoted the +spreading of the plague; and it is evident that the gloomy fanaticism +which gave rise to them would infuse a new poison into the already +desponding minds of the people. + +Still, however, all this was within the bounds of barbarous enthusiasm; +but horrible were the persecutions of the Jews, which were committed in +most countries, with even greater exasperation than in the twelfth +century, during the first Crusades. In every destructive pestilence the +common people at first attribute the mortality to poison. No instruction +avails; the supposed testimony of their eyesight is to them a proof, and +they authoritatively demand the victims of their rage. On whom, then, +was it so likely to fall as on the Jews, the usurers and the strangers +who lived at enmity with the Christians? They were everywhere suspected +of having poisoned the wells or infected the air. They alone were +considered as having brought this fearful mortality upon the Christians. +They were, in consequence, pursued with merciless cruelty; and either +indiscriminately given up to the fury of the populace, or sentenced by +sanguinary tribunals, which, with all the forms of the law, ordered them +to be burnt alive. In times like these, much is indeed said of guilt and +innocence; but hatred and revenge bear down all discrimination, and the +smallest probability magnifies suspicion into certainty. These bloody +scenes, which disgraced Europe in the fourteenth century, are a +counterpart to a similar mania of the age, which was manifested in the +persecutions of witches and sorcerers; and, like these, they prove that +enthusiasm, associated with hatred, and leagued with the baser passions, +may work more powerfully upon whole nations than religion and legal +order; nay, that it even knows how to profit by the authority of both, in +order the more surely to satiate with blood the sword of long-suppressed +revenge. + +The persecution of the Jews commenced in September and October, 1348, at +Chillon, on the Lake of Geneva, where the first criminal proceedings were +instituted against them, after they had long before been accused by the +people of poisoning the wells; similar scenes followed in Bern and +Freyburg, in January, 1349. Under the influence of excruciating +suffering, the tortured Jews confessed themselves guilty of the crime +imputed to them; and it being affirmed that poison had in fact been found +in a well at Zoffingen, this was deemed a sufficient proof to convince +the world; and the persecution of the abhorred culprits thus appeared +justifiable. Now, though we can take as little exception at these +proceedings as at the multifarious confessions of witches, because the +interrogatories of the fanatical and sanguinary tribunals were so +complicated, that by means of the rack the required answer must +inevitably be obtained; and it is, besides, conformable to human nature +that crimes which are in everybody's mouth may, in the end, be actually +committed by some, either from wantonness, revenge, or desperate +exasperation: yet crimes and accusations are, under circumstances like +these, merely the offspring of a revengeful, frenzied spirit in the +people; and the accusers, according to the fundamental principles of +morality, which are the same in every age, are the more guilty +transgressors. + +Already in the autumn of 1348 a dreadful panic, caused by this supposed +empoisonment, seized all nations; in Germany especially the springs and +wells were built over, that nobody might drink of them or employ their +contents for culinary purposes; and for a long time the inhabitants of +numerous towns and villages used only river and rain water. The city +gates were also guarded with the greatest caution: only confidential +persons were admitted; and if medicine or any other article, which might +be supposed to be poisonous, was found in the possession of a +stranger--and it was natural that some should have these things by them +for their private use--they were forced to swallow a portion of it. By +this trying state of privation, distrust, and suspicion, the hatred +against the supposed poisoners became greatly increased, and often broke +out in popular commotions, which only served still further to infuriate +the wildest passions. The noble and the mean fearlessly bound themselves +by an oath to extirpate the Jews by fire and sword, and to snatch them +from their protectors, of whom the number was so small, that throughout +all Germany but few places can be mentioned where these unfortunate +people were not regarded as outlaws and martyred and burnt. Solemn +summonses were issued from Bern to the towns of Basle, Freyburg in the +Breisgau, and Strasburg, to pursue the Jews as poisoners. The +burgomasters and senators, indeed, opposed this requisition; but in Basle +the populace obliged them to bind themselves by an oath to burn the Jews, +and to forbid persons of that community from entering their city for the +space of two hundred years. Upon this all the Jews in Basle, whose +number could not have been inconsiderable, were enclosed in a wooden +building, constructed for the purpose, and burnt together with it, upon +the mere outcry of the people, without sentence or trial, which, indeed, +would have availed them nothing. Soon after the same thing took place at +Freyburg. A regular Diet was held at Bennefeld, in Alsace, where the +bishops, lords, and barons, as also deputies of the counties and towns, +consulted how they should proceed with regard to the Jews; and when the +deputies of Strasburg--not indeed the bishop of this town, who proved +himself a violent fanatic--spoke in favour of the persecuted, as nothing +criminal was substantiated against them, a great outcry was raised, and +it was vehemently asked, why, if so, they had covered their wells and +removed their buckets. A sanguinary decree was resolved upon, of which +the populace, who obeyed the call of the nobles and superior clergy, +became but the too willing executioners. Wherever the Jews were not +burnt, they were at least banished; and so being compelled to wander +about, they fell into the hands of the country people, who, without +humanity, and regardless of all laws, persecuted them with fire and +sword. At Spires, the Jews, driven to despair, assembled in their own +habitations, which they set on fire, and thus consumed themselves with +their families. The few that remained were forced to submit to baptism; +while the dead bodies of the murdered, which lay about the streets, were +put into empty wine-casks and rolled into the Rhine, lest they should +infect the air. The mob was forbidden to enter the ruins of the +habitations that were burnt in the Jewish quarter; for the senate itself +caused search to be made for the treasure, which is said to have been +very considerable. At Strasburg two thousand Jews were burnt alive in +their own burial-ground, where a large scaffold had been erected: a few +who promised to embrace Christianity were spared, and their children +taken from the pile. The youth and beauty of several females also +excited some commiseration, and they were snatched from death against +their will; many, however, who forcibly made their escape from the flames +were murdered in the streets. + +The senate ordered all pledges and bonds to be returned to the debtors, +and divided the money among the work-people. Many, however, refused to +accept the base price of blood, and, indignant at the scenes of +bloodthirsty avarice, which made the infuriated multitude forget that the +plague was raging around them, presented it to monasteries, in conformity +with the advice of their confessors. In all the countries on the Rhine, +these cruelties continued to be perpetrated during the succeeding months; +and after quiet was in some degree restored, the people thought to render +an acceptable service to God, by taking the bricks of the destroyed +dwellings, and the tombstones of the Jews, to repair churches and to +erect belfries. + +In Mayence alone, 12,000 Jews are said to have been put to a cruel death. +The Flagellants entered that place in August; the Jews, on this occasion, +fell out with the Christians and killed several; but when they saw their +inability to withstand the increasing superiority of their enemies, and +that nothing could save them from destruction, they consumed themselves +and their families by setting fire to their dwellings. Thus also, in +other places, the entry of the Flagellants gave rise to scenes of +slaughter; and as thirst for blood was everywhere combined with an +unbridled spirit of proselytism, a fanatic zeal arose among the Jews to +perish as martyrs to their ancient religion. And how was it possible +that they could from the heart embrace Christianity, when its precepts +were never more outrageously violated? At Eslingen the whole Jewish +community burned themselves in their synagogue, and mothers were often +seen throwing their children on the pile, to prevent their being +baptised, and then precipitating themselves into the flames. In short, +whatever deeds fanaticism, revenge, avarice and desperation, in fearful +combination, could instigate mankind to perform,--and where in such a +case is the limit?--were executed in the year 1349 throughout Germany, +Italy, and France, with impunity, and in the eyes of all the world. It +seemed as if the plague gave rise to scandalous acts and frantic tumults, +not to mourning and grief; and the greater part of those who, by their +education and rank, were called upon to raise the voice of reason, +themselves led on the savage mob to murder and to plunder. Almost all +the Jews who saved their lives by baptism were afterwards burnt at +different times; for they continued to be accused of poisoning the water +and the air. Christians also, whom philanthropy or gain had induced to +offer them protection, were put on the rack and executed with them. Many +Jews who had embraced Christianity repented of their apostacy, and, +returning to their former faith, sealed it with their death. + +The humanity and prudence of Clement VI. must, on this occasion, also be +mentioned to his honour; but even the highest ecclesiastical power was +insufficient to restrain the unbridled fury of the people. He not only +protected the Jews at Avignon, as far as lay in his power, but also +issued two bulls, in which he declared them innocent; and admonished all +Christians, though without success, to cease from such groundless +persecutions. The Emperor Charles IV. was also favourable to them, and +sought to avert their destruction wherever he could; but he dared not +draw the sword of justice, and even found himself obliged to yield to the +selfishness of the Bohemian nobles, who were unwilling to forego so +favourable an opportunity of releasing themselves from their Jewish +creditors, under favour of an imperial mandate. Duke Albert of Austria +burnt and pillaged those of his cities which had persecuted the Jews--a +vain and inhuman proceeding, which, moreover, is not exempt from the +suspicion of covetousness; yet he was unable, in his own fortress of +Kyberg, to protect some hundreds of Jews, who had been received there, +from being barbarously burnt by the inhabitants. Several other princes +and counts, among whom was Ruprecht von der Pfalz, took the Jews under +their protection, on the payment of large sums: in consequence of which +they were called "Jew-masters," and were in danger of being attacked by +the populace and by their powerful neighbours. These persecuted and ill- +used people, except indeed where humane individuals took compassion on +them at their own peril, or when they could command riches to purchase +protection, had no place of refuge left but the distant country of +Lithuania, where Boleslav V., Duke of Poland (1227-1279) had before +granted them liberty of conscience; and King Casimir the Great +(1333-1370), yielding to the entreaties of Esther, a favourite Jewess, +received them, and granted them further protection; on which account, +that country is still inhabited by a great number of Jews, who by their +secluded habits have, more than any people in Europe, retained the +manners of the Middle Ages. + +But to return to the fearful accusations against the Jews; it was +reported in all Europe that they were in connection with secret superiors +in Toledo, to whose decrees they were subject, and from whom they had +received commands respecting the coining of base money, poisoning, the +murder of Christian children, &c; that they received the poison by sea +from remote parts, and also prepared it themselves from spiders, owls, +and other venomous animals; but, in order that their secret might not be +discovered, that it was known only to their Rabbis and rich men. +Apparently there were but few who did not consider this extravagant +accusation well founded; indeed, in many writings of the fourteenth +century, we find great acrimony with regard to the suspected +poison-mixers, which plainly demonstrates the prejudice existing against +them. Unhappily, after the confessions of the first victims in +Switzerland, the rack extorted similar ones in various places. Some even +acknowledged having received poisonous powder in bags, and injunctions +from Toledo, by secret messengers. Bags of this description were also +often found in wells, though it was not unfrequently discovered that the +Christians themselves had thrown them in; probably to give occasion to +murder and pillage; similar instances of which may be found in the +persecutions of the witches. + +This picture needs no additions. A lively image of the Black Plague, and +of the moral evil which followed in its train, will vividly represent +itself to him who is acquainted with nature and the constitution of +society. Almost the only credible accounts of the manner of living, and +of the ruin which occurred in private life during this pestilence, are +from Italy; and these may enable us to form a just estimate of the +general state of families in Europe, taking into consideration what is +peculiar in the manners of each country. + +"When the evil had become universal" (speaking of Florence), "the hearts +of all the inhabitants were closed to feelings of humanity. They fled +from the sick and all that belonged to them, hoping by these means to +save themselves. Others shut themselves up in their houses, with their +wives, their children and households, living on the most costly food, but +carefully avoiding all excess. None were allowed access to them; no +intelligence of death or sickness was permitted to reach their ears; and +they spent their time in singing and music, and other pastimes. Others, +on the contrary, considered eating and drinking to excess, amusements of +all descriptions, the indulgence of every gratification, and an +indifference to what was passing around them, as the best medicine, and +acted accordingly. They wandered day and night from one tavern to +another, and feasted without moderation or bounds. In this way they +endeavoured to avoid all contact with the sick, and abandoned their +houses and property to chance, like men whose death-knell had already +tolled. + +"Amid this general lamentation and woe, the influence and authority of +every law, human and divine, vanished. Most of those who were in office +had been carried off by the plague, or lay sick, or had lost so many +members of their family, that they were unable to attend to their duties; +so that thenceforth every one acted as he thought proper. Others in +their mode of living chose a middle course. They ate and drank what they +pleased, and walked abroad, carrying odoriferous flowers, herbs, or +spices, which they smelt to from time to time, in order to invigorate the +brain, and to avert the baneful influence of the air, infected by the +sick and by the innumerable corpses of those who had died of the plague. +Others carried their precaution still further, and thought the surest way +to escape death was by flight. They therefore left the city; women as +well as men abandoning their dwellings and their relations, and retiring +into the country. But of these also many were carried off, most of them +alone and deserted by all the world, themselves having previously set the +example. Thus it was that one citizen fled from another--a neighbour +from his neighbours--a relation from his relations; and in the end, so +completely had terror extinguished every kindlier feeling, that the +brother forsook the brother--the sister the sister--the wife her husband; +and at last, even the parent his own offspring, and abandoned them, +unvisited and unsoothed, to their fate. Those, therefore, that stood in +need of assistance fell a prey to greedy attendants, who, for an +exorbitant recompense, merely handed the sick their food and medicine, +remained with them in their last moments, and then not unfrequently +became themselves victims to their avarice and lived not to enjoy their +extorted gain. Propriety and decorum were extinguished among the +helpless sick. Females of rank seemed to forget their natural +bashfulness, and committed the care of their persons, indiscriminately, +to men and women of the lowest order. No longer were women, relatives or +friends, found in the house of mourning, to share the grief of the +survivors--no longer was the corpse accompanied to the grave by +neighbours and a numerous train of priests, carrying wax tapers and +singing psalms, nor was it borne along by other citizens of equal rank. +Many breathed their last without a friend to soothe their dying pillow; +and few indeed were they who departed amid the lamentations and tears of +their friends and kindred. Instead of sorrow and mourning, appeared +indifference, frivolity and mirth; this being considered, especially by +the females, as conducive to health. Seldom was the body followed by +even ten or twelve attendants; and instead of the usual bearers and +sextons, mercenaries of the lowest of the populace undertook the office +for the sake of gain; and accompanied by only a few priests, and often +without a single taper, it was borne to the very nearest church, and +lowered into the grave that was not already too full to receive it. Among +the middling classes, and especially among the poor, the misery was still +greater. Poverty or negligence induced most of these to remain in their +dwellings, or in the immediate neighbourhood; and thus they fell by +thousands; and many ended their lives in the streets by day and by night. +The stench of putrefying corpses was often the first indication to their +neighbours that more deaths had occurred. The survivors, to preserve +themselves from infection, generally had the bodies taken out of the +houses and laid before the doors; where the early morning found them in +heaps, exposed to the affrighted gaze of the passing stranger. It was no +longer possible to have a bier for every corpse--three or four were +generally laid together--husband and wife, father and mother, with two or +three children, were frequently borne to the grave on the same bier; and +it often happened that two priests would accompany a coffin, bearing the +cross before it, and be joined on the way by several other funerals; so +that instead of one, there were five or six bodies for interment." + +Thus far Boccacio. On the conduct of the priests, another contemporary +observes: "In large and small towns they had withdrawn themselves through +fear, leaving the performance of ecclesiastical duties to the few who +were found courageous and faithful enough to undertake them." But we +ought not on that account to throw more blame on them than on others; for +we find proofs of the same timidity and heartlessness in every class. +During the prevalence of the Black Plague, the charitable orders +conducted themselves admirably, and did as much good as can be done by +individual bodies in times of great misery and destruction, when +compassion, courage, and the nobler feelings are found but in the few, +while cowardice, selfishness and ill-will, with the baser passions in +their train, assert the supremacy. In place of virtue which had been +driven from the earth, wickedness everywhere reared her rebellious +standard, and succeeding generations were consigned to the dominion of +her baleful tyranny. + + + +CHAPTER VI--PHYSICIANS + + +If we now turn to the medical talent which encountered the "Great +Mortality," the Middle Ages must stand excused, since even the moderns +are of opinion that the art of medicine is not able to cope with the +Oriental plague, and can afford deliverance from it only under +particularly favourable circumstances. We must bear in mind, also, that +human science and art appear particularly weak in great pestilences, +because they have to contend with the powers of nature, of which they +have no knowledge; and which, if they had been, or could be, comprehended +in their collective effects, would remain uncontrollable by them, +principally on account of the disordered condition of human society. +Moreover, every new plague has its peculiarities, which are the less +easily discovered on first view because, during its ravages, fear and +consternation humble the proud spirit. + +The physicians of the fourteenth century, during the Black Death, did +what human intellect could do in the actual condition of the healing art; +and their knowledge of the disease was by no means despicable. They, +like the rest of mankind, have indulged in prejudices, and defended them, +perhaps, with too much obstinacy: some of these, however, were founded on +the mode of thinking of the age, and passed current in those days as +established truths; others continue to exist to the present hour. + +Their successors in the nineteenth century ought not therefore to vaunt +too highly the pre-eminence of their knowledge, for they too will be +subjected to the severe judgment of posterity--they too will, with +reason, be accused of human weakness and want of foresight. + +The medical faculty of Paris, the most celebrated of the fourteenth +century, were commissioned to deliver their opinion on the causes of the +Black Plague, and to furnish some appropriate regulations with regard to +living during its prevalence. This document is sufficiently remarkable +to find a place here. + +"We, the Members of the College of Physicians of Paris, have, after +mature consideration and consultation on the present mortality, collected +the advice of our old masters in the art, and intend to make known the +causes of this pestilence more clearly than could be done according to +the rules and principles of astrology and natural science; we, therefore, +declare as follows:-- + +"It is known that in India and the vicinity of the Great Sea, the +constellations which combated the rays of the sun, and the warmth of the +heavenly fire, exerted their power especially against that sea, and +struggled violently with its waters. (Hence vapours often originate +which envelop the sun, and convert his light into darkness.) These +vapours alternately rose and fell for twenty-eight days; but, at last, +sun and fire acted so powerfully upon the sea that they attracted a great +portion of it to themselves, and the waters of the ocean arose in the +form of vapour; thereby the waters were in some parts so corrupted that +the fish which they contained died. These corrupted waters, however, the +heat of the sun could not consume, neither could other wholesome water, +hail or snow and dew, originate therefrom. On the contrary, this vapour +spread itself through the air in many places on the earth, and enveloped +them in fog. + +"Such was the case all over Arabia, in a part of India, in Crete, in the +plains and valleys of Macedonia, in Hungary, Albania, and Sicily. Should +the same thing occur in Sardinia, not a man will be left alive, and the +like will continue so long as the sun remains in the sign of Leo, on all +the islands and adjoining countries to which this corrupted sea-wind +extends, or has already extended, from India. If the inhabitants of +those parts do not employ and adhere to the following or similar means +and precepts, we announce to them inevitable death, except the grace of +Christ preserve their lives. + +"We are of opinion that the constellations, with the aid of nature, +strive by virtue of their Divine might, to protect and heal the human +race; and to this end, in union with the rays of the sun, acting through +the power of fire, endeavour to break through the mist. Accordingly, +within the next ten days, and until the 17th of the ensuing month of +July, this mist will be converted into a stinking deleterious rain, +whereby the air will be much purified. Now, as soon as this rain shall +announce itself by thunder or hail, every one of you should protect +himself from the air; and, as well before as after the rain, kindle a +large fire of vine-wood, green laurel, or other green wood; wormwood and +camomile should also be burnt in great quantity in the market-places, in +other densely inhabited localities, and in the houses. Until the earth +is again completely dry, and for three days afterwards, no one ought to +go abroad in the fields. During this time the diet should be simple, and +people should be cautious in avoiding exposure in the cool of the +evening, at night, and in the morning. Poultry and water-fowl, young +pork, old beef, and fat meat in general, should not be eaten; but, on the +contrary, meat of a proper age, of a warm and dry, but on no account of a +heating and exciting nature. Broth should be taken, seasoned with ground +pepper, ginger, and cloves, especially by those who are accustomed to +live temperately, and are yet choice in their diet. Sleep in the day- +time is detrimental; it should be taken at night until sunrise, or +somewhat longer. At breakfast one should drink little; supper should be +taken an hour before sunset, when more may be drunk than in the morning. +Clear light wine, mixed with a fifth or six part of water, should be used +as a beverage. Dried or fresh fruits, with wine, are not injurious, but +highly so without it. Beet-root and other vegetables, whether eaten +pickled or fresh, are hurtful; on the contrary, spicy pot-herbs, as sage +or rosemary, are wholesome. Cold, moist, watery food in is general +prejudicial. Going out at night, and even until three o'clock in the +morning, is dangerous, on account of dew. Only small river fish should +be used. Too much exercise is hurtful. The body should be kept warmer +than usual, and thus protected from moisture and cold. Rain-water must +not be employed in cooking, and every one should guard against exposure +to wet weather. If it rain, a little fine treacle should be taken after +dinner. Fat people should not sit in the sunshine. Good clear wine +should be selected and drunk often, but in small quantities, by day. +Olive oil as an article of food is fatal. Equally injurious are fasting +and excessive abstemiousness, anxiety of mind, anger, and immoderate +drinking. Young people, in autumn especially, must abstain from all +these things if they do not wish to run a risk of dying of dysentery. In +order to keep the body properly open, an enema, or some other simple +means, should be employed when necessary. Bathing is injurious. Men +must preserve chastity as they value their lives. Every one should +impress this on his recollection, but especially those who reside on the +coast, or upon an island into which the noxious wind has penetrated." + +On what occasion these strange precepts were delivered can no longer be +ascertained, even if it were an object to know it. It must be +acknowledged, however, that they do not redound to the credit either of +the faculty of Paris, or of the fourteenth century in general. This +famous faculty found themselves under the painful necessity of being wise +at command, and of firing a point-blank shot of erudition at an enemy who +enveloped himself in a dark mist, of the nature of which they had no +conception. In concealing their ignorance by authoritative assertions, +they suffered themselves, therefore, to be misled; and while endeavouring +to appear to the world with _eclat_, only betrayed to the intelligent +their lamentable weakness. Now some might suppose that, in the condition +of the sciences of the fourteenth century, no intelligent physicians +existed; but this is altogether at variance with the laws of human +advancement, and is contradicted by history. The real knowledge of an +age is shown only in the archives of its literature. Here alone the +genius of truth speaks audibly--here alone men of talent deposit the +results of their experience and reflection without vanity or a selfish +object. There is no ground for believing that in the fourteenth century +men of this kind were publicly questioned regarding their views; and it +is, therefore, the more necessary that impartial history should take up +their cause, and do justice to their merits. + +The first notice on this subject is due to a very celebrated teacher in +Perugia, Gentilis of Foligno, who, on the 18th of June, 1348, fell a +sacrifice to the plague, in the faithful discharge of his duty. Attached +to Arabian doctrines, and to the universally respected Galen, he, in +common with all his contemporaries, believed in a putrid corruption of +the blood in the lungs and in the heart, which was occasioned by the +pestilential atmosphere, and was forthwith communicated to the whole +body. He thought, therefore, that everything depended upon a sufficient +purification of the air, by means of large blazing fires of odoriferous +wood, in the vicinity of the healthy as well as of the sick, and also +upon an appropriate manner of living, so that the putridity might not +overpower the diseased. In conformity with notions derived from the +ancients, he depended upon bleeding and purging, at the commencement of +the attack, for the purpose of purification; ordered the healthy to wash +themselves frequently with vinegar or wine, to sprinkle their dwellings +with vinegar, and to smell often to camphor, or other volatile +substances. Hereupon he gave, after the Arabian fashion, detailed rules, +with an abundance of different medicines, of whose healing powers +wonderful things were believed. He had little stress upon super-lunar +influences, so far as respected the malady itself; on which account, he +did not enter into the great controversies of the astrologers, but always +kept in view, as an object of medical attention, the corruption of the +blood in the lungs and heart. He believed in a progressive infection +from country to country, according to the notions of the present day; and +the contagious power of the disease, even in the vicinity of those +affected by plague, was, in his opinion, beyond all doubt. On this point +intelligent contemporaries were all agreed; and, in truth, it required no +great genius to be convinced of so palpable a fact. Besides, correct +notions of contagion have descended from remote antiquity, and were +maintained unchanged in the fourteenth century. So far back as the age +of Plato a knowledge of the contagious power of malignant inflammations +of the eye, of which also no physician of the Middle Ages entertained a +doubt, was general among the people; yet in modern times surgeons have +filled volumes with partial controversies on this subject. The whole +language of antiquity has adapted itself to the notions of the people +respecting the contagion of pestilential diseases; and their terms were, +beyond comparison, more expressive than those in use among the moderns. + +Arrangements for the protection of the healthy against contagious +diseases, the necessity of which is shown from these notions, were +regarded by the ancients as useful; and by man, whose circumstances +permitted it, were carried into effect in their houses. Even a total +separation of the sick from the healthy, that indispensable means of +protection against infection by contact, was proposed by physicians of +the second century after Christ, in order to check the spreading of +leprosy. But it was decidedly opposed, because, as it was alleged, the +healing art ought not to be guilty of such harshness. This mildness of +the ancients, in whose manner of thinking inhumanity was so often and so +undisguisedly conspicuous, might excite surprise if it were anything more +than apparent. The true ground of the neglect of public protection +against pestilential diseases lay in the general notion and constitution +of human society--it lay in the disregard of human life, of which the +great nations of antiquity have given proofs in every page of their +history. Let it not be supposed that they wanted knowledge respecting +the propagation of contagious diseases. On the contrary, they were as +well informed on this subject as the modern; but this was shown where +individual property, not where human life, on the grand scale was to be +protected. Hence the ancients made a general practice of arresting the +progress of murrains among cattle by a separation of the diseased from +the healthy. Their herds alone enjoyed that protection which they held +it impracticable to extend to human society, because they had no wish to +do so. That the governments in the fourteenth century were not yet so +far advanced as to put into practice general regulations for checking the +plague needs no especial proof. Physicians could, therefore, only advise +public purifications of the air by means of large fires, as had often +been practised in ancient times; and they were obliged to leave it to +individual families either to seek safety in flight, or to shut +themselves up in their dwellings, a method which answers in common +plagues, but which here afforded no complete security, because such was +the fury of the disease when it was at its height, that the atmosphere of +whole cities was penetrated by the infection. + +Of the astral influence which was considered to have originated the +"Great Mortality," physicians and learned men were as completely +convinced as of the fact of its reality. A grand conjunction of the +three superior planets, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, in the sign of +Aquarius, which took place, according to Guy de Chauliac, on the 24th of +March, 1345, was generally received as its principal cause. In fixing +the day, this physician, who was deeply versed in astrology, did not +agree with others; whereupon there arose various disputations, of weight +in that age, but of none in ours. People, however, agree in this--that +conjunctions of the planets infallibly prognosticated great events; great +revolutions of kingdoms, new prophets, destructive plagues, and other +occurrences which bring distress and horror on mankind. No medical +author of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries omits an opportunity of +representing them as among the general prognostics of great plagues; nor +can we, for our part, regard the astrology of the Middle Ages as a mere +offspring of superstition. It has not only, in common with all ideas +which inspire and guide mankind, a high historical importance, entirely +independent of its error or truth--for the influence of both is equally +powerful--but there are also contained in it, as in alchemy, grand +thoughts of antiquity, of which modern natural philosophy is so little +ashamed that she claims them as her property. Foremost among these is +the idea of general life which diffuses itself throughout the whole +universe, expressed by the greatest Greek sages, and transmitted to the +Middle Ages, through the new Platonic natural philosophy. To this +impression of an universal organism, the assumption of a reciprocal +influence of terrestrial bodies could not be foreign, nor did this cease +to correspond with a higher view of nature, until astrologers overstepped +the limits of human knowledge with frivolous and mystical calculations. + +Guy de Chauliac considers the influence of the conjunction, which was +held to be all-potent, as the chief general cause of the Black Plague; +and the diseased state of bodies, the corruption of the fluids, debility, +obstruction, and so forth, as the especial subordinate causes. By these, +according to his opinion, the quality of the air, and of the other +elements, was so altered that they set poisonous fluids in motion towards +the inward parts of the body, in the same manner as the magnet attracts +iron; whence there arose in the commencement fever and the spitting of +blood; afterwards, however, a deposition in the form on glandular +swellings and inflammatory boils. Herein the notion of an epidemic +constitution was set forth clearly, and conformably to the spirit of the +age. Of contagion, Guy de Chauliac was completely convinced. He sought +to protect himself against it by the usual means; and it was probably he +who advised Pope Clement VI. to shut himself up while the plague lasted. +The preservation of this Pope's life, however, was most beneficial to the +city of Avignon, for he loaded the poor with judicious acts of kindness, +took care to have proper attendants provided, and paid physicians himself +to afford assistance wherever human aid could avail--an advantage which, +perhaps, no other city enjoyed. Nor was the treatment of plague-patients +in Avignon by any means objectionable; for, after the usual depletions by +bleeding and aperients, where circumstances required them, they +endeavoured to bring the buboes to suppuration; they made incisions into +the inflammatory boils, or burned them with a red-hot iron, a practice +which at all times proves salutary, and in the Black Plague saved many +lives. In this city, the Jews, who lived in a state of the greatest +filth, were most severely visited, as also the Spaniards, whom Chalin +accuses of great intemperance. + +Still more distinct notions on the causes of the plague were stated to +his contemporaries in the fourteenth century by Galeazzo di Santa Sofia, +a learned man, a native of Padua, who likewise treated plague-patients at +Vienna, though in what year is undetermined. He distinguishes carefully +_pestilence_ from _epidemy_ and _endemy_. The common notion of the two +first accords exactly with that of an epidemic constitution, for both +consist, according to him, in an unknown change or corruption of the air; +with this difference, that pestilence calls forth diseases of different +kinds; epidemy, on the contrary, always the same disease. As an example +of an epidemy, he adduces a cough (influenza) which was observed in all +climates at the same time without perceptible cause; but he recognised +the approach of a pestilence, independently of unusual natural phenomena, +by the more frequent occurrence of various kinds of fever, to which the +modern physicians would assign a nervous and putrid character. The +endemy originates, according to him, only in local telluric changes--in +deleterious influences which develop themselves in the earth and in the +water, without a corruption of the air. These notions were variously +jumbled together in his time, like everything which human understanding +separates by too fine a line of limitation. The estimation of cosmical +influences, however, in the epidemy and pestilence, is well worthy of +commendation; and Santa Sofia, in this respect, not only agrees with the +most intelligent persons of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but +he has also promulgated an opinion which must, even now, serve as a +foundation for our scarcely commenced investigations into cosmical +influences. Pestilence and epidemy consist not in alterations of the +four primary qualities, but in a corruption of the air, powerful, though +quite immaterial, and not cognoscible by the senses--(corruptio aeris non +substantialis, sed qualitativa) in a disproportion of the imponderables +in the atmosphere, as it would be expressed by the moderns. The causes +of the pestilence and epidemy are, first of all, astral influences, +especially on occasions of planetary conjunctions; then extensive +putrefaction of animal and vegetable bodies, and terrestrial corruptions +(corruptio in terra): to which also bad diet and want may contribute. +Santa Sofia considers the putrefaction of locusts, that had perished in +the sea and were again thrown up, combined with astral and terrestrial +influences, as the cause of the pestilence in the eventful year of the +"Great Mortality." + +All the fevers which were called forth by the pestilence are, according +to him, of the putrid kind; for they originate principally from putridity +of the heart's blood, which inevitably follows the inhalation of infected +air. The Oriental Plague is, sometimes, but by no means always +occasioned by _pestilence_ (?), which imparts to it a character +(_qualitas occulta_) hostile to human nature. It originates frequently +from other causes, among which this physician was aware that contagion +was to be reckoned; and it deserves to be remarked that he held epidemic +small-pox and measles to be infallible forerunners of the plague, as do +the physicians and people of the East at the present day. + +In the exposition of his therapeutical views of the plague, a clearness +of intellect is again shown by Santa Sofia, which reflects credit on the +age. It seemed to him to depend, 1st, on an evacuation of putrid matters +by purgatives and bleeding; yet he did not sanction the employment of +these means indiscriminately and without consideration; least of all +where the condition of the blood was healthy. He also declared himself +decidedly against bleeding _ad deliquium_ (_venae sectio eradicativa_). +2nd, Strengthening of the heart and prevention of putrescence. 3rd, +Appropriate regimen. 4th, Improvement of the air. 5th, Appropriate +treatment of tumid glands and inflammatory boils, with emollient, or even +stimulating poultices (mustard, lily-bulbs), as well as with red-hot gold +and iron. Lastly, 6th, Attention to prominent symptoms. The stores of +the Arabian pharmacy, which he brought into action to meet all these +indications, were indeed very considerable; it is to be observed, +however, that, for the most part, gentle means were accumulated, which, +in case of abuse, would do no harm: for the character of the Arabian +system of medicine, whose principles were everywhere followed at this +time, was mildness and caution. On this account, too, we cannot believe +that a very prolix treatise by Marsigli di Santa Sofia, a contemporary +relative of Galeazzo, on the prevention and treatment of plague, can have +caused much harm, although perhaps, even in the fourteenth century, an +agreeable latitude and confident assertions respecting things which no +mortal has investigated, or which it is quite a matter of indifference to +distinguish, were considered as proofs of a valuable practical talent. + +The agreement of contemporary and later writers shows that the published +views of the most celebrated physicians of the fourteenth century were +those generally adopted. Among these, Chalin de Vinario is the most +experienced. Though devoted to astrology still more than his +distinguished contemporary, he acknowledges the great power of +terrestrial influences, and expresses himself very sensibly on the +indisputable doctrine of contagion, endeavouring thereby to apologise for +many surgeons and physicians of his time who neglected their duty. He +asserted boldly and with truth, "_that all epidemic diseases might become +contagious_, _and all fevers epidemic_," which attentive observers of all +subsequent ages have confirmed. + +He delivered his sentiments on blood-letting with sagacity, as an +experienced physician; yet he was unable, as may be imagined, to moderate +the desire for bleeding shown by the ignorant monks. He was averse to +draw blood from the veins of patients under fourteen years of age; but +counteracted inflammatory excitement in them by cupping, and endeavoured +to moderate the inflammation of the tumid glands by leeches. Most of +those who were bled, died; he therefore reserved this remedy for the +plethoric; especially for the papal courtiers and the hypocritical +priests, whom he saw gratifying their sensual desires, and imitating +Epicurus, whilst they pompously pretended to follow Christ. He +recommended burning the boils with a red-hot iron only in the plague +without fever, which occurred in single cases; and was always ready to +correct those over-hasty surgeons who, with fire and violent remedies, +did irremediable injury to their patients. Michael Savonarola, professor +in Ferrara (1462), reasoning on the susceptibility of the human frame to +the influence of pestilential infection, as the cause of such various +modifications of disease, expresses himself as a modern physician would +on this point; and an adoption of the principle of contagion was the +foundation of his definition of the plague. No less worthy of +observation are the views of the celebrated Valescus of Taranta, who, +during the final visitation of the Black Death, in 1382, practised as a +physician at Montpellier, and handed down to posterity what has been +repeated in innumerable treatises on plague, which were written during +the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. + +Of all these notions and views regarding the plague, whose development we +have represented, there are two especially, which are prominent in +historical importance:--1st, The opinion of learned physicians, that the +pestilence, or epidemic constitution, is the parent of various kinds of +disease; that the plague sometimes, indeed, but by no means always, +originates from it: that, to speak in the language of the moderns, the +pestilence bears the same relation to contagion that a predisposing cause +does to an occasional cause; and 2ndly, the universal conviction of the +contagious power of that disease. + +Contagion gradually attracted more notice: it was thought that in it the +most powerful occasional cause might be avoided; the possibility of +protecting whole cities by separation became gradually more evident; and +so horrifying was the recollection of the eventful year of the "Great +Mortality," that before the close of the fourteenth century, ere the ill +effects of the Black Plague had ceased, nations endeavoured to guard +against the return of this enemy by an earnest and effectual defence. + +The first regulation which was issued for this purpose, originated with +Viscount Bernabo, and is dated the 17th January, 1374. "Every plague- +patient was to be taken out of the city into the fields, there to die or +to recover. Those who attended upon a plague-patient, were to remain +apart for ten days before they again associated with anybody. The +priests were to examine the diseased, and point out to special +commissioners the persons infected, under punishment of the confiscation +of their goods and of being burned alive. Whoever imported the plague, +the state condemned his goods to confiscation. Finally, none except +those who were appointed for that purpose were to attend plague-patients, +under penalty of death and confiscation." + +These orders, in correspondence with the spirit of the fourteenth +century, are sufficiently decided to indicate a recollection of the good +effects of confinement, and of keeping at a distance those suspected of +having plague. It was said that Milan itself, by a rigorous barricade of +three houses in which the plague had broken out, maintained itself free +from the "Great Mortality" for a considerable time; and examples of the +preservation of individual families, by means of a strict separation, +were certainly very frequent. That these orders must have caused +universal affliction from their uncommon severity, as we know to have +been especially the case in the city of Reggio, may be easily conceived; +but Bernabo did not suffer himself to be deterred from his purpose by +fear--on the contrary, when the plague returned in the year 1383, he +forbade the admission of people from infected places into his territories +on pain of death. We have now, it is true, no account how far he +succeeded; yet it is to be supposed that he arrested the disease, for it +had long lost the property of the Black Death, to spread abroad in the +air the contagious matter which proceeded from the lungs, charged with +putridity, and to taint the atmosphere of whole cities by the vast +numbers of the sick. Now that it had resumed its milder form, so that it +infected only by contact, it admitted being confined within individual +dwellings, as easily as in modern times. + +Bernabo's example was imitated; nor was there any century more +appropriate for recommending to governments strong regulations against +the plague that the fourteenth; for when it broke out in Italy, in the +year 1399, and still demanded new victims, it was for the sixteenth time, +without reckoning frequent visitations of measles and small-pox. In this +same year, Viscount John, in milder terms than his predecessor, ordered +that no stranger should be admitted from infected places, and that the +city gates should be strictly guarded. Infected houses were to be +ventilated for at least eight or ten days, and purified from noxious +vapours by fires, and by fumigations with balsamic and aromatic +substances. Straw, rags, and the like were to be burned; and the +bedsteads which had been used, set out for four days in the rain or the +sunshine, so that by means of the one or the other, the morbific vapour +might be destroyed. No one was to venture to make use of clothes or beds +out of infected dwellings unless they had been previously washed and +dried either at the fire or in the sun. People were, likewise, to avoid, +as long as possible, occupying houses which had been frequented by plague- +patients. + +We cannot precisely perceive in these an advance towards general +regulations; and perhaps people were convinced of the insurmountable +impediments which opposed the separation of open inland countries, where +bodies of people connected together could not be brought, even by the +most obdurate severity, to renounce the habit of profitable intercourse. + +Doubtless it is nature which has done the most to banish the Oriental +plague from western Europe, where the increasing cultivation of the +earth, and the advancing order in civilised society, have prevented it +from remaining domesticated, which it most probably was in the more +ancient times. + +In the fifteenth century, during which it broke out seventeen times in +different places in Europe, it was of the more consequence to oppose a +barrier to its entrance from Asia, Africa, and Greece (which had become +Turkish); for it would have been difficult for it to maintain itself +indigenously any longer. Among the southern commercial states, however, +which were called on to make the greatest exertions to this end, it was +principally Venice, formerly so severely attacked by the Black Plague, +that put the necessary restraint upon perilous profits of the merchant. +Until towards the end of the fifteenth century, the very considerable +intercourse with the East was free and unimpeded. Ships of commercial +cities had often brought over the plague: nay, the former irruption of +the "Great Mortality" itself had been occasioned by navigators. For, as +in the latter end of autumn, 1347, four ships full of plague-patients +returned from the Levant to Genoa, the disease spread itself there with +astonishing rapidity. On this account, in the following year, the +Genoese forbade the entrance of suspected ships into their port. These +sailed to Pisa and other cities on the coast, where already nature had +made such mighty preparations for the reception of the Black Plague, and +what we have already described took place in consequence. + +In the year 1485, when, among the cities of northern Italy, Milan +especially felt the scourge of the plague, a special Council of Health, +consisting of three nobles, was established at Venice, who probably tried +everything in their power to prevent the entrance of this disease, and +gradually called into activity all those regulations which have served in +later times as a pattern for the other southern states of Europe. Their +endeavours were, however, not crowned with complete success; on which +account their powers were increased, in the year 1504, by granting them +the right of life and death over those who violated the regulations. +Bills of health were probably first introduced in the year 1527, during a +fatal plague which visited Italy for five years (1525-30), and called +forth redoubled caution. + +The first lazarettos were established upon islands at some distance from +the city, seemingly as early as the year 1485. Here all strangers coming +from places where the existence of plague was suspected were detained. If +it appeared in the city itself, the sick were despatched with their +families to what was called the Old Lazaretto, were there furnished with +provisions and medicines, and when they were cured, were detained, +together with all those who had had intercourse with them, still forty +days longer in the New Lazaretto, situated on another island. All these +regulations were every year improved, and their needful rigour was +increased, so that from the year 1585 onwards, no appeal was allowed from +the sentence of the Council of Health; and the other commercial nations +gradually came to the support of the Venetians, by adopting corresponding +regulations. Bills of health, however, were not general until the year +1665. + +The appointment of a forty days' detention, whence quarantines derive +their name, was not dictated by caprice, but probably had a medical +origin, which is derivable in part from the doctrine of critical days; +for the fortieth day, according to the most ancient notions, has been +always regarded as the last of ardent diseases, and the limit of +separation between these and those which are chronic. It was the custom +to subject lying-in women for forty days to a more exact superintendence. +There was a good deal also said in medical works of forty-day epochs in +the formation of the foetus, not to mention that the alchemists expected +more durable revolutions in forty days, which period they called the +philosophical month. + +This period being generally held to prevail in natural processes, it +appeared reasonable to assume, and legally to establish it, as that +required for the development of latent principles of contagion, since +public regulations cannot dispense with decisions of this kind, even +though they should not be wholly justified by the nature of the case. +Great stress has likewise been laid on theological and legal grounds, +which were certainly of greater weight in the fifteenth century than in +the modern times. + +On this matter, however, we cannot decide, since our only object here is +to point out the origin of a political means of protection against a +disease which has been the greatest impediment to civilisation within the +memory of man; a means that, like Jenner's vaccine, after the small-pox +had ravaged Europe for twelve hundred years, has diminished the check +which mortality puts on the progress of civilisation, and thus given to +the life and manners of the nations of this part of the world a new +direction, the result of which we cannot foretell. + + + + +THE DANCING MANIA + + +CHAPTER I--THE DANCING MANIA IN GERMANY AND THE NETHERLANDS + + +SECT. 1--ST. JOHN'S DANCE + + +The effects of the Black Death had not yet subsided, and the graves of +millions of its victims were scarcely closed, when a strange delusion +arose in Germany, which took possession of the minds of men, and, in +spite of the divinity of our nature, hurried away body and soul into the +magic circle of hellish superstition. It was a convulsion which in the +most extraordinary manner infuriated the human frame, and excited the +astonishment of contemporaries for more than two centuries, since which +time it has never reappeared. It was called the dance of St. John or of +St. Vitus, on account of the Bacchantic leaps by which it was +characterised, and which gave to those affected, whilst performing their +wild dance, and screaming and foaming with fury, all the appearance of +persons possessed. It did not remain confined to particular localities, +but was propagated by the sight of the sufferers, like a demoniacal +epidemic, over the whole of Germany and the neighbouring countries to the +north-west, which were already prepared for its reception by the +prevailing opinions of the time. + +So early as the year 1374, assemblages of men and women were seen at Aix- +la-Chapelle, who had come out of Germany, and who, united by one common +delusion, exhibited to the public both in the streets and in the churches +the following strange spectacle. They formed circles hand in hand, and +appearing to have lost all control over their senses, continued dancing, +regardless of the bystanders, for hours together, in wild delirium, until +at length they fell to the ground in a state of exhaustion. They then +complained of extreme oppression, and groaned as if in the agonies of +death, until they were swathed in cloths bound tightly round their +waists, upon which they again recovered, and remained free from complaint +until the next attack. This practice of swathing was resorted to on +account of the tympany which followed these spasmodic ravings, but the +bystanders frequently relieved patients in a less artificial manner, by +thumping and trampling upon the parts affected. While dancing they +neither saw nor heard, being insensible to external impressions through +the senses, but were haunted by visions, their fancies conjuring up +spirits whose names they shrieked out; and some of them afterwards +asserted that they felt as if they had been immersed in a stream of +blood, which obliged them to leap so high. Others, during the paroxysm, +saw the heavens open and the Saviour enthroned with the Virgin Mary, +according as the religious notions of the age were strangely and +variously reflected in their imaginations. + +Where the disease was completely developed, the attack commenced with +epileptic convulsions. Those affected fell to the ground senseless, +panting and labouring for breath. They foamed at the mouth, and suddenly +springing up began their dance amidst strange contortions. Yet the +malady doubtless made its appearance very variously, and was modified by +temporary or local circumstances, whereof non-medical contemporaries but +imperfectly noted the essential particulars, accustomed as they were to +confound their observation of natural events with their notions of the +world of spirits. + +It was but a few months ere this demoniacal disease had spread from Aix- +la-Chapelle, where it appeared in July, over the neighbouring +Netherlands. In Liege, Utrecht, Tongres, and many other towns of +Belgium, the dancers appeared with garlands in their hair, and their +waists girt with cloths, that they might, as soon as the paroxysm was +over, receive immediate relief on the attack of the tympany. This +bandage was, by the insertion of a stick, easily twisted tight: many, +however, obtained more relief from kicks and blows, which they found +numbers of persons ready to administer: for, wherever the dancers +appeared, the people assembled in crowds to gratify their curiosity with +the frightful spectacle. At length the increasing number of the affected +excited no less anxiety than the attention that was paid to them. In +towns and villages they took possession of the religious houses, +processions were everywhere instituted on their account, and masses were +said and hymns were sung, while the disease itself, of the demoniacal +origin of which no one entertained the least doubt, excited everywhere +astonishment and horror. In Liege the priests had recourse to exorcisms, +and endeavoured by every means in their power to allay an evil which +threatened so much danger to themselves; for the possessed assembling in +multitudes, frequently poured forth imprecations against them, and +menaced their destruction. They intimidated the people also to such a +degree that there was an express ordinance issued that no one should make +any but square-toed shoes, because these fanatics had manifested a morbid +dislike to the pointed shoes which had come into fashion immediately +after the "Great Mortality" in 1350. They were still more irritated at +the sight of red colours, the influence of which on the disordered nerves +might lead us to imagine an extraordinary accordance between this +spasmodic malady and the condition of infuriated animals; but in the St. +John's dancers this excitement was probably connected with apparitions +consequent upon their convulsions. There were likewise some of them who +were unable to endure the sight of persons weeping. The clergy seemed to +become daily more and more confirmed in their belief that those who were +affected were a kind of sectarians, and on this account they hastened +their exorcisms as much as possible, in order that the evil might not +spread amongst the higher classes, for hitherto scarcely any but the poor +had been attacked, and the few people of respectability among the laity +and clergy who were to be found among them, were persons whose natural +frivolity was unable to withstand the excitement of novelty, even though +it proceeded from a demoniacal influence. Some of the affected had +indeed themselves declared, when under the influence of priestly forms of +exorcism, that if the demons had been allowed only a few weeks' more +time, they would have entered the bodies of the nobility and princes, and +through these have destroyed the clergy. Assertions of this sort, which +those possessed uttered whilst in a state which may be compared with that +of magnetic sleep, obtained general belief, and passed from mouth to +mouth with wonderful additions. The priesthood were, on this account, so +much the more zealous in their endeavours to anticipate every dangerous +excitement of the people, as if the existing order of things could have +been seriously threatened by such incoherent ravings. Their exertions +were effectual, for exorcism was a powerful remedy in the fourteenth +century; or it might perhaps be that this wild infatuation terminated in +consequence of the exhaustion which naturally ensued from it; at all +events, in the course of ten or eleven months the St. John's dancers were +no longer to be found in any of the cities of Belgium. The evil, +however, was too deeply rooted to give way altogether to such feeble +attacks. + +A few months after this dancing malady had made its appearance at Aix-la- +Chapelle, it broke out at Cologne, where the number of those possessed +amounted to more than five hundred, and about the same time at Metz, the +streets of which place are said to have been filled with eleven hundred +dancers. Peasants left their ploughs, mechanics their workshops, +housewives their domestic duties, to join the wild revels, and this rich +commercial city became the scene of the most ruinous disorder. Secret +desires were excited, and but too often found opportunities for wild +enjoyment; and numerous beggars, stimulated by vice and misery, availed +themselves of this new complaint to gain a temporary livelihood. Girls +and boys quitted their parents, and servants their masters, to amuse +themselves at the dances of those possessed, and greedily imbibed the +poison of mental infection. Above a hundred unmarried women were seen +raving about in consecrated and unconsecrated places, and the +consequences were soon perceived. Gangs of idle vagabonds, who +understood how to imitate to the life the gestures and convulsions of +those really affected, roved from place to place seeking maintenance and +adventures, and thus, wherever they went, spreading this disgusting +spasmodic disease like a plague; for in maladies of this kind the +susceptible are infected as easily by the appearance as by the reality. +At last it was found necessary to drive away these mischievous guests, +who were equally inaccessible to the exorcisms of the priests and the +remedies of the physicians. It was not, however, until after four months +that the Rhenish cities were able to suppress these impostures, which had +so alarmingly increased the original evil. In the meantime, when once +called into existence, the plague crept on, and found abundant food in +the tone of thought which prevailed in the fourteenth and fifteenth +centuries, and even, though in a minor degree, throughout the sixteenth +and seventeenth, causing a permanent disorder of the mind, and exhibiting +in those cities to whose inhabitants it was a novelty, scenes as strange +as they were detestable. + + +SECT. 2--ST. VITUS'S DANCE + + +Strasburg was visited by the "Dancing Plague" in the year 1418, and the +same infatuation existed among the people there, as in the towns of +Belgium and the Lower Rhine. Many who were seized at the sight of those +affected, excited attention at first by their confused and absurd +behaviour, and then by their constantly following swarms of dancers. +These were seen day and night passing through the streets, accompanied by +musicians playing on bagpipes, and by innumerable spectators attracted by +curiosity, to which were added anxious parents and relations, who came to +look after those among the misguided multitude who belonged to their +respective families. Imposture and profligacy played their part in this +city also, but the morbid delusion itself seems to have predominated. On +this account religion could only bring provisional aid, and therefore the +town council benevolently took an interest in the afflicted. They +divided them into separate parties, to each of which they appointed +responsible superintendents to protect them from harm, and perhaps also +to restrain their turbulence. They were thus conducted on foot and in +carriages to the chapels of St. Vitus, near Zabern and Rotestein, where +priests were in attendance to work upon their misguided minds by masses +and other religious ceremonies. After divine worship was completed, they +were led in solemn procession to the altar, where they made some small +offering of alms, and where it is probable that many were, through the +influence of devotion and the sanctity of the place, cured of this +lamentable aberration. It is worthy of observation, at all events, that +the Dancing Mania did not recommence at the altars of the saint, and that +from him alone assistance was implored, and through his miraculous +interposition a cure was expected, which was beyond the reach of human +skill. The personal history of St. Vitus is by no means important in +this matter. He was a Sicilian youth, who, together with Modestus and +Crescentia, suffered martyrdom at the time of the persecution of the +Christians, under Diocletian, in the year 303. The legends respecting +him are obscure, and he would certainly have been passed over without +notice among the innumerable apocryphal martyrs of the first centuries, +had not the transfer of his body to St. Denys, and thence, in the year +836, to Corvey, raised him to a higher rank. From this time forth it may +be supposed that many miracles were manifested at his new sepulchre, +which were of essential service in confirming the Roman faith among the +Germans, and St. Vitus was soon ranked among the fourteen saintly helpers +(Nothhelfer or Apotheker). His altars were multiplied, and the people +had recourse to them in all kinds of distresses, and revered him as a +powerful intercessor. As the worship of these saints was, however, at +that time stripped of all historical connections, which were purposely +obliterated by the priesthood, a legend was invented at the beginning of +the fifteenth century, or perhaps even so early as the fourteenth, that +St. Vitus had, just before he bent his neck to the sword, prayed to God +that he might protect from the Dancing Mania all those who should +solemnise the day of his commemoration, and fast upon its eve, and that +thereupon a voice from heaven was heard, saying, "Vitus, thy prayer is +accepted." Thus St. Vitus became the patron saint of those afflicted +with the Dancing Plague, as St. Martin of Tours was at one time the +succourer of persons in small-pox, St. Antonius of those suffering under +the "hellish fire," and as St. Margaret was the Juno Lucina of puerperal +women. + + +SECT. 3--CAUSES + + +The connection which John the Baptist had with the Dancing Mania of the +fourteenth century was of a totally different character. He was +originally far from being a protecting saint to those who were attacked, +or one who would be likely to give them relief from a malady considered +as the work of the devil. On the contrary, the manner in which he was +worshipped afforded an important and very evident cause for its +development. From the remotest period, perhaps even so far back as the +fourth century, St. John's day was solemnised with all sorts of strange +and rude customs, of which the originally mystical meaning was variously +disfigured among different nations by superadded relics of heathenism. +Thus the Germans transferred to the festival of St. John's day an ancient +heathen usage, the kindling of the "Nodfyr," which was forbidden them by +St. Boniface, and the belief subsists even to the present day that people +and animals that have leaped through these flames, or their smoke, are +protected for a whole year from fevers and other diseases, as if by a +kind of baptism by fire. Bacchanalian dances, which have originated in +similar causes among all the rude nations of the earth, and the wild +extravagancies of a heated imagination, were the constant accompaniments +of this half-heathen, half-Christian festival. At the period of which we +are treating, however, the Germans were not the only people who gave way +to the ebullitions of fanaticism in keeping the festival of St. John the +Baptist. Similar customs were also to be found among the nations of +Southern Europe and of Asia, and it is more than probable that the Greeks +transferred to the festival of John the Baptist, who is also held in high +esteem among the Mahomedans, a part of their Bacchanalian mysteries, an +absurdity of a kind which is but too frequently met with in human +affairs. How far a remembrance of the history of St. John's death may +have had an influence on this occasion, we would leave learned +theologians to decide. It is only of importance here to add that in +Abyssinia, a country entirely separated from Europe, where Christianity +has maintained itself in its primeval simplicity against Mahomedanism, +John is to this day worshipped, as protecting saint of those who are +attacked with the dancing malady. In these fragments of the dominion of +mysticism and superstition, historical connection is not to be found. + +When we observe, however, that the first dancers in Aix-la-Chapelle +appeared in July with St. John's name in their mouths, the conjecture is +probable that the wild revels of St. John's day, A.D. 1374, gave rise to +this mental plague, which thenceforth has visited so many thousands with +incurable aberration of mind, and disgusting distortions of body. + +This is rendered so much the more probable because some months previously +the districts in the neighbourhood of the Rhine and the Main had met with +great disasters. So early as February, both these rivers had overflowed +their banks to a great extent; the walls of the town of Cologne, on the +side next the Rhine, had fallen down, and a great many villages had been +reduced to the utmost distress. To this was added the miserable +condition of western and southern Germany. Neither law nor edict could +suppress the incessant feuds of the Barons, and in Franconia especially, +the ancient times of club law appeared to be revived. Security of +property there was none; arbitrary will everywhere prevailed; corruption +of morals and rude power rarely met with even a feeble opposition; whence +it arose that the cruel, but lucrative, persecutions of the Jews were in +many places still practised through the whole of this century with their +wonted ferocity. Thus, throughout the western parts of Germany, and +especially in the districts bordering on the Rhine, there was a wretched +and oppressed populace; and if we take into consideration that among +their numerous bands many wandered about, whose consciences were +tormented with the recollection of the crimes which they had committed +during the prevalence of the Black Plague, we shall comprehend how their +despair sought relief in the intoxication of an artificial delirium. +There is hence good ground for supposing that the frantic celebration of +the festival of St. John, A.D. 1374, only served to bring to a crisis a +malady which had been long impending; and if we would further inquire how +a hitherto harmless usage, which like many others had but served to keep +up superstition, could degenerate into so serious a disease, we must take +into account the unusual excitement of men's minds, and the consequences +of wretchedness and want. The bowels, which in many were debilitated by +hunger and bad food, were precisely the parts which in most cases were +attacked with excruciating pain, and the tympanitic state of the +intestines points out to the intelligent physician an origin of the +disorder which is well worth consideration. + + +SECT. 4--MORE ANCIENT DANCING PLAGUES + + +The Dancing Mania of the year 1374 was, in fact, no new disease, but a +phenomenon well known in the Middle Ages, of which many wondrous stories +were traditionally current among the people. In the year 1237 upwards of +a hundred children were said to have been suddenly seized with this +disease at Erfurt, and to have proceeded dancing and jumping along the +road to Arnstadt. When they arrived at that place they fell exhausted to +the ground, and, according to an account of an old chronicle, many of +them, after they were taken home by their parents, died, and the rest +remained affected, to the end of their lives, with a permanent tremor. +Another occurrence was related to have taken place on the Moselle Bridge +at Utrecht, on the 17th day of June, A.D. 1278, when two hundred fanatics +began to dance, and would not desist until a priest passed, who was +carrying the Host to a person that was sick, upon which, as if in +punishment of their crime, the bridge gave way, and they were all +drowned. A similar event also occurred so early as the year 1027, near +the convent church of Kolbig, not far from Bernburg. According to an oft- +repeated tradition, eighteen peasants, some of whose names are still +preserved, are said to have disturbed divine service on Christmas Eve by +dancing and brawling in the churchyard, whereupon the priest, Ruprecht, +inflicted a curse upon them, that they should dance and scream for a +whole year without ceasing. This curse is stated to have been completely +fulfilled, so that the unfortunate sufferers at length sank knee-deep +into the earth, and remained the whole time without nourishment, until +they were finally released by the intercession of two pious bishops. It +is said that, upon this, they fell into a deep sleep, which lasted three +days, and that four of them died; the rest continuing to suffer all their +lives from a trembling of their limbs. It is not worth while to separate +what may have been true, and what the addition of crafty priests, in this +strangely distorted story. It is sufficient that it was believed, and +related with astonishment and horror, throughout the Middle Ages; so that +when there was any exciting cause for this delirious raving and wild rage +for dancing, it failed not to produce its effects upon men whose thoughts +were given up to a belief in wonders and apparitions. + +This disposition of mind, altogether so peculiar to the Middle Ages, and +which, happily for mankind, has yielded to an improved state of +civilisation and the diffusion of popular instruction, accounts for the +origin and long duration of this extraordinary mental disorder. The good +sense of the people recoiled with horror and aversion from this heavy +plague, which, whenever malevolent persons wished to curse their +bitterest enemies and adversaries, was long after used as a malediction. +The indignation also that was felt by the people at large against the +immorality of the age, was proved by their ascribing this frightful +affliction to the inefficacy of baptism by unchaste priests, as if +innocent children were doomed to atone, in after-years, for this +desecration of the sacrament administered by unholy hands. We have +already mentioned what perils the priests in the Netherlands incurred +from this belief. They now, indeed, endeavoured to hasten their +reconciliation with the irritated, and, at that time, very degenerate +people, by exorcisms, which, with some, procured them greater respect +than ever, because they thus visibly restored thousands of those who were +affected. In general, however, there prevailed a want of confidence in +their efficacy, and then the sacred rites had as little power in +arresting the progress of this deeply-rooted malady as the prayers and +holy services subsequently had at the altars of the greatly-revered +martyr St. Vitus. We may therefore ascribe it to accident merely, and to +a certain aversion to this demoniacal disease, which seemed to lie beyond +the reach of human skill, that we meet with but few and imperfect notices +of the St. Vitus's dance in the second half of the fifteenth century. The +highly-coloured descriptions of the sixteenth century contradict the +notion that this mental plague had in any degree diminished in its +severity, and not a single fact is to be found which supports the opinion +that any one of the essential symptoms of the disease, not even excepting +the tympany, had disappeared, or that the disorder itself had become +milder in its attacks. The physicians never, as it seems, throughout the +whole of the fifteenth century, undertook the treatment of the Dancing +Mania, which, according to the prevailing notions, appertained +exclusively to the servants of the Church. Against demoniacal disorders +they had no remedies, and though some at first did promulgate the opinion +that the malady had its origin in natural circumstances, such as a hot +temperament, and other causes named in the phraseology of the schools, +yet these opinions were the less examined as it did not appear worth +while to divide with a jealous priesthood the care of a host of fanatical +vagabonds and beggars. + + +SECT. 5--PHYSICIANS + + +It was not until the beginning of the sixteenth century that the St. +Vitus's dance was made the subject of medical research, and stripped of +its unhallowed character as a work of demons. This was effected by +Paracelsus, that mighty but, as yet, scarcely comprehended reformer of +medicine, whose aim it was to withdraw diseases from the pale of +miraculous interpositions and saintly influences, and explain their +causes upon principles deduced from his knowledge of the human frame. "We +will not, however, admit that the saints have power to inflict diseases, +and that these ought to be named after them, although many there are who, +in their theology, lay great stress on this supposition, ascribing them +rather to God than to nature, which is but idle talk. We dislike such +nonsensical gossip as is not supported by symptoms, but only by faith--a +thing which is not human, whereon the gods themselves set no value." + +Such were the words which Paracelsus addressed to his contemporaries, who +were, as yet, incapable of appreciating doctrines of this sort; for the +belief in enchantment still remained everywhere unshaken, and faith in +the world of spirits still held men's minds in so close a bondage that +thousands were, according to their own conviction, given up as a prey to +the devil; while at the command of religion, as well as of law, countless +piles were lighted, by the flames of which human society was to be +purified. + +Paracelsus divides the St. Vitus's dance into three kinds. First, that +which arises from imagination (_Vitista_, _Chorea imaginativa_, +_aestimativa_), by which the original Dancing Plague is to be understood. +Secondly, that which arises from sensual desires, depending on the will +(_Chorea lasciva_). Thirdly, that which arises from corporeal causes +(Chorea naturalis, coacta), which, according to a strange notion of his +own, he explained by maintaining that in certain vessels which are +susceptible of an internal pruriency, and thence produce laughter, the +blood is set in commotion in consequence of an alteration in the vital +spirits, whereby involuntary fits of intoxicating joy and a propensity to +dance are occasioned. To this notion he was, no doubt, led from having +observed a milder form of St. Vitus's dance, not uncommon in his time, +which was accompanied by involuntary laughter; and which bore a +resemblance to the hysterical laughter of the moderns, except that it was +characterised by more pleasurable sensations and by an extravagant +propensity to dance. There was no howling, screaming, and jumping, as in +the severer form; neither was the disposition to dance by any means +insuperable. Patients thus affected, although they had not a complete +control over their understandings, yet were sufficiently self-possessed +during the attack to obey the directions which they received. There were +even some among them who did not dance at all, but only felt an +involuntary impulse to allay the internal sense of disquietude, which is +the usual forerunner of an attack of this kind, by laughter and quick +walking carried to the extent of producing fatigue. This disorder, so +different from the original type, evidently approximates to the modern +chorea; or, rather, is in perfect accordance with it, even to the less +essential symptom of laughter. A mitigation in the form of the Dancing +Mania had thus clearly taken place at the commencement of the sixteenth +century. + +On the communication of the St. Vitus's dance by sympathy, Paracelsus, in +his peculiar language, expresses himself with great spirit, and shows a +profound knowledge of the nature of sensual impressions, which find their +way to the heart--the seat of joys and emotions--which overpower the +opposition of reason; and whilst "all other qualities and natures" are +subdued, incessantly impel the patient, in consequence of his original +compliance, and his all-conquering imagination, to imitate what he has +seen. On his treatment of the disease we cannot bestow any great praise, +but must be content with the remark that it was in conformity with the +notions of the age in which he lived. For the first kind, which often +originated in passionate excitement, he had a mental remedy, the efficacy +of which is not to be despised, if we estimate its value in connection +with the prevalent opinions of those times. The patient was to make an +image of himself in wax or resin, and by an effort of thought to +concentrate all his blasphemies and sins in it. "Without the +intervention of any other persons, to set his whole mind and thoughts +concerning these oaths in the image;" and when he had succeeded in this, +he was to burn the image, so that not a particle of it should remain. In +all this there was no mention made of St. Vitus, or any of the other +mediatory saints, which is accounted for by the circumstance that at this +time an open rebellion against the Romish Church had begun, and the +worship of saints was by many rejected as idolatrous. For the second +kind of St. Vitus's dance, arising from sensual irritation, with which +women were far more frequently affected than men, Paracelsus recommended +harsh treatment and strict fasting. He directed that the patients should +be deprived of their liberty; placed in solitary confinement, and made to +sit in an uncomfortable place, until their misery brought them to their +senses and to a feeling of penitence. He then permitted them gradually +to return to their accustomed habits. Severe corporal chastisement was +not omitted; but, on the other hand, angry resistance on the part of the +patient was to be sedulously avoided, on the ground that it might +increase his malady, or even destroy him: moreover, where it seemed +proper, Paracelsus allayed the excitement of the nerves by immersion in +cold water. On the treatment of the third kind we shall not here +enlarge. It was to be effected by all sorts of wonderful remedies, +composed of the quintessences; and it would require, to render it +intelligible, a more extended exposition of peculiar principles than +suits our present purpose. + + +SECT. 6--DECLINE AND TERMINATION OF THE DANCING PLAGUE + + +About this time the St. Vitus's dance began to decline, so that milder +forms of it appeared more frequently, while the severer cases became more +rare; and even in these, some of the important symptoms gradually +disappeared. Paracelsus makes no mention of the tympanites as taking +place after the attacks, although it may occasionally have occurred; and +Schenck von Graffenberg, a celebrated physician of the latter half of the +sixteenth century, speaks of this disease as having been frequent only in +the time of his forefathers; his descriptions, however, are applicable to +the whole of that century, and to the close of the fifteenth. The St. +Vitus's dance attacked people of all stations, especially those who led a +sedentary life, such as shoemakers and tailors; but even the most robust +peasants abandoned their labours in the fields, as if they were possessed +by evil spirits; and thus those affected were seen assembling +indiscriminately, from time to time, at certain appointed places, and, +unless prevented by the lookers-on, continuing to dance without +intermission, until their very last breath was expended. Their fury and +extravagance of demeanour so completely deprived them of their senses, +that many of them dashed their brains out against the walls and corners +of buildings, or rushed headlong into rapid rivers, where they found a +watery grave. Roaring and foaming as they were, the bystanders could +only succeed in restraining them by placing benches and chairs in their +way, so that, by the high leaps they were thus tempted to take, their +strength might be exhausted. As soon as this was the case, they fell as +it were lifeless to the ground, and, by very slow degrees, again +recovered their strength. Many there were who, even with all this +exertion, had not expended the violence of the tempest which raged within +them, but awoke with newly-revived powers, and again and again mixed with +the crowd of dancers, until at length the violent excitement of their +disordered nerves was allayed by the great involuntary exertion of their +limbs; and the mental disorder was calmed by the extreme exhaustion of +the body. Thus the attacks themselves were in these cases, as in their +nature they are in all nervous complaints, necessary crises of an inward +morbid condition which was transferred from the sensorium to the nerves +of motion, and, at an earlier period, to the abdominal plexus, where a +deep-seated derangement of the system was perceptible from the secretion +of flatus in the intestines. + +The cure effected by these stormy attacks was in many cases so perfect, +that some patients returned to the factory or the plough as if nothing +had happened. Others, on the contrary, paid the penalty of their folly +by so total a loss of power, that they could not regain their former +health, even by the employment of the most strengthening remedies. +Medical men were astonished to observe that women in an advanced state of +pregnancy were capable of going through an attack of the disease without +the slightest injury to their offspring, which they protected merely by a +bandage passed round the waist. Cases of this kind were not infrequent +so late as Schenck's time. That patients should be violently affected by +music, and their paroxysms brought on and increased by it, is natural +with such nervous disorders, where deeper impressions are made through +the ear, which is the most intellectual of all the organs, than through +any of the other senses. On this account the magistrates hired musicians +for the purpose of carrying the St. Vitus's dancers so much the quicker +through the attacks, and directed that athletic men should be sent among +them in order to complete the exhaustion, which had been often observed +to produce a good effect. At the same time there was a prohibition +against wearing red garments, because, at the sight of this colour, those +affected became so furious that they flew at the persons who wore it, and +were so bent upon doing them an injury that they could with difficulty be +restrained. They frequently tore their own clothes whilst in the +paroxysm, and were guilty of other improprieties, so that the more +opulent employed confidential attendants to accompany them, and to take +care that they did no harm either to themselves or others. This +extraordinary disease was, however, so greatly mitigated in Schenck's +time, that the St. Vitus's dancers had long since ceased to stroll from +town to town; and that physician, like Paracelsus, makes no mention of +the tympanitic inflation of the bowels. Moreover, most of those affected +were only annually visited by attacks; and the occasion of them was so +manifestly referable to the prevailing notions of that period, that if +the unqualified belief in the supernatural agency of saints could have +been abolished, they would not have had any return of the complaint. +Throughout the whole of June, prior to the festival of St. John, patients +felt a disquietude and restlessness which they were unable to overcome. +They were dejected, timid, and anxious; wandered about in an unsettled +state, being tormented with twitching pains, which seized them suddenly +in different parts, and eagerly expected the eve of St. John's day, in +the confident hope that by dancing at the altars of this saint, or of St. +Vitus (for in the Breisgau aid was equally sought from both), they would +be freed from all their sufferings. This hope was not disappointed; and +they remained, for the rest of the year, exempt from any further attack, +after having thus, by dancing and raving for three hours, satisfied an +irresistible demand of nature. There were at that period two chapels in +the Breisgau visited by the St. Vitus's dancers; namely, the Chapel of +St. Vitus at Biessen, near Breisach, and that of St. John, near +Wasenweiler; and it is probable that in the south-west of Germany the +disease was still in existence in the seventeenth century. + +However, it grew every year more rare, so that at the beginning of the +seventeenth century it was observed only occasionally in its ancient +form. Thus in the spring of the year 1623, G. Horst saw some women who +annually performed a pilgrimage to St. Vitus's chapel at Drefelhausen, +near Weissenstein, in the territory of Ulm, that they might wait for +their dancing fit there, in the same manner as those in the Breisgau did, +according to Schenck's account. They were not satisfied, however, with a +dance of three hours' duration, but continued day and night in a state of +mental aberration, like persons in an ecstasy, until they fell exhausted +to the ground; and when they came to themselves again they felt relieved +from a distressing uneasiness and painful sensation of weight in their +bodies, of which they had complained for several weeks prior to St. +Vitus's Day. + +After this commotion they remained well for the whole year; and such was +their faith in the protecting power of the saint, that one of them had +visited this shrine at Drefelhausen more than twenty times, and another +had already kept the saint's day for the thirty-second time at this +sacred station. + +The dancing fit itself was excited here, as it probably was in other +places, by music, from the effects of which the patients were thrown into +a state of convulsion. Many concurrent testimonies serve to show that +music generally contributed much to the continuance of the St. Vitus's +dance, originated and increased its paroxysms, and was sometimes the +cause of their mitigation. So early as the fourteenth century the swarms +of St. John's dancers were accompanied by minstrels playing upon noisy +instruments, who roused their morbid feelings; and it may readily be +supposed that by the performance of lively melodies, and the stimulating +effects which the shrill tones of fifes and trumpets would produce, a +paroxysm that was perhaps but slight in itself, might, in many cases, be +increased to the most outrageous fury, such as in later times was +purposely induced in order that the force of the disease might be +exhausted by the violence of its attack. Moreover, by means of +intoxicating music a kind of demoniacal festival for the rude multitude +was established, which had the effect of spreading this unhappy malady +wider and wider. Soft harmony was, however, employed to calm the +excitement of those affected, and it is mentioned as a character of the +tunes played with this view to the St. Vitus's dancers, that they +contained transitions from a quick to a slow measure, and passed +gradually from a high to a low key. It is to be regretted that no trace +of this music has reached out times, which is owing partly to the +disastrous events of the seventeenth century, and partly to the +circumstance that the disorder was looked upon as entirely national, and +only incidentally considered worthy of notice by foreign men of learning. +If the St. Vitus's dance was already on the decline at the commencement +of the seventeenth century, the subsequent events were altogether adverse +to its continuance. Wars carried on with animosity, and with various +success, for thirty years, shook the west of Europe; and although the +unspeakable calamities which they brought upon Germany, both during their +continuance and in their immediate consequences, were by no means +favourable to the advance of knowledge, yet, with the vehemence of a +purifying fire, they gradually effected the intellectual regeneration of +the Germans; superstition, in her ancient form, never again appeared, and +the belief in the dominion of spirits, which prevailed in the middle +ages, lost for ever its once formidable power. + + + +CHAPTER II--THE DANCING MANIA IN ITALY + + +SECT. 1--TARANTISM + + +It was of the utmost advantage to the St. Vitus's dancers that they made +choice of a favourite patron saint; for, not to mention that people were +inclined to compare them to the possessed with evil spirits described in +the Bible, and thence to consider them as innocent victims to the power +of Satan, the name of their great intercessor recommended them to general +commiseration, and a magic boundary was thus set to every harsh feeling, +which might otherwise have proved hostile to their safety. Other +fanatics were not so fortunate, being often treated with the most +relentless cruelty, whenever the notions of the middle ages either +excused or commanded it as a religious duty. Thus, passing over the +innumerable instances of the burning of witches, who were, after all, +only labouring under a delusion, the Teutonic knights in Prussia not +unfrequently condemned those maniacs to the stake who imagined themselves +to be metamorphosed into wolves--an extraordinary species of insanity, +which, having existed in Greece before our era, spread, in process of +time over Europe, so that it was communicated not only to the Romaic, but +also to the German and Sarmatian nations, and descended from the ancients +as a legacy of affliction to posterity. In modern times Lycanthropy--such +was the name given to this infatuation--has vanished from the earth, but +it is nevertheless well worthy the consideration of the observer of human +aberrations, and a history of it by some writer who is equally well +acquainted with the middle ages as with antiquity is still a desideratum. +We leave it for the present without further notice, and turn to a malady +most extraordinary in all its phenomena, having a close connection with +the St. Vitus's dance, and, by a comparison of facts which are altogether +similar, affording us an instructive subject for contemplation. We +allude to the disease called Tarantism, which made its first appearance +in Apulia, and thence spread over the other provinces of Italy, where, +during some centuries, it prevailed as a great epidemic. In the present +times, it has vanished, or at least has lost altogether its original +importance, like the St. Vitus's dance, lycanthropy, and witchcraft. + + +SECT. 2--MOST ANCIENT TRACES--CAUSES + + +The learned Nicholas Perotti gives the earliest account of this strange +disorder. Nobody had the least doubt that it was caused by the bite of +the tarantula, a ground-spider common in Apulia: and the fear of this +insect was so general that its bite was in all probability much oftener +imagined, or the sting of some other kind of insect mistaken for it, than +actually received. The word tarantula is apparently the same as +terrantola, a name given by the Italians to the stellio of the old +Romans, which was a kind of lizard, said to be poisonous, and invested by +credulity with such extraordinary qualities, that, like the serpent of +the Mosaic account of the Creation, it personified, in the imaginations +of the vulgar, the notion of cunning, so that even the jurists designated +a cunning fraud by the appellation of a "stellionatus." Perotti +expressly assures us that this reptile was called by the Romans +tarantula; and since he himself, who was one of the most distinguished +authors of his time, strangely confounds spiders and lizards together, so +that he considers the Apulian tarantula, which he ranks among the class +of spiders, to have the same meaning as the kind of lizard called [Greek +text], it is the less extraordinary that the unlearned country people of +Apulia should confound the much-dreaded ground-spider with the fabulous +star-lizard, and appropriate to the one the name of the other. The +derivation of the word tarantula, from the city of Tarentum, or the river +Thara, in Apulia, on the banks of which this insect is said to have been +most frequently found, or, at least, its bite to have had the most +venomous effect, seems not to be supported by authority. So much for the +name of this famous spider, which, unless we are greatly mistaken, throws +no light whatever upon the nature of the disease in question. Naturalists +who, possessing a knowledge of the past, should not misapply their +talents by employing them in establishing the dry distinction of forms, +would find here much that calls for research, and their efforts would +clear up many a perplexing obscurity. + +Perotti states that the tarantula--that is, the spider so called--was not +met with in Italy in former times, but that in his day it had become +common, especially in Apulia, as well as in some other districts. He +deserves, however, no great confidence as a naturalist, notwithstanding +his having delivered lectures in Bologna on medicine and other sciences. +He at least has neglected to prove his assertion, which is not borne out +by any analogous phenomenon observed in modern times with regard to the +history of the spider species. It is by no means to be admitted that the +tarantula did not make its appearance in Italy before the disease +ascribed to its bite became remarkable, even though tempests more violent +than those unexampled storms which arose at the time of the Black Death +in the middle of the fourteenth century had set the insect world in +motion; for the spider is little if at all susceptible of those cosmical +influences which at times multiply locusts and other winged insects to a +wonderful extent, and compel them to migrate. + +The symptoms which Perotti enumerates as consequent on the bite of the +tarantula agree very exactly with those described by later writers. Those +who were bitten, generally fell into a state of melancholy, and appeared +to be stupefied, and scarcely in possession of their senses. This +condition was, in many cases, united with so great a sensibility to +music, that at the very first tones of their favourite melodies they +sprang up, shouting for joy, and danced on without intermission, until +they sank to the ground exhausted and almost lifeless. In others, the +disease did not take this cheerful turn. They wept constantly, and as if +pining away with some unsatisfied desire, spent their days in the +greatest misery and anxiety. Others, again, in morbid fits of love, cast +their longing looks on women, and instances of death are recorded, which +are said to have occurred under a paroxysm of either laughing or weeping. + +From this description, incomplete as it is, we may easily gather that +tarantism, the essential symptoms of which are mentioned in it, could not +have originated in the fifteenth century, to which Perotti's account +refers; for that author speaks of it as a well-known malady, and states +that the omission to notice it by older writers was to be ascribed solely +to the want of education in Apulia, the only province probably where the +disease at that time prevailed. A nervous disorder that had arrived at +so high a degree of development must have been long in existence, and +doubtless had required an elaborate preparation by the concurrence of +general causes. + +The symptoms which followed the bite of venomous spiders were well known +to the ancients, and had excited the attention of their best observers, +who agree in their descriptions of them. It is probable that among the +numerous species of their phalangium, the Apulian tarantula is included, +but it is difficult to determine this point with certainty, more +especially because in Italy the tarantula was not the only insect which +caused this nervous affection, similar results being likewise attributed +to the bite of the scorpion. Lividity of the whole body, as well as of +the countenance, difficulty of speech, tremor of the limbs, icy coldness, +pale urine, depression of spirits, headache, a flow of tears, nausea, +vomiting, sexual excitement, flatulence, syncope, dysuria, watchfulness, +lethargy, even death itself, were cited by them as the consequences of +being bitten by venomous spiders, and they made little distinction as to +their kinds. To these symptoms we may add the strange rumour, repeated +throughout the middle ages, that persons who were bitten, ejected by the +bowels and kidneys, and even by vomiting, substances resembling a +spider's web. + +Nowhere, however, do we find any mention made that those affected felt an +irresistible propensity to dancing, or that they were accidentally cured +by it. Even Constantine of Africa, who lived 500 years after Aetius, +and, as the most learned physician of the school of Salerno, would +certainly not have passed over so acceptable a subject of remark, knows +nothing of such a memorable course of this disease arising from poison, +and merely repeats the observations of his Greek predecessors. +Gariopontus, a Salernian physician of the eleventh century, was the first +to describe a kind of insanity, the remote affinity of which to the +tarantula disease is rendered apparent by a very striking symptom. The +patients in their sudden attacks behaved like maniacs, sprang up, +throwing their arms about with wild movements, and, if perchance a sword +was at hand, they wounded themselves and others, so that it became +necessary carefully to secure them. They imagined that they heard voices +and various kinds of sounds, and if, during this state of illusion, the +tones of a favourite instrument happened to catch their ear, they +commenced a spasmodic dance, or ran with the utmost energy which they +could muster until they were totally exhausted. These dangerous maniacs, +who, it would seem, appeared in considerable numbers, were looked upon as +a legion of devils, but on the causes of their malady this obscure writer +adds nothing further than that he believes (oddly enough) that it may +sometimes be excited by the bite of a mad dog. He calls the disease +Anteneasmus, by which is meant no doubt the Enthusiasmus of the Greek +physicians. We cite this phenomenon as an important forerunner of +tarantism, under the conviction that we have thus added to the evidence +that the development of this latter must have been founded on +circumstances which existed from the twelfth to the end of the fourteenth +century; for the origin of tarantism itself is referable, with the utmost +probability, to a period between the middle and the end of this century, +and is consequently contemporaneous with that of the St. Vitus's dance +(1374). The influence of the Roman Catholic religion, connected as this +was, in the middle ages, with the pomp of processions, with public +exercises of penance, and with innumerable practices which strongly +excited the imaginations of its votaries, certainly brought the mind to a +very favourable state for the reception of a nervous disorder. +Accordingly, so long as the doctrines of Christianity were blended with +so much mysticism, these unhallowed disorders prevailed to an important +extent, and even in our own days we find them propagated with the +greatest facility where the existence of superstition produces the same +effect, in more limited districts, as it once did among whole nations. +But this is not all. Every country in Europe, and Italy perhaps more +than any other, was visited during the middle ages by frightful plagues, +which followed each other in such quick succession that they gave the +exhausted people scarcely any time for recovery. The Oriental +bubo-plague ravaged Italy sixteen times between the years 1119 and 1340. +Small-pox and measles were still more destructive than in modern times, +and recurred as frequently. St. Anthony's fire was the dread of town and +country; and that disgusting disease, the leprosy, which, in consequence +of the Crusades, spread its insinuating poison in all directions, +snatched from the paternal hearth innumerable victims who, banished from +human society, pined away in lonely huts, whither they were accompanied +only by the pity of the benevolent and their own despair. All these +calamities, of which the moderns have scarcely retained any recollection, +were heightened to an incredible degree by the Black Death, which spread +boundless devastation and misery over Italy. Men's minds were everywhere +morbidly sensitive; and as it happened with individuals whose senses, +when they are suffering under anxiety, become more irritable, so that +trifles are magnified into objects of great alarm, and slight shocks, +which would scarcely affect the spirits when in health, gave rise in them +to severe diseases, so was it with this whole nation, at all times so +alive to emotions, and at that period so sorely oppressed with the +horrors of death. + +The bite of venomous spiders, or rather the unreasonable fear of its +consequences, excited at such a juncture, though it could not have done +so at an earlier period, a violent nervous disorder, which, like St. +Vitus's dance in Germany, spread by sympathy, increasing in severity as +it took a wider range, and still further extending its ravages from its +long continuance. Thus, from the middle of the fourteenth century, the +furies of _the Dance_ brandished their scourge over afflicted mortals; +and music, for which the inhabitants of Italy, now probably for the first +time, manifested susceptibility and talent, became capable of exciting +ecstatic attacks in those affected, and then furnished the magical means +of exorcising their melancholy. + + +SECT. 3--INCREASE + + +At the close of the fifteenth century we find that tarantism had spread +beyond the boundaries of Apulia, and that the fear of being bitten by +venomous spiders had increased. Nothing short of death itself was +expected from the wound which these insects inflicted, and if those who +were bitten escaped with their lives, they were said to be seen pining +away in a desponding state of lassitude. Many became weak-sighted or +hard of hearing, some lost the power of speech, and all were insensible +to ordinary causes of excitement. Nothing but the flute or the cithern +afforded them relief. At the sound of these instruments they awoke as it +were by enchantment, opened their eyes, and moving slowly at first, +according to the measure of the music, were, as the time quickened, +gradually hurried on to the most passionate dance. It was generally +observable that country people, who were rude, and ignorant of music, +evinced on these occasions an unusual degree of grace, as if they had +been well practised in elegant movements of the body; for it is a +peculiarity in nervous disorders of this kind, that the organs of motion +are in an altered condition, and are completely under the control of the +over-strained spirits. Cities and villages alike resounded throughout +the summer season with the notes of fifes, clarinets, and Turkish drums; +and patients were everywhere to be met with who looked to dancing as +their only remedy. Alexander ab Alexandro, who gives this account, saw a +young man in a remote village who was seized with a violent attack of +tarantism. He listened with eagerness and a fixed stare to the sound of +a drum, and his graceful movements gradually became more and more +violent, until his dancing was converted into a succession of frantic +leaps, which required the utmost exertion of his whole strength. In the +midst of this over-strained exertion of mind and body the music suddenly +ceased, and he immediately fell powerless to the ground, where he lay +senseless and motionless until its magical effect again aroused him to a +renewal of his impassioned performances. + +At the period of which we are treating there was a general conviction, +that by music and dancing the poison of the tarantula was distributed +over the whole body, and expelled through the skin, but that if there +remained the slightest vestige of it in the vessels, this became a +permanent germ of the disorder, so that the dancing fits might again and +again be excited ad infinitum by music. This belief, which resembled the +delusion of those insane persons who, being by artful management freed +from the imagined causes of their sufferings, are but for a short time +released from their false notions, was attended with the most injurious +effects: for in consequence of it those affected necessarily became by +degrees convinced of the incurable nature of their disorder. They +expected relief, indeed, but not a cure, from music; and when the heat of +summer awakened a recollection of the dances of the preceding year, they, +like the St. Vitus's dancers of the same period before St. Vitus's day, +again grew dejected and misanthropic, until, by music and dancing, they +dispelled the melancholy which had become with them a kind of sensual +enjoyment. + +Under such favourable circumstances, it is clear that tarantism must +every year have made further progress. The number of those affected by +it increased beyond all belief, for whoever had either actually been, or +even fancied that he had been, once bitten by a poisonous spider or +scorpion, made his appearance annually wherever the merry notes of the +tarantella resounded. Inquisitive females joined the throng and caught +the disease, not indeed from the poison of the spider, but from the +mental poison which they eagerly received through the eye; and thus the +cure of the tarantati gradually became established as a regular festival +of the populace, which was anticipated with impatient delight. + +Without attributing more to deception and fraud than to the peculiar +nature of a progressive mental malady, it may readily be conceived that +the cases of this strange disorder now grew more frequent. The +celebrated Matthioli, who is worthy of entire confidence, gives his +account as an eye-witness. He saw the same extraordinary effects +produced by music as Alexandro, for, however tortured with pain, however +hopeless of relief the patients appeared, as they lay stretched on the +couch of sickness, at the very first sounds of those melodies which made +an impression on them--but this was the case only with the tarantellas +composed expressly for the purpose--they sprang up as if inspired with +new life and spirit, and, unmindful of their disorder, began to move in +measured gestures, dancing for hour together without fatigue, until, +covered with a kindly perspiration, they felt a salutary degree of +lassitude, which relieved them for a time at least, perhaps even for a +whole year, from their defection and oppressive feeling of general +indisposition. Alexandro's experience of the injurious effects resulting +from a sudden cessation of the music was generally confirmed by +Matthioli. If the clarinets and drums ceased for a single moment, which, +as the most skilful payers were tired out by the patients, could not but +happen occasionally, they suffered their limbs to fall listless, again +sank exhausted to the ground, and could find no solace but in a renewal +of the dance. On this account care was taken to continue the music until +exhaustion was produced; for it was better to pay a few extra musicians, +who might relieve each other, than to permit the patient, in the midst of +this curative exercise, to relapse into so deplorable a state of +suffering. The attack consequent upon the bite of the tarantula, +Matthioli describes as varying much in its manner. Some became morbidly +exhilarated, so that they remained for a long while without sleep, +laughing, dancing, and singing in a state of the greatest excitement. +Others, on the contrary, were drowsy. The generality felt nausea and +suffered from vomiting, and some had constant tremors. Complete mania +was no uncommon occurrence, not to mention the usual dejection of spirits +and other subordinate symptoms. + + +SECT. 4--IDIOSYNCRASIES--MUSIC + + +Unaccountable emotions, strange desires, and morbid sensual irritations +of all kinds, were as prevalent as in the St. Vitus's dance and similar +great nervous maladies. So late as the sixteenth century patients were +seen armed with glittering swords which, during the attack, they +brandished with wild gestures, as if they were going to engage in a +fencing match. Even women scorned all female delicacy, and, adopting +this impassioned demeanour, did the same; and this phenomenon, as well as +the excitement which the tarantula dancers felt at the sight of anything +with metallic lustre, was quite common up to the period when, in modern +times, the disease disappeared. + +The abhorrence of certain colours, and the agreeable sensations produced +by others, were much more marked among the excitable Italians than was +the case in the St. Vitus's dance with the more phlegmatic Germans. Red +colours, which the St. Vitus's dancers detested, they generally liked, so +that a patient was seldom seen who did not carry a red handkerchief for +his gratification, or greedily feast his eyes on any articles of red +clothing worn by the bystanders. Some preferred yellow, others black +colours, of which an explanation was sought, according to the prevailing +notions of the times, in the difference of temperaments. Others, again, +were enraptured with green; and eye-witnesses describe this rage for +colours as so extraordinary, that they can scarcely find words with which +to express their astonishment. No sooner did the patients obtain a sight +of the favourite colour than, new as the impression was, they rushed like +infuriated animals towards the object, devoured it with their eager +looks, kissed and caressed it in every possible way, and gradually +resigning themselves to softer sensations, adopted the languishing +expression of enamoured lovers, and embraced the handkerchief, or +whatever other article it might be, which was presented to them, with the +most intense ardour, while the tears streamed from their eyes as if they +were completely overwhelmed by the inebriating impression on their +senses. + +The dancing fits of a certain Capuchin friar in Tarentum excited so much +curiosity, that Cardinal Cajetano proceeded to the monastery, that he +might see with his own eyes what was going on. As soon as the monk, who +was in the midst of his dance, perceived the spiritual prince clothed in +his red garments, he no longer listened to the tarantella of the +musicians, but with strange gestures endeavoured to approach the +Cardinal, as if he wished to count the very threads of his scarlet robe, +and to allay his intense longing by its odour. The interference of the +spectators, and his own respect, prevented his touching it, and thus the +irritation of his senses not being appeased, he fell into a state of such +anguish and disquietude, that he presently sank down in a swoon, from +which he did not recover until the Cardinal compassionately gave him his +cape. This he immediately seized in the greatest ecstasy, and pressed +now to his breast, now to his forehead and cheeks, and then again +commenced his dance as if in the frenzy of a love fit. + +At the sight of colours which they disliked, patients flew into the most +violent rage, and, like the St. Vitus's dancers when they saw red +objects, could scarcely be restrained from tearing the clothes of those +spectators who raised in them such disagreeable sensations. + +Another no less extraordinary symptom was the ardent longing for the sea +which the patients evinced. As the St. John's dancers of the fourteenth +century saw, in the spirit, the heavens open and display all the +splendour of the saints, so did those who were suffering under the bite +of the tarantula feel themselves attracted to the boundless expanse of +the blue ocean, and lost themselves in its contemplation. Some songs, +which are still preserved, marked this peculiar longing, which was +moreover expressed by significant music, and was excited even by the bare +mention of the sea. Some, in whom this susceptibility was carried to the +greatest pitch, cast themselves with blind fury into the blue waves, as +the St. Vitus's dancers occasionally did into rapid rivers. This +condition, so opposite to the frightful state of hydrophobia, betrayed +itself in others only in the pleasure afforded them by the sight of clear +water in glasses. These they bore in their hands while dancing, +exhibiting at the same time strange movements, and giving way to the most +extravagant expressions of their feeling. They were delighted also when, +in the midst of the space allotted for this exercise, more ample vessels, +filled with water, and surrounded by rushes and water plants, were +placed, in which they bathed their heads and arms with evident pleasure. +Others there were who rolled about on the ground, and were, by their own +desire, buried up to the neck in the earth, in order to alleviate the +misery of their condition; not to mention an endless variety of other +symptoms which showed the perverted action of the nerves. + +All these modes of relief, however, were as nothing in comparison with +the irresistible charms of musical sound. Attempts had indeed been made +in ancient times to mitigate the pain of sciatica, or the paroxysms of +mania, by the soft melody of the flute, and, what is still more +applicable to the present purpose, to remove the danger arising from the +bite of vipers by the same means. This, however, was tried only to a +very small extent. But after being bitten by the tarantula, there was, +according to popular opinion, no way of saving life except by music; and +it was hardly considered as an exception to the general rule, that every +now and then the bad effects of a wound were prevented by placing a +ligature on the bitten limb, or by internal medicine, or that strong +persons occasionally withstood the effects of the poison, without the +employment of any remedies at all. It was much more common, and is quite +in accordance with the nature of so exquisite a nervous disease, to hear +accounts of many who, when bitten by the tarantula, perished miserably +because the tarantella, which would have afforded them deliverance, was +not played to them. It was customary, therefore, so early as the +commencement of the seventeenth century, for whole bands of musicians to +traverse Italy during the summer months, and, what is quite unexampled +either in ancient or modern times, the cure of the Tarantati in the +different towns and villages was undertaken on a grand scale. This +season of dancing and music was called "the women's little carnival," for +it was women more especially who conducted the arrangements; so that +throughout the whole country they saved up their spare money, for the +purpose of rewarding the welcome musicians, and many of them neglected +their household employments to participate in this festival of the sick. +Mention is even made of one benevolent lady (Mita Lupa) who had expended +her whole fortune on this object. + +The music itself was of a kind perfectly adapted to the nature of the +malady, and it made so deep an impression on the Italians, that even to +the present time, long since the extinction of the disorder, they have +retained the tarantella, as a particular species of music employed for +quick, lively dancing. The different kinds of tarantella were +distinguished, very significantly, by particular names, which had +reference to the moods observed in the patients. Whence it appears that +they aimed at representing by these tunes even the idiosyncrasies of the +mind as expressed in the countenance. Thus there was one kind of +tarantella which was called "Panno rosso," a very lively, impassioned +style of music, to which wild dithyrambic songs were adapted; another, +called "Panno verde," which was suited to the milder excitement of the +senses caused by green colours, and set to Idyllian songs of verdant +fields and shady groves. A third was named "Cinque tempi:" a fourth +"Moresca," which was played to a Moorish dance; a fifth, "Catena;" and a +sixth, with a very appropriate designation, "Spallata," as if it were +only fit to be played to dancers who were lame in the shoulder. This was +the slowest and least in vogue of all. For those who loved water they +took care to select love songs, which were sung to corresponding music, +and such persons delighted in hearing of gushing springs and rushing +cascades and streams. It is to be regretted that on this subject we are +unable to give any further information, for only small fragments of +songs, and a very few tarantellas, have been preserved which belong to a +period so remote as the beginning of the seventeenth, or at furthest the +end of the sixteenth century. + +The music was almost wholly in the Turkish style (aria Turchesca), and +the ancient songs of the peasantry of Apulia, which increased in number +annually, were well suited to the abrupt and lively notes of the Turkish +drum and the shepherd's pipe. These two instruments were the favourites +in the country, but others of all kinds were played in towns and +villages, as an accompaniment to the dances of the patients and the songs +of the spectators. If any particular melody was disliked by those +affected, they indicated their displeasure by violent gestures expressive +of aversion. They could not endure false notes, and it is remarkable +that uneducated boors, who had never in their lives manifested any +perception of the enchanting power of harmony, acquired, in this respect, +an extremely refined sense of hearing, as if they had been initiated into +the profoundest secrets of the musical art. It was a matter of every +day's experience, that patients showed a predilection for certain +tarantellas, in preference to others, which gave rise to the composition +of a great variety of these dances. They were likewise very capricious +in their partialities for particular instruments; so that some longed for +the shrill notes of the trumpet, others for the softest music produced by +the vibration of strings. + +Tarantism was at its greatest height in Italy in the seventeenth century, +long after the St. Vitus's Dance of Germany had disappeared. It was not +the natives of the country only who were attacked by this complaint. +Foreigners of every colour and of every race, negroes, gipsies, +Spaniards, Albanians, were in like manner affected by it. Against the +effects produced by the tarantula's bite, or by the sight of the +sufferers, neither youth nor age afforded any protection; so that even +old men of ninety threw aside their crutches at the sound of the +tarantella, and, as if some magic potion, restorative of youth and +vigour, were flowing through their veins, joined the most extravagant +dancers. Ferdinando saw a boy five years old seized with the dancing +mania, in consequence of the bite of a tarantula, and, what is almost +past belief, were it not supported by the testimony of so credible an eye- +witness, even deaf people were not exempt from this disorder, so potent +in its effect was the very sight of those affected, even without the +exhilarating emotions caused by music. + +Subordinate nervous attacks were much more frequent during this century +than at any former period, and an extraordinary icy coldness was observed +in those who were the subject of them; so that they did not recover their +natural heat until they had engaged in violent dancing. Their anguish +and sense of oppression forced from them a cold perspiration; the +secretion from the kidneys was pale, and they had so great a dislike to +everything cold, that when water was offered them they pushed it away +with abhorrence. Wine, on the contrary, they all drank willingly, +without being heated by it, or in the slightest degree intoxicated. +During the whole period of the attack they suffered from spasms in the +stomach, and felt a disinclination to take food of any kind. They used +to abstain some time before the expected seizures from meat and from +snails, which they thought rendered them more severe, and their great +thirst for wine may therefore in some measure be attributable to the want +of a more nutritious diet; yet the disorder of the nerves was evidently +its chief cause, and the loss of appetite, as well as the necessity for +support by wine, were its effects. Loss of voice, occasional blindness, +vertigo, complete insanity, with sleeplessness, frequent weeping without +any ostensible cause, were all usual symptoms. Many patients found +relief from being placed in swings or rocked in cradles; others required +to be roused from their state of suffering by severe blows on the soles +of their feet; others beat themselves, without any intention of making a +display, but solely for the purpose of allaying the intense nervous +irritation which they felt; and a considerable number were seen with +their bellies swollen, like those of the St. John's dancers, while the +violence of the intestinal disorder was indicated in others by obstinate +constipation or diarrhoea and vomiting. These pitiable objects gradually +lost their strength and their colour, and creeping about with injected +eyes, jaundiced complexions, and inflated bowels, soon fell into a state +of profound melancholy, which found food and solace in the solemn tolling +of the funeral bell, and in an abode among the tombs of cemeteries, as is +related of the Lycanthropes of former times. + +The persuasion of the inevitable consequences of being bitten by the +tarantula, exercised a dominion over men's minds which even the +healthiest and strongest could not shake off. So late as the middle of +the sixteenth century, the celebrated Fracastoro found the robust bailiff +of his landed estate groaning, and, with the aspect of a person in the +extremity of despair, suffering the very agonies of death from a sting in +the neck, inflicted by an insect which was believed to be a tarantula. He +kindly administered without delay a potion of vinegar and Armenian bole, +the great remedy of those days for the plague of all kinds of animal +poisons, and the dying man was, as if by a miracle, restored to life and +the power of speech. Now, since it is quite out of the question that the +bole could have anything to do with the result in this case, +notwithstanding Fracastoro's belief in its virtues, we can only account +for the cure by supposing, that a confidence in so great a physician +prevailed over this fatal disease of the imagination, which would +otherwise have yielded to scarcely any other remedy except the +tarantella. Ferdinando was acquainted with women who, for thirty years +in succession, had overcome the attacks of this disorder by a renewal of +their annual dance--so long did they maintain their belief in the yet +undestroyed poison of the tarantula's bite, and so long did that mental +affection continue to exist, after it had ceased to depend on any +corporeal excitement. + +Wherever we turn, we find that this morbid state of mind prevailed, and +was so supported by the opinions of the age, that it needed only a +stimulus in the bite of the tarantula, and the supposed certainty of its +very disastrous consequences, to originate this violent nervous disorder. +Even in Ferdinando's time there were many who altogether denied the +poisonous effects of the tarantula's bite, whilst they considered the +disorder, which annually set Italy in commotion, to be a melancholy +depending on the imagination. They dearly expiated this scepticism, +however, when they were led, with an inconsiderate hardihood, to test +their opinions by experiment; for many of them became the subjects of +severe tarantism, and even a distinguished prelate, Jo. Baptist Quinzato, +Bishop of Foligno, having allowed himself, by way of a joke, to be bitten +by a tarantula, could obtain a cure in no other way than by being, +through the influence of the tarantella, compelled to dance. Others +among the clergy, who wished to shut their ears against music, because +they considered dancing derogatory to their station, fell into a +dangerous state of illness by thus delaying the crisis of the malady, and +were obliged at last to save themselves from a miserable death by +submitting to the unwelcome but sole means of cure. Thus it appears that +the age was so little favourable to freedom of thought, that even the +most decided sceptics, incapable of guarding themselves against the +recollection of what had been presented to the eye, were subdued by a +poison, the powers of which they had ridiculed, and which was in itself +inert in its effect. + + +SECT. 5--HYSTERIA + + +Different characteristics of the morbidly excited vitality having been +rendered prominent by tarantism in different individuals, it could not +but happen that other derangements of the nerves would assume the form of +this whenever circumstances favoured such a transition. This was more +especially the case with hysteria, that proteiform and mutable disorder, +in which the imaginations, the superstitions, and the follies of all ages +have been evidently reflected. The "Carnevaletto delle Donne" appeared +most opportunely for those who were hysterical. Their disease received +from it, as it had at other times from other extraordinary customs, a +peculiar direction; so that, whether bitten by the tarantula or not, they +felt compelled to participate in the dances of those affected, and to +make their appearance at this popular festival, where they had an +opportunity of triumphantly exhibiting their sufferings. Let us here +pause to consider the kind of life which the women in Italy led. Lonely, +and deprived by cruel custom of social intercourse, that fairest of all +enjoyments, they dragged on a miserable existence. Cheerfulness and an +inclination to sensual pleasures passed into compulsory idleness, and, in +many, into black despondency. Their imaginations became disordered--a +pallid countenance and oppressed respiration bore testimony to their +profound sufferings. How could they do otherwise, sunk as they were in +such extreme misery, than seize the occasion to burst forth from their +prisons and alleviate their miseries by taking part in the delights of +music? Nor should we here pass unnoticed a circumstance which +illustrates, in a remarkable degree, the psychological nature of +hysterical sufferings, namely, that many chlorotic females, by joining +the dancers at the Carnevaletto, were freed from their spasms and +oppression of breathing for the whole year, although the corporeal cause +of their malady was not removed. After such a result, no one could call +their self-deception a mere imposture, and unconditionally condemn it as +such. + +This numerous class of patients certainly contributed not a little to the +maintenance of the evil, for their fantastic sufferings, in which +dissimulation and reality could scarcely be distinguished even by +themselves, much less by their physicians, were imitated in the same way +as the distortions of the St. Vitus's dancers by the impostors of that +period. It was certainly by these persons also that the number of +subordinate symptoms was increased to an endless extent, as may be +conceived from the daily observation of hysterical patients who, from a +morbid desire to render themselves remarkable, deviate from the laws of +moral propriety. Powerful sexual excitement had often the most decided +influence over their condition. Many of them exposed themselves in the +most indecent manner, tore their hair out by the roots, with howling and +gnashing of their teeth; and when, as was sometimes the case, their +unsatisfied passion hurried them on to a state of frenzy, they closed +their existence by self destruction; it being common at that time for +these unfortunate beings to precipitate themselves into the wells. + +It might hence seem that, owing to the conduct of patients of this +description, so much of fraud and falsehood would be mixed up with the +original disorder that, having passed into another complaint, it must +have been itself destroyed. This, however, did not happen in the first +half of the seventeenth century; for, as a clear proof that tarantism +remained substantially the same and quite unaffected by hysteria, there +were in many places, and in particular at Messapia, fewer women affected +than men, who, in their turn, were in no small proportion led into +temptation by sexual excitement. In other places, as, for example, at +Brindisi, the case was reversed, which may, as in other complaints, be in +some measure attributable to local causes. Upon the whole it appears, +from concurrent accounts, that women by no means enjoyed the distinction +of being attacked by tarantism more frequently than men. + +It is said that the cicatrix of the tarantula bite, on the yearly or half- +yearly return of the fit, became discoloured, but on this point the +distinct testimony of good observers is wanting to deprive the assertion +of its utter improbability. + +It is not out of place to remark here that, about the same time that +tarantism attained its greatest height in Italy, the bite of venomous +spiders was more feared in distant parts of Asia likewise than it had +ever been within the memory of man. There was this difference, +however--that the symptoms supervening on the occurrence of this accident +were not accompanied by the Apulian nervous disorder, which, as has been +shown in the foregoing pages, had its origin rather in the melancholic +temperament of the inhabitants of the south of Italy than in the nature +of the tarantula poison itself. This poison is therefore, doubtless, to +be considered only as a remote cause of the complaint, which, but for +that temperament, would be inadequate to its production. The Persians +employed a very rough means of counteracting the bad consequences of a +poison of this sort. They drenched the wounded person with milk, and +then, by a violent rotatory motion in a suspended box, compelled him to +vomit. + + +SECT. 6--DECREASE + + +The Dancing Mania, arising from the tarantula bite, continued with all +those additions of self-deception and of the dissimulation which is such +a constant attendant on nervous disorders of this kind, through the whole +course of the seventeenth century. It was indeed, gradually on the +decline, but up to the termination of this period showed such +extraordinary symptoms that Baglivi, one of the best physicians of that +time, thought he did a service to science by making them the subject of a +dissertation. He repeats all the observations of Ferdinando, and +supports his own assertions by the experience of his father, a physician +at Lecce, whose testimony, as an eye-witness, may be admitted as +unexceptionable. + +The immediate consequences of the tarantula bite, the supervening nervous +disorder, and the aberrations and fits of those who suffered from +hysteria, he describes in a masterly style, not does he ever suffer his +credulity to diminish the authenticity of his account, of which he has +been unjustly accused by later writers. + +Finally, tarantism has declined more and more in modern times, and is now +limited to single cases. How could it possibly have maintained itself +unchanged in the eighteenth century, when all the links which connected +it with the Middle Ages had long since been snapped asunder? Imposture +grew more frequent, and wherever the disease still appeared in its +genuine form, its chief cause, namely, a peculiar cast of melancholy, +which formerly had been the temperament of thousands, was now possessed +only occasionally by unfortunate individuals. It might, therefore, not +unreasonably be maintained that the tarantism of modern times bears +nearly the same relation to the original malady as the St. Vitus's dance +which still exists, and certainly has all along existed, bears, in +certain cases, to the original dancing mania of the dancers of St. John. + +To conclude. Tarantism, as a real disease, has been denied in toto, and +stigmatised as an imposition by most physicians and naturalists, who in +this controversy have shown the narrowness of their views and their utter +ignorance of history. In order to support their opinion they have +instituted some experiments apparently favourable to it, but under +circumstances altogether inapplicable, since, for the most part, they +selected as the subjects of them none but healthy men, who were totally +uninfluenced by a belief in this once so dreaded disease. From +individual instances of fraud and dissimulation, such as are found in +connection with most nervous affections without rendering their reality a +matter of any doubt, they drew a too hasty conclusion respecting the +general phenomenon, of which they appeared not to know that it had +continued for nearly four hundred years, having originated in the +remotest periods of the Middle Ages. The most learned and the most acute +among these sceptics is Serao the Neapolitan. His reasonings amount to +this, that he considers the disease to be a very marked form of +melancholia, and compares the effect of the tarantula bite upon it to +stimulating with spurs a horse which is already running. The reality of +that effect he thus admits, and, therefore, directly confirms what in +appearance only he denies. By shaking the already vacillating belief in +this disorder he is said to have actually succeeded in rendering it less +frequent, and in setting bounds to imposture; but this no more disproves +the reality of its existence than the oft repeated detection of +imposition has been able in modern times to banish magnetic sleep from +the circle of natural phenomena, though such detection has, on its side, +rendered more rare the incontestable effects of animal magnetism. Other +physicians and naturalists have delivered their sentiments on tarantism, +but as they have not possessed an enlarged knowledge of its history their +views do not merit particular exposition. It is sufficient for the +comprehension of everyone that we have presented the facts from all +extraneous speculation. + + + +CHAPTER III--THE DANCING MANIA IN ABYSSINIA + + +SECT. 1--TIGRETIER + + +Both the St. Vitus's dance and tarantism belonged to the ages in which +they appeared. They could not have existed under the same latitude at +any other epoch, for at no other period were the circumstances which +prepared the way for them combined in a similar relation to each other, +and the mental as well as corporeal temperaments of nations, which depend +on causes such as have been stated, are as little capable of renewal as +the different stages of life in individuals. This gives so much the more +importance to a disease but cursorily alluded to in the foregoing pages, +which exists in Abyssinia, and which nearly resembles the original mania +of the St. John's dancers, inasmuch as it exhibits a perfectly similar +ecstasy, with the same violent effect on the nerves of motion. It occurs +most frequently in the Tigre country, being thence call Tigretier, and is +probably the same malady which is called in Ethiopian language +Astaragaza. On this subject we will introduce the testimony of Nathaniel +Pearce, an eye-witness, who resided nine years in Abyssinia. "The +Tigretier," he says he, "is more common among the women than among the +men. It seizes the body as if with a violent fever, and from that turns +to a lingering sickness, which reduces the patients to skeletons, and +often kills them if the relations cannot procure the proper remedy. +During this sickness their speech is changed to a kind of stuttering, +which no one can understand but those afflicted with the same disorder. +When the relations find the malady to be the real tigretier, they join +together to defray the expense of curing it; the first remedy they in +general attempt is to procure the assistance of a learned Dofter, who +reads the Gospel of St. John, and drenches the patient with cold water +daily for the space of seven days, an application that very often proves +fatal. The most effectual cure, though far more expensive than the +former, is as follows:--The relations hire for a certain sum of money a +band of trumpeters, drummers, and fifers, and buy a quantity of liquor; +then all the young men and women of the place assemble at the patient's +house to perform the following most extraordinary ceremony. + +"I was once called in by a neighbour to see his wife, a very young woman, +who had the misfortune to be afflicted with this disorder; and the man +being an old acquaintance of mine, and always a close comrade in the +camp, I went every day, when at home, to see her, but I could not be of +any service to her, though she never refused my medicines. At this time +I could not understand a word she said, although she talked very freely, +nor could any of her relations understand her. She could not bear the +sight of a book or a priest, for at the sight of either she struggled, +and was apparently seized with acute agony, and a flood of tears, like +blood mingled with water, would pour down her face from her eyes. She +had lain three months in this lingering state, living upon so little that +it seemed not enough to keep a human body alive; at last her husband +agreed to employ the usual remedy, and, after preparing for the +maintenance of the band during the time it would take to effect the cure, +he borrowed from all his neighbours their silver ornaments, and loaded +her legs, arms and neck with them. + +"The evening that the band began to play I seated myself close by her +side as she lay upon the couch, and about two minutes after the trumpets +had begun to sound I observed her shoulders begin to move, and soon +afterwards her head and breast, and in less than a quarter of an hour she +sat upon her couch. The wild look she had, though sometimes she smiled, +made me draw off to a greater distance, being almost alarmed to see one +nearly a skeleton move with such strength; her head, neck, shoulders, +hands and feet all made a strong motion to the sound of the music, and in +this manner she went on by degrees, until she stood up on her legs upon +the floor. Afterwards she began to dance, and at times to jump about, +and at last, as the music and noise of the singers increased, she often +sprang three feet from the ground. When the music slackened she would +appear quite out of temper, but when it became louder she would smile and +be delighted. During this exercise she never showed the least symptom of +being tired, though the musicians were thoroughly exhausted; and when +they stopped to refresh themselves by drinking and resting a little she +would discover signs of discontent. + +"Next day, according to the custom in the cure of this disorder, she was +taken into the market-place, where several jars of maize or tsug were set +in order by the relations, to give drink to the musicians and dancers. +When the crowd had assembled, and the music was ready, she was brought +forth and began to dance and throw herself into the maddest postures +imaginable, and in this manner she kept on the whole day. Towards +evening she began to let fall her silver ornaments from her neck, arms, +and legs, one at a time, so that in the course of three hours she was +stripped of every article. A relation continually kept going after her +as she danced, to pick up the ornaments, and afterwards delivered them to +the owners from whom they were borrowed. As the sun went down she made a +start with such swiftness that the fastest runner could not come up with +her, and when at the distance of about two hundred yards she dropped on a +sudden as if shot. Soon afterwards a young man, on coming up with her, +fired a matchlock over her body, and struck her upon the back with the +broad side of his large knife, and asked her name, to which she answered +as when in her common senses--a sure proof of her being cured; for during +the time of this malady those afflicted with it never answer to their +Christian names. She was now taken up in a very weak condition and +carried home, and a priest came and baptised her again in the name of the +Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, which ceremony concluded her cure. Some are +taken in this manner to the market-place for many days before they can be +cured, and it sometimes happens that they cannot be cured at all. I have +seen them in these fits dance with a _bruly_, or bottle of maize, upon +their heads without spilling the liquor, or letting the bottle fall, +although they have put themselves into the most extravagant postures. + +"I could not have ventured to write this from hearsay, nor could I +conceive it possible, until I was obliged to put this remedy in practice +upon my own wife, who was seized with the same disorder, and then I was +compelled to have a still nearer view of this strange disorder. I at +first thought that a whip would be of some service, and one day attempted +a few strokes when unnoticed by any person, we being by ourselves, and I +having a strong suspicion that this ailment sprang from the weak minds of +women, who were encouraged in it for the sake of the grandeur, rich +dress, and music which accompany the cure. But how much was I surprised, +the moment I struck a light blow, thinking to do good, to find that she +became like a corpse, and even the joints of her fingers became so stiff +that I could not straighten them; indeed, I really thought that she was +dead, and immediately made it known to the people in the house that she +had fainted, but did not tell them the cause, upon which they immediately +brought music, which I had for many days denied them, and which soon +revived her; and I then left the house to her relations to cure her at my +expense, in the manner I have before mentioned, though it took a much +longer time to cure my wife than the woman I have just given an account +of. One day I went privately, with a companion, to see my wife dance, +and kept at a short distance, as I was ashamed to go near the crowd. On +looking steadfastly upon her, while dancing or jumping, more like a deer +than a human being, I said that it certainly was not my wife; at which my +companion burst into a fit of laughter, from which he could scarcely +refrain all the way home. Men are sometimes afflicted with this dreadful +disorder, but not frequently. Among the Amhara and Galla it is not so +common." + +Such is the account of Pearce, who is every way worthy of credit, and +whose lively description renders the traditions of former times +respecting the St. Vitus's dance and tarantism intelligible, even to +those who are sceptical respecting the existence of a morbid state of the +mind and body of the kind described, because, in the present advanced +state of civilisation among the nations of Europe, opportunities for its +development no longer occur. The credibility of this energetic but by no +means ambitious man is not liable to the slightest suspicion, for, owing +to his want of education, he had no knowledge of the phenomena in +question, and his work evinces throughout his attractive and unpretending +impartiality. + +Comparison is the mother of observation, and may here elucidate one +phenomenon by another--the past by that which still exists. Oppression, +insecurity, and the influence of a very rude priestcraft, are the +powerful causes which operated on the Germans and Italians of the Middle +Ages, as they now continue to operate on the Abyssinians of the present +day. However these people may differ from us in their descent, their +manners and their customs, the effects of the above mentioned causes are +the same in Africa as they were in Europe, for they operate on man +himself independently of the particular locality in which he may be +planted; and the conditions of the Abyssinians of modern times is, in +regard to superstition, a mirror of the condition of the European nations +of the middle ages. Should this appear a bold assertion it will be +strengthened by the fact that in Abyssinia two examples of superstitions +occur which are completely in accordance with occurrences of the Middle +Ages that took place contemporarily with the dancing mania. _The +Abyssinians have their Christian flagellants, and there exists among them +a belief in a Zoomorphism, which presents a lively image of the +lycanthropy of the Middle Ages_. Their flagellants are called Zackarys. +They are united into a separate Christian fraternity, and make their +processions through the towns and villages with great noise and tumult, +scourging themselves till they draw blood, and wounding themselves with +knives. They boast that they are descendants of St. George. It is +precisely in Tigre, the country of the Abyssinian dancing mania, where +they are found in the greatest numbers, and where they have, in the +neighbourhood of Axum, a church of their own, dedicated to their patron +saint, _Oun Arvel_. Here there is an ever-burning lamp, and they +contrive to impress a belief that this is kept alight by supernatural +means. They also here keep a holy water, which is said to be a cure for +those who are affected by the dancing mania. + +The Abyssinian Zoomorphism is a no less important phenomenon, and shows +itself a manner quite peculiar. The blacksmiths and potters form among +the Abyssinians a society or caste called in Tigre _Tebbib_, and in +Amhara _Buda_, which is held in some degree of contempt, and excluded +from the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, because it is believed that they +can change themselves into hyaenas and other beasts of prey, on which +account they are feared by everybody, and regarded with horror. They +artfully contrive to keep up this superstition, because by this +separation they preserve a monopoly of their lucrative trades, and as in +other respects they are good Christians (but few Jews or Mahomedans live +among them), they seem to attach no great consequence to their +excommunication. As a badge of distinction they wear a golden ear-ring, +which is frequently found in the ears of Hyaenas that are killed, without +its having ever been discovered how they catch these animals, so as to +decorate them with this strange ornament, and this removes in the minds +of the people all doubt as to the supernatural powers of the smiths and +potters. To the Budas is also ascribed the gift of enchantment, +especially that of the influence of the evil eye. They nevertheless live +unmolested, and are not condemned to the flames by fanatical priests, as +the lycanthropes were in the Middle Ages. + + + +CHAPTER IV--SYMPATHY + + +Imitation--compassion--sympathy, these are imperfect designations for a +common bond of union among human beings--for an instinct which connects +individuals with the general body, which embraces with equal force reason +and folly, good and evil, and diminishes the praise of virtue as well as +the criminality of vice. In this impulse there are degrees, but no +essential differences, from the first intellectual efforts of the infant +mind, which are in a great measure based on imitation, to that morbid +condition of the soul in which the sensible impression of a nervous +malady fetters the mind, and finds its way through the eye directly to +the diseased texture, as the electric shock is propagated by contact from +body to body. To this instinct of imitation, when it exists in its +highest degree, is united a loss of all power over the will, which occurs +as soon as the impression on the senses has become firmly established, +producing a condition like that of small animals when they are fascinated +by the look of a serpent. By this mental bondage morbid sympathy is +clearly and definitely distinguished from all subordinate degrees of this +instinct, however closely allied the imitation of a disorder may seem to +be to that of a mere folly, of an absurd fashion, of an awkward habit in +speech and manner, or even of a confusion of ideas. Even these latter +imitations, however, directed as they are to foolish and pernicious +objects, place the self-independence of the greater portion of mankind in +a very doubtful light, and account for their union into a social whole. +Still more nearly allied to morbid sympathy than the imitation of +enticing folly, although often with a considerable admixture of the +latter, is the diffusion of violent excitements, especially those of a +religious or political character, which have so powerfully agitated the +nations of ancient and modern times, and which may, after an incipient +compliance, pass into a total loss of power over the will, and an actual +disease of the mind. Far be it from us to attempt to awaken all the +various tones of this chord, whose vibrations reveal the profound secrets +which lie hid in the inmost recesses of the soul. We might well want +powers adequate to so vast an undertaking. Our business here is only +with that morbid sympathy by the aid of which the dancing mania of the +Middle Ages grew into a real epidemic. In order to make this apparent by +comparison, it may not be out of place, at the close of this inquiry, to +introduce a few striking examples:-- + +1. "At a cotton manufactory at Hodden Bridge, in Lancashire, a girl, on +the fifteenth of February, 1787, put a mouse into the bosom of another +girl, who had a great dread of mice. The girl was immediately thrown +into a fit, and continued in it, with the most violent convulsions, for +twenty-four hours. On the following day three more girls were seized in +the same manner, and on the 17th six more. By this time the alarm was so +great that the whole work, in which 200 or 300 were employed, was totally +stopped, and an idea prevailed that a particular disease had been +introduced by a bag of cotton opened in the house. On Sunday the 18th, +Dr. St. Clare was sent for from Preston; before he arrived three more +were seized, and during that night and the morning of the 19th, eleven +more, making in all twenty-four. Of these, twenty-one were young women, +two were girls of about ten years of age, and one man, who had been much +fatigued with holding the girls. Three of the number lived about two +miles from the place where the disorder first broke out, and three at +another factory at Clitheroe, about five miles distant, which last and +two more were infected entirely from report, not having seen the other +patients, but, like them and the rest of the country, strongly impressed +with the idea of the plague being caught from the cotton. The symptoms +were anxiety, strangulation, and very strong convulsions; and these were +so violent as to last without any intermission from a quarter of an hour +to twenty-four hours, and to require four or five persons to prevent the +patients from tearing their hair and dashing their heads against the +floor or walls. Dr. St. Clare had taken with him a portable electrical +machine, and by electric shocks the patients were universally relieved +without exception. As soon as the patients and the country were assured +that the complaint was merely nervous, easily cured, and not introduced +by the cotton, no fresh person was affected. To dissipate their +apprehensions still further, the best effects were obtained by causing +them to take a cheerful glass and join in a dance. On Tuesday the 20th, +they danced, and the next day were all at work, except two or three, who +were much weakened by their fits." + +The occurrence here described is remarkable on this account, that there +was no important predisposing cause for convulsions in these young women, +unless we consider as such their miserable and confined life in the work- +rooms of a spinning manufactory. It did not arise from enthusiasm, nor +is it stated that the patients had been the subject of any other nervous +disorders. In another perfectly analogous case, those attacked were all +suffering from nervous complaints, which roused a morbid sympathy in them +at the sight of a person seized with convulsions. This, together with +the supervention of hysterical fits, may aptly enough be compared to +tarantism. + +2. "A young woman of the lowest order, twenty-one years of age, and of a +strong frame, came on the 13th of January, 1801, to visit a patient in +the Charite Hospital at Berlin, where she had herself been previously +under treatment for an inflammation of the chest with tetanic spasms, and +immediately on entering the ward, fell down in strong convulsions. At +the sight of her violent contortions six other female patients +immediately became affected in the same way, and by degrees eight more +were in like manner attacked with strong convulsions. All these patients +were from sixteen to twenty-five years of age, and suffered without +exception, one from spasms in the stomach, another from palsy, a third +from lethargy, a fourth from fits with consciousness, a fifth from +catalepsy, a sixth from syncope, &c. The convulsions, which alternated +in various ways with tonic spasms, were accompanied by loss of +sensibility, and were invariably preceded by languor with heavy sleep, +which was followed by the fits in the course of a minute or two; and it +is remarkable that in all these patients their former nervous disorders, +not excepting paralysis, disappeared, returning, however, after the +subsequent removal of their new complaint. The treatment, during the +course of which two of the nurses, who were young women, suffered similar +attacks, was continued for four months. It was finally successful, and +consisted principally in the administration of opium, at that time the +favourite remedy." + +Now every species of enthusiasm, every strong affection, every violent +passion, may lead to convulsions--to mental disorders--to a concussion of +the nerves, from the sensorium to the very finest extremities of the +spinal chord. The whole world is full of examples of this afflicting +state of turmoil, which, when the mind is carried away by the force of a +sensual impression that destroys its freedom, is irresistibly propagated +by imitation. Those who are thus infected do not spare even their own +lives, but as a hunted flock of sheep will follow their leader and rush +over a precipice, so will whole hosts of enthusiasts, deluded by their +infatuation, hurry on to a self-inflicted death. Such has ever been the +case, from the days of the Milesian virgins to the modern associations +for self-destruction. Of all enthusiastic infatuations, however, that of +religion is the most fertile in disorders of the mind as well as of the +body, and both spread with the greatest facility by sympathy. The +history of the Church furnishes innumerable proofs of this, but we need +go no further than the most recent times. + +3. In a methodist chapel at Redruth, a man during divine service cried +out with a loud voice, "What shall I do to be saved?" at the same time +manifesting the greatest uneasiness and solicitude respecting the +condition of his soul. Some other members of the congregation, following +his example, cried out in the same form of words, and seemed shortly +after to suffer the most excruciating bodily pain. This strange +occurrence was soon publicly known, and hundreds of people who had come +thither, either attracted by curiosity or a desire from other motives to +see the sufferers, fell into the same state. The chapel remained open +for some days and nights, and from that point the new disorder spread +itself, with the rapidity of lightning, over the neighbouring towns of +Camborne, Helston, Truro, Penryn and Falmouth, as well as over the +villages in the vicinity. Whilst thus advancing, it decreased in some +measure at the place where it had first appeared, and it confined itself +throughout to the Methodist chapels. It was only by the words which have +been mentioned that it was excited, and it seized none but people of the +lowest education. Those who were attacked betrayed the greatest anguish, +and fell into convulsions; others cried out, like persons possessed, that +the Almighty would straightway pour out His wrath upon them, that the +wailings of tormented spirits rang in their ears, and that they saw hell +open to receive them. The clergy, when in the course of their sermons +they perceived that persons were thus seized, earnestly exhorted them to +confess their sins, and zealously endeavoured to convince them that they +were by nature enemies to Christ; that the anger of God had therefore +fallen upon them; and that if death should surprise them in the midst of +their sins the eternal torments of hell would be their portion. The over- +excited congregation upon this repeated their words, which naturally must +have increased the fury of their convulsive attacks. When the discourse +had produced its full effect the preacher changed his subject; reminded +those who were suffering of the power of the Saviour, as well as of the +grace of God, and represented to them in glowing colours the joys of +heaven. Upon this a remarkable reaction sooner or later took place. +Those who were in convulsions felt themselves raised from the lowest +depths of misery and despair to the most exalted bliss, and triumphantly +shouted out that their bonds were loosed, their sins were forgiven, and +that they were translated to the wonderful freedom of the children of +God. In the meantime their convulsions continued, and they remained +during this condition so abstracted from every earthly thought that they +stayed two and sometimes three days and nights together in the chapels, +agitated all the time by spasmodic movements, and taking neither repose +nor nourishment. According to a moderate computation, 4,000 people were, +within a very short time, affected with this convulsive malady. + +The course and symptoms of the attacks were in general as follows:--There +came on at first a feeling of faintness, with rigour and a sense of +weight at the pit of the stomach, soon after which the patient cried out, +as if in the agonies of death or the pains of labour. The convulsions +then began, first showing themselves in the muscles of the eyelids, +though the eyes themselves were fixed and staring. The most frightful +contortions of the countenance followed, and the convulsions now took +their course downwards, so that the muscles of the neck and trunk were +affected, causing a sobbing respiration, which was performed with great +effort. Tremors and agitation ensued, and the patients screamed out +violently, and tossed their heads about from side to side. As the +complaint increased it seized the arms, and its victims beat their +breasts, clasped their hands, and made all sorts of strange gestures. The +observer who gives this account remarked that the lower extremities were +in no instance affected. In some cases exhaustion came on in a very few +minutes, but the attack usually lasted much longer, and there were even +cases in which it was known to continue for sixty or seventy hours. Many +of those who happened to be seated when the attack commenced bent their +bodies rapidly backwards and forwards during its continuance, making a +corresponding motion with their arms, like persons sawing wood. Others +shouted aloud, leaped about, and threw their bodies into every possible +posture, until they had exhausted their strength. Yawning took place at +the commencement in all cases, but as the violence of the disorder +increased the circulation and respiration became accelerated, so that the +countenance assumed a swollen and puffed appearance. When exhaustion +came on patients usually fainted, and remained in a stiff and motionless +state until their recovery. The disorder completely resembled the St. +Vitus's dance, but the fits sometimes went on to an extraordinarily +violent extent, so that the author of the account once saw a woman who +was seized with these convulsions resist the endeavours of four or five +strong men to restrain her. Those patients who did not lose their +consciousness were in general made more furious by every attempt to quiet +them by force, on which account they were in general suffered to continue +unmolested until nature herself brought on exhaustion. Those affected +complained more or less of debility after the attacks, and cases +sometimes occurred in which they passed into other disorders; thus some +fell into a state of melancholy, which, however, in consequence of their +religious ecstasy, was distinguished by the absence of fear and despair; +and in one patient inflammation of the brain is said to have taken place. +No sex or age was exempt from this epidemic malady. Children five years +old and octogenarians were alike affected by it, and even men of the most +powerful frame were subject to its influence. Girls and young women, +however, were its most frequent victims. + +4. For the last hundred years a nervous affection of a perfectly similar +kind has existed in the Shetland Islands, which furnishes a striking +example, perhaps the only one now existing, of the very lasting +propagation by sympathy of this species of disorders. The origin of the +malady was very insignificant. An epileptic woman had a fit in church, +and whether it was that the minds of the congregation were excited by +devotion, or that, being overcome at the sight of the strong convulsions, +their sympathy was called forth, certain it is that many adult women, and +even children, some of whom were of the male sex, and not more than six +years old, began to complain forthwith of palpitation, followed by +faintness, which passed into a motionless and apparently cataleptic +condition. These symptoms lasted more than an hour, and probably +recurred frequently. In the course of time, however, this malady is said +to have undergone a modification, such as it exhibits at the present day. +Women whom it has attacked will suddenly fall down, toss their arms +about, writhe their bodies into various shapes, move their heads suddenly +from side to side, and with eyes fixed and staring, utter the most dismal +cries. If the fit happen on any occasion of pubic diversion, they will, +as soon as it has ceased, mix with their companions and continue their +amusement as if nothing had happened. Paroxysms of this kind used to +prevail most during the warm months of summer, and about fifty years ago +there was scarcely a Sabbath in which they did not occur. Strong +passions of the mind, induced by religious enthusiasm, are also exciting +causes of these fits, but like all such false tokens of divine workings, +they are easily encountered by producing in the patient a different frame +of mind, and especially by exciting a sense of shame: thus those affected +are under the control of any sensible preacher, who knows how to +"administer to a mind diseased," and to expose the folly of voluntarily +yielding to a sympathy so easily resisted, or of inviting such attacks by +affectation. An intelligent and pious minister of Shetland informed the +physician, who gives an account of this disorder as an eye-witness, that +being considerably annoyed on his first introduction into the country by +these paroxysms, whereby the devotions of the church were much impeded, +he obviated their repetition by assuring his parishioners that no +treatment was more effectual than immersion in cold water; and as his +kirk was fortunately contiguous to a freshwater lake, he gave notice that +attendants should be at hand during divine service to ensure the proper +means of cure. The sequel need scarcely be told. The fear of being +carried out of the church, and into the water, acted like a charm; not a +single Naiad was made, and the worthy minister for many years had reason +to boast of one of the best regulated congregations in Scotland. As the +physician above alluded to was attending divine service in the kirk of +Baliasta, on the Isle of Unst, a female shriek, the indication of a +convulsion fit, was heard; the minister, Mr. Ingram, of Fetlar, very +properly stopped his discourse until the disturber was removed; and after +advising all those who thought they might be similarly affected to leave +the church, he gave out in the meantime a psalm. The congregation was +thus preserved from further interruption; yet the effect of sympathy was +not prevented, for as the narrator of the account was leaving the church +he saw several females writhing and tossing about their arms on the green +grass, who durst not, for fear of a censure from the pulpit, exhibit +themselves after this manner within the sacred walls of the kirk. + +In the production of this disorder, which no doubt still exists, +fanaticism certainly had a smaller share than the irritable state of +women out of health, who only needed excitement, no matter of what kind, +to throw them into prevailing nervous paroxysms. When, however, that +powerful cause of nervous disorders takes the lead, we find far more +remarkable symptoms developed, and it then depends on the mental +condition of the people among whom they appear whether in their spread +they shall take a narrow or an extended range--whether confined to some +small knot of zealots they are to vanish without a trace, or whether they +are to attain even historical importance. + +5. The appearance of the _Convulsionnaires_ in France, whose +inhabitants, from the greater mobility of their blood, have in general +been the less liable to fanaticism, is in this respect instructive and +worthy of attention. In the year 1727 there died in the capital of that +country the Deacon Paris, a zealous opposer of the Ultramontanists, +division having arisen in the French Church on account of the bull +"Unigenitus." People made frequent visits to his tomb in the cemetery of +St. Medard, and four years afterwards (in September, 1731) a rumour was +spread that miracles took place there. Patients were seized with +convulsions and tetanic spasms, rolled upon the ground like persons +possessed, were thrown into violent contortions of their heads and limbs, +and suffered the greatest oppression, accompanied by quickness and +irregularity of pulse. This novel occurrence excited the greatest +sensation all over Paris, and an immense concourse of people resorted +daily to the above-named cemetery in order to see so wonderful a +spectacle, which the Ultramontanists immediately interpreted as a work of +Satan, while their opponents ascribed it to a divine influence. The +disorder soon increased, until it produced, in nervous women, +_clairvoyance_ (_Schlafwachen_), a phenomenon till then unknown; for one +female especially attracted attention, who, blindfold, and, as it was +believed, by means of the sense of smell, read every writing that was +placed before her, and distinguished the characters of unknown persons. +The very earth taken from the grave of the Deacon was soon thought to +possess miraculous power. It was sent to numerous sick persons at a +distance, whereby they were said to have been cured, and thus this +nervous disorder spread far beyond the limits of the capital, so that at +one time it was computed that there were more than eight hundred decided +Convulsionnaires, who would hardly have increased so much in numbers had +not Louis XV directed that the cemetery should be closed. The disorder +itself assumed various forms, and augmented by its attacks the general +excitement. Many persons, besides suffering from the convulsions, became +the subjects of violent pain, which required the assistance of their +brethren of the faith. On this account they, as well as those who +afforded them aid, were called by the common title of _Secourists_. The +modes of relief adopted were remarkably in accordance with those which +were administered to the St. John's dancers and the Tarantati, and they +were in general very rough; for the sufferers were beaten and goaded in +various parts of the body with stones, hammers, swords, clubs, &c., of +which treatment the defenders of this extraordinary sect relate the most +astonishing examples in proof that severe pain is imperatively demanded +by nature in this disorder as an effectual counter-irritant. The +Secourists used wooden clubs in the same manner as paviors use their +mallets, and it is stated that some _Convulsionnaires_ have borne daily +from six to eight thousand blows thus inflicted without danger. One +Secourist administered to a young woman who was suffering under spasm of +the stomach the most violent blows on that part, not to mention other +similar cases which occurred everywhere in great numbers. Sometimes the +patients bounded from the ground, impelled by the convulsions, like fish +when out of water; and this was so frequently imitated at a later period +that the women and girls, when they expected such violent contortions, +not wishing to appear indecent, put on gowns make like sacks, closed at +the feet. If they received any bruises by falling down they were healed +with earth from the grave of the uncanonised saint. They usually, +however, showed great agility in this respect, and it is scarcely +necessary to remark that the female sex especially was distinguished by +all kinds of leaping and almost inconceivable contortions of body. Some +spun round on their feet with incredible rapidity, as is related of the +dervishes; others ran their heads against walls, or curved their bodies +like rope-dancers, so that their heels touched their shoulders. + +All this degenerated at length into decided insanity. A certain +Convulsionnaire, at Vernon, who had formerly led rather a loose course of +life, employed herself in confessing the other sex; in other places women +of this sect were seen imposing exercises of penance on priests, during +which these were compelled to kneel before them. Others played with +children's rattles, or drew about small carts, and gave to these childish +acts symbolical significations. One Convulsionnaire even made believe to +shave her chin, and gave religious instruction at the same time, in order +to imitate Paris, the worker of miracles, who, during this operation, and +whilst at table, was in the habit of preaching. Some had a board placed +across their bodies, upon which a whole row of men stood; and as, in this +unnatural state of mind, a kind of pleasure is derived from excruciating +pain, some too were seen who caused their bosoms to be pinched with +tongs, while others, with gowns closed at the feet, stood upon their +heads, and remained in that position longer than would have been possible +had they been in health. Pinault, the advocate, who belonged to this +sect, barked like a dog some hours every day, and even this found +imitation among the believers. + +The insanity of the Convulsionnaires lasted without interruption until +the year 1790, and during these fifty-nine years called forth more +lamentable phenomena that the enlightened spirits of the eighteenth +century would be willing to allow. The grossest immorality found in the +secret meetings of the believers a sure sanctuary, and in their +bewildering devotional exercises a convenient cloak. It was of no avail +that, in the year 1762, the Grand Secours was forbidden by act of +parliament; for thenceforth this work was carried on in secrecy, and with +greater zeal than ever; it was in vain, too, that some physicians, and +among the rest the austere, pious Hecquet, and after him Lorry, +attributed the conduct of the Convulsionnaires to natural causes. Men of +distinction among the upper classes, as, for instance, Montgeron the +deputy, and Lambert an ecclesiastic (obt. 1813), stood forth as the +defenders of this sect; and the numerous writings which were exchanged on +the subject served, by the importance which they thus attached to it, to +give it stability. The revolution finally shook the structure of this +pernicious mysticism. It was not, however, destroyed; for even during +the period of the greatest excitement the secret meetings were still kept +up; prophetic books, by Convulsionnaires of various denominations, have +appeared even in the most recent times, and only a few years ago (in +1828) this once celebrated sect still existed, although without the +convulsions and the extraordinarily rude aid of the brethren of the +faith, which, amidst the boasted pre-eminence of French intellectual +advancement, remind us most forcibly of the dark ages of the St. John's +dancers. + +6. Similar fanatical sects exhibit among all nations of ancient and +modern times the same phenomena. An overstrained bigotry is in itself, +and considered in a medical point of view, a destructive irritation of +the senses, which draws men away from the efficiency of mental freedom, +and peculiarly favours the most injurious emotions. Sensual ebullitions, +with strong convulsions of the nerves, appear sooner or later, and +insanity, suicidal disgust of life, and incurable nervous disorders, are +but too frequently the consequences of a perverse, and, indeed, +hypocritical zeal, which has ever prevailed, as well in the assemblies of +the Maenades and Corybantes of antiquity as under the semblance of +religion among the Christians and Mahomedans. + +There are some denominations of English Methodists which surpass, if +possible, the French Convulsionnaires; and we may here mention in +particular the Jumpers, among whom it is still more difficult than in the +example given above to draw the line between religious ecstasy and a +perfect disorder of the nerves; sympathy, however, operates perhaps more +perniciously on them than on other fanatical assemblies. The sect of +Jumpers was founded in the year 1760, in the county of Cornwall, by two +fanatics, who were, even at that time, able to collect together a +considerable party. Their general doctrine is that of the Methodists, +and claims our consideration here only in so far as it enjoins them +during their devotional exercises to fall into convulsions, which they +are able to effect in the strangest manner imaginable. By the use of +certain unmeaning words they work themselves up into a state of religious +frenzy, in which they seem to have scarcely any control over their +senses. They then begin to jump with strange gestures, repeating this +exercise with all their might until they are exhausted, so that it not +unfrequently happens that women who, like the Maenades, practise these +religious exercises, are carried away from the midst of them in a state +of syncope, whilst the remaining members of the congregations, for miles +together, on their way home, terrify those whom they meet by the sight of +such demoniacal ravings. There are never more than a few ecstatics, who, +by their example, excite the rest to jump, and these are followed by the +greatest part of the meeting, so that these assemblages of the Jumpers +resemble for hours together the wildest orgies, rather than congregations +met for Christian edification. + +In the United States of North America communities of Methodists have +existed for the last sixty years. The reports of credible witnesses of +their assemblages for divine service in the open air (camp meetings), to +which many thousands flock from great distances, surpass, indeed, all +belief; for not only do they there repeat all the insane acts of the +French Convulsionnaires and of the English Jumpers, but the disorder of +their minds and of their nerves attains at these meetings a still greater +height. Women have been seen to miscarry whilst suffering under the +state of ecstasy and violent spasms into which they are thrown, and +others have publicly stripped themselves and jumped into the rivers. They +have swooned away by hundreds, worn out with ravings and fits; and of the +Barkers, who appeared among the Convulsionnaires only here and there, in +single cases of complete aberration of intellect, whole bands are seen +running on all fours, and growling as if they wished to indicate, even by +their outward form, the shocking degradation of their human nature. At +these camp-meetings the children are witnesses of this mad infatuation, +and as their weak nerves are with the greatest facility affected by +sympathy, they, together with their parents, fall into violent fits, +though they know nothing of their import, and many of them retain for +life some severe nervous disorder which, having arisen from fright and +excessive excitement, will not afterwards yield to any medical treatment. + +But enough of these extravagances, which even in our now days embitter +the lives of so many thousands, and exhibit to the world in the nineteenth +century the same terrific form of mental disturbance as the St. Vitus's +dance once did to the benighted nations of the Middle Ages. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BLACK DEATH, AND THE DANCING +MANIA*** + + +******* This file should be named 1739.txt or 1739.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/3/1739 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + +This etext was transcribed by Jane Duff and proofed by David Price, +email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk from the 1888 Cassell & Company edition. + + + + + +The Black Death and The Dancing Mania + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + + +Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker was one of three generations of +distinguished professors of medicine. His father, August +Friedrich Hecker, a most industrious writer, first practised as a +physician in Frankenhausen, and in 1790 was appointed Professor of +Medicine at the University of Erfurt. In 1805 he was called to +the like professorship at the University of Berlin. He died at +Berlin in 1811. + +Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker was born at Erfurt in January, 1795. +He went, of course--being then ten years old--with his father to +Berlin in 1805, studied at Berlin in the Gymnasium and University, +but interrupted his studies at the age of eighteen to fight as a +volunteer in the war for a renunciation of Napoleon and all his +works. After Waterloo he went back to his studies, took his +doctor's degree in 1817 with a treatise on the "Antiquities of +Hydrocephalus," and became privat-docent in the Medical Faculty of +the Berlin University. His inclination was strong from the first +towards the historical side of inquiries into Medicine. This +caused him to undertake a "History of Medicine," of which the +first volume appeared in 1822. It obtained rank for him at Berlin +as Extraordinary Professor of the History of Medicine. This +office was changed into an Ordinary professorship of the same +study in 1834, and Hecker held that office until his death in +1850. + +The office was created for a man who had a special genius for this +form of study. It was delightful to himself, and he made it +delightful to others. He is regarded as the founder of historical +pathology. He studied disease in relation to the history of man, +made his study yield to men outside his own profession an +important chapter in the history of civilisation, and even took +into account physical phenomena upon the surface of the globe as +often affecting the movement and character of epidemics. + +The account of "The Black Death" here translated by Dr. Babington +was Hecker's first important work of this kind. It was published +in 1832, and was followed in the same year by his account of "The +Dancing Mania." The books here given are the two that first gave +Hecker a wide reputation. Many other such treatises followed, +among them, in 1865, a treatise on the "Great Epidemics of the +Middle Ages." Besides his "History of Medicine," which, in its +second volume, reached into the fourteenth century, and all his +smaller treatises, Hecker wrote a large number of articles in +Encyclopaedias and Medical Journals. Professor J.F.K. Hecker was, +in a more interesting way, as busy as Professor A.F. Hecker, his +father, had been. He transmitted the family energies to an only +son, Karl von Hecker, born in 1827, who distinguished himself +greatly as a Professor of Midwifery, and died in 1882. + +Benjamin Guy Babington, the translator of these books of Hecker's, +belonged also to a family in which the study of Medicine has +passed from father to son, and both have been writers. B.G. +Babington was the son of Dr. William Babington, who was physician +to Guy's Hospital for some years before 1811, when the extent of +his private practice caused him to retire. He died in 1833. His +son, Benjamin Guy Babington, was educated at the Charterhouse, saw +service as a midshipman, served for seven years in India, returned +to England, graduated as physician at Cambridge in 1831. He +distinguished himself by inquiries into the cholera epidemic in +1832, and translated these pieces of Hecker's in 1833, for +publication by the Sydenham Society. He afterwards translated +Hecker's other treatises on epidemics of the Middle Ages. Dr. +B.G. Babington was Physician to Guy's Hospital from 1840 to 1855, +and was a member of the Medical Council of the General Board of +Health. He died on the 8th of April, 1866. + +H.M. + + + + +THE BLACK DEATH + + + + +CHAPTER I--GENERAL OBSERVATIONS + + + +That Omnipotence which has called the world with all its living +creatures into one animated being, especially reveals Himself in +the desolation of great pestilences. The powers of creation come +into violent collision; the sultry dryness of the atmosphere; the +subterraneous thunders; the mist of overflowing waters, are the +harbingers of destruction. Nature is not satisfied with the +ordinary alternations of life and death, and the destroying angel +waves over man and beast his flaming sword. + +These revolutions are performed in vast cycles, which the spirit +of man, limited, as it is, to a narrow circle of perception, is +unable to explore. They are, however, greater terrestrial events +than any of those which proceed from the discord, the distress, or +the passions of nations. By annihilations they awaken new life; +and when the tumult above and below the earth is past, nature is +renovated, and the mind awakens from torpor and depression to the +consciousness of an intellectual existence. + +Were it in any degree within the power of human research to draw +up, in a vivid and connected form, an historical sketch of such +mighty events, after the manner of the historians of wars and +battles, and the migrations of nations, we might then arrive at +clear views with respect to the mental development of the human +race, and the ways of Providence would be more plainly +discernible. It would then be demonstrable, that the mind of +nations is deeply affected by the destructive conflict of the +powers of nature, and that great disasters lead to striking +changes in general civilisation. For all that exists in man, +whether good or evil, is rendered conspicuous by the presence of +great danger. His inmost feelings are roused--the thought of +self-preservation masters his spirit--self-denial is put to severe +proof, and wherever darkness and barbarism prevail, there the +affrighted mortal flies to the idols of his superstition, and all +laws, human and divine, are criminally violated. + +In conformity with a general law of nature, such a state of +excitement brings about a change, beneficial or detrimental, +according to circumstances, so that nations either attain a higher +degree of moral worth, or sink deeper in ignorance and vice. All +this, however, takes place upon a much grander scale than through +the ordinary vicissitudes of war and peace, or the rise and fall +of empires, because the powers of nature themselves produce +plagues, and subjugate the human will, which, in the contentions +of nations, alone predominates. + + + +CHAPTER II--THE DISEASE + + + +The most memorable example of what has been advanced is afforded +by a great pestilence of the fourteenth century, which desolated +Asia, Europe, and Africa, and of which the people yet preserve the +remembrance in gloomy traditions. It was an oriental plague, +marked by inflammatory boils and tumours of the glands, such as +break out in no other febrile disease. On account of these +inflammatory boils, and from the black spots, indicatory of a +putrid decomposition, which appeared upon the skin, it was called +in Germany and in the northern kingdoms of Europe the Black Death, +and in Italy, la mortalega grande, the Great Mortality. + +Few testimonies are presented to us respecting its symptoms and +its course, yet these are sufficient to throw light upon the form +of the malady, and they are worthy of credence, from their +coincidence with the signs of the same disease in modern times. + +The imperial writer, Kantakusenos, whose own son, Andronikus, died +of this plague in Constantinople, notices great imposthumes of the +thighs and arms of those affected, which, when opened, afforded +relief by the discharge of an offensive matter. Buboes, which are +the infallible signs of the oriental plague, are thus plainly +indicated, for he makes separate mention of smaller boils on the +arms and in the face, as also in other parts of the body, and +clearly distinguishes these from the blisters, which are no less +produced by plague in all its forms. In many cases, black spots +broke out all over the body, either single, or united and +confluent. + +These symptoms were not all found in every case. In many, one +alone was sufficient to cause death, while some patients +recovered, contrary to expectation, though afflicted with all. +Symptoms of cephalic affection were frequent; many patients became +stupefied and fell into a deep sleep, losing also their speech +from palsy of the tongue; others remained sleepless and without +rest. The fauces and tongue were black, and as if suffused with +blood; no beverage could assuage their burning thirst, so that +their sufferings continued without alleviation until terminated by +death, which many in their despair accelerated with their own +hands. Contagion was evident, for attendants caught the disease +of their relations and friends, and many houses in the capital +were bereft even of their last inhabitant. Thus far the ordinary +circumstances only of the oriental plague occurred. Still deeper +sufferings, however, were connected with this pestilence, such as +have not been felt at other times; the organs of respiration were +seized with a putrid inflammation; a violent pain in the chest +attacked the patient; blood was expectorated, and the breath +diffused a pestiferous odour. + +In the West, the following were the predominating symptoms on the +eruption of this disease. An ardent fever, accompanied by an +evacuation of blood, proved fatal in the first three days. It +appears that buboes and inflammatory boils did not at first come +out at all, but that the disease, in the form of carbuncular +(anthrax-artigen) affection of the lungs, effected the destruction +of life before the other symptoms were developed. + +Thus did the plague rage in Avignon for six or eight weeks, and +the pestilential breath of the sick, who expectorated blood, +caused a terrible contagion far and near; for even the vicinity of +those who had fallen ill of plague was certain death; so that +parents abandoned their infected children, and all the ties of +kindred were dissolved. After this period, buboes in the axilla +and in the groin, and inflammatory boils all over the body, made +their appearance; but it was not until seven months afterwards +that some patients recovered with matured buboes, as in the +ordinary milder form of plague. + +Such is the report of the courageous Guy de Chauliac, who +vindicated the honour of medicine, by bidding defiance to danger; +boldly and constantly assisting the affected, and disdaining the +excuse of his colleagues, who held the Arabian notion, that +medical aid was unavailing, and that the contagion justified +flight. He saw the plague twice in Avignon, first in the year +1348, from January to August, and then twelve years later, in the +autumn, when it returned from Germany, and for nine months spread +general distress and terror. The first time it raged chiefly +among the poor, but in the year 1360, more among the higher +classes. It now also destroyed a great many children, whom it had +formerly spared, and but few women. + +The like was seen in Egypt. Here also inflammation of the lungs +was predominant, and destroyed quickly and infallibly, with +burning heat and expectoration of blood. Here too the breath of +the sick spread a deadly contagion, and human aid was as vain as +it was destructive to those who approached the infected. + +Boccacio, who was an eye-witness of its incredible fatality in +Florence, the seat of the revival of science, gives a more lively +description of the attack of the disease than his non-medical +contemporaries. + +It commenced here, not as in the East, with bleeding at the nose, +a sure sign of inevitable death; but there took place at the +beginning, both in men and women, tumours in the groin and in the +axilla, varying in circumference up to the size of an apple or an +egg, and called by the people, pest-boils (gavoccioli). Then +there appeared similar tumours indiscriminately over all parts of +the body, and black or blue spots came out on the arms or thighs, +or on other parts, either single and large, or small and thickly +studded. These spots proved equally fatal with the pest-boils, +which had been from the first regarded as a sure sign of death. +No power of medicine brought relief--almost all died within the +first three days, some sooner, some later, after the appearance of +these signs, and for the most part entirely without fever or other +symptoms. The plague spread itself with the greater fury, as it +communicated from the sick to the healthy, like fire among dry and +oily fuel, and even contact with the clothes and other articles +which had been used by the infected, seemed to induce the disease. +As it advanced, not only men, but animals fell sick and shortly +expired, if they had touched things belonging to the diseased or +dead. Thus Boccacio himself saw two hogs on the rags of a person +who had died of plague, after staggering about for a short time, +fall down dead as if they had taken poison. In other places +multitudes of dogs, cats, fowls, and other animals, fell victims +to the contagion; and it is to be presumed that other epizootes +among animals likewise took place, although the ignorant writers +of the fourteenth century are silent on this point. + +In Germany there was a repetition in every respect of the same +phenomena. The infallible signs of the oriental bubo-plague with +its inevitable contagion were found there as everywhere else; but +the mortality was not nearly so great as in the other parts of +Europe. The accounts do not all make mention of the spitting of +blood, the diagnostic symptom of this fatal pestilence; we are +not, however, thence to conclude that there was any considerable +mitigation or modification of the disease, for we must not only +take into account the defectiveness of the chronicles, but that +isolated testimonies are often contradicted by many others. Thus +the chronicles of Strasburg, which only take notice of boils and +glandular swellings in the axillae and groins, are opposed by +another account, according to which the mortal spitting of blood +was met with in Germany; but this again is rendered suspicious, as +the narrator postpones the death of those who were thus affected, +to the sixth, and (even the) eighth day, whereas, no other author +sanctions so long a course of the disease; and even in Strasburg, +where a mitigation of the plague may, with most probability, be +assumed since the year 1349, only 16,000 people were carried off, +the generality expired by the third or fourth day. In Austria, +and especially in Vienna, the plague was fully as malignant as +anywhere, so that the patients who had red spots and black boils, +as well as those afflicted with tumid glands, died about the third +day; and lastly, very frequent sudden deaths occurred on the +coasts of the North Sea and in Westphalia, without any further +development of the malady. + +To France, this plague came in a northern direction from Avignon, +and was there more destructive than in Germany, so that in many +places not more than two in twenty of the inhabitants survived. +Many were struck, as if by lightning, and died on the spot, and +this more frequently among the young and strong than the old; +patients with enlarged glands in the axillae and groins scarcely +survive two or three days; and no sooner did these fatal signs +appear, than they bid adieu to the world, and sought consolation +only in the absolution which Pope Clement VI. promised them in the +hour of death. + +In England the malady appeared, as at Avignon, with spitting of +blood, and with the same fatality, so that the sick who were +afflicted either with this symptom or with vomiting of blood, died +in some cases immediately, in others within twelve hours, or at +the latest two days. The inflammatory boils and buboes in the +groins and axillae were recognised at once as prognosticating a +fatal issue, and those were past all hope of recovery in whom they +arose in numbers all over the body. It was not till towards the +close of the plague that they ventured to open, by incision, these +hard and dry boils, when matter flowed from them in small +quantity, and thus, by compelling nature to a critical +suppuration, many patients were saved. Every spot which the sick +had touched, their breath, their clothes, spread the contagion; +and, as in all other places, the attendants and friends who were +either blind to their danger, or heroically despised it, fell a +sacrifice to their sympathy. Even the eyes of the patient were +considered a sources of contagion, which had the power of acting +at a distance, whether on account of their unwonted lustre, or the +distortion which they always suffer in plague, or whether in +conformity with an ancient notion, according to which the sight +was considered as the bearer of a demoniacal enchantment. Flight +from infected cities seldom availed the fearful, for the germ of +the disease adhered to them, and they fell sick, remote from +assistance, in the solitude of their country houses. + +Thus did the plague spread over England with unexampled rapidity, +after it had first broken out in the county of Dorset, whence it +advanced through the counties of Devon and Somerset, to Bristol, +and thence reached Gloucester, Oxford and London. Probably few +places escaped, perhaps not any; for the annuals of contemporaries +report that throughout the land only a tenth part of the +inhabitants remained alive. + +From England the contagion was carried by a ship to Bergen, the +capital of Norway, where the plague then broke out in its most +frightful form, with vomiting of blood; and throughout the whole +country, spared not more than a third of the inhabitants. The +sailors found no refuge in their ships; and vessels were often +seen driving about on the ocean and drifting on shore, whose crews +had perished to the last man. + +In Poland the affected were attacked with spitting blood, and died +in a few days in such vast numbers, that, as it has been affirmed, +scarcely a fourth of the inhabitants were left. + +Finally, in Russia the plague appeared two years later than in +Southern Europe; yet here again, with the same symptoms as +elsewhere. Russian contemporaries have recorded that it began +with rigor, heat, and darting pain in the shoulders and back; that +it was accompanied by spitting of blood, and terminated fatally in +two, or at most three days. It is not till the year 1360 that we +find buboes mentioned as occurring in the neck, in the axillae, +and in the groins, which are stated to have broken out when the +spitting of blood had continued some time. According to the +experience of Western Europe, however, it cannot be assumed that +these symptoms did not appear at an earlier period. + +Thus much, from authentic sources, on the nature of the Black +Death. The descriptions which have been communicated contain, +with a few unimportant exceptions, all the symptoms of the +oriental plague which have been observed in more modern times. No +doubt can obtain on this point. The facts are placed clearly +before our eyes. We must, however, bear in mind that this violent +disease does not always appear in the same form, and that while +the essence of the poison which it produces, and which is +separated so abundantly from the body of the patient, remains +unchanged, it is proteiform in its varieties, from the almost +imperceptible vesicle, unaccompanied by fever, which exists for +some time before it extends its poison inwardly, and then excites +fever and buboes, to the fatal form in which carbuncular +inflammations fall upon the most important viscera. + +Such was the form which the plague assumed in the fourteenth +century, for the accompanying chest affection which appeared in +all the countries whereof we have received any account, cannot, on +a comparison with similar and familiar symptoms, be considered as +any other than the inflammation of the lungs of modern medicine, a +disease which at present only appears sporadically, and, owing to +a putrid decomposition of the fluids, is probably combined with +hemorrhages from the vessels of the lungs. Now, as every +carbuncle, whether it be cutaneous or internal, generates in +abundance the matter of contagion which has given rise to it, so, +therefore, must the breath of the affected have been poisonous in +this plague, and on this account its power of contagion +wonderfully increased; wherefore the opinion appears +incontrovertible, that owing to the accumulated numbers of the +diseased, not only individual chambers and houses, but whole +cities were infected, which, moreover, in the Middle Ages, were, +with few exceptions, narrowly built, kept in a filthy state, and +surrounded with stagnant ditches. Flight was, in consequence, of +no avail to the timid; for even though they had sedulously avoided +all communication with the diseased and the suspected, yet their +clothes were saturated with the pestiferous atmosphere, and every +inspiration imparted to them the seeds of the destructive malady, +which, in the greater number of cases, germinated with but too +much fertility. Add to which, the usual propagation of the plague +through clothes, beds, and a thousand other things to which the +pestilential poison adheres--a propagation which, from want of +caution, must have been infinitely multiplied; and since articles +of this kind, removed from the access of air, not only retain the +matter of contagion for an indefinite period, but also increase +its activity and engender it like a living being, frightful ill- +consequences followed for many years after the first fury of the +pestilence was past. + +The affection of the stomach, often mentioned in vague terms, and +occasionally as a vomiting of blood, was doubtless only a +subordinate symptom, even if it be admitted that actual +hematemesis did occur. For the difficulty of distinguishing a +flow of blood from the stomach, from a pulmonic expectoration of +that fluid, is, to non-medical men, even in common cases, not +inconsiderable. How much greater then must it have been in so +terrible a disease, where assistants could not venture to approach +the sick without exposing themselves to certain death? Only two +medical descriptions of the malady have reached us, the one by the +brave Guy de Chauliac, the other by Raymond Chalin de Vinario, a +very experienced scholar, who was well versed in the learning of +the time. The former takes notice only of fatal coughing of +blood; the latter, besides this, notices epistaxis, hematuria, and +fluxes of blood from the bowels, as symptoms of such decided and +speedy mortality, that those patients in whom they were observed +usually died on the same or the following day. + +That a vomiting of blood may not, here and there, have taken +place, perhaps have been even prevalent in many places, is, from a +consideration of the nature of the disease, by no means to be +denied; for every putrid decomposition of the fluids begets a +tendency to hemorrhages of all kinds. Here, however, it is a +question of historical certainty, which, after these doubts, is by +no means established. Had not so speedy a death followed the +expectoration of blood, we should certainly have received more +detailed intelligence respecting other hemorrhages; but the malady +had no time to extend its effects further over the extremities of +the vessels. After its first fury, however, was spent, the +pestilence passed into the usual febrile form of the oriental +plague. Internal carbuncular inflammations no longer took place, +and hemorrhages became phenomena, no more essential in this than +they are in any other febrile disorders. Chalin, who observed not +only the great mortality of 1348, and the plague of 1360, but also +that of 1373 and 1382, speaks moreover of affections of the +throat, and describes the back spots of plague patients more +satisfactorily than any of his contemporaries. The former +appeared but in few cases, and consisted in carbuncular +inflammation of the gullet, with a difficulty of swallowing, even +to suffocation, to which, in some instances, was added +inflammation of the ceruminous glands of the ears, with tumours, +producing great deformity. Such patients, as well as others, were +affected with expectoration of blood; but they did not usually die +before the sixth, and, sometimes, even as late as the fourteenth +day. The same occurrence, it is well known, is not uncommon in +other pestilences; as also blisters on the surface of the body, in +different places, in the vicinity of which, tumid glands and +inflammatory boils, surrounded by discoloured and black streaks, +arose, and thus indicated the reception of the poison. These +streaked spots were called, by an apt comparison, the girdle, and +this appearance was justly considered extremely dangerous. + + + +CHAPTER III--CAUSES--SPREAD + + + +An inquiry into the causes of the Black Death will not be without +important results in the study of the plagues which have visited +the world, although it cannot advance beyond generalisation +without entering upon a field hitherto uncultivated, and, to this +hour entirely unknown. Mighty revolutions in the organism of the +earth, of which we have credible information, had preceded it. +From China to the Atlantic, the foundations of the earth were +shaken--throughout Asia and Europe the atmosphere was in +commotion, and endangered, by its baneful influence, both +vegetable and animal life. + +The series of these great events began in the year 1333, fifteen +years before the plague broke out in Europe: they first appeared +in China. Here a parching drought, accompanied by famine, +commenced in the tract of country watered by the rivers Kiang and +Hoai. This was followed by such violent torrents of rain, in and +about Kingsai, at that time the capital of the empire, that, +according to tradition, more than 400,000 people perished in the +floods. Finally the mountain Tsincheou fell in, and vast clefts +were formed in the earth. In the succeeding year (1334), passing +over fabulous traditions, the neighbourhood of Canton was visited +by inundations; whilst in Tche, after an unexampled drought, a +plague arose, which is said to have carried off about 5,000,000 of +people. A few months afterwards an earthquake followed, at and +near Kingsai; and subsequent to the falling in of the mountains of +Ki-ming-chan, a lake was formed of more than a hundred leagues in +circumference, where, again, thousands found their grave. In +Houkouang and Honan, a drought prevailed for five months; and +innumerable swarms of locusts destroyed the vegetation; while +famine and pestilence, as usual, followed in their train. +Connected accounts of the condition of Europe before this great +catastrophe are not to be expected from the writers of the +fourteenth century. It is remarkable, however, that +simultaneously with a drought and renewed floods in China, in +1336, many uncommon atmospheric phenomena, and in the winter, +frequent thunderstorms, were observed in the north of France; and +so early as the eventful year of 1333 an eruption of Etna took +place. According to the Chinese annuals, about 4,000,000 of +people perished by famine in the neighbourhood of Kiang in 1337; +and deluges, swarms of locusts, and an earthquake which lasted six +days, caused incredible devastation. In the same year, the first +swarms of locusts appeared in Franconia, which were succeeded in +the following year by myriads of these insects. In 1338 Kingsai +was visited by an earthquake of ten days' duration; at the same +time France suffered from a failure in the harvest; and +thenceforth, till the year 1342, there was in China a constant +succession of inundations, earthquakes, and famines. In the same +year great floods occurred in the vicinity of the Rhine and in +France, which could not be attributed to rain alone; for, +everywhere, even on tops of mountains, springs were seen to burst +forth, and dry tracts were laid under water in an inexplicable +manner. In the following year, the mountain Hong-tchang, in +China, fell in, and caused a destructive deluge; and in Pien- +tcheon and Leang-tcheou, after three months' rain, there followed +unheard-of inundations, which destroyed seven cities. In Egypt +and Syria, violent earthquakes took place; and in China they +became, from this time, more and more frequent; for they recurred, +in 1344, in Ven-tcheou, where the sea overflowed in consequence; +in 1345, in Ki-tcheou, and in both the following years in Canton, +with subterraneous thunder. Meanwhile, floods and famine +devastated various districts, until 1347, when the fury of the +elements subsided in China. + +The signs of terrestrial commotions commenced in Europe in the +year 1348, after the intervening districts of country in Asia had +probably been visited in the same manner. + +On the island of Cyprus, the plague from the East had already +broken out; when an earthquake shook the foundations of the +island, and was accompanied by so frightful a hurricane, that the +inhabitants who had slain their Mahometan slaves, in order that +they might not themselves be subjugated by them, fled in dismay, +in all directions. The sea overflowed--the ships were dashed to +pieces on the rocks, and few outlived the terrific event, whereby +this fertile and blooming island was converted into a desert. +Before the earthquake, a pestiferous wind spread so poisonous an +odour, that many, being overpowered by it, fell down suddenly and +expired in dreadful agonies. + +This phenomenon is one of the rarest that has ever been observed, +for nothing is more constant than the composition of the air; and +in no respect has nature been more careful in the preservation of +organic life. Never have naturalists discovered in the atmosphere +foreign elements, which, evident to the senses, and borne by the +winds, spread from land to land, carrying disease over whole +portions of the earth, as is recounted to have taken place in the +year 1348. It is, therefore, the more to be regretted, that in +this extraordinary period, which, owing to the low condition of +science, was very deficient in accurate observers, so little that +can be depended on respecting those uncommon occurrences in the +air, should have been recorded. Yet, German accounts say +expressly, that a thick, stinking mist advanced from the East, and +spread itself over Italy; and there could be no deception in so +palpable a phenomenon. The credibility of unadorned traditions, +however little they may satisfy physical research, can scarcely be +called in question when we consider the connection of events; for +just at this time earthquakes were more general than they had been +within the range of history. In thousands of places chasms were +formed, from whence arose noxious vapours; and as at that time +natural occurrences were transformed into miracles, it was +reported, that a fiery meteor, which descended on the earth far in +the East, had destroyed everything within a circumference of more +than a hundred leagues, infecting the air far and wide. The +consequences of innumerable floods contributed to the same effect; +vast river districts had been converted into swamps; foul vapours +arose everywhere, increased by the odour of putrified locusts, +which had never perhaps darkened the sun in thicker swarms, and of +countless corpses, which even in the well-regulated countries of +Europe, they knew not how to remove quickly enough out of the +sight of the living. It is probable, therefore, that the +atmosphere contained foreign, and sensibly perceptible, admixtures +to a great extent, which, at least in the lower regions, could not +be decomposed, or rendered ineffective by separation. + +Now, if we go back to the symptoms of the disease, the ardent +inflammation of the lungs points out, that the organs of +respiration yielded to the attack of an atmospheric poison--a +poison which, if we admit the independent origin of the Black +Plague at any one place of the globe, which, under such +extraordinary circumstances, it would be difficult to doubt, +attacked the course of the circulation in as hostile a manner as +that which produces inflammation of the spleen, and other animal +contagions that cause swelling and inflammation of the lymphatic +glands. + +Pursuing the course of these grand revolutions further, we find +notice of an unexampled earthquake, which, on the 25th January, +1348, shook Greece, Italy, and the neighbouring countries. +Naples, Rome, Pisa, Bologna, Padua, Venice, and many other cities, +suffered considerably; whole villages were swallowed up. Castles, +houses, and churches were overthrown, and hundreds of people were +buried beneath their ruins. In Carinthia, thirty villages, +together with all the churches, were demolished; more than a +thousand corpses were drawn out of the rubbish; the city of +Villach was so completely destroyed that very few of its +inhabitants were saved; and when the earth ceased to tremble it +was found that mountains had been moved from their positions, and +that many hamlets were left in ruins. It is recorded that during +this earthquake the wine in the casks became turbid, a statement +which may be considered as furnishing proof that changes causing a +decomposition of the atmosphere had taken place; but if we had no +other information from which the excitement of conflicting powers +of nature during these commotions might be inferred, yet +scientific observations in modern times have shown that the +relation of the atmosphere to the earth is changed by volcanic +influences. Why then, may we not, from this fact, draw +retrospective inferences respecting those extraordinary phenomena? + +Independently of this, however, we know that during this +earthquake, the duration of which is stated by some to have been a +week, and by others a fortnight, people experienced an unusual +stupor and headache, and that many fainted away. + +These destructive earthquakes extended as far as the neighbourhood +of Basle, and recurred until the year 1360 throughout Germany, +France, Silesia, Poland, England, and Denmark, and much further +north. + +Great and extraordinary meteors appeared in many places, and were +regarded with superstitious horror. A pillar of fire, which on +the 20th of December, 1348, remained for an hour at sunrise over +the pope's palace in Avignon; a fireball, which in August of the +same year was seen at sunset over Paris, and was distinguished +from similar phenomena by its longer duration, not to mention +other instances mixed up with wonderful prophecies and omens, are +recorded in the chronicles of that age. + +The order of the seasons seemed to be inverted; rains, flood, and +failures in crops were so general that few places were exempt from +them; and though an historian of this century assure us that there +was an abundance in the granaries and storehouses, all his +contemporaries, with one voice, contradict him. The consequences +of failure in the crops were soon felt, especially in Italy and +the surrounding countries, where, in this year, a rain, which +continued for four months, had destroyed the seed. In the larger +cities they were compelled, in the spring of 1347, to have +recourse to a distribution of bread among the poor, particularly +at Florence, where they erected large bakehouses, from which, in +April, ninety-four thousand loaves of bread, each of twelve ounces +in weight, were daily dispensed. It is plain, however, that +humanity could only partially mitigate the general distress, not +altogether obviate it. + +Diseases, the invariable consequence of famine, broke out in the +country as well as in cities; children died of hunger in their +mother's arms--want, misery, and despair were general throughout +Christendom. + +Such are the events which took place before the eruption of the +Black Plague in Europe. Contemporaries have explained them after +their own manner, and have thus, like their posterity, under +similar circumstances, given a proof that mortals possess neither +senses nor intellectual powers sufficiently acute to comprehend +the phenomena produced by the earth's organism, much less +scientifically to understand their effects. Superstition, +selfishness in a thousand forms, the presumption of the schools, +laid hold of unconnected facts. They vainly thought to comprehend +the whole in the individual, and perceived not the universal +spirit which, in intimate union with the mighty powers of nature, +animates the movements of all existence, and permits not any +phenomenon to originate from isolated causes. To attempt, five +centuries after that age of desolation, to point out the causes of +a cosmical commotion, which has never recurred to an equal extent, +to indicate scientifically the influences, which called forth so +terrific a poison in the bodies of men and animals, exceeds the +limits of human understanding. If we are even now unable, with +all the varied resources of an extended knowledge of nature, to +define that condition of the atmosphere by which pestilences are +generated, still less can we pretend to reason retrospectively +from the nineteenth to the fourteenth century; but if we take a +general view of the occurrences, that century will give us copious +information, and, as applicable to all succeeding times, of high +importance. + +In the progress of connected natural phenomena from east to west, +that great law of nature is plainly revealed which has so often +and evidently manifested itself in the earth's organism, as well +as in the state of nations dependent upon it. In the inmost +depths of the globe that impulse was given in the year 1333, which +in uninterrupted succession for six and twenty years shook the +surface of the earth, even to the western shores of Europe. From +the very beginning the air partook of the terrestrial concussion, +atmospherical waters overflowed the land, or its plants and +animals perished under the scorching heat. The insect tribe was +wonderfully called into life, as if animated beings were destined +to complete the destruction which astral and telluric powers had +begun. Thus did this dreadful work of nature advance from year to +year; it was a progressive infection of the zones, which exerted a +powerful influence both above and beneath the surface of the +earth; and after having been perceptible in slighter indications, +at the commencement of the terrestrial commotions in China, +convulsed the whole earth. + +The nature of the first plague in China is unknown. We have no +certain intelligence of the disease until it entered the western +countries of Asia. Here it showed itself as the Oriental plague, +with inflammation of the lungs; in which form it probably also may +have begun in China, that is to say, as a malady which spreads, +more than any other, by contagion--a contagion that, in ordinary +pestilences, requires immediate contact, and only under favourable +circumstances of rare occurrence is communicated by the mere +approach to the sick. The share which this cause had in the +spreading of the plague over the whole earth was certainly very +great; and the opinion that the Black Death might have been +excluded from Western Europe by good regulations, similar to those +which are now in use, would have all the support of modern +experience, provided it could be proved that this plague had been +actually imported from the East, or that the Oriental plague in +general, whenever it appears in Europe, has its origin in Asia or +Egypt. Such a proof, however, can by no means be produced so as +to enforce conviction; for it would involve the impossible +assumption, either that there is no essential difference between +the degree of civilisation of the European nations, in the most +ancient and in modern times, or that detrimental circumstances, +which have yielded only to the civilisation of human society and +the regular cultivation of countries, could not formerly keep up +the glandular plague. + +The plague was, however, known in Europe before nations were +united by the bonds of commerce and social intercourse; hence +there is ground for supposing that it sprang up spontaneously, in +consequence of the rude manner of living and the uncultivated +state of the earth, influences which peculiarly favour the origin +of severe diseases. Now we need not go back to the earlier +centuries, for the fourteenth itself, before it had half expired, +was visited by five or six pestilences. + +If, therefore, we consider the peculiar property of the plague, +that in countries which it has once visited it remains for a long +time in a milder form, and that the epidemic influences of 1342, +when it had appeared for the last time, were particularly +favourable to its unperceived continuance, till 1348, we come to +the notion that in this eventful year also the germs of plague +existed in Southern Europe, which might be vivified by +atmospherical deteriorations; and that thus, at least in part, the +Black Plague may have originated in Europe itself. The corruption +of the atmosphere came from the East; but the disease itself came +not upon the wings of the wind, but was only excited and increased +by the atmosphere where it had previously existed. + +This source of the Black Plague was not, however, the only one; +for far more powerful than the excitement of the latent elements +of the plague by atmospheric influences was the effect of the +contagion communicated from one people to another on the great +roads and in the harbours of the Mediterranean. From China the +route of the caravans lay to the north of the Caspian Sea, through +Central Asia, to Tauris. Here ships were ready to take the +produce of the East to Constantinople, the capital of commerce, +and the medium of connection between Asia, Europe, and Africa. +Other caravans went from India to Asia Minor, and touched at the +cities south of the Caspian Sea, and, lastly, from Bagdad through +Arabia to Egypt; also the maritime communication on the Red Sea, +from India to Arabia and Egypt, was not inconsiderable. In all +these directions contagion made its way; and, doubtless, +Constantinople and the harbours of Asia Minor are to be regarded +as the foci of infection, whence it radiated to the most distant +seaports and islands. + +To Constantinople the plague had been brought from the northern +coast of the Black Sea, after it had depopulated the countries +between those routes of commerce, and appeared as early as 1347 in +Cyprus, Sicily, Marseilles, and some of the seaports of Italy. +The remaining islands of the Mediterranean, particularly Sardinia, +Corsica, and Majorca, were visited in succession. Foci of +contagion existed also in full activity along the whole southern +coast of Europe; when, in January, 1348, the plague appeared in +Avignon, and in other cities in the south of France and north of +Italy, as well as in Spain. + +The precise days of its eruption in the individual towns are no +longer to be ascertained; but it was not simultaneous; for in +Florence the disease appeared in the beginning of April, in Cesena +the 1st June, and place after place was attacked throughout the +whole year; so that the plague, after it had passed through the +whole of France and Germany--where, however, it did not make its +ravages until the following year--did not break out till August in +England, where it advanced so gradually, that a period of three +months elapsed before it reached London. The northern kingdoms +were attacked by it in 1349; Sweden, indeed, not until November of +that year, almost two years after its eruption in Avignon. Poland +received the plague in 1349, probably from Germany, if not from +the northern countries; but in Russia it did not make its +appearance until 1351, more than three years after it had broken +out in Constantinople. Instead of advancing in a north-westerly +direction from Tauris and from the Caspian Sea, it had thus made +the great circuit of the Black Sea, by way of Constantinople, +Southern and Central Europe, England, the northern kingdoms, and +Poland, before it reached the Russian territories, a phenomenon +which has not again occurred with respect to more recent +pestilences originating in Asia. + +Whether any difference existed between the indigenous plague, +excited by the influence of the atmosphere, and that which was +imported by contagion, can no longer be ascertained from facts; +for the contemporaries, who in general were not competent to make +accurate researches of this kind, have left no data on the +subject. A milder and a more malignant form certainly existed, +and the former was not always derived from the latter, as is to be +supposed from this circumstance--that the spitting of blood, the +infallible diagnostic of the latter, on the first breaking out of +the plague, is not similarly mentioned in all the reports; and it +is therefore probable that the milder form belonged to the native +plague--the more malignant, to that introduced by contagion. +Contagion was, however, in itself, only one of many causes which +gave rise to the Black Plague. + +This disease was a consequence of violent commotions in the +earth's organism--if any disease of cosmical origin can be so +considered. One spring set a thousand others in motion for the +annihilation of living beings, transient or permanent, of mediate +or immediate effect. The most powerful of all was contagion; for +in the most distant countries, which had scarcely yet heard the +echo of the first concussion, the people fell a sacrifice to +organic poison--the untimely offspring of vital energies thrown +into violent commotion. + + + +CHAPTER IV--MORTALITY + + + +We have no certain measure by which to estimate the ravages of the +Black Plague, if numerical statements were wanted, as in modern +times. Let us go back for a moment to the fourteenth century. +The people were yet but little civilised. The Church had indeed +subdued them; but they all suffered from the ill consequences of +their original rudeness. The dominion of the law was not yet +confirmed. Sovereigns had everywhere to combat powerful enemies +to internal tranquillity and security. The cities were fortresses +for their own defence. Marauders encamped on the roads. The +husbandman was a feudal slave, without possessions of his own. +Rudeness was general, humanity as yet unknown to the people. +Witches and heretics were burned alive. Gentle rulers were +contemned as weak; wild passions, severity and cruelty, everywhere +predominated. Human life was little regarded. Governments +concerned not themselves about the numbers of their subjects, for +whose welfare it was incumbent on them to provide. Thus, the +first requisite for estimating the loss of human life, namely, a +knowledge of the amount of the population, is altogether wanting; +and, moreover, the traditional statements of the amount of this +loss are so vague, that from this source likewise there is only +room for probable conjecture. + +Cairo lost daily, when the plague was raging with its greatest +violence, from 10,000 to 15,000; being as many as, in modern +times, great plagues have carried off during their whole course. +In China, more than thirteen millions are said to have died; and +this is in correspondence with the certainly exaggerated accounts +from the rest of Asia. India was depopulated. Tartary, the +Tartar kingdom of Kaptschak, Mesopotamia, Syria, Armenia, were +covered with dead bodies--the Kurds fled in vain to the mountains. +In Caramania and Caesarea none were left alive. On the roads--in +the camps--in the caravansaries--unburied bodies alone were seen; +and a few cities only (Arabian historians name Maarael-Nooman, +Schisur, and Harem) remained, in an unaccountable manner, free. +In Aleppo, 500 died daily; 22,000 people, and most of the animals, +were carried off in Gaza, within six weeks. Cyprus lost almost +all its inhabitants; and ships without crews were often seen in +the Mediterranean, as afterwards in the North Sea, driving about, +and spreading the plague wherever they went on shore. It was +reported to Pope Clement, at Avignon, that throughout the East, +probably with the exception of China, 23,840,000 people had fallen +victims to the plague. Considering the occurrences of the +fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, we might, on first view, +suspect the accuracy of this statement. How (it might be asked) +could such great wars have been carried on--such powerful efforts +have been made; how could the Greek Empire, only a hundred years +later, have been overthrown, if the people really had been so +utterly destroyed? + +This account is nevertheless rendered credible by the ascertained +fact, that the palaces of princes are less accessible to +contagious diseases than the dwellings of the multitude; and that +in places of importance, the influx from those districts which +have suffered least, soon repairs even the heaviest losses. We +must remember, also, that we do not gather much from mere numbers +without an intimate knowledge of the state of society. We will +therefore confine ourselves to exhibiting some of the more +credible accounts relative to European cities. + + +In Florence there died of the Black Plague--60,000 +In Venice--100,000 +In Marseilles, in one month--16,000 +In Siena--70,000 +In Paris--50,000 +In St. Denys--14,000 +In Avignon--60,000 +In Strasburg--16,000 +In Lubeck--9,000 +In Basle--14,000 +In Erfurt, at least--16,000 +In Weimar--5,000 +In Limburg--2,500 +In London, at least--100,000 +In Norwich--51,100 + + +To which may be added - + + +Franciscan Friars in German--124,434 +Minorites in Italy--30,000 + + +This short catalogue might, by a laborious and uncertain +calculation, deduced from other sources, be easily further +multiplied, but would still fail to give a true picture of the +depopulation which took place. Lubeck, at that time the Venice of +the North, which could no longer contain the multitudes that +flocked to it, was thrown into such consternation on the eruption +of the plague, that the citizens destroyed themselves as if in +frenzy. + +Merchants whose earnings and possessions were unbounded, coldly +and willingly renounced their earthly goods. They carried their +treasures to monasteries and churches, and laid them at the foot +of the altar; but gold had no charms for the monks, for it brought +them death. They shut their gates; yet, still it was cast to them +over the convent walls. People would brook no impediment to the +last pious work to which they were driven by despair. When the +plague ceased, men thought they were still wandering among the +dead, so appalling was the livid aspect of the survivors, in +consequence of the anxiety they had undergone, and the unavoidable +infection of the air. Many other cities probably presented a +similar appearance; and it is ascertained that a great number of +small country towns and villages, which have been estimated, and +not too highly, at 200,000, were bereft of all their inhabitants. + +In many places in France, not more than two out of twenty of the +inhabitants were left alive, and the capital felt the fury of the +plague, alike in the palace and the cot. + +Two queens, one bishop, and great numbers of other distinguished +persons, fell a sacrifice to it, and more than 500 a day died in +the Hotel Dieu, under the faithful care of the sisters of charity, +whose disinterested courage, in this age of horror, displayed the +most beautiful traits of human virtue. For although they lost +their lives, evidently from contagion, and their numbers were +several times renewed, there was still no want of fresh +candidates, who, strangers to the unchristian fear of death, +piously devoted themselves to their holy calling. + +The churchyards were soon unable to contain the dead, and many +houses, left without inhabitants, fell to ruins. + +In Avignon, the Pope found it necessary to consecrate the Rhone, +that bodies might be thrown into the river without delay, as the +churchyards would no longer hold them; so likewise, in all +populous cities, extraordinary measures were adopted, in order +speedily to dispose of the dead. In Vienna, where for some time +1,200 inhabitants died daily, the interment of corpses in the +churchyards and within the churches was forthwith prohibited; and +the dead were then arranged in layers, by thousands, in six large +pits outside the city, as had already been done in Cairo and +Paris. Yet, still many were secretly buried; for at all times the +people are attached to the consecrated cemeteries of their dead, +and will not renounce the customary mode of interment. + +In many places it was rumoured that plague patients were buried +alive, as may sometimes happen through senseless alarm and +indecent haste; and thus the horror of the distressed people was +everywhere increased. In Erfurt, after the churchyards were +filled, 12,000 corpses were thrown into eleven great pits; and the +like might, more or less exactly, be stated with respect to all +the larger cities. Funeral ceremonies, the last consolation of +the survivors, were everywhere impracticable. + +In all Germany, according to a probable calculation, there seem to +have died only 1,244,434 inhabitants; this country, however, was +more spared than others: Italy, on the contrary, was most +severely visited. It is said to have lost half its inhabitants; +and this account is rendered credible from the immense losses of +individual cities and provinces: for in Sardinia and Corsica, +according to the account of the distinguished Florentine, John +Villani, who was himself carried off by the Black Plague, scarcely +a third part of the population remained alive; and it is related +of the Venetians, that they engaged ships at a high rate to +retreat to the islands; so that after the plague had carried off +three-fourths of her inhabitants, that proud city was left forlorn +and desolate. In Padua, after the cessation of the plague, two- +thirds of the inhabitants were wanting; and in Florence it was +prohibited to publish the numbers of dead, and to toll the bells +at their funerals, in order that the living might not abandon +themselves to despair. + +We have more exact accounts of England; most of the great cities +suffered incredible losses; above all, Yarmouth, in which 7,052 +died; Bristol, Oxford, Norwich, Leicester, York, and London, where +in one burial ground alone, there were interred upwards of 50,000 +corpses, arranged in layers, in large pits. It is said that in +the whole country scarcely a tenth part remained alive; but this +estimate is evidently too high. Smaller losses were sufficient to +cause those convulsions, whose consequences were felt for some +centuries, in a false impulse given to civil life, and whose +indirect influence, unknown to the English, has perhaps extended +even to modern times. + +Morals were deteriorated everywhere, and the service of God was in +a great measure laid aside; for, in many places, the churches were +deserted, being bereft of their priests. The instruction of the +people was impeded; covetousness became general; and when +tranquillity was restored, the great increase of lawyers was +astonishing, to whom the endless disputes regarding inheritances +offered a rich harvest. The want of priests too, throughout the +country, operated very detrimentally upon the people (the lower +classes being most exposed to the ravages of the plague, whilst +the houses of the nobility were, in proportion, much more spared), +and it was no compensation that whole bands of ignorant laymen, +who had lost their wives during the pestilence, crowded into the +monastic orders, that they might participate in the respectability +of the priesthood, and in the rich heritages which fell in to the +Church from all quarters. The sittings of Parliament, of the +King's Bench, and of most of the other courts, were suspended as +long as the malady raged. The laws of peace availed not during +the dominion of death. Pope Clement took advantage of this state +of disorder to adjust the bloody quarrel between Edward III and +Philip VI; yet he only succeeded during the period that the plague +commanded peace. Philip's death (1350) annulled all treaties; and +it is related that Edward, with other troops indeed, but with the +same leaders and knights, again took the field. Ireland was much +less heavily visited that England. The disease seems to have +scarcely reached the mountainous districts of that kingdom; and +Scotland too would perhaps have remained free, had not the Scots +availed themselves of the discomfiture of the English to make an +irruption into their territory, which terminated in the +destruction of their army, by the plague and by the sword, and the +extension of the pestilence, through those who escaped, over the +whole country. + +At the commencement, there was in England a superabundance of all +the necessaries of life; but the plague, which seemed then to be +the sole disease, was soon accompanied by a fatal murrain among +the cattle. Wandering about without herdsmen, they fell by +thousands; and, as has likewise been observed in Africa, the birds +and beasts of prey are said not to have touched them. Of what +nature this murrain may have been, can no more be determined, than +whether it originated from communication with plague patients, or +from other causes; but thus much is certain, that it did not break +out until after the commencement of the Black Death. In +consequence of this murrain, and the impossibility of removing the +corn from the fields, there was everywhere a great rise in the +price of food, which to many was inexplicable, because the harvest +had been plentiful; by others it was attributed to the wicked +designs of the labourers and dealers; but it really had its +foundation in the actual deficiency arising from circumstances by +which individual classes at all times endeavour to profit. For a +whole year, until it terminated in August, 1349, the Black Plague +prevailed in this beautiful island, and everywhere poisoned the +springs of comfort and prosperity. + +In other countries, it generally lasted only half a year, but +returned frequently in individual places; on which account, some, +without sufficient proof, assigned to it a period of seven years. + +Spain was uninterruptedly ravaged by the Black Plague till after +the year 1350, to which the frequent internal feuds and the wars +with the Moors not a little contributed. Alphonso XI., whose +passion for war carried him too far, died of it at the siege of +Gibraltar, on the 26th of March, 1350. He was the only king in +Europe who fell a sacrifice to it; but even before this period, +innumerable families had been thrown into affliction. The +mortality seems otherwise to have been smaller in Spain than in +Italy, and about as considerable as in France. + +The whole period during which the Black Plague raged with +destructive violence in Europe was, with the exception of Russia, +from the year 1347 to 1350. The plagues which in the sequel often +returned until the year 1383, we do not consider as belonging to +"the Great Mortality." They were rather common pestilences, +without inflammation of the lungs, such as in former times, and in +the following centuries, were excited by the matter of contagion +everywhere existing, and which, on every favourable occasion, +gained ground anew, as is usually the case with this frightful +disease. + +The concourse of large bodies of people was especially dangerous; +and thus the premature celebration of the Jubilee to which Clement +VI. cited the faithful to Rome (1350) during the great epidemic, +caused a new eruption of the plague, from which it is said that +scarcely one in a hundred of the pilgrims escaped. + +Italy was, in consequence, depopulated anew; and those who +returned, spread poison and corruption of morals in all +directions. It is therefore the less apparent how that Pope, who +was in general so wise and considerate, and who knew how to pursue +the path of reason and humanity under the most difficult +circumstances, should have been led to adopt a measure so +injurious; since he himself was so convinced of the salutary +effect of seclusion, that during the plague in Avignon he kept up +constant fires, and suffered no one to approach him; and in other +respects gave such orders as averted, or alleviated, much misery. + +The changes which occurred about this period in the north of +Europe are sufficiently memorable to claim a few moments' +attention. In Sweden two princes died--Haken and Knut, half- +brothers of King Magnus; and in Westgothland alone, 466 priests. +The inhabitants of Iceland and Greenland found in the coldness of +their inhospitable climate no protection against the southern +enemy who had penetrated to them from happier countries. The +plague caused great havoc among them. Nature made no allowance +for their constant warfare with the elements, and the parsimony +with which she had meted out to them the enjoyments of life. In +Denmark and Norway, however, people were so occupied with their +own misery, that the accustomed voyages to Greenland ceased. +Towering icebergs formed at the same time on the coast of East +Greenland, in consequence of the general concussion of the earth's +organism; and no mortal, from that time forward, has ever seen +that shore or its inhabitants. + +It has been observed above, that in Russia the Black Plague did +not break out until 1351, after it had already passed through the +south and north of Europe. In this country also, the mortality +was extraordinarily great; and the same scenes of affliction and +despair were exhibited, as had occurred in those nations which had +already passed the ordeal: the same mode of burial--the same +horrible certainty of death--the same torpor and depression of +spirits. The wealthy abandoned their treasures, and gave their +villages and estates to the churches and monasteries; this being, +according to the notions of the age, the surest way of securing +the favour of Heaven and the forgiveness of past sins. In Russia, +too, the voice of nature was silenced by fear and horror. In the +hour of danger, fathers and mothers deserted their children, and +children their parents. + +Of all the estimates of the number of lives lost in Europe, the +most probable is, that altogether a fourth part of the inhabitants +were carried off. Now, if Europe at present contain 210,000,000 +inhabitants, the population, not to take a higher estimate, which +might easily by justified, amounted to at least 105,000,000 in the +sixteenth century. + +It may therefore be assumed, without exaggeration, that Europe +lost during the Black Death 25,000,000 of inhabitants. + +That her nations could so quickly overcome such a fearful +concussion in their external circumstances, and, in general, +without retrograding more than they actually did, could so develop +their energies in the following century, is a most convincing +proof of the indestructibility of human society as a whole. To +assume, however, that it did not suffer any essential change +internally, because in appearance everything remained as before, +is inconsistent with a just view of cause and effect. Many +historians seem to have adopted such an opinion; accustomed, as +usual, to judge of the moral condition of the people solely +according to the vicissitudes of earthly power, the events of +battles, and the influence of religion, but to pass over with +indifference the great phenomena of nature, which modify, not only +the surface of the earth, but also the human mind. Hence, most of +them have touched but superficially on the "Great Mortality" of +the fourteenth century. We, for our parts, are convinced that in +the history of the world the Black Death is one of the most +important events which have prepared the way for the present state +of Europe. + +He who studies the human mind with attention, and forms a +deliberate judgment on the intellectual powers which set people +and States in motion, may perhaps find some proofs of this +assertion in the following observations:- at that time, the +advancement of the hierarchy was, in most countries, +extraordinary; for the Church acquired treasures and large +properties in land, even to a greater extent than after the +Crusades; but experience has demonstrated that such a state of +things is ruinous to the people, and causes them to retrograde, as +was evinced on this occasion. + +After the cessation of the Black Plague, a greater fecundity in +women was everywhere remarkable--a grand phenomenon, which, from +its occurrence after every destructive pestilence, proves to +conviction, if any occurrence can do so, the prevalence of a +higher power in the direction of general organic life. Marriages +were, almost without exception, prolific; and double and triple +births were more frequent than at other times; under which head, +we should remember the strange remark, that after the "Great +Mortality" the children were said to have got fewer teeth than +before; at which contemporaries were mightily shocked, and even +later writers have felt surprise. + +If we examine the grounds of this oft-repeated assertion, we shall +find that they were astonished to see children, cut twenty, or at +most, twenty-two teeth, under the supposition that a greater +number had formerly fallen to their share. Some writers of +authority, as, for example, the physician Savonarola, at Ferrara, +who probably looked for twenty-eight teeth in children, published +their opinions on this subject. Others copied from them, without +seeing for themselves, as often happens in other matters which are +equally evident; and thus the world believed in the miracle of an +imperfection in the human body which had been caused by the Black +Plague. + +The people gradually consoled themselves after the sufferings +which they had undergone; the dead were lamented and forgotten; +and, in the stirring vicissitudes of existence, the world belonged +to the living. + + + +CHAPTER V--MORAL EFFECTS + + + +The mental shock sustained by all nations during the prevalence of +the Black Plague is without parallel and beyond description. In +the eyes of the timorous, danger was the certain harbinger of +death; many fell victims to fear on the first appearance of the +distemper, and the most stout-hearted lost their confidence. +Thus, after reliance on the future had died away, the spiritual +union which binds man to his family and his fellow-creatures was +gradually dissolved. The pious closed their accounts with the +world--eternity presented itself to their view--their only +remaining desire was for a participation in the consolations of +religion, because to them death was disarmed of its sting. + +Repentance seized the transgressor, admonishing him to consecrate +his remaining hours to the exercise of Christian virtues. All +minds were directed to the contemplation of futurity; and +children, who manifest the more elevated feelings of the soul +without alloy, were frequently seen, while labouring under the +plague, breathing out their spirit with prayer and songs of +thanksgiving. + +An awful sense of contrition seized Christians of every communion; +they resolved to forsake their vices, to make restitution for past +offences, before they were summoned hence, to seek reconciliation +with their Maker, and to avert, by self-chastisement, the +punishment due to their former sins. Human nature would be +exalted, could the countless noble actions which, in times of most +imminent danger, were performed in secret, be recorded for the +instruction of future generations. They, however, have no +influence on the course of worldly events. They are known only to +silent eyewitnesses, and soon fall into oblivion. But hypocrisy, +illusion, and bigotry stalk abroad undaunted; they desecrate what +is noble, they pervert what is divine, to the unholy purposes of +selfishness, which hurries along every good feeling in the false +excitement of the age. Thus it was in the years of this plague. +In the fourteenth century, the monastic system was still in its +full vigour, the power of the ecclesiastical orders and +brotherhoods was revered by the people, and the hierarchy was +still formidable to the temporal power. It was therefore in the +natural constitution of society that bigoted zeal, which in such +times makes a show of public acts of penance, should avail itself +of the semblance of religion. But this took place in such a +manner, that unbridled, self-willed penitence, degenerated into +lukewarmness, renounced obedience to the hierarchy, and prepared a +fearful opposition to the Church, paralysed as it was by +antiquated forms. + +While all countries were filled with lamentations and woe, there +first arose in Hungary, and afterwards in Germany, the Brotherhood +of the Flagellants, called also the Brethren of the Cross, or +Cross-bearers, who took upon themselves the repentance of the +people for the sins they had committed, and offered prayers and +supplications for the averting of this plague. This Order +consisted chiefly of persons of the lower class, who were either +actuated by sincere contrition, or who joyfully availed themselves +of this pretext for idleness, and were hurried along with the tide +of distracting frenzy. But as these brotherhoods gained in +repute, and were welcomed by the people with veneration and +enthusiasm, many nobles and ecclesiastics ranged themselves under +their standard; and their bands were not unfrequently augmented by +children, honourable women, and nuns; so powerfully were minds of +the most opposite temperaments enslaved by this infatuation. They +marched through the cities, in well-organised processions, with +leaders and singers; their heads covered as far as the eyes; their +look fixed on the ground, accompanied by every token of the +deepest contrition and mourning. They were robed in sombre +garments, with red crosses on the breast, back, and cap, and bore +triple scourges, tied in three or four knots, in which points of +iron were fixed. Tapers and magnificent banners of velvet and +cloth of gold were carried before them; wherever they made their +appearance, they were welcomed by the ringing bells, and the +people flocked from all quarters to listen to their hymns and to +witness their penance with devotion and tears. + +In the year 1349, two hundred Flagellants first entered Strasburg, +where they were received with great joy, and hospitably lodged by +citizens. Above a thousand joined the brotherhood, which now +assumed the appearance of a wandering tribe, and separated into +two bodies, for the purpose of journeying to the north and to the +south. For more than half a year, new parties arrived weekly; and +on each arrival adults and children left their families to +accompany them; till at length their sanctity was questioned, and +the doors of houses and churches were closed against them. At +Spires, two hundred boys, of twelve years of age and under, +constituted themselves into a Brotherhood of the Cross, in +imitation of the children who, about a hundred years before, had +united, at the instigation of some fanatic monks, for the purpose +of recovering the Holy Sepulchre. All the inhabitants of this +town were carried away by the illusion; they conducted the +strangers to their houses with songs of thanksgiving, to regale +them for the night. The women embroidered banners for them, and +all were anxious to augment their pomp; and at every succeeding +pilgrimage their influence and reputation increased. + +It was not merely some individual parts of the country that +fostered them: all Germany, Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, Silesia, +and Flanders, did homage to the mania; and they at length became +as formidable to the secular as they were to the ecclesiastical +power. The influence of this fanaticism was great and +threatening, resembling the excitement which called all the +inhabitants of Europe into the deserts of Syria and Palestine +about two hundred and fifty years before. The appearance in +itself was not novel. As far back as the eleventh century, many +believers in Asia and Southern Europe afflicted themselves with +the punishment of flagellation. Dominicus Loricatus, a monk of +St. Croce d'Avellano, is mentioned as the master and model of this +species of mortification of the flesh; which, according to the +primitive notions of the Asiatic Anchorites, was deemed eminently +Christian. The author of the solemn processions of the +Flagellants is said to have been St. Anthony; for even in his time +(1231) this kind of penance was so much in vogue, that it is +recorded as an eventful circumstance in the history of the world. +In 1260, the Flagellants appeared in Italy as Devoti. "When the +land was polluted by vices and crimes, an unexampled spirit of +remorse suddenly seized the minds of the Italians. The fear of +Christ fell upon all: noble and ignoble, old and young, and even +children of five years of age, marched through the streets with no +covering but a scarf round the waist. They each carried a scourge +of leathern thongs, which they applied to their limbs, amid sighs +and tears, with such violence that the blood flowed from the +wounds. Not only during the day, but even by night, and in the +severest winter, they traversed the cities with burning torches +and banners, in thousands and tens of thousands, headed by their +priests, and prostrated themselves before the altars. They +proceeded in the same manner in the villages: and the woods and +mountains resounded with the voices of those whose cries were +raised to God. The melancholy chaunt of the penitent alone was +heard. Enemies were reconciled; men and women vied with each +other in splendid works of charity, as if they dreaded that Divine +Omnipotence would pronounce on them the doom of annihilation." + +The pilgrimages of the Flagellants extended throughout all the +province of Southern Germany, as far as Saxony, Bohemia, and +Poland, and even further; but at length the priests resisted this +dangerous fanaticism, without being able to extirpate the +illusion, which was advantageous to the hierarchy as long as it +submitted to its sway. Regnier, a hermit of Perugia, is recorded +as a fanatic preacher of penitence, with whom the extravagance +originated. In the year 1296 there was a great procession of the +Flagellants in Strasburg; and in 1334, fourteen years before the +Great Mortality, the sermon of Venturinus, a Dominican friar of +Bergamo, induced above 10,000 persons to undertake a new +pilgrimage. They scourged themselves in the churches, and were +entertained in the market-places at the public expense. At Rome, +Venturinus was derided, and banished by the Pope to the mountains +of Ricondona. He patiently endured all--went to the Holy Land, +and died at Smyrna, 1346. Hence we see that this fanaticism was a +mania of the middle ages, which, in the year 1349, on so fearful +an occasion, and while still so fresh in remembrance, needed no +new founder; of whom, indeed, all the records are silent. It +probably arose in many places at the same time; for the terror of +death, which pervaded all nations and suddenly set such powerful +impulses in motion, might easily conjure up the fanaticism of +exaggerated and overpowering repentance. + +The manner and proceedings of the Flagellants of the thirteenth +and fourteenth centuries exactly resemble each other. But, if +during the Black Plague, simple credulity came to their aid, which +seized, as a consolation, the grossest delusion of religious +enthusiasm, yet it is evident that the leaders must have been +intimately united, and have exercised the power of a secret +association. Besides, the rude band was generally under the +control of men of learning, some of whom at least certainly had +other objects in view independent of those which ostensibly +appeared. Whoever was desirous of joining the brotherhood, was +bound to remain in it thirty-four days, and to have fourpence per +day at his own disposal, so that he might not be burthensome to +any one; if married, he was obliged to have the sanction of his +wife, and give the assurance that he was reconciled to all men. +The Brothers of the Cross were not permitted to seek for free +quarters, or even to enter a house without having been invited; +they were forbidden to converse with females; and if they +transgressed these rules, or acted without discretion, they were +obliged to confess to the Superior, who sentenced them to several +lashes of the scourge, by way of penance. Ecclesiastics had not, +as such, any pre-eminence among them; according to their original +law, which, however, was often transgressed, they could not become +Masters, or take part in the Secret Councils. Penance was +performed twice every day: in the morning and evening they went +abroad in pairs, singing psalms amid the ringing of the bells; and +when they arrived at the place of flagellation, they stripped the +upper part of their bodies and put off their shoes, keeping on +only a linen dress, reaching from the waist to the ankles. They +then lay down in a large circle, in different positions, according +to the nature of the crime: the adulterer with his face to the +ground; the perjurer on one side, holding up three of his fingers, +&c., and were then castigated, some more and some less, by the +Master, who ordered them to rise in the words of a prescribed +form. Upon this they scourged themselves, amid the singing of +psalms and loud supplications for the averting of the plague, with +genuflexions and other ceremonies, of which contemporary writers +give various accounts; and at the same time constantly boasted of +their penance, that the blood of their wounds was mingled with +that of the Saviour. One of them, in conclusion, stoop up to read +a letter, which it was pretended an angel had brought from heaven +to St. Peter's Church, at Jerusalem, stating that Christ, who was +sore displeased at the sins of man, had granted, at the +intercession of the Holy Virgin and of the angels, that all who +should wander about for thirty-four days and scourge themselves, +should be partakers of the Divine grace. This scene caused as +great a commotion among the believers as the finding of the holy +spear once did at Antioch; and if any among the clergy inquired +who had sealed the letter, he was boldly answered, the same who +had sealed the Gospel! + +All this had so powerful an effect, that the Church was in +considerable danger; for the Flagellants gained more credit than +the priests, from whom they so entirely withdrew themselves, that +they even absolved each other. Besides, they everywhere took +possession of the churches, and their new songs, which went from +mouth to mouth, operated strongly on the minds of the people. +Great enthusiasm and originally pious feelings are clearly +distinguishable in these hymns, and especially in the chief psalm +of the Cross-bearers, which is still extant, and which was sung +all over Germany in different dialects, and is probably of a more +ancient date. Degeneracy, however, soon crept in; crimes were +everywhere committed; and there was no energetic man capable of +directing the individual excitement to purer objects, even had an +effectual resistance to the tottering Church been at that early +period seasonable, and had it been possible to restrain the +fanaticism. The Flagellants sometimes undertook to make trial of +their power of working miracles; as in Strasburg, where they +attempted, in their own circle, to resuscitate a dead child: +they, however, failed, and their unskilfulness did them much harm, +though they succeeded here and there in maintaining some +confidence in their holy calling, by pretending to have the power +of casting out evil spirits. + +The Brotherhood of the Cross announced that the pilgrimage of the +Flagellants was to continue for a space of thirty-four years; and +many of the Masters had doubtless determined to form a lasting +league against the Church; but they had gone too far. So early as +the first year of their establishment, the general indignation set +bounds to their intrigues: so that the strict measures adopted by +the Emperor Charles IV., and Pope Clement, who, throughout the +whole of this fearful period, manifested prudence and noble- +mindedness, and conducted himself in a manner every way worthy of +his high station, were easily put into execution. + +The Sorbonne, at Paris, and the Emperor Charles, had already +applied to the Holy See for assistance against these formidable +and heretical excesses, which had well-nigh destroyed the +influence of the clergy in every place; when a hundred of the +Brotherhood of the Cross arrived at Avignon from Basle, and +desired admission. The Pope, regardless of the intercession of +several cardinals, interdicted their public penance, which he had +not authorised; and, on pain of excommunication, prohibited +throughout Christendom the continuance of these pilgrimages. +Philip VI., supported by the condemnatory judgment of the +Sorbonne, forbade their reception in France. Manfred, King of +Sicily, at the same time threatened them with punishment by death; +and in the East they were withstood by several bishops, among whom +was Janussius, of Gnesen, and Preczlaw, of Breslau, who condemned +to death one of their Masters, formerly a deacon; and, in +conformity with the barbarity of the times, had him publicly +burnt. In Westphalia, where so shortly before they had venerated +the Brothers of the Cross, they now persecuted them with +relentless severity; and in the Mark, as well as in all the other +countries of Germany, they pursued them as if they had been the +authors of every misfortune. + +The processions of the Brotherhood of the Cross undoubtedly +promoted the spreading of the plague; and it is evident that the +gloomy fanaticism which gave rise to them would infuse a new +poison into the already desponding minds of the people. + +Still, however, all this was within the bounds of barbarous +enthusiasm; but horrible were the persecutions of the Jews, which +were committed in most countries, with even greater exasperation +than in the twelfth century, during the first Crusades. In every +destructive pestilence the common people at first attribute the +mortality to poison. No instruction avails; the supposed +testimony of their eyesight is to them a proof, and they +authoritatively demand the victims of their rage. On whom, then, +was it so likely to fall as on the Jews, the usurers and the +strangers who lived at enmity with the Christians? They were +everywhere suspected of having poisoned the wells or infected the +air. They alone were considered as having brought this fearful +mortality upon the Christians. They were, in consequence, pursued +with merciless cruelty; and either indiscriminately given up to +the fury of the populace, or sentenced by sanguinary tribunals, +which, with all the forms of the law, ordered them to be burnt +alive. In times like these, much is indeed said of guilt and +innocence; but hatred and revenge bear down all discrimination, +and the smallest probability magnifies suspicion into certainty. +These bloody scenes, which disgraced Europe in the fourteenth +century, are a counterpart to a similar mania of the age, which +was manifested in the persecutions of witches and sorcerers; and, +like these, they prove that enthusiasm, associated with hatred, +and leagued with the baser passions, may work more powerfully upon +whole nations than religion and legal order; nay, that it even +knows how to profit by the authority of both, in order the more +surely to satiate with blood the sword of long-suppressed revenge. + +The persecution of the Jews commenced in September and October, +1348, at Chillon, on the Lake of Geneva, where the first criminal +proceedings were instituted against them, after they had long +before been accused by the people of poisoning the wells; similar +scenes followed in Bern and Freyburg, in January, 1349. Under the +influence of excruciating suffering, the tortured Jews confessed +themselves guilty of the crime imputed to them; and it being +affirmed that poison had in fact been found in a well at +Zoffingen, this was deemed a sufficient proof to convince the +world; and the persecution of the abhorred culprits thus appeared +justifiable. Now, though we can take as little exception at these +proceedings as at the multifarious confessions of witches, because +the interrogatories of the fanatical and sanguinary tribunals were +so complicated, that by means of the rack the required answer must +inevitably be obtained; and it is, besides, conformable to human +nature that crimes which are in everybody's mouth may, in the end, +be actually committed by some, either from wantonness, revenge, or +desperate exasperation: yet crimes and accusations are, under +circumstances like these, merely the offspring of a revengeful, +frenzied spirit in the people; and the accusers, according to the +fundamental principles of morality, which are the same in every +age, are the more guilty transgressors. + +Already in the autumn of 1348 a dreadful panic, caused by this +supposed empoisonment, seized all nations; in Germany especially +the springs and wells were built over, that nobody might drink of +them or employ their contents for culinary purposes; and for a +long time the inhabitants of numerous towns and villages used only +river and rain water. The city gates were also guarded with the +greatest caution: only confidential persons were admitted; and if +medicine or any other article, which might be supposed to be +poisonous, was found in the possession of a stranger--and it was +natural that some should have these things by them for their +private use--they were forced to swallow a portion of it. By this +trying state of privation, distrust, and suspicion, the hatred +against the supposed poisoners became greatly increased, and often +broke out in popular commotions, which only served still further +to infuriate the wildest passions. The noble and the mean +fearlessly bound themselves by an oath to extirpate the Jews by +fire and sword, and to snatch them from their protectors, of whom +the number was so small, that throughout all Germany but few +places can be mentioned where these unfortunate people were not +regarded as outlaws and martyred and burnt. Solemn summonses were +issued from Bern to the towns of Basle, Freyburg in the Breisgau, +and Strasburg, to pursue the Jews as poisoners. The burgomasters +and senators, indeed, opposed this requisition; but in Basle the +populace obliged them to bind themselves by an oath to burn the +Jews, and to forbid persons of that community from entering their +city for the space of two hundred years. Upon this all the Jews +in Basle, whose number could not have been inconsiderable, were +enclosed in a wooden building, constructed for the purpose, and +burnt together with it, upon the mere outcry of the people, +without sentence or trial, which, indeed, would have availed them +nothing. Soon after the same thing took place at Freyburg. A +regular Diet was held at Bennefeld, in Alsace, where the bishops, +lords, and barons, as also deputies of the counties and towns, +consulted how they should proceed with regard to the Jews; and +when the deputies of Strasburg--not indeed the bishop of this +town, who proved himself a violent fanatic--spoke in favour of the +persecuted, as nothing criminal was substantiated against them, a +great outcry was raised, and it was vehemently asked, why, if so, +they had covered their wells and removed their buckets. A +sanguinary decree was resolved upon, of which the populace, who +obeyed the call of the nobles and superior clergy, became but the +too willing executioners. Wherever the Jews were not burnt, they +were at least banished; and so being compelled to wander about, +they fell into the hands of the country people, who, without +humanity, and regardless of all laws, persecuted them with fire +and sword. At Spires, the Jews, driven to despair, assembled in +their own habitations, which they set on fire, and thus consumed +themselves with their families. The few that remained were forced +to submit to baptism; while the dead bodies of the murdered, which +lay about the streets, were put into empty wine-casks and rolled +into the Rhine, lest they should infect the air. The mob was +forbidden to enter the ruins of the habitations that were burnt in +the Jewish quarter; for the senate itself caused search to be made +for the treasure, which is said to have been very considerable. +At Strasburg two thousand Jews were burnt alive in their own +burial-ground, where a large scaffold had been erected: a few who +promised to embrace Christianity were spared, and their children +taken from the pile. The youth and beauty of several females also +excited some commiseration, and they were snatched from death +against their will; many, however, who forcibly made their escape +from the flames were murdered in the streets. + +The senate ordered all pledges and bonds to be returned to the +debtors, and divided the money among the work-people. Many, +however, refused to accept the base price of blood, and, indignant +at the scenes of bloodthirsty avarice, which made the infuriated +multitude forget that the plague was raging around them, presented +it to monasteries, in conformity with the advice of their +confessors. In all the countries on the Rhine, these cruelties +continued to be perpetrated during the succeeding months; and +after quiet was in some degree restored, the people thought to +render an acceptable service to God, by taking the bricks of the +destroyed dwellings, and the tombstones of the Jews, to repair +churches and to erect belfries. + +In Mayence alone, 12,000 Jews are said to have been put to a cruel +death. The Flagellants entered that place in August; the Jews, on +this occasion, fell out with the Christians and killed several; +but when they saw their inability to withstand the increasing +superiority of their enemies, and that nothing could save them +from destruction, they consumed themselves and their families by +setting fire to their dwellings. Thus also, in other places, the +entry of the Flagellants gave rise to scenes of slaughter; and as +thirst for blood was everywhere combined with an unbridled spirit +of proselytism, a fanatic zeal arose among the Jews to perish as +martyrs to their ancient religion. And how was it possible that +they could from the heart embrace Christianity, when its precepts +were never more outrageously violated? At Eslingen the whole +Jewish community burned themselves in their synagogue, and mothers +were often seen throwing their children on the pile, to prevent +their being baptised, and then precipitating themselves into the +flames. In short, whatever deeds fanaticism, revenge, avarice and +desperation, in fearful combination, could instigate mankind to +perform,--and where in such a case is the limit?--were executed in +the year 1349 throughout Germany, Italy, and France, with +impunity, and in the eyes of all the world. It seemed as if the +plague gave rise to scandalous acts and frantic tumults, not to +mourning and grief; and the greater part of those who, by their +education and rank, were called upon to raise the voice of reason, +themselves led on the savage mob to murder and to plunder. Almost +all the Jews who saved their lives by baptism were afterwards +burnt at different times; for they continued to be accused of +poisoning the water and the air. Christians also, whom +philanthropy or gain had induced to offer them protection, were +put on the rack and executed with them. Many Jews who had +embraced Christianity repented of their apostacy, and, returning +to their former faith, sealed it with their death. + +The humanity and prudence of Clement VI. must, on this occasion, +also be mentioned to his honour; but even the highest +ecclesiastical power was insufficient to restrain the unbridled +fury of the people. He not only protected the Jews at Avignon, as +far as lay in his power, but also issued two bulls, in which he +declared them innocent; and admonished all Christians, though +without success, to cease from such groundless persecutions. The +Emperor Charles IV. was also favourable to them, and sought to +avert their destruction wherever he could; but he dared not draw +the sword of justice, and even found himself obliged to yield to +the selfishness of the Bohemian nobles, who were unwilling to +forego so favourable an opportunity of releasing themselves from +their Jewish creditors, under favour of an imperial mandate. Duke +Albert of Austria burnt and pillaged those of his cities which had +persecuted the Jews--a vain and inhuman proceeding, which, +moreover, is not exempt from the suspicion of covetousness; yet he +was unable, in his own fortress of Kyberg, to protect some +hundreds of Jews, who had been received there, from being +barbarously burnt by the inhabitants. Several other princes and +counts, among whom was Ruprecht von der Pfalz, took the Jews under +their protection, on the payment of large sums: in consequence of +which they were called "Jew-masters," and were in danger of being +attacked by the populace and by their powerful neighbours. These +persecuted and ill-used people, except indeed where humane +individuals took compassion on them at their own peril, or when +they could command riches to purchase protection, had no place of +refuge left but the distant country of Lithuania, where Boleslav +V., Duke of Poland (1227-1279) had before granted them liberty of +conscience; and King Casimir the Great (1333-1370), yielding to +the entreaties of Esther, a favourite Jewess, received them, and +granted them further protection; on which account, that country is +still inhabited by a great number of Jews, who by their secluded +habits have, more than any people in Europe, retained the manners +of the Middle Ages. + +But to return to the fearful accusations against the Jews; it was +reported in all Europe that they were in connection with secret +superiors in Toledo, to whose decrees they were subject, and from +whom they had received commands respecting the coining of base +money, poisoning, the murder of Christian children, &c; that they +received the poison by sea from remote parts, and also prepared it +themselves from spiders, owls, and other venomous animals; but, in +order that their secret might not be discovered, that it was known +only to their Rabbis and rich men. Apparently there were but few +who did not consider this extravagant accusation well founded; +indeed, in many writings of the fourteenth century, we find great +acrimony with regard to the suspected poison-mixers, which plainly +demonstrates the prejudice existing against them. Unhappily, +after the confessions of the first victims in Switzerland, the +rack extorted similar ones in various places. Some even +acknowledged having received poisonous powder in bags, and +injunctions from Toledo, by secret messengers. Bags of this +description were also often found in wells, though it was not +unfrequently discovered that the Christians themselves had thrown +them in; probably to give occasion to murder and pillage; similar +instances of which may be found in the persecutions of the +witches. + +This picture needs no additions. A lively image of the Black +Plague, and of the moral evil which followed in its train, will +vividly represent itself to him who is acquainted with nature and +the constitution of society. Almost the only credible accounts of +the manner of living, and of the ruin which occurred in private +life during this pestilence, are from Italy; and these may enable +us to form a just estimate of the general state of families in +Europe, taking into consideration what is peculiar in the manners +of each country. + +"When the evil had become universal" (speaking of Florence), "the +hearts of all the inhabitants were closed to feelings of humanity. +They fled from the sick and all that belonged to them, hoping by +these means to save themselves. Others shut themselves up in +their houses, with their wives, their children and households, +living on the most costly food, but carefully avoiding all excess. +None were allowed access to them; no intelligence of death or +sickness was permitted to reach their ears; and they spent their +time in singing and music, and other pastimes. Others, on the +contrary, considered eating and drinking to excess, amusements of +all descriptions, the indulgence of every gratification, and an +indifference to what was passing around them, as the best +medicine, and acted accordingly. They wandered day and night from +one tavern to another, and feasted without moderation or bounds. +In this way they endeavoured to avoid all contact with the sick, +and abandoned their houses and property to chance, like men whose +death-knell had already tolled. + +"Amid this general lamentation and woe, the influence and +authority of every law, human and divine, vanished. Most of those +who were in office had been carried off by the plague, or lay +sick, or had lost so many members of their family, that they were +unable to attend to their duties; so that thenceforth every one +acted as he thought proper. Others in their mode of living chose +a middle course. They ate and drank what they pleased, and walked +abroad, carrying odoriferous flowers, herbs, or spices, which they +smelt to from time to time, in order to invigorate the brain, and +to avert the baneful influence of the air, infected by the sick +and by the innumerable corpses of those who had died of the +plague. Others carried their precaution still further, and +thought the surest way to escape death was by flight. They +therefore left the city; women as well as men abandoning their +dwellings and their relations, and retiring into the country. But +of these also many were carried off, most of them alone and +deserted by all the world, themselves having previously set the +example. Thus it was that one citizen fled from another--a +neighbour from his neighbours--a relation from his relations; and +in the end, so completely had terror extinguished every kindlier +feeling, that the brother forsook the brother--the sister the +sister--the wife her husband; and at last, even the parent his own +offspring, and abandoned them, unvisited and unsoothed, to their +fate. Those, therefore, that stood in need of assistance fell a +prey to greedy attendants, who, for an exorbitant recompense, +merely handed the sick their food and medicine, remained with them +in their last moments, and then not unfrequently became themselves +victims to their avarice and lived not to enjoy their extorted +gain. Propriety and decorum were extinguished among the helpless +sick. Females of rank seemed to forget their natural bashfulness, +and committed the care of their persons, indiscriminately, to men +and women of the lowest order. No longer were women, relatives or +friends, found in the house of mourning, to share the grief of the +survivors--no longer was the corpse accompanied to the grave by +neighbours and a numerous train of priests, carrying wax tapers +and singing psalms, nor was it borne along by other citizens of +equal rank. Many breathed their last without a friend to soothe +their dying pillow; and few indeed were they who departed amid the +lamentations and tears of their friends and kindred. Instead of +sorrow and mourning, appeared indifference, frivolity and mirth; +this being considered, especially by the females, as conducive to +health. Seldom was the body followed by even ten or twelve +attendants; and instead of the usual bearers and sextons, +mercenaries of the lowest of the populace undertook the office for +the sake of gain; and accompanied by only a few priests, and often +without a single taper, it was borne to the very nearest church, +and lowered into the grave that was not already too full to +receive it. Among the middling classes, and especially among the +poor, the misery was still greater. Poverty or negligence induced +most of these to remain in their dwellings, or in the immediate +neighbourhood; and thus they fell by thousands; and many ended +their lives in the streets by day and by night. The stench of +putrefying corpses was often the first indication to their +neighbours that more deaths had occurred. The survivors, to +preserve themselves from infection, generally had the bodies taken +out of the houses and laid before the doors; where the early +morning found them in heaps, exposed to the affrighted gaze of the +passing stranger. It was no longer possible to have a bier for +every corpse--three or four were generally laid together--husband +and wife, father and mother, with two or three children, were +frequently borne to the grave on the same bier; and it often +happened that two priests would accompany a coffin, bearing the +cross before it, and be joined on the way by several other +funerals; so that instead of one, there were five or six bodies +for interment." + +Thus far Boccacio. On the conduct of the priests, another +contemporary observes: "In large and small towns they had +withdrawn themselves through fear, leaving the performance of +ecclesiastical duties to the few who were found courageous and +faithful enough to undertake them." But we ought not on that +account to throw more blame on them than on others; for we find +proofs of the same timidity and heartlessness in every class. +During the prevalence of the Black Plague, the charitable orders +conducted themselves admirably, and did as much good as can be +done by individual bodies in times of great misery and +destruction, when compassion, courage, and the nobler feelings are +found but in the few, while cowardice, selfishness and ill-will, +with the baser passions in their train, assert the supremacy. In +place of virtue which had been driven from the earth, wickedness +everywhere reared her rebellious standard, and succeeding +generations were consigned to the dominion of her baleful tyranny. + + + +CHAPTER VI--PHYSICIANS + + + +If we now turn to the medical talent which encountered the "Great +Mortality," the Middle Ages must stand excused, since even the +moderns are of opinion that the art of medicine is not able to +cope with the Oriental plague, and can afford deliverance from it +only under particularly favourable circumstances. We must bear in +mind, also, that human science and art appear particularly weak in +great pestilences, because they have to contend with the powers of +nature, of which they have no knowledge; and which, if they had +been, or could be, comprehended in their collective effects, would +remain uncontrollable by them, principally on account of the +disordered condition of human society. Moreover, every new plague +has its peculiarities, which are the less easily discovered on +first view because, during its ravages, fear and consternation +humble the proud spirit. + +The physicians of the fourteenth century, during the Black Death, +did what human intellect could do in the actual condition of the +healing art; and their knowledge of the disease was by no means +despicable. They, like the rest of mankind, have indulged in +prejudices, and defended them, perhaps, with too much obstinacy: +some of these, however, were founded on the mode of thinking of +the age, and passed current in those days as established truths; +others continue to exist to the present hour. + +Their successors in the nineteenth century ought not therefore to +vaunt too highly the pre-eminence of their knowledge, for they too +will be subjected to the severe judgment of posterity--they too +will, with reason, be accused of human weakness and want of +foresight. + +The medical faculty of Paris, the most celebrated of the +fourteenth century, were commissioned to deliver their opinion on +the causes of the Black Plague, and to furnish some appropriate +regulations with regard to living during its prevalence. This +document is sufficiently remarkable to find a place here. + +"We, the Members of the College of Physicians of Paris, have, +after mature consideration and consultation on the present +mortality, collected the advice of our old masters in the art, and +intend to make known the causes of this pestilence more clearly +than could be done according to the rules and principles of +astrology and natural science; we, therefore, declare as follows:- + +"It is known that in India and the vicinity of the Great Sea, the +constellations which combated the rays of the sun, and the warmth +of the heavenly fire, exerted their power especially against that +sea, and struggled violently with its waters. (Hence vapours +often originate which envelop the sun, and convert his light into +darkness.) These vapours alternately rose and fell for twenty- +eight days; but, at last, sun and fire acted so powerfully upon +the sea that they attracted a great portion of it to themselves, +and the waters of the ocean arose in the form of vapour; thereby +the waters were in some parts so corrupted that the fish which +they contained died. These corrupted waters, however, the heat of +the sun could not consume, neither could other wholesome water, +hail or snow and dew, originate therefrom. On the contrary, this +vapour spread itself through the air in many places on the earth, +and enveloped them in fog. + +"Such was the case all over Arabia, in a part of India, in Crete, +in the plains and valleys of Macedonia, in Hungary, Albania, and +Sicily. Should the same thing occur in Sardinia, not a man will +be left alive, and the like will continue so long as the sun +remains in the sign of Leo, on all the islands and adjoining +countries to which this corrupted sea-wind extends, or has already +extended, from India. If the inhabitants of those parts do not +employ and adhere to the following or similar means and precepts, +we announce to them inevitable death, except the grace of Christ +preserve their lives. + +"We are of opinion that the constellations, with the aid of +nature, strive by virtue of their Divine might, to protect and +heal the human race; and to this end, in union with the rays of +the sun, acting through the power of fire, endeavour to break +through the mist. Accordingly, within the next ten days, and +until the 17th of the ensuing month of July, this mist will be +converted into a stinking deleterious rain, whereby the air will +be much purified. Now, as soon as this rain shall announce itself +by thunder or hail, every one of you should protect himself from +the air; and, as well before as after the rain, kindle a large +fire of vine-wood, green laurel, or other green wood; wormwood and +camomile should also be burnt in great quantity in the market- +places, in other densely inhabited localities, and in the houses. +Until the earth is again completely dry, and for three days +afterwards, no one ought to go abroad in the fields. During this +time the diet should be simple, and people should be cautious in +avoiding exposure in the cool of the evening, at night, and in the +morning. Poultry and water-fowl, young pork, old beef, and fat +meat in general, should not be eaten; but, on the contrary, meat +of a proper age, of a warm and dry, but on no account of a heating +and exciting nature. Broth should be taken, seasoned with ground +pepper, ginger, and cloves, especially by those who are accustomed +to live temperately, and are yet choice in their diet. Sleep in +the day-time is detrimental; it should be taken at night until +sunrise, or somewhat longer. At breakfast one should drink +little; supper should be taken an hour before sunset, when more +may be drunk than in the morning. Clear light wine, mixed with a +fifth or six part of water, should be used as a beverage. Dried +or fresh fruits, with wine, are not injurious, but highly so +without it. Beet-root and other vegetables, whether eaten pickled +or fresh, are hurtful; on the contrary, spicy pot-herbs, as sage +or rosemary, are wholesome. Cold, moist, watery food in is +general prejudicial. Going out at night, and even until three +o'clock in the morning, is dangerous, on account of dew. Only +small river fish should be used. Too much exercise is hurtful. +The body should be kept warmer than usual, and thus protected from +moisture and cold. Rain-water must not be employed in cooking, +and every one should guard against exposure to wet weather. If it +rain, a little fine treacle should be taken after dinner. Fat +people should not sit in the sunshine. Good clear wine should be +selected and drunk often, but in small quantities, by day. Olive +oil as an article of food is fatal. Equally injurious are fasting +and excessive abstemiousness, anxiety of mind, anger, and +immoderate drinking. Young people, in autumn especially, must +abstain from all these things if they do not wish to run a risk of +dying of dysentery. In order to keep the body properly open, an +enema, or some other simple means, should be employed when +necessary. Bathing is injurious. Men must preserve chastity as +they value their lives. Every one should impress this on his +recollection, but especially those who reside on the coast, or +upon an island into which the noxious wind has penetrated." + +On what occasion these strange precepts were delivered can no +longer be ascertained, even if it were an object to know it. It +must be acknowledged, however, that they do not redound to the +credit either of the faculty of Paris, or of the fourteenth +century in general. This famous faculty found themselves under +the painful necessity of being wise at command, and of firing a +point-blank shot of erudition at an enemy who enveloped himself in +a dark mist, of the nature of which they had no conception. In +concealing their ignorance by authoritative assertions, they +suffered themselves, therefore, to be misled; and while +endeavouring to appear to the world with eclat, only betrayed to +the intelligent their lamentable weakness. Now some might suppose +that, in the condition of the sciences of the fourteenth century, +no intelligent physicians existed; but this is altogether at +variance with the laws of human advancement, and is contradicted +by history. The real knowledge of an age is shown only in the +archives of its literature. Here alone the genius of truth speaks +audibly--here alone men of talent deposit the results of their +experience and reflection without vanity or a selfish object. +There is no ground for believing that in the fourteenth century +men of this kind were publicly questioned regarding their views; +and it is, therefore, the more necessary that impartial history +should take up their cause, and do justice to their merits. + +The first notice on this subject is due to a very celebrated +teacher in Perugia, Gentilis of Foligno, who, on the 18th of June, +1348, fell a sacrifice to the plague, in the faithful discharge of +his duty. Attached to Arabian doctrines, and to the universally +respected Galen, he, in common with all his contemporaries, +believed in a putrid corruption of the blood in the lungs and in +the heart, which was occasioned by the pestilential atmosphere, +and was forthwith communicated to the whole body. He thought, +therefore, that everything depended upon a sufficient purification +of the air, by means of large blazing fires of odoriferous wood, +in the vicinity of the healthy as well as of the sick, and also +upon an appropriate manner of living, so that the putridity might +not overpower the diseased. In conformity with notions derived +from the ancients, he depended upon bleeding and purging, at the +commencement of the attack, for the purpose of purification; +ordered the healthy to wash themselves frequently with vinegar or +wine, to sprinkle their dwellings with vinegar, and to smell often +to camphor, or other volatile substances. Hereupon he gave, after +the Arabian fashion, detailed rules, with an abundance of +different medicines, of whose healing powers wonderful things were +believed. He had little stress upon super-lunar influences, so +far as respected the malady itself; on which account, he did not +enter into the great controversies of the astrologers, but always +kept in view, as an object of medical attention, the corruption of +the blood in the lungs and heart. He believed in a progressive +infection from country to country, according to the notions of the +present day; and the contagious power of the disease, even in the +vicinity of those affected by plague, was, in his opinion, beyond +all doubt. On this point intelligent contemporaries were all +agreed; and, in truth, it required no great genius to be convinced +of so palpable a fact. Besides, correct notions of contagion have +descended from remote antiquity, and were maintained unchanged in +the fourteenth century. So far back as the age of Plato a +knowledge of the contagious power of malignant inflammations of +the eye, of which also no physician of the Middle Ages entertained +a doubt, was general among the people; yet in modern times +surgeons have filled volumes with partial controversies on this +subject. The whole language of antiquity has adapted itself to +the notions of the people respecting the contagion of pestilential +diseases; and their terms were, beyond comparison, more expressive +than those in use among the moderns. + +Arrangements for the protection of the healthy against contagious +diseases, the necessity of which is shown from these notions, were +regarded by the ancients as useful; and by man, whose +circumstances permitted it, were carried into effect in their +houses. Even a total separation of the sick from the healthy, +that indispensable means of protection against infection by +contact, was proposed by physicians of the second century after +Christ, in order to check the spreading of leprosy. But it was +decidedly opposed, because, as it was alleged, the healing art +ought not to be guilty of such harshness. This mildness of the +ancients, in whose manner of thinking inhumanity was so often and +so undisguisedly conspicuous, might excite surprise if it were +anything more than apparent. The true ground of the neglect of +public protection against pestilential diseases lay in the general +notion and constitution of human society--it lay in the disregard +of human life, of which the great nations of antiquity have given +proofs in every page of their history. Let it not be supposed +that they wanted knowledge respecting the propagation of +contagious diseases. On the contrary, they were as well informed +on this subject as the modern; but this was shown where individual +property, not where human life, on the grand scale was to be +protected. Hence the ancients made a general practice of +arresting the progress of murrains among cattle by a separation of +the diseased from the healthy. Their herds alone enjoyed that +protection which they held it impracticable to extend to human +society, because they had no wish to do so. That the governments +in the fourteenth century were not yet so far advanced as to put +into practice general regulations for checking the plague needs no +especial proof. Physicians could, therefore, only advise public +purifications of the air by means of large fires, as had often +been practised in ancient times; and they were obliged to leave it +to individual families either to seek safety in flight, or to shut +themselves up in their dwellings, a method which answers in common +plagues, but which here afforded no complete security, because +such was the fury of the disease when it was at its height, that +the atmosphere of whole cities was penetrated by the infection. + +Of the astral influence which was considered to have originated +the "Great Mortality," physicians and learned men were as +completely convinced as of the fact of its reality. A grand +conjunction of the three superior planets, Saturn, Jupiter, and +Mars, in the sign of Aquarius, which took place, according to Guy +de Chauliac, on the 24th of March, 1345, was generally received as +its principal cause. In fixing the day, this physician, who was +deeply versed in astrology, did not agree with others; whereupon +there arose various disputations, of weight in that age, but of +none in ours. People, however, agree in this--that conjunctions +of the planets infallibly prognosticated great events; great +revolutions of kingdoms, new prophets, destructive plagues, and +other occurrences which bring distress and horror on mankind. No +medical author of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries omits an +opportunity of representing them as among the general prognostics +of great plagues; nor can we, for our part, regard the astrology +of the Middle Ages as a mere offspring of superstition. It has +not only, in common with all ideas which inspire and guide +mankind, a high historical importance, entirely independent of its +error or truth--for the influence of both is equally powerful--but +there are also contained in it, as in alchemy, grand thoughts of +antiquity, of which modern natural philosophy is so little ashamed +that she claims them as her property. Foremost among these is the +idea of general life which diffuses itself throughout the whole +universe, expressed by the greatest Greek sages, and transmitted +to the Middle Ages, through the new Platonic natural philosophy. +To this impression of an universal organism, the assumption of a +reciprocal influence of terrestrial bodies could not be foreign, +nor did this cease to correspond with a higher view of nature, +until astrologers overstepped the limits of human knowledge with +frivolous and mystical calculations. + +Guy de Chauliac considers the influence of the conjunction, which +was held to be all-potent, as the chief general cause of the Black +Plague; and the diseased state of bodies, the corruption of the +fluids, debility, obstruction, and so forth, as the especial +subordinate causes. By these, according to his opinion, the +quality of the air, and of the other elements, was so altered that +they set poisonous fluids in motion towards the inward parts of +the body, in the same manner as the magnet attracts iron; whence +there arose in the commencement fever and the spitting of blood; +afterwards, however, a deposition in the form on glandular +swellings and inflammatory boils. Herein the notion of an +epidemic constitution was set forth clearly, and conformably to +the spirit of the age. Of contagion, Guy de Chauliac was +completely convinced. He sought to protect himself against it by +the usual means; and it was probably he who advised Pope Clement +VI. to shut himself up while the plague lasted. The preservation +of this Pope's life, however, was most beneficial to the city of +Avignon, for he loaded the poor with judicious acts of kindness, +took care to have proper attendants provided, and paid physicians +himself to afford assistance wherever human aid could avail--an +advantage which, perhaps, no other city enjoyed. Nor was the +treatment of plague-patients in Avignon by any means +objectionable; for, after the usual depletions by bleeding and +aperients, where circumstances required them, they endeavoured to +bring the buboes to suppuration; they made incisions into the +inflammatory boils, or burned them with a red-hot iron, a practice +which at all times proves salutary, and in the Black Plague saved +many lives. In this city, the Jews, who lived in a state of the +greatest filth, were most severely visited, as also the Spaniards, +whom Chalin accuses of great intemperance. + +Still more distinct notions on the causes of the plague were +stated to his contemporaries in the fourteenth century by Galeazzo +di Santa Sofia, a learned man, a native of Padua, who likewise +treated plague-patients at Vienna, though in what year is +undetermined. He distinguishes carefully PESTILENCE from EPIDEMY +and ENDEMY. The common notion of the two first accords exactly +with that of an epidemic constitution, for both consist, according +to him, in an unknown change or corruption of the air; with this +difference, that pestilence calls forth diseases of different +kinds; epidemy, on the contrary, always the same disease. As an +example of an epidemy, he adduces a cough (influenza) which was +observed in all climates at the same time without perceptible +cause; but he recognised the approach of a pestilence, +independently of unusual natural phenomena, by the more frequent +occurrence of various kinds of fever, to which the modern +physicians would assign a nervous and putrid character. The +endemy originates, according to him, only in local telluric +changes--in deleterious influences which develop themselves in the +earth and in the water, without a corruption of the air. These +notions were variously jumbled together in his time, like +everything which human understanding separates by too fine a line +of limitation. The estimation of cosmical influences, however, in +the epidemy and pestilence, is well worthy of commendation; and +Santa Sofia, in this respect, not only agrees with the most +intelligent persons of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but +he has also promulgated an opinion which must, even now, serve as +a foundation for our scarcely commenced investigations into +cosmical influences. Pestilence and epidemy consist not in +alterations of the four primary qualities, but in a corruption of +the air, powerful, though quite immaterial, and not cognoscible by +the senses--(corruptio aeris non substantialis, sed qualitativa) +in a disproportion of the imponderables in the atmosphere, as it +would be expressed by the moderns. The causes of the pestilence +and epidemy are, first of all, astral influences, especially on +occasions of planetary conjunctions; then extensive putrefaction +of animal and vegetable bodies, and terrestrial corruptions +(corruptio in terra): to which also bad diet and want may +contribute. Santa Sofia considers the putrefaction of locusts, +that had perished in the sea and were again thrown up, combined +with astral and terrestrial influences, as the cause of the +pestilence in the eventful year of the "Great Mortality." + +All the fevers which were called forth by the pestilence are, +according to him, of the putrid kind; for they originate +principally from putridity of the heart's blood, which inevitably +follows the inhalation of infected air. The Oriental Plague is, +sometimes, but by no means always occasioned by pestilence (?), +which imparts to it a character (qualitas occulta) hostile to +human nature. It originates frequently from other causes, among +which this physician was aware that contagion was to be reckoned; +and it deserves to be remarked that he held epidemic small-pox and +measles to be infallible forerunners of the plague, as do the +physicians and people of the East at the present day. + +In the exposition of his therapeutical views of the plague, a +clearness of intellect is again shown by Santa Sofia, which +reflects credit on the age. It seemed to him to depend, 1st, on +an evacuation of putrid matters by purgatives and bleeding; yet he +did not sanction the employment of these means indiscriminately +and without consideration; least of all where the condition of the +blood was healthy. He also declared himself decidedly against +bleeding ad deliquium (venae sectio eradicativa). 2nd, +Strengthening of the heart and prevention of putrescence. 3rd, +Appropriate regimen. 4th, Improvement of the air. 5th, +Appropriate treatment of tumid glands and inflammatory boils, with +emollient, or even stimulating poultices (mustard, lily-bulbs), as +well as with red-hot gold and iron. Lastly, 6th, Attention to +prominent symptoms. The stores of the Arabian pharmacy, which he +brought into action to meet all these indications, were indeed +very considerable; it is to be observed, however, that, for the +most part, gentle means were accumulated, which, in case of abuse, +would do no harm: for the character of the Arabian system of +medicine, whose principles were everywhere followed at this time, +was mildness and caution. On this account, too, we cannot believe +that a very prolix treatise by Marsigli di Santa Sofia, a +contemporary relative of Galeazzo, on the prevention and treatment +of plague, can have caused much harm, although perhaps, even in +the fourteenth century, an agreeable latitude and confident +assertions respecting things which no mortal has investigated, or +which it is quite a matter of indifference to distinguish, were +considered as proofs of a valuable practical talent. + +The agreement of contemporary and later writers shows that the +published views of the most celebrated physicians of the +fourteenth century were those generally adopted. Among these, +Chalin de Vinario is the most experienced. Though devoted to +astrology still more than his distinguished contemporary, he +acknowledges the great power of terrestrial influences, and +expresses himself very sensibly on the indisputable doctrine of +contagion, endeavouring thereby to apologise for many surgeons and +physicians of his time who neglected their duty. He asserted +boldly and with truth, "that all epidemic diseases might become +contagious, and all fevers epidemic," which attentive observers of +all subsequent ages have confirmed. + +He delivered his sentiments on blood-letting with sagacity, as an +experienced physician; yet he was unable, as may be imagined, to +moderate the desire for bleeding shown by the ignorant monks. He +was averse to draw blood from the veins of patients under fourteen +years of age; but counteracted inflammatory excitement in them by +cupping, and endeavoured to moderate the inflammation of the tumid +glands by leeches. Most of those who were bled, died; he +therefore reserved this remedy for the plethoric; especially for +the papal courtiers and the hypocritical priests, whom he saw +gratifying their sensual desires, and imitating Epicurus, whilst +they pompously pretended to follow Christ. He recommended burning +the boils with a red-hot iron only in the plague without fever, +which occurred in single cases; and was always ready to correct +those over-hasty surgeons who, with fire and violent remedies, did +irremediable injury to their patients. Michael Savonarola, +professor in Ferrara (1462), reasoning on the susceptibility of +the human frame to the influence of pestilential infection, as the +cause of such various modifications of disease, expresses himself +as a modern physician would on this point; and an adoption of the +principle of contagion was the foundation of his definition of the +plague. No less worthy of observation are the views of the +celebrated Valescus of Taranta, who, during the final visitation +of the Black Death, in 1382, practised as a physician at +Montpellier, and handed down to posterity what has been repeated +in innumerable treatises on plague, which were written during the +fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. + +Of all these notions and views regarding the plague, whose +development we have represented, there are two especially, which +are prominent in historical importance:- 1st, The opinion of +learned physicians, that the pestilence, or epidemic constitution, +is the parent of various kinds of disease; that the plague +sometimes, indeed, but by no means always, originates from it: +that, to speak in the language of the moderns, the pestilence +bears the same relation to contagion that a predisposing cause +does to an occasional cause; and 2ndly, the universal conviction +of the contagious power of that disease. + +Contagion gradually attracted more notice: it was thought that in +it the most powerful occasional cause might be avoided; the +possibility of protecting whole cities by separation became +gradually more evident; and so horrifying was the recollection of +the eventful year of the "Great Mortality," that before the close +of the fourteenth century, ere the ill effects of the Black Plague +had ceased, nations endeavoured to guard against the return of +this enemy by an earnest and effectual defence. + +The first regulation which was issued for this purpose, originated +with Viscount Bernabo, and is dated the 17th January, 1374. +"Every plague-patient was to be taken out of the city into the +fields, there to die or to recover. Those who attended upon a +plague-patient, were to remain apart for ten days before they +again associated with anybody. The priests were to examine the +diseased, and point out to special commissioners the persons +infected, under punishment of the confiscation of their goods and +of being burned alive. Whoever imported the plague, the state +condemned his goods to confiscation. Finally, none except those +who were appointed for that purpose were to attend plague- +patients, under penalty of death and confiscation. + +These orders, in correspondence with the spirit of the fourteenth +century, are sufficiently decided to indicate a recollection of +the good effects of confinement, and of keeping at a distance +those suspected of having plague. It was said that Milan itself, +by a rigorous barricade of three houses in which the plague had +broken out, maintained itself free from the "Great Mortality" for +a considerable time; and examples of the preservation of +individual families, by means of a strict separation, were +certainly very frequent. That these orders must have caused +universal affliction from their uncommon severity, as we know to +have been especially the case in the city of Reggio, may be easily +conceived; but Bernabo did not suffer himself to be deterred from +his purpose by fear--on the contrary, when the plague returned in +the year 1383, he forbade the admission of people from infected +places into his territories on pain of death. We have now, it is +true, no account how far he succeeded; yet it is to be supposed +that he arrested the disease, for it had long lost the property of +the Black Death, to spread abroad in the air the contagious matter +which proceeded from the lungs, charged with putridity, and to +taint the atmosphere of whole cities by the vast numbers of the +sick. Now that it had resumed its milder form, so that it +infected only by contact, it admitted being confined within +individual dwellings, as easily as in modern times. + +Bernabo's example was imitated; nor was there any century more +appropriate for recommending to governments strong regulations +against the plague that the fourteenth; for when it broke out in +Italy, in the year 1399, and still demanded new victims, it was +for the sixteenth time, without reckoning frequent visitations of +measles and small-pox. In this same year, Viscount John, in +milder terms than his predecessor, ordered that no stranger should +be admitted from infected places, and that the city gates should +be strictly guarded. Infected houses were to be ventilated for at +least eight or ten days, and purified from noxious vapours by +fires, and by fumigations with balsamic and aromatic substances. +Straw, rags, and the like were to be burned; and the bedsteads +which had been used, set out for four days in the rain or the +sunshine, so that by means of the one or the other, the morbific +vapour might be destroyed. No one was to venture to make use of +clothes or beds out of infected dwellings unless they had been +previously washed and dried either at the fire or in the sun. +People were, likewise, to avoid, as long as possible, occupying +houses which had been frequented by plague-patients. + +We cannot precisely perceive in these an advance towards general +regulations; and perhaps people were convinced of the +insurmountable impediments which opposed the separation of open +inland countries, where bodies of people connected together could +not be brought, even by the most obdurate severity, to renounce +the habit of profitable intercourse. + +Doubtless it is nature which has done the most to banish the +Oriental plague from western Europe, where the increasing +cultivation of the earth, and the advancing order in civilised +society, have prevented it from remaining domesticated, which it +most probably was in the more ancient times. + +In the fifteenth century, during which it broke out seventeen +times in different places in Europe, it was of the more +consequence to oppose a barrier to its entrance from Asia, Africa, +and Greece (which had become Turkish); for it would have been +difficult for it to maintain itself indigenously any longer. +Among the southern commercial states, however, which were called +on to make the greatest exertions to this end, it was principally +Venice, formerly so severely attacked by the Black Plague, that +put the necessary restraint upon perilous profits of the merchant. +Until towards the end of the fifteenth century, the very +considerable intercourse with the East was free and unimpeded. +Ships of commercial cities had often brought over the plague: +nay, the former irruption of the "Great Mortality" itself had been +occasioned by navigators. For, as in the latter end of autumn, +1347, four ships full of plague-patients returned from the Levant +to Genoa, the disease spread itself there with astonishing +rapidity. On this account, in the following year, the Genoese +forbade the entrance of suspected ships into their port. These +sailed to Pisa and other cities on the coast, where already nature +had made such mighty preparations for the reception of the Black +Plague, and what we have already described took place in +consequence. + +In the year 1485, when, among the cities of northern Italy, Milan +especially felt the scourge of the plague, a special Council of +Health, consisting of three nobles, was established at Venice, who +probably tried everything in their power to prevent the entrance +of this disease, and gradually called into activity all those +regulations which have served in later times as a pattern for the +other southern states of Europe. Their endeavours were, however, +not crowned with complete success; on which account their powers +were increased, in the year 1504, by granting them the right of +life and death over those who violated the regulations. Bills of +health were probably first introduced in the year 1527, during a +fatal plague which visited Italy for five years (1525-30), and +called forth redoubled caution. + +The first lazarettos were established upon islands at some +distance from the city, seemingly as early as the year 1485. Here +all strangers coming from places where the existence of plague was +suspected were detained. If it appeared in the city itself, the +sick were despatched with their families to what was called the +Old Lazaretto, were there furnished with provisions and medicines, +and when they were cured, were detained, together with all those +who had had intercourse with them, still forty days longer in the +New Lazaretto, situated on another island. All these regulations +were every year improved, and their needful rigour was increased, +so that from the year 1585 onwards, no appeal was allowed from the +sentence of the Council of Health; and the other commercial +nations gradually came to the support of the Venetians, by +adopting corresponding regulations. Bills of health, however, +were not general until the year 1665. + +The appointment of a forty days' detention, whence quarantines +derive their name, was not dictated by caprice, but probably had a +medical origin, which is derivable in part from the doctrine of +critical days; for the fortieth day, according to the most ancient +notions, has been always regarded as the last of ardent diseases, +and the limit of separation between these and those which are +chronic. It was the custom to subject lying-in women for forty +days to a more exact superintendence. There was a good deal also +said in medical works of forty-day epochs in the formation of the +foetus, not to mention that the alchemists expected more durable +revolutions in forty days, which period they called the +philosophical month. + +This period being generally held to prevail in natural processes, +it appeared reasonable to assume, and legally to establish it, as +that required for the development of latent principles of +contagion, since public regulations cannot dispense with decisions +of this kind, even though they should not be wholly justified by +the nature of the case. Great stress has likewise been laid on +theological and legal grounds, which were certainly of greater +weight in the fifteenth century than in the modern times. + +On this matter, however, we cannot decide, since our only object +here is to point out the origin of a political means of protection +against a disease which has been the greatest impediment to +civilisation within the memory of man; a means that, like Jenner's +vaccine, after the small-pox had ravaged Europe for twelve hundred +years, has diminished the check which mortality puts on the +progress of civilisation, and thus given to the life and manners +of the nations of this part of the world a new direction, the +result of which we cannot foretell. + + + + +THE DANCING MANIA + + + + +CHAPTER I--THE DANCING MANIA IN GERMANY AND THE NETHERLANDS + + + +SECT. 1--ST. JOHN'S DANCE + + +The effects of the Black Death had not yet subsided, and the +graves of millions of its victims were scarcely closed, when a +strange delusion arose in Germany, which took possession of the +minds of men, and, in spite of the divinity of our nature, hurried +away body and soul into the magic circle of hellish superstition. +It was a convulsion which in the most extraordinary manner +infuriated the human frame, and excited the astonishment of +contemporaries for more than two centuries, since which time it +has never reappeared. It was called the dance of St. John or of +St. Vitus, on account of the Bacchantic leaps by which it was +characterised, and which gave to those affected, whilst performing +their wild dance, and screaming and foaming with fury, all the +appearance of persons possessed. It did not remain confined to +particular localities, but was propagated by the sight of the +sufferers, like a demoniacal epidemic, over the whole of Germany +and the neighbouring countries to the north-west, which were +already prepared for its reception by the prevailing opinions of +the time. + +So early as the year 1374, assemblages of men and women were seen +at Aix-la-Chapelle, who had come out of Germany, and who, united +by one common delusion, exhibited to the public both in the +streets and in the churches the following strange spectacle. They +formed circles hand in hand, and appearing to have lost all +control over their senses, continued dancing, regardless of the +bystanders, for hours together, in wild delirium, until at length +they fell to the ground in a state of exhaustion. They then +complained of extreme oppression, and groaned as if in the agonies +of death, until they were swathed in cloths bound tightly round +their waists, upon which they again recovered, and remained free +from complaint until the next attack. This practice of swathing +was resorted to on account of the tympany which followed these +spasmodic ravings, but the bystanders frequently relieved patients +in a less artificial manner, by thumping and trampling upon the +parts affected. While dancing they neither saw nor heard, being +insensible to external impressions through the senses, but were +haunted by visions, their fancies conjuring up spirits whose names +they shrieked out; and some of them afterwards asserted that they +felt as if they had been immersed in a stream of blood, which +obliged them to leap so high. Others, during the paroxysm, saw +the heavens open and the Saviour enthroned with the Virgin Mary, +according as the religious notions of the age were strangely and +variously reflected in their imaginations. + +Where the disease was completely developed, the attack commenced +with epileptic convulsions. Those affected fell to the ground +senseless, panting and labouring for breath. They foamed at the +mouth, and suddenly springing up began their dance amidst strange +contortions. Yet the malady doubtless made its appearance very +variously, and was modified by temporary or local circumstances, +whereof non-medical contemporaries but imperfectly noted the +essential particulars, accustomed as they were to confound their +observation of natural events with their notions of the world of +spirits. + +It was but a few months ere this demoniacal disease had spread +from Aix-la-Chapelle, where it appeared in July, over the +neighbouring Netherlands. In Liege, Utrecht, Tongres, and many +other towns of Belgium, the dancers appeared with garlands in +their hair, and their waists girt with cloths, that they might, as +soon as the paroxysm was over, receive immediate relief on the +attack of the tympany. This bandage was, by the insertion of a +stick, easily twisted tight: many, however, obtained more relief +from kicks and blows, which they found numbers of persons ready to +administer: for, wherever the dancers appeared, the people +assembled in crowds to gratify their curiosity with the frightful +spectacle. At length the increasing number of the affected +excited no less anxiety than the attention that was paid to them. +In towns and villages they took possession of the religious +houses, processions were everywhere instituted on their account, +and masses were said and hymns were sung, while the disease +itself, of the demoniacal origin of which no one entertained the +least doubt, excited everywhere astonishment and horror. In Liege +the priests had recourse to exorcisms, and endeavoured by every +means in their power to allay an evil which threatened so much +danger to themselves; for the possessed assembling in multitudes, +frequently poured forth imprecations against them, and menaced +their destruction. They intimidated the people also to such a +degree that there was an express ordinance issued that no one +should make any but square-toed shoes, because these fanatics had +manifested a morbid dislike to the pointed shoes which had come +into fashion immediately after the "Great Mortality" in 1350. +They were still more irritated at the sight of red colours, the +influence of which on the disordered nerves might lead us to +imagine an extraordinary accordance between this spasmodic malady +and the condition of infuriated animals; but in the St. John's +dancers this excitement was probably connected with apparitions +consequent upon their convulsions. There were likewise some of +them who were unable to endure the sight of persons weeping. The +clergy seemed to become daily more and more confirmed in their +belief that those who were affected were a kind of sectarians, and +on this account they hastened their exorcisms as much as possible, +in order that the evil might not spread amongst the higher +classes, for hitherto scarcely any but the poor had been attacked, +and the few people of respectability among the laity and clergy +who were to be found among them, were persons whose natural +frivolity was unable to withstand the excitement of novelty, even +though it proceeded from a demoniacal influence. Some of the +affected had indeed themselves declared, when under the influence +of priestly forms of exorcism, that if the demons had been allowed +only a few weeks' more time, they would have entered the bodies of +the nobility and princes, and through these have destroyed the +clergy. Assertions of this sort, which those possessed uttered +whilst in a state which may be compared with that of magnetic +sleep, obtained general belief, and passed from mouth to mouth +with wonderful additions. The priesthood were, on this account, +so much the more zealous in their endeavours to anticipate every +dangerous excitement of the people, as if the existing order of +things could have been seriously threatened by such incoherent +ravings. Their exertions were effectual, for exorcism was a +powerful remedy in the fourteenth century; or it might perhaps be +that this wild infatuation terminated in consequence of the +exhaustion which naturally ensued from it; at all events, in the +course of ten or eleven months the St. John's dancers were no +longer to be found in any of the cities of Belgium. The evil, +however, was too deeply rooted to give way altogether to such +feeble attacks. + +A few months after this dancing malady had made its appearance at +Aix-la-Chapelle, it broke out at Cologne, where the number of +those possessed amounted to more than five hundred, and about the +same time at Metz, the streets of which place are said to have +been filled with eleven hundred dancers. Peasants left their +ploughs, mechanics their workshops, housewives their domestic +duties, to join the wild revels, and this rich commercial city +became the scene of the most ruinous disorder. Secret desires +were excited, and but too often found opportunities for wild +enjoyment; and numerous beggars, stimulated by vice and misery, +availed themselves of this new complaint to gain a temporary +livelihood. Girls and boys quitted their parents, and servants +their masters, to amuse themselves at the dances of those +possessed, and greedily imbibed the poison of mental infection. +Above a hundred unmarried women were seen raving about in +consecrated and unconsecrated places, and the consequences were +soon perceived. Gangs of idle vagabonds, who understood how to +imitate to the life the gestures and convulsions of those really +affected, roved from place to place seeking maintenance and +adventures, and thus, wherever they went, spreading this +disgusting spasmodic disease like a plague; for in maladies of +this kind the susceptible are infected as easily by the appearance +as by the reality. At last it was found necessary to drive away +these mischievous guests, who were equally inaccessible to the +exorcisms of the priests and the remedies of the physicians. It +was not, however, until after four months that the Rhenish cities +were able to suppress these impostures, which had so alarmingly +increased the original evil. In the meantime, when once called +into existence, the plague crept on, and found abundant food in +the tone of thought which prevailed in the fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries, and even, though in a minor degree, +throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth, causing a permanent +disorder of the mind, and exhibiting in those cities to whose +inhabitants it was a novelty, scenes as strange as they were +detestable. + + +SECT. 2--ST. VITUS'S DANCE + + +Strasburg was visited by the "Dancing Plague" in the year 1418, +and the same infatuation existed among the people there, as in the +towns of Belgium and the Lower Rhine. Many who were seized at the +sight of those affected, excited attention at first by their +confused and absurd behaviour, and then by their constantly +following swarms of dancers. These were seen day and night +passing through the streets, accompanied by musicians playing on +bagpipes, and by innumerable spectators attracted by curiosity, to +which were added anxious parents and relations, who came to look +after those among the misguided multitude who belonged to their +respective families. Imposture and profligacy played their part +in this city also, but the morbid delusion itself seems to have +predominated. On this account religion could only bring +provisional aid, and therefore the town council benevolently took +an interest in the afflicted. They divided them into separate +parties, to each of which they appointed responsible +superintendents to protect them from harm, and perhaps also to +restrain their turbulence. They were thus conducted on foot and +in carriages to the chapels of St. Vitus, near Zabern and +Rotestein, where priests were in attendance to work upon their +misguided minds by masses and other religious ceremonies. After +divine worship was completed, they were led in solemn procession +to the altar, where they made some small offering of alms, and +where it is probable that many were, through the influence of +devotion and the sanctity of the place, cured of this lamentable +aberration. It is worthy of observation, at all events, that the +Dancing Mania did not recommence at the altars of the saint, and +that from him alone assistance was implored, and through his +miraculous interposition a cure was expected, which was beyond the +reach of human skill. The personal history of St. Vitus is by no +means important in this matter. He was a Sicilian youth, who, +together with Modestus and Crescentia, suffered martyrdom at the +time of the persecution of the Christians, under Diocletian, in +the year 303. The legends respecting him are obscure, and he +would certainly have been passed over without notice among the +innumerable apocryphal martyrs of the first centuries, had not the +transfer of his body to St. Denys, and thence, in the year 836, to +Corvey, raised him to a higher rank. From this time forth it may +be supposed that many miracles were manifested at his new +sepulchre, which were of essential service in confirming the Roman +faith among the Germans, and St. Vitus was soon ranked among the +fourteen saintly helpers (Nothhelfer or Apotheker). His altars +were multiplied, and the people had recourse to them in all kinds +of distresses, and revered him as a powerful intercessor. As the +worship of these saints was, however, at that time stripped of all +historical connections, which were purposely obliterated by the +priesthood, a legend was invented at the beginning of the +fifteenth century, or perhaps even so early as the fourteenth, +that St. Vitus had, just before he bent his neck to the sword, +prayed to God that he might protect from the Dancing Mania all +those who should solemnise the day of his commemoration, and fast +upon its eve, and that thereupon a voice from heaven was heard, +saying, "Vitus, thy prayer is accepted." Thus St. Vitus became +the patron saint of those afflicted with the Dancing Plague, as +St. Martin of Tours was at one time the succourer of persons in +small-pox, St. Antonius of those suffering under the "hellish +fire," and as St. Margaret was the Juno Lucina of puerperal women. + + +SECT. 3--CAUSES + + +The connection which John the Baptist had with the Dancing Mania +of the fourteenth century was of a totally different character. +He was originally far from being a protecting saint to those who +were attacked, or one who would be likely to give them relief from +a malady considered as the work of the devil. On the contrary, +the manner in which he was worshipped afforded an important and +very evident cause for its development. From the remotest period, +perhaps even so far back as the fourth century, St. John's day was +solemnised with all sorts of strange and rude customs, of which +the originally mystical meaning was variously disfigured among +different nations by superadded relics of heathenism. Thus the +Germans transferred to the festival of St. John's day an ancient +heathen usage, the kindling of the "Nodfyr," which was forbidden +them by St. Boniface, and the belief subsists even to the present +day that people and animals that have leaped through these flames, +or their smoke, are protected for a whole year from fevers and +other diseases, as if by a kind of baptism by fire. Bacchanalian +dances, which have originated in similar causes among all the rude +nations of the earth, and the wild extravagancies of a heated +imagination, were the constant accompaniments of this half- +heathen, half-Christian festival. At the period of which we are +treating, however, the Germans were not the only people who gave +way to the ebullitions of fanaticism in keeping the festival of +St. John the Baptist. Similar customs were also to be found among +the nations of Southern Europe and of Asia, and it is more than +probable that the Greeks transferred to the festival of John the +Baptist, who is also held in high esteem among the Mahomedans, a +part of their Bacchanalian mysteries, an absurdity of a kind which +is but too frequently met with in human affairs. How far a +remembrance of the history of St. John's death may have had an +influence on this occasion, we would leave learned theologians to +decide. It is only of importance here to add that in Abyssinia, a +country entirely separated from Europe, where Christianity has +maintained itself in its primeval simplicity against Mahomedanism, +John is to this day worshipped, as protecting saint of those who +are attacked with the dancing malady. In these fragments of the +dominion of mysticism and superstition, historical connection is +not to be found. + +When we observe, however, that the first dancers in Aix-la- +Chapelle appeared in July with St. John's name in their mouths, +the conjecture is probable that the wild revels of St. John's day, +A.D. 1374, gave rise to this mental plague, which thenceforth has +visited so many thousands with incurable aberration of mind, and +disgusting distortions of body. + +This is rendered so much the more probable because some months +previously the districts in the neighbourhood of the Rhine and the +Main had met with great disasters. So early as February, both +these rivers had overflowed their banks to a great extent; the +walls of the town of Cologne, on the side next the Rhine, had +fallen down, and a great many villages had been reduced to the +utmost distress. To this was added the miserable condition of +western and southern Germany. Neither law nor edict could +suppress the incessant feuds of the Barons, and in Franconia +especially, the ancient times of club law appeared to be revived. +Security of property there was none; arbitrary will everywhere +prevailed; corruption of morals and rude power rarely met with +even a feeble opposition; whence it arose that the cruel, but +lucrative, persecutions of the Jews were in many places still +practised through the whole of this century with their wonted +ferocity. Thus, throughout the western parts of Germany, and +especially in the districts bordering on the Rhine, there was a +wretched and oppressed populace; and if we take into consideration +that among their numerous bands many wandered about, whose +consciences were tormented with the recollection of the crimes +which they had committed during the prevalence of the Black +Plague, we shall comprehend how their despair sought relief in the +intoxication of an artificial delirium. There is hence good +ground for supposing that the frantic celebration of the festival +of St. John, A.D. 1374, only served to bring to a crisis a malady +which had been long impending; and if we would further inquire how +a hitherto harmless usage, which like many others had but served +to keep up superstition, could degenerate into so serious a +disease, we must take into account the unusual excitement of men's +minds, and the consequences of wretchedness and want. The bowels, +which in many were debilitated by hunger and bad food, were +precisely the parts which in most cases were attacked with +excruciating pain, and the tympanitic state of the intestines +points out to the intelligent physician an origin of the disorder +which is well worth consideration. + + +SECT. 4--MORE ANCIENT DANCING PLAGUES + + +The Dancing Mania of the year 1374 was, in fact, no new disease, +but a phenomenon well known in the Middle Ages, of which many +wondrous stories were traditionally current among the people. In +the year 1237 upwards of a hundred children were said to have been +suddenly seized with this disease at Erfurt, and to have proceeded +dancing and jumping along the road to Arnstadt. When they arrived +at that place they fell exhausted to the ground, and, according to +an account of an old chronicle, many of them, after they were +taken home by their parents, died, and the rest remained affected, +to the end of their lives, with a permanent tremor. Another +occurrence was related to have taken place on the Moselle Bridge +at Utrecht, on the 17th day of June, A.D. 1278, when two hundred +fanatics began to dance, and would not desist until a priest +passed, who was carrying the Host to a person that was sick, upon +which, as if in punishment of their crime, the bridge gave way, +and they were all drowned. A similar event also occurred so early +as the year 1027, near the convent church of Kolbig, not far from +Bernburg. According to an oft-repeated tradition, eighteen +peasants, some of whose names are still preserved, are said to +have disturbed divine service on Christmas Eve by dancing and +brawling in the churchyard, whereupon the priest, Ruprecht, +inflicted a curse upon them, that they should dance and scream for +a whole year without ceasing. This curse is stated to have been +completely fulfilled, so that the unfortunate sufferers at length +sank knee-deep into the earth, and remained the whole time without +nourishment, until they were finally released by the intercession +of two pious bishops. It is said that, upon this, they fell into +a deep sleep, which lasted three days, and that four of them died; +the rest continuing to suffer all their lives from a trembling of +their limbs. It is not worth while to separate what may have been +true, and what the addition of crafty priests, in this strangely +distorted story. It is sufficient that it was believed, and +related with astonishment and horror, throughout the Middle Ages; +so that when there was any exciting cause for this delirious +raving and wild rage for dancing, it failed not to produce its +effects upon men whose thoughts were given up to a belief in +wonders and apparitions. + +This disposition of mind, altogether so peculiar to the Middle +Ages, and which, happily for mankind, has yielded to an improved +state of civilisation and the diffusion of popular instruction, +accounts for the origin and long duration of this extraordinary +mental disorder. The good sense of the people recoiled with +horror and aversion from this heavy plague, which, whenever +malevolent persons wished to curse their bitterest enemies and +adversaries, was long after used as a malediction. The +indignation also that was felt by the people at large against the +immorality of the age, was proved by their ascribing this +frightful affliction to the inefficacy of baptism by unchaste +priests, as if innocent children were doomed to atone, in after- +years, for this desecration of the sacrament administered by +unholy hands. We have already mentioned what perils the priests +in the Netherlands incurred from this belief. They now, indeed, +endeavoured to hasten their reconciliation with the irritated, +and, at that time, very degenerate people, by exorcisms, which, +with some, procured them greater respect than ever, because they +thus visibly restored thousands of those who were affected. In +general, however, there prevailed a want of confidence in their +efficacy, and then the sacred rites had as little power in +arresting the progress of this deeply-rooted malady as the prayers +and holy services subsequently had at the altars of the greatly- +revered martyr St. Vitus. We may therefore ascribe it to accident +merely, and to a certain aversion to this demoniacal disease, +which seemed to lie beyond the reach of human skill, that we meet +with but few and imperfect notices of the St. Vitus's dance in the +second half of the fifteenth century. The highly-coloured +descriptions of the sixteenth century contradict the notion that +this mental plague had in any degree diminished in its severity, +and not a single fact is to be found which supports the opinion +that any one of the essential symptoms of the disease, not even +excepting the tympany, had disappeared, or that the disorder +itself had become milder in its attacks. The physicians never, as +it seems, throughout the whole of the fifteenth century, undertook +the treatment of the Dancing Mania, which, according to the +prevailing notions, appertained exclusively to the servants of the +Church. Against demoniacal disorders they had no remedies, and +though some at first did promulgate the opinion that the malady +had its origin in natural circumstances, such as a hot +temperament, and other causes named in the phraseology of the +schools, yet these opinions were the less examined as it did not +appear worth while to divide with a jealous priesthood the care of +a host of fanatical vagabonds and beggars. + + +SECT. 5--PHYSICIANS + + +It was not until the beginning of the sixteenth century that the +St. Vitus's dance was made the subject of medical research, and +stripped of its unhallowed character as a work of demons. This +was effected by Paracelsus, that mighty but, as yet, scarcely +comprehended reformer of medicine, whose aim it was to withdraw +diseases from the pale of miraculous interpositions and saintly +influences, and explain their causes upon principles deduced from +his knowledge of the human frame. "We will not, however, admit +that the saints have power to inflict diseases, and that these +ought to be named after them, although many there are who, in +their theology, lay great stress on this supposition, ascribing +them rather to God than to nature, which is but idle talk. We +dislike such nonsensical gossip as is not supported by symptoms, +but only by faith--a thing which is not human, whereon the gods +themselves set no value." + +Such were the words which Paracelsus addressed to his +contemporaries, who were, as yet, incapable of appreciating +doctrines of this sort; for the belief in enchantment still +remained everywhere unshaken, and faith in the world of spirits +still held men's minds in so close a bondage that thousands were, +according to their own conviction, given up as a prey to the +devil; while at the command of religion, as well as of law, +countless piles were lighted, by the flames of which human society +was to be purified. + +Paracelsus divides the St. Vitus's dance into three kinds. First, +that which arises from imagination (Vitista, Chorea imaginativa, +aestimativa), by which the original Dancing Plague is to be +understood. Secondly, that which arises from sensual desires, +depending on the will (Chorea lasciva). Thirdly, that which +arises from corporeal causes (Chorea naturalis, coacta), which, +according to a strange notion of his own, he explained by +maintaining that in certain vessels which are susceptible of an +internal pruriency, and thence produce laughter, the blood is set +in commotion in consequence of an alteration in the vital spirits, +whereby involuntary fits of intoxicating joy and a propensity to +dance are occasioned. To this notion he was, no doubt, led from +having observed a milder form of St. Vitus's dance, not uncommon +in his time, which was accompanied by involuntary laughter; and +which bore a resemblance to the hysterical laughter of the +moderns, except that it was characterised by more pleasurable +sensations and by an extravagant propensity to dance. There was +no howling, screaming, and jumping, as in the severer form; +neither was the disposition to dance by any means insuperable. +Patients thus affected, although they had not a complete control +over their understandings, yet were sufficiently self-possessed +during the attack to obey the directions which they received. +There were even some among them who did not dance at all, but only +felt an involuntary impulse to allay the internal sense of +disquietude, which is the usual forerunner of an attack of this +kind, by laughter and quick walking carried to the extent of +producing fatigue. This disorder, so different from the original +type, evidently approximates to the modern chorea; or, rather, is +in perfect accordance with it, even to the less essential symptom +of laughter. A mitigation in the form of the Dancing Mania had +thus clearly taken place at the commencement of the sixteenth +century. + +On the communication of the St. Vitus's dance by sympathy, +Paracelsus, in his peculiar language, expresses himself with great +spirit, and shows a profound knowledge of the nature of sensual +impressions, which find their way to the heart--the seat of joys +and emotions--which overpower the opposition of reason; and whilst +"all other qualities and natures" are subdued, incessantly impel +the patient, in consequence of his original compliance, and his +all-conquering imagination, to imitate what he has seen. On his +treatment of the disease we cannot bestow any great praise, but +must be content with the remark that it was in conformity with the +notions of the age in which he lived. For the first kind, which +often originated in passionate excitement, he had a mental remedy, +the efficacy of which is not to be despised, if we estimate its +value in connection with the prevalent opinions of those times. +The patient was to make an image of himself in wax or resin, and +by an effort of thought to concentrate all his blasphemies and +sins in it. "Without the intervention of any other persons, to +set his whole mind and thoughts concerning these oaths in the +image;" and when he had succeeded in this, he was to burn the +image, so that not a particle of it should remain. In all this +there was no mention made of St. Vitus, or any of the other +mediatory saints, which is accounted for by the circumstance that +at this time an open rebellion against the Romish Church had +begun, and the worship of saints was by many rejected as +idolatrous. For the second kind of St. Vitus's dance, arising +from sensual irritation, with which women were far more frequently +affected than men, Paracelsus recommended harsh treatment and +strict fasting. He directed that the patients should be deprived +of their liberty; placed in solitary confinement, and made to sit +in an uncomfortable place, until their misery brought them to +their senses and to a feeling of penitence. He then permitted +them gradually to return to their accustomed habits. Severe +corporal chastisement was not omitted; but, on the other hand, +angry resistance on the part of the patient was to be sedulously +avoided, on the ground that it might increase his malady, or even +destroy him: moreover, where it seemed proper, Paracelsus allayed +the excitement of the nerves by immersion in cold water. On the +treatment of the third kind we shall not here enlarge. It was to +be effected by all sorts of wonderful remedies, composed of the +quintessences; and it would require, to render it intelligible, a +more extended exposition of peculiar principles than suits our +present purpose. + + +SECT. 6--DECLINE AND TERMINATION OF THE DANCING PLAGUE + + +About this time the St. Vitus's dance began to decline, so that +milder forms of it appeared more frequently, while the severer +cases became more rare; and even in these, some of the important +symptoms gradually disappeared. Paracelsus makes no mention of +the tympanites as taking place after the attacks, although it may +occasionally have occurred; and Schenck von Graffenberg, a +celebrated physician of the latter half of the sixteenth century, +speaks of this disease as having been frequent only in the time of +his forefathers; his descriptions, however, are applicable to the +whole of that century, and to the close of the fifteenth. The St. +Vitus's dance attacked people of all stations, especially those +who led a sedentary life, such as shoemakers and tailors; but even +the most robust peasants abandoned their labours in the fields, as +if they were possessed by evil spirits; and thus those affected +were seen assembling indiscriminately, from time to time, at +certain appointed places, and, unless prevented by the lookers-on, +continuing to dance without intermission, until their very last +breath was expended. Their fury and extravagance of demeanour so +completely deprived them of their senses, that many of them dashed +their brains out against the walls and corners of buildings, or +rushed headlong into rapid rivers, where they found a watery +grave. Roaring and foaming as they were, the bystanders could +only succeed in restraining them by placing benches and chairs in +their way, so that, by the high leaps they were thus tempted to +take, their strength might be exhausted. As soon as this was the +case, they fell as it were lifeless to the ground, and, by very +slow degrees, again recovered their strength. Many there were +who, even with all this exertion, had not expended the violence of +the tempest which raged within them, but awoke with newly-revived +powers, and again and again mixed with the crowd of dancers, until +at length the violent excitement of their disordered nerves was +allayed by the great involuntary exertion of their limbs; and the +mental disorder was calmed by the extreme exhaustion of the body. +Thus the attacks themselves were in these cases, as in their +nature they are in all nervous complaints, necessary crises of an +inward morbid condition which was transferred from the sensorium +to the nerves of motion, and, at an earlier period, to the +abdominal plexus, where a deep-seated derangement of the system +was perceptible from the secretion of flatus in the intestines. + +The cure effected by these stormy attacks was in many cases so +perfect, that some patients returned to the factory or the plough +as if nothing had happened. Others, on the contrary, paid the +penalty of their folly by so total a loss of power, that they +could not regain their former health, even by the employment of +the most strengthening remedies. Medical men were astonished to +observe that women in an advanced state of pregnancy were capable +of going through an attack of the disease without the slightest +injury to their offspring, which they protected merely by a +bandage passed round the waist. Cases of this kind were not +infrequent so late as Schenck's time. That patients should be +violently affected by music, and their paroxysms brought on and +increased by it, is natural with such nervous disorders, where +deeper impressions are made through the ear, which is the most +intellectual of all the organs, than through any of the other +senses. On this account the magistrates hired musicians for the +purpose of carrying the St. Vitus's dancers so much the quicker +through the attacks, and directed that athletic men should be sent +among them in order to complete the exhaustion, which had been +often observed to produce a good effect. At the same time there +was a prohibition against wearing red garments, because, at the +sight of this colour, those affected became so furious that they +flew at the persons who wore it, and were so bent upon doing them +an injury that they could with difficulty be restrained. They +frequently tore their own clothes whilst in the paroxysm, and were +guilty of other improprieties, so that the more opulent employed +confidential attendants to accompany them, and to take care that +they did no harm either to themselves or others. This +extraordinary disease was, however, so greatly mitigated in +Schenck's time, that the St. Vitus's dancers had long since ceased +to stroll from town to town; and that physician, like Paracelsus, +makes no mention of the tympanitic inflation of the bowels. +Moreover, most of those affected were only annually visited by +attacks; and the occasion of them was so manifestly referable to +the prevailing notions of that period, that if the unqualified +belief in the supernatural agency of saints could have been +abolished, they would not have had any return of the complaint. +Throughout the whole of June, prior to the festival of St. John, +patients felt a disquietude and restlessness which they were +unable to overcome. They were dejected, timid, and anxious; +wandered about in an unsettled state, being tormented with +twitching pains, which seized them suddenly in different parts, +and eagerly expected the eve of St. John's day, in the confident +hope that by dancing at the altars of this saint, or of St. Vitus +(for in the Breisgau aid was equally sought from both), they would +be freed from all their sufferings. This hope was not +disappointed; and they remained, for the rest of the year, exempt +from any further attack, after having thus, by dancing and raving +for three hours, satisfied an irresistible demand of nature. +There were at that period two chapels in the Breisgau visited by +the St. Vitus's dancers; namely, the Chapel of St. Vitus at +Biessen, near Breisach, and that of St. John, near Wasenweiler; +and it is probable that in the south-west of Germany the disease +was still in existence in the seventeenth century. + +However, it grew every year more rare, so that at the beginning of +the seventeenth century it was observed only occasionally in its +ancient form. Thus in the spring of the year 1623, G. Horst saw +some women who annually performed a pilgrimage to St. Vitus's +chapel at Drefelhausen, near Weissenstein, in the territory of +Ulm, that they might wait for their dancing fit there, in the same +manner as those in the Breisgau did, according to Schenck's +account. They were not satisfied, however, with a dance of three +hours' duration, but continued day and night in a state of mental +aberration, like persons in an ecstasy, until they fell exhausted +to the ground; and when they came to themselves again they felt +relieved from a distressing uneasiness and painful sensation of +weight in their bodies, of which they had complained for several +weeks prior to St. Vitus's Day. + +After this commotion they remained well for the whole year; and +such was their faith in the protecting power of the saint, that +one of them had visited this shrine at Drefelhausen more than +twenty times, and another had already kept the saint's day for the +thirty-second time at this sacred station. + +The dancing fit itself was excited here, as it probably was in +other places, by music, from the effects of which the patients +were thrown into a state of convulsion. Many concurrent +testimonies serve to show that music generally contributed much to +the continuance of the St. Vitus's dance, originated and increased +its paroxysms, and was sometimes the cause of their mitigation. +So early as the fourteenth century the swarms of St. John's +dancers were accompanied by minstrels playing upon noisy +instruments, who roused their morbid feelings; and it may readily +be supposed that by the performance of lively melodies, and the +stimulating effects which the shrill tones of fifes and trumpets +would produce, a paroxysm that was perhaps but slight in itself, +might, in many cases, be increased to the most outrageous fury, +such as in later times was purposely induced in order that the +force of the disease might be exhausted by the violence of its +attack. Moreover, by means of intoxicating music a kind of +demoniacal festival for the rude multitude was established, which +had the effect of spreading this unhappy malady wider and wider. +Soft harmony was, however, employed to calm the excitement of +those affected, and it is mentioned as a character of the tunes +played with this view to the St. Vitus's dancers, that they +contained transitions from a quick to a slow measure, and passed +gradually from a high to a low key. It is to be regretted that no +trace of this music has reached out times, which is owing partly +to the disastrous events of the seventeenth century, and partly to +the circumstance that the disorder was looked upon as entirely +national, and only incidentally considered worthy of notice by +foreign men of learning. If the St. Vitus's dance was already on +the decline at the commencement of the seventeenth century, the +subsequent events were altogether adverse to its continuance. +Wars carried on with animosity, and with various success, for +thirty years, shook the west of Europe; and although the +unspeakable calamities which they brought upon Germany, both +during their continuance and in their immediate consequences, were +by no means favourable to the advance of knowledge, yet, with the +vehemence of a purifying fire, they gradually effected the +intellectual regeneration of the Germans; superstition, in her +ancient form, never again appeared, and the belief in the dominion +of spirits, which prevailed in the middle ages, lost for ever its +once formidable power. + + + +CHAPTER II--THE DANCING MANIA IN ITALY + + + +SECT. 1--TARANTISM + + +It was of the utmost advantage to the St. Vitus's dancers that +they made choice of a favourite patron saint; for, not to mention +that people were inclined to compare them to the possessed with +evil spirits described in the Bible, and thence to consider them +as innocent victims to the power of Satan, the name of their great +intercessor recommended them to general commiseration, and a magic +boundary was thus set to every harsh feeling, which might +otherwise have proved hostile to their safety. Other fanatics +were not so fortunate, being often treated with the most +relentless cruelty, whenever the notions of the middle ages either +excused or commanded it as a religious duty. Thus, passing over +the innumerable instances of the burning of witches, who were, +after all, only labouring under a delusion, the Teutonic knights +in Prussia not unfrequently condemned those maniacs to the stake +who imagined themselves to be metamorphosed into wolves--an +extraordinary species of insanity, which, having existed in Greece +before our era, spread, in process of time over Europe, so that it +was communicated not only to the Romaic, but also to the German +and Sarmatian nations, and descended from the ancients as a legacy +of affliction to posterity. In modern times Lycanthropy--such was +the name given to this infatuation--has vanished from the earth, +but it is nevertheless well worthy the consideration of the +observer of human aberrations, and a history of it by some writer +who is equally well acquainted with the middle ages as with +antiquity is still a desideratum. We leave it for the present +without further notice, and turn to a malady most extraordinary in +all its phenomena, having a close connection with the St. Vitus's +dance, and, by a comparison of facts which are altogether similar, +affording us an instructive subject for contemplation. We allude +to the disease called Tarantism, which made its first appearance +in Apulia, and thence spread over the other provinces of Italy, +where, during some centuries, it prevailed as a great epidemic. +In the present times, it has vanished, or at least has lost +altogether its original importance, like the St. Vitus's dance, +lycanthropy, and witchcraft. + + +SECT. 2--MOST ANCIENT TRACES--CAUSES + + +The learned Nicholas Perotti gives the earliest account of this +strange disorder. Nobody had the least doubt that it was caused +by the bite of the tarantula, a ground-spider common in Apulia: +and the fear of this insect was so general that its bite was in +all probability much oftener imagined, or the sting of some other +kind of insect mistaken for it, than actually received. The word +tarantula is apparently the same as terrantola, a name given by +the Italians to the stellio of the old Romans, which was a kind of +lizard, said to be poisonous, and invested by credulity with such +extraordinary qualities, that, like the serpent of the Mosaic +account of the Creation, it personified, in the imaginations of +the vulgar, the notion of cunning, so that even the jurists +designated a cunning fraud by the appellation of a "stellionatus." +Perotti expressly assures us that this reptile was called by the +Romans tarantula; and since he himself, who was one of the most +distinguished authors of his time, strangely confounds spiders and +lizards together, so that he considers the Apulian tarantula, +which he ranks among the class of spiders, to have the same +meaning as the kind of lizard called [Greek text], it is the less +extraordinary that the unlearned country people of Apulia should +confound the much-dreaded ground-spider with the fabulous star- +lizard, and appropriate to the one the name of the other. The +derivation of the word tarantula, from the city of Tarentum, or +the river Thara, in Apulia, on the banks of which this insect is +said to have been most frequently found, or, at least, its bite to +have had the most venomous effect, seems not to be supported by +authority. So much for the name of this famous spider, which, +unless we are greatly mistaken, throws no light whatever upon the +nature of the disease in question. Naturalists who, possessing a +knowledge of the past, should not misapply their talents by +employing them in establishing the dry distinction of forms, would +find here much that calls for research, and their efforts would +clear up many a perplexing obscurity. + +Perotti states that the tarantula--that is, the spider so called-- +was not met with in Italy in former times, but that in his day it +had become common, especially in Apulia, as well as in some other +districts. He deserves, however, no great confidence as a +naturalist, notwithstanding his having delivered lectures in +Bologna on medicine and other sciences. He at least has neglected +to prove his assertion, which is not borne out by any analogous +phenomenon observed in modern times with regard to the history of +the spider species. It is by no means to be admitted that the +tarantula did not make its appearance in Italy before the disease +ascribed to its bite became remarkable, even though tempests more +violent than those unexampled storms which arose at the time of +the Black Death in the middle of the fourteenth century had set +the insect world in motion; for the spider is little if at all +susceptible of those cosmical influences which at times multiply +locusts and other winged insects to a wonderful extent, and compel +them to migrate. + +The symptoms which Perotti enumerates as consequent on the bite of +the tarantula agree very exactly with those described by later +writers. Those who were bitten, generally fell into a state of +melancholy, and appeared to be stupefied, and scarcely in +possession of their senses. This condition was, in many cases, +united with so great a sensibility to music, that at the very +first tones of their favourite melodies they sprang up, shouting +for joy, and danced on without intermission, until they sank to +the ground exhausted and almost lifeless. In others, the disease +did not take this cheerful turn. They wept constantly, and as if +pining away with some unsatisfied desire, spent their days in the +greatest misery and anxiety. Others, again, in morbid fits of +love, cast their longing looks on women, and instances of death +are recorded, which are said to have occurred under a paroxysm of +either laughing or weeping. + +From this description, incomplete as it is, we may easily gather +that tarantism, the essential symptoms of which are mentioned in +it, could not have originated in the fifteenth century, to which +Perotti's account refers; for that author speaks of it as a well- +known malady, and states that the omission to notice it by older +writers was to be ascribed solely to the want of education in +Apulia, the only province probably where the disease at that time +prevailed. A nervous disorder that had arrived at so high a +degree of development must have been long in existence, and +doubtless had required an elaborate preparation by the concurrence +of general causes. + +The symptoms which followed the bite of venomous spiders were well +known to the ancients, and had excited the attention of their best +observers, who agree in their descriptions of them. It is +probable that among the numerous species of their phalangium, the +Apulian tarantula is included, but it is difficult to determine +this point with certainty, more especially because in Italy the +tarantula was not the only insect which caused this nervous +affection, similar results being likewise attributed to the bite +of the scorpion. Lividity of the whole body, as well as of the +countenance, difficulty of speech, tremor of the limbs, icy +coldness, pale urine, depression of spirits, headache, a flow of +tears, nausea, vomiting, sexual excitement, flatulence, syncope, +dysuria, watchfulness, lethargy, even death itself, were cited by +them as the consequences of being bitten by venomous spiders, and +they made little distinction as to their kinds. To these symptoms +we may add the strange rumour, repeated throughout the middle +ages, that persons who were bitten, ejected by the bowels and +kidneys, and even by vomiting, substances resembling a spider's +web. + +Nowhere, however, do we find any mention made that those affected +felt an irresistible propensity to dancing, or that they were +accidentally cured by it. Even Constantine of Africa, who lived +500 years after Aetius, and, as the most learned physician of the +school of Salerno, would certainly not have passed over so +acceptable a subject of remark, knows nothing of such a memorable +course of this disease arising from poison, and merely repeats the +observations of his Greek predecessors. Gariopontus, a Salernian +physician of the eleventh century, was the first to describe a +kind of insanity, the remote affinity of which to the tarantula +disease is rendered apparent by a very striking symptom. The +patients in their sudden attacks behaved like maniacs, sprang up, +throwing their arms about with wild movements, and, if perchance a +sword was at hand, they wounded themselves and others, so that it +became necessary carefully to secure them. They imagined that +they heard voices and various kinds of sounds, and if, during this +state of illusion, the tones of a favourite instrument happened to +catch their ear, they commenced a spasmodic dance, or ran with the +utmost energy which they could muster until they were totally +exhausted. These dangerous maniacs, who, it would seem, appeared +in considerable numbers, were looked upon as a legion of devils, +but on the causes of their malady this obscure writer adds nothing +further than that he believes (oddly enough) that it may sometimes +be excited by the bite of a mad dog. He calls the disease +Anteneasmus, by which is meant no doubt the Enthusiasmus of the +Greek physicians. We cite this phenomenon as an important +forerunner of tarantism, under the conviction that we have thus +added to the evidence that the development of this latter must +have been founded on circumstances which existed from the twelfth +to the end of the fourteenth century; for the origin of tarantism +itself is referable, with the utmost probability, to a period +between the middle and the end of this century, and is +consequently contemporaneous with that of the St. Vitus's dance +(1374). The influence of the Roman Catholic religion, connected +as this was, in the middle ages, with the pomp of processions, +with public exercises of penance, and with innumerable practices +which strongly excited the imaginations of its votaries, certainly +brought the mind to a very favourable state for the reception of a +nervous disorder. Accordingly, so long as the doctrines of +Christianity were blended with so much mysticism, these unhallowed +disorders prevailed to an important extent, and even in our own +days we find them propagated with the greatest facility where the +existence of superstition produces the same effect, in more +limited districts, as it once did among whole nations. But this +is not all. Every country in Europe, and Italy perhaps more than +any other, was visited during the middle ages by frightful +plagues, which followed each other in such quick succession that +they gave the exhausted people scarcely any time for recovery. +The Oriental bubo-plague ravaged Italy sixteen times between the +years 1119 and 1340. Small-pox and measles were still more +destructive than in modern times, and recurred as frequently. St. +Anthony's fire was the dread of town and country; and that +disgusting disease, the leprosy, which, in consequence of the +Crusades, spread its insinuating poison in all directions, +snatched from the paternal hearth innumerable victims who, +banished from human society, pined away in lonely huts, whither +they were accompanied only by the pity of the benevolent and their +own despair. All these calamities, of which the moderns have +scarcely retained any recollection, were heightened to an +incredible degree by the Black Death, which spread boundless +devastation and misery over Italy. Men's minds were everywhere +morbidly sensitive; and as it happened with individuals whose +senses, when they are suffering under anxiety, become more +irritable, so that trifles are magnified into objects of great +alarm, and slight shocks, which would scarcely affect the spirits +when in health, gave rise in them to severe diseases, so was it +with this whole nation, at all times so alive to emotions, and at +that period so sorely oppressed with the horrors of death. + +The bite of venomous spiders, or rather the unreasonable fear of +its consequences, excited at such a juncture, though it could not +have done so at an earlier period, a violent nervous disorder, +which, like St. Vitus's dance in Germany, spread by sympathy, +increasing in severity as it took a wider range, and still further +extending its ravages from its long continuance. Thus, from the +middle of the fourteenth century, the furies of THE DANCE +brandished their scourge over afflicted mortals; and music, for +which the inhabitants of Italy, now probably for the first time, +manifested susceptibility and talent, became capable of exciting +ecstatic attacks in those affected, and then furnished the magical +means of exorcising their melancholy. + + +SECT. 3--INCREASE + + +At the close of the fifteenth century we find that tarantism had +spread beyond the boundaries of Apulia, and that the fear of being +bitten by venomous spiders had increased. Nothing short of death +itself was expected from the wound which these insects inflicted, +and if those who were bitten escaped with their lives, they were +said to be seen pining away in a desponding state of lassitude. +Many became weak-sighted or hard of hearing, some lost the power +of speech, and all were insensible to ordinary causes of +excitement. Nothing but the flute or the cithern afforded them +relief. At the sound of these instruments they awoke as it were +by enchantment, opened their eyes, and moving slowly at first, +according to the measure of the music, were, as the time +quickened, gradually hurried on to the most passionate dance. It +was generally observable that country people, who were rude, and +ignorant of music, evinced on these occasions an unusual degree of +grace, as if they had been well practised in elegant movements of +the body; for it is a peculiarity in nervous disorders of this +kind, that the organs of motion are in an altered condition, and +are completely under the control of the over-strained spirits. +Cities and villages alike resounded throughout the summer season +with the notes of fifes, clarinets, and Turkish drums; and +patients were everywhere to be met with who looked to dancing as +their only remedy. Alexander ab Alexandro, who gives this +account, saw a young man in a remote village who was seized with a +violent attack of tarantism. He listened with eagerness and a +fixed stare to the sound of a drum, and his graceful movements +gradually became more and more violent, until his dancing was +converted into a succession of frantic leaps, which required the +utmost exertion of his whole strength. In the midst of this over- +strained exertion of mind and body the music suddenly ceased, and +he immediately fell powerless to the ground, where he lay +senseless and motionless until its magical effect again aroused +him to a renewal of his impassioned performances. + +At the period of which we are treating there was a general +conviction, that by music and dancing the poison of the tarantula +was distributed over the whole body, and expelled through the +skin, but that if there remained the slightest vestige of it in +the vessels, this became a permanent germ of the disorder, so that +the dancing fits might again and again be excited ad infinitum by +music. This belief, which resembled the delusion of those insane +persons who, being by artful management freed from the imagined +causes of their sufferings, are but for a short time released from +their false notions, was attended with the most injurious effects: +for in consequence of it those affected necessarily became by +degrees convinced of the incurable nature of their disorder. They +expected relief, indeed, but not a cure, from music; and when the +heat of summer awakened a recollection of the dances of the +preceding year, they, like the St. Vitus's dancers of the same +period before St. Vitus's day, again grew dejected and +misanthropic, until, by music and dancing, they dispelled the +melancholy which had become with them a kind of sensual enjoyment. + +Under such favourable circumstances, it is clear that tarantism +must every year have made further progress. The number of those +affected by it increased beyond all belief, for whoever had either +actually been, or even fancied that he had been, once bitten by a +poisonous spider or scorpion, made his appearance annually +wherever the merry notes of the tarantella resounded. Inquisitive +females joined the throng and caught the disease, not indeed from +the poison of the spider, but from the mental poison which they +eagerly received through the eye; and thus the cure of the +tarantati gradually became established as a regular festival of +the populace, which was anticipated with impatient delight. + +Without attributing more to deception and fraud than to the +peculiar nature of a progressive mental malady, it may readily be +conceived that the cases of this strange disorder now grew more +frequent. The celebrated Matthioli, who is worthy of entire +confidence, gives his account as an eye-witness. He saw the same +extraordinary effects produced by music as Alexandro, for, however +tortured with pain, however hopeless of relief the patients +appeared, as they lay stretched on the couch of sickness, at the +very first sounds of those melodies which made an impression on +them--but this was the case only with the tarantellas composed +expressly for the purpose--they sprang up as if inspired with new +life and spirit, and, unmindful of their disorder, began to move +in measured gestures, dancing for hour together without fatigue, +until, covered with a kindly perspiration, they felt a salutary +degree of lassitude, which relieved them for a time at least, +perhaps even for a whole year, from their defection and oppressive +feeling of general indisposition. Alexandro's experience of the +injurious effects resulting from a sudden cessation of the music +was generally confirmed by Matthioli. If the clarinets and drums +ceased for a single moment, which, as the most skilful payers were +tired out by the patients, could not but happen occasionally, they +suffered their limbs to fall listless, again sank exhausted to the +ground, and could find no solace but in a renewal of the dance. +On this account care was taken to continue the music until +exhaustion was produced; for it was better to pay a few extra +musicians, who might relieve each other, than to permit the +patient, in the midst of this curative exercise, to relapse into +so deplorable a state of suffering. The attack consequent upon +the bite of the tarantula, Matthioli describes as varying much in +its manner. Some became morbidly exhilarated, so that they +remained for a long while without sleep, laughing, dancing, and +singing in a state of the greatest excitement. Others, on the +contrary, were drowsy. The generality felt nausea and suffered +from vomiting, and some had constant tremors. Complete mania was +no uncommon occurrence, not to mention the usual dejection of +spirits and other subordinate symptoms. + + +SECT. 4--IDIOSYNCRASIES--MUSIC + + +Unaccountable emotions, strange desires, and morbid sensual +irritations of all kinds, were as prevalent as in the St. Vitus's +dance and similar great nervous maladies. So late as the +sixteenth century patients were seen armed with glittering swords +which, during the attack, they brandished with wild gestures, as +if they were going to engage in a fencing match. Even women +scorned all female delicacy, and, adopting this impassioned +demeanour, did the same; and this phenomenon, as well as the +excitement which the tarantula dancers felt at the sight of +anything with metallic lustre, was quite common up to the period +when, in modern times, the disease disappeared. + +The abhorrence of certain colours, and the agreeable sensations +produced by others, were much more marked among the excitable +Italians than was the case in the St. Vitus's dance with the more +phlegmatic Germans. Red colours, which the St. Vitus's dancers +detested, they generally liked, so that a patient was seldom seen +who did not carry a red handkerchief for his gratification, or +greedily feast his eyes on any articles of red clothing worn by +the bystanders. Some preferred yellow, others black colours, of +which an explanation was sought, according to the prevailing +notions of the times, in the difference of temperaments. Others, +again, were enraptured with green; and eye-witnesses describe this +rage for colours as so extraordinary, that they can scarcely find +words with which to express their astonishment. No sooner did the +patients obtain a sight of the favourite colour than, new as the +impression was, they rushed like infuriated animals towards the +object, devoured it with their eager looks, kissed and caressed it +in every possible way, and gradually resigning themselves to +softer sensations, adopted the languishing expression of enamoured +lovers, and embraced the handkerchief, or whatever other article +it might be, which was presented to them, with the most intense +ardour, while the tears streamed from their eyes as if they were +completely overwhelmed by the inebriating impression on their +senses. + +The dancing fits of a certain Capuchin friar in Tarentum excited +so much curiosity, that Cardinal Cajetano proceeded to the +monastery, that he might see with his own eyes what was going on. +As soon as the monk, who was in the midst of his dance, perceived +the spiritual prince clothed in his red garments, he no longer +listened to the tarantella of the musicians, but with strange +gestures endeavoured to approach the Cardinal, as if he wished to +count the very threads of his scarlet robe, and to allay his +intense longing by its odour. The interference of the spectators, +and his own respect, prevented his touching it, and thus the +irritation of his senses not being appeased, he fell into a state +of such anguish and disquietude, that he presently sank down in a +swoon, from which he did not recover until the Cardinal +compassionately gave him his cape. This he immediately seized in +the greatest ecstasy, and pressed now to his breast, now to his +forehead and cheeks, and then again commenced his dance as if in +the frenzy of a love fit. + +At the sight of colours which they disliked, patients flew into +the most violent rage, and, like the St. Vitus's dancers when they +saw red objects, could scarcely be restrained from tearing the +clothes of those spectators who raised in them such disagreeable +sensations. + +Another no less extraordinary symptom was the ardent longing for +the sea which the patients evinced. As the St. John's dancers of +the fourteenth century saw, in the spirit, the heavens open and +display all the splendour of the saints, so did those who were +suffering under the bite of the tarantula feel themselves +attracted to the boundless expanse of the blue ocean, and lost +themselves in its contemplation. Some songs, which are still +preserved, marked this peculiar longing, which was moreover +expressed by significant music, and was excited even by the bare +mention of the sea. Some, in whom this susceptibility was carried +to the greatest pitch, cast themselves with blind fury into the +blue waves, as the St. Vitus's dancers occasionally did into rapid +rivers. This condition, so opposite to the frightful state of +hydrophobia, betrayed itself in others only in the pleasure +afforded them by the sight of clear water in glasses. These they +bore in their hands while dancing, exhibiting at the same time +strange movements, and giving way to the most extravagant +expressions of their feeling. They were delighted also when, in +the midst of the space allotted for this exercise, more ample +vessels, filled with water, and surrounded by rushes and water +plants, were placed, in which they bathed their heads and arms +with evident pleasure. Others there were who rolled about on the +ground, and were, by their own desire, buried up to the neck in +the earth, in order to alleviate the misery of their condition; +not to mention an endless variety of other symptoms which showed +the perverted action of the nerves. + +All these modes of relief, however, were as nothing in comparison +with the irresistible charms of musical sound. Attempts had +indeed been made in ancient times to mitigate the pain of +sciatica, or the paroxysms of mania, by the soft melody of the +flute, and, what is still more applicable to the present purpose, +to remove the danger arising from the bite of vipers by the same +means. This, however, was tried only to a very small extent. But +after being bitten by the tarantula, there was, according to +popular opinion, no way of saving life except by music; and it was +hardly considered as an exception to the general rule, that every +now and then the bad effects of a wound were prevented by placing +a ligature on the bitten limb, or by internal medicine, or that +strong persons occasionally withstood the effects of the poison, +without the employment of any remedies at all. It was much more +common, and is quite in accordance with the nature of so exquisite +a nervous disease, to hear accounts of many who, when bitten by +the tarantula, perished miserably because the tarantella, which +would have afforded them deliverance, was not played to them. It +was customary, therefore, so early as the commencement of the +seventeenth century, for whole bands of musicians to traverse +Italy during the summer months, and, what is quite unexampled +either in ancient or modern times, the cure of the Tarantati in +the different towns and villages was undertaken on a grand scale. +This season of dancing and music was called "the women's little +carnival," for it was women more especially who conducted the +arrangements; so that throughout the whole country they saved up +their spare money, for the purpose of rewarding the welcome +musicians, and many of them neglected their household employments +to participate in this festival of the sick. Mention is even made +of one benevolent lady (Mita Lupa) who had expended her whole +fortune on this object. + +The music itself was of a kind perfectly adapted to the nature of +the malady, and it made so deep an impression on the Italians, +that even to the present time, long since the extinction of the +disorder, they have retained the tarantella, as a particular +species of music employed for quick, lively dancing. The +different kinds of tarantella were distinguished, very +significantly, by particular names, which had reference to the +moods observed in the patients. Whence it appears that they aimed +at representing by these tunes even the idiosyncrasies of the mind +as expressed in the countenance. Thus there was one kind of +tarantella which was called "Panno rosso," a very lively, +impassioned style of music, to which wild dithyrambic songs were +adapted; another, called "Panno verde," which was suited to the +milder excitement of the senses caused by green colours, and set +to Idyllian songs of verdant fields and shady groves. A third was +named "Cinque tempi:" a fourth "Moresca," which was played to a +Moorish dance; a fifth, "Catena;" and a sixth, with a very +appropriate designation, "Spallata," as if it were only fit to be +played to dancers who were lame in the shoulder. This was the +slowest and least in vogue of all. For those who loved water they +took care to select love songs, which were sung to corresponding +music, and such persons delighted in hearing of gushing springs +and rushing cascades and streams. It is to be regretted that on +this subject we are unable to give any further information, for +only small fragments of songs, and a very few tarantellas, have +been preserved which belong to a period so remote as the beginning +of the seventeenth, or at furthest the end of the sixteenth +century. + +The music was almost wholly in the Turkish style (aria Turchesca), +and the ancient songs of the peasantry of Apulia, which increased +in number annually, were well suited to the abrupt and lively +notes of the Turkish drum and the shepherd's pipe. These two +instruments were the favourites in the country, but others of all +kinds were played in towns and villages, as an accompaniment to +the dances of the patients and the songs of the spectators. If +any particular melody was disliked by those affected, they +indicated their displeasure by violent gestures expressive of +aversion. They could not endure false notes, and it is remarkable +that uneducated boors, who had never in their lives manifested any +perception of the enchanting power of harmony, acquired, in this +respect, an extremely refined sense of hearing, as if they had +been initiated into the profoundest secrets of the musical art. +It was a matter of every day's experience, that patients showed a +predilection for certain tarantellas, in preference to others, +which gave rise to the composition of a great variety of these +dances. They were likewise very capricious in their partialities +for particular instruments; so that some longed for the shrill +notes of the trumpet, others for the softest music produced by the +vibration of strings. + +Tarantism was at its greatest height in Italy in the seventeenth +century, long after the St. Vitus's Dance of Germany had +disappeared. It was not the natives of the country only who were +attacked by this complaint. Foreigners of every colour and of +every race, negroes, gipsies, Spaniards, Albanians, were in like +manner affected by it. Against the effects produced by the +tarantula's bite, or by the sight of the sufferers, neither youth +nor age afforded any protection; so that even old men of ninety +threw aside their crutches at the sound of the tarantella, and, as +if some magic potion, restorative of youth and vigour, were +flowing through their veins, joined the most extravagant dancers. +Ferdinando saw a boy five years old seized with the dancing mania, +in consequence of the bite of a tarantula, and, what is almost +past belief, were it not supported by the testimony of so credible +an eye-witness, even deaf people were not exempt from this +disorder, so potent in its effect was the very sight of those +affected, even without the exhilarating emotions caused by music. + +Subordinate nervous attacks were much more frequent during this +century than at any former period, and an extraordinary icy +coldness was observed in those who were the subject of them; so +that they did not recover their natural heat until they had +engaged in violent dancing. Their anguish and sense of oppression +forced from them a cold perspiration; the secretion from the +kidneys was pale, and they had so great a dislike to everything +cold, that when water was offered them they pushed it away with +abhorrence. Wine, on the contrary, they all drank willingly, +without being heated by it, or in the slightest degree +intoxicated. During the whole period of the attack they suffered +from spasms in the stomach, and felt a disinclination to take food +of any kind. They used to abstain some time before the expected +seizures from meat and from snails, which they thought rendered +them more severe, and their great thirst for wine may therefore in +some measure be attributable to the want of a more nutritious +diet; yet the disorder of the nerves was evidently its chief +cause, and the loss of appetite, as well as the necessity for +support by wine, were its effects. Loss of voice, occasional +blindness, vertigo, complete insanity, with sleeplessness, +frequent weeping without any ostensible cause, were all usual +symptoms. Many patients found relief from being placed in swings +or rocked in cradles; others required to be roused from their +state of suffering by severe blows on the soles of their feet; +others beat themselves, without any intention of making a display, +but solely for the purpose of allaying the intense nervous +irritation which they felt; and a considerable number were seen +with their bellies swollen, like those of the St. John's dancers, +while the violence of the intestinal disorder was indicated in +others by obstinate constipation or diarrhoea and vomiting. These +pitiable objects gradually lost their strength and their colour, +and creeping about with injected eyes, jaundiced complexions, and +inflated bowels, soon fell into a state of profound melancholy, +which found food and solace in the solemn tolling of the funeral +bell, and in an abode among the tombs of cemeteries, as is related +of the Lycanthropes of former times. + +The persuasion of the inevitable consequences of being bitten by +the tarantula, exercised a dominion over men's minds which even +the healthiest and strongest could not shake off. So late as the +middle of the sixteenth century, the celebrated Fracastoro found +the robust bailiff of his landed estate groaning, and, with the +aspect of a person in the extremity of despair, suffering the very +agonies of death from a sting in the neck, inflicted by an insect +which was believed to be a tarantula. He kindly administered +without delay a potion of vinegar and Armenian bole, the great +remedy of those days for the plague of all kinds of animal +poisons, and the dying man was, as if by a miracle, restored to +life and the power of speech. Now, since it is quite out of the +question that the bole could have anything to do with the result +in this case, notwithstanding Fracastoro's belief in its virtues, +we can only account for the cure by supposing, that a confidence +in so great a physician prevailed over this fatal disease of the +imagination, which would otherwise have yielded to scarcely any +other remedy except the tarantella. Ferdinando was acquainted +with women who, for thirty years in succession, had overcome the +attacks of this disorder by a renewal of their annual dance--so +long did they maintain their belief in the yet undestroyed poison +of the tarantula's bite, and so long did that mental affection +continue to exist, after it had ceased to depend on any corporeal +excitement. + +Wherever we turn, we find that this morbid state of mind +prevailed, and was so supported by the opinions of the age, that +it needed only a stimulus in the bite of the tarantula, and the +supposed certainty of its very disastrous consequences, to +originate this violent nervous disorder. Even in Ferdinando's +time there were many who altogether denied the poisonous effects +of the tarantula's bite, whilst they considered the disorder, +which annually set Italy in commotion, to be a melancholy +depending on the imagination. They dearly expiated this +scepticism, however, when they were led, with an inconsiderate +hardihood, to test their opinions by experiment; for many of them +became the subjects of severe tarantism, and even a distinguished +prelate, Jo. Baptist Quinzato, Bishop of Foligno, having allowed +himself, by way of a joke, to be bitten by a tarantula, could +obtain a cure in no other way than by being, through the influence +of the tarantella, compelled to dance. Others among the clergy, +who wished to shut their ears against music, because they +considered dancing derogatory to their station, fell into a +dangerous state of illness by thus delaying the crisis of the +malady, and were obliged at last to save themselves from a +miserable death by submitting to the unwelcome but sole means of +cure. Thus it appears that the age was so little favourable to +freedom of thought, that even the most decided sceptics, incapable +of guarding themselves against the recollection of what had been +presented to the eye, were subdued by a poison, the powers of +which they had ridiculed, and which was in itself inert in its +effect. + + +SECT. 5--HYSTERIA + + +Different characteristics of the morbidly excited vitality having +been rendered prominent by tarantism in different individuals, it +could not but happen that other derangements of the nerves would +assume the form of this whenever circumstances favoured such a +transition. This was more especially the case with hysteria, that +proteiform and mutable disorder, in which the imaginations, the +superstitions, and the follies of all ages have been evidently +reflected. The "Carnevaletto delle Donne" appeared most +opportunely for those who were hysterical. Their disease received +from it, as it had at other times from other extraordinary +customs, a peculiar direction; so that, whether bitten by the +tarantula or not, they felt compelled to participate in the dances +of those affected, and to make their appearance at this popular +festival, where they had an opportunity of triumphantly exhibiting +their sufferings. Let us here pause to consider the kind of life +which the women in Italy led. Lonely, and deprived by cruel +custom of social intercourse, that fairest of all enjoyments, they +dragged on a miserable existence. Cheerfulness and an inclination +to sensual pleasures passed into compulsory idleness, and, in +many, into black despondency. Their imaginations became +disordered--a pallid countenance and oppressed respiration bore +testimony to their profound sufferings. How could they do +otherwise, sunk as they were in such extreme misery, than seize +the occasion to burst forth from their prisons and alleviate their +miseries by taking part in the delights of music? Nor should we +here pass unnoticed a circumstance which illustrates, in a +remarkable degree, the psychological nature of hysterical +sufferings, namely, that many chlorotic females, by joining the +dancers at the Carnevaletto, were freed from their spasms and +oppression of breathing for the whole year, although the corporeal +cause of their malady was not removed. After such a result, no +one could call their self-deception a mere imposture, and +unconditionally condemn it as such. + +This numerous class of patients certainly contributed not a little +to the maintenance of the evil, for their fantastic sufferings, in +which dissimulation and reality could scarcely be distinguished +even by themselves, much less by their physicians, were imitated +in the same way as the distortions of the St. Vitus's dancers by +the impostors of that period. It was certainly by these persons +also that the number of subordinate symptoms was increased to an +endless extent, as may be conceived from the daily observation of +hysterical patients who, from a morbid desire to render themselves +remarkable, deviate from the laws of moral propriety. Powerful +sexual excitement had often the most decided influence over their +condition. Many of them exposed themselves in the most indecent +manner, tore their hair out by the roots, with howling and +gnashing of their teeth; and when, as was sometimes the case, +their unsatisfied passion hurried them on to a state of frenzy, +they closed their existence by self destruction; it being common +at that time for these unfortunate beings to precipitate +themselves into the wells. + +It might hence seem that, owing to the conduct of patients of this +description, so much of fraud and falsehood would be mixed up with +the original disorder that, having passed into another complaint, +it must have been itself destroyed. This, however, did not happen +in the first half of the seventeenth century; for, as a clear +proof that tarantism remained substantially the same and quite +unaffected by hysteria, there were in many places, and in +particular at Messapia, fewer women affected than men, who, in +their turn, were in no small proportion led into temptation by +sexual excitement. In other places, as, for example, at Brindisi, +the case was reversed, which may, as in other complaints, be in +some measure attributable to local causes. Upon the whole it +appears, from concurrent accounts, that women by no means enjoyed +the distinction of being attacked by tarantism more frequently +than men. + +It is said that the cicatrix of the tarantula bite, on the yearly +or half-yearly return of the fit, became discoloured, but on this +point the distinct testimony of good observers is wanting to +deprive the assertion of its utter improbability. + +It is not out of place to remark here that, about the same time +that tarantism attained its greatest height in Italy, the bite of +venomous spiders was more feared in distant parts of Asia likewise +than it had ever been within the memory of man. There was this +difference, however--that the symptoms supervening on the +occurrence of this accident were not accompanied by the Apulian +nervous disorder, which, as has been shown in the foregoing pages, +had its origin rather in the melancholic temperament of the +inhabitants of the south of Italy than in the nature of the +tarantula poison itself. This poison is therefore, doubtless, to +be considered only as a remote cause of the complaint, which, but +for that temperament, would be inadequate to its production. The +Persians employed a very rough means of counteracting the bad +consequences of a poison of this sort. They drenched the wounded +person with milk, and then, by a violent rotatory motion in a +suspended box, compelled him to vomit. + + +SECT. 6--DECREASE + + +The Dancing Mania, arising from the tarantula bite, continued with +all those additions of self-deception and of the dissimulation +which is such a constant attendant on nervous disorders of this +kind, through the whole course of the seventeenth century. It was +indeed, gradually on the decline, but up to the termination of +this period showed such extraordinary symptoms that Baglivi, one +of the best physicians of that time, thought he did a service to +science by making them the subject of a dissertation. He repeats +all the observations of Ferdinando, and supports his own +assertions by the experience of his father, a physician at Lecce, +whose testimony, as an eye-witness, may be admitted as +unexceptionable. + +The immediate consequences of the tarantula bite, the supervening +nervous disorder, and the aberrations and fits of those who +suffered from hysteria, he describes in a masterly style, not does +he ever suffer his credulity to diminish the authenticity of his +account, of which he has been unjustly accused by later writers. + +Finally, tarantism has declined more and more in modern times, and +is now limited to single cases. How could it possibly have +maintained itself unchanged in the eighteenth century, when all +the links which connected it with the Middle Ages had long since +been snapped asunder? Imposture grew more frequent, and wherever +the disease still appeared in its genuine form, its chief cause, +namely, a peculiar cast of melancholy, which formerly had been the +temperament of thousands, was now possessed only occasionally by +unfortunate individuals. It might, therefore, not unreasonably be +maintained that the tarantism of modern times bears nearly the +same relation to the original malady as the St. Vitus's dance +which still exists, and certainly has all along existed, bears, in +certain cases, to the original dancing mania of the dancers of St. +John. + +To conclude. Tarantism, as a real disease, has been denied in +toto, and stigmatised as an imposition by most physicians and +naturalists, who in this controversy have shown the narrowness of +their views and their utter ignorance of history. In order to +support their opinion they have instituted some experiments +apparently favourable to it, but under circumstances altogether +inapplicable, since, for the most part, they selected as the +subjects of them none but healthy men, who were totally +uninfluenced by a belief in this once so dreaded disease. From +individual instances of fraud and dissimulation, such as are found +in connection with most nervous affections without rendering their +reality a matter of any doubt, they drew a too hasty conclusion +respecting the general phenomenon, of which they appeared not to +know that it had continued for nearly four hundred years, having +originated in the remotest periods of the Middle Ages. The most +learned and the most acute among these sceptics is Serao the +Neapolitan. His reasonings amount to this, that he considers the +disease to be a very marked form of melancholia, and compares the +effect of the tarantula bite upon it to stimulating with spurs a +horse which is already running. The reality of that effect he +thus admits, and, therefore, directly confirms what in appearance +only he denies. By shaking the already vacillating belief in this +disorder he is said to have actually succeeded in rendering it +less frequent, and in setting bounds to imposture; but this no +more disproves the reality of its existence than the oft repeated +detection of imposition has been able in modern times to banish +magnetic sleep from the circle of natural phenomena, though such +detection has, on its side, rendered more rare the incontestable +effects of animal magnetism. Other physicians and naturalists +have delivered their sentiments on tarantism, but as they have not +possessed an enlarged knowledge of its history their views do not +merit particular exposition. It is sufficient for the +comprehension of everyone that we have presented the facts from +all extraneous speculation. + + + +CHAPTER III--THE DANCING MANIA IN ABYSSINIA + + + +SECT. 1--TIGRETIER + + +Both the St. Vitus's dance and tarantism belonged to the ages in +which they appeared. They could not have existed under the same +latitude at any other epoch, for at no other period were the +circumstances which prepared the way for them combined in a +similar relation to each other, and the mental as well as +corporeal temperaments of nations, which depend on causes such as +have been stated, are as little capable of renewal as the +different stages of life in individuals. This gives so much the +more importance to a disease but cursorily alluded to in the +foregoing pages, which exists in Abyssinia, and which nearly +resembles the original mania of the St. John's dancers, inasmuch +as it exhibits a perfectly similar ecstasy, with the same violent +effect on the nerves of motion. It occurs most frequently in the +Tigre country, being thence call Tigretier, and is probably the +same malady which is called in Ethiopian language Astaragaza. On +this subject we will introduce the testimony of Nathaniel Pearce, +an eye-witness, who resided nine years in Abyssinia. "The +Tigretier," he says he, "is more common among the women than among +the men. It seizes the body as if with a violent fever, and from +that turns to a lingering sickness, which reduces the patients to +skeletons, and often kills them if the relations cannot procure +the proper remedy. During this sickness their speech is changed +to a kind of stuttering, which no one can understand but those +afflicted with the same disorder. When the relations find the +malady to be the real tigretier, they join together to defray the +expense of curing it; the first remedy they in general attempt is +to procure the assistance of a learned Dofter, who reads the +Gospel of St. John, and drenches the patient with cold water daily +for the space of seven days, an application that very often proves +fatal. The most effectual cure, though far more expensive than +the former, is as follows:- The relations hire for a certain sum +of money a band of trumpeters, drummers, and fifers, and buy a +quantity of liquor; then all the young men and women of the place +assemble at the patient's house to perform the following most +extraordinary ceremony. + +"I was once called in by a neighbour to see his wife, a very young +woman, who had the misfortune to be afflicted with this disorder; +and the man being an old acquaintance of mine, and always a close +comrade in the camp, I went every day, when at home, to see her, +but I could not be of any service to her, though she never refused +my medicines. At this time I could not understand a word she +said, although she talked very freely, nor could any of her +relations understand her. She could not bear the sight of a book +or a priest, for at the sight of either she struggled, and was +apparently seized with acute agony, and a flood of tears, like +blood mingled with water, would pour down her face from her eyes. +She had lain three months in this lingering state, living upon so +little that it seemed not enough to keep a human body alive; at +last her husband agreed to employ the usual remedy, and, after +preparing for the maintenance of the band during the time it would +take to effect the cure, he borrowed from all his neighbours their +silver ornaments, and loaded her legs, arms and neck with them. + +"The evening that the band began to play I seated myself close by +her side as she lay upon the couch, and about two minutes after +the trumpets had begun to sound I observed her shoulders begin to +move, and soon afterwards her head and breast, and in less than a +quarter of an hour she sat upon her couch. The wild look she had, +though sometimes she smiled, made me draw off to a greater +distance, being almost alarmed to see one nearly a skeleton move +with such strength; her head, neck, shoulders, hands and feet all +made a strong motion to the sound of the music, and in this manner +she went on by degrees, until she stood up on her legs upon the +floor. Afterwards she began to dance, and at times to jump about, +and at last, as the music and noise of the singers increased, she +often sprang three feet from the ground. When the music slackened +she would appear quite out of temper, but when it became louder +she would smile and be delighted. During this exercise she never +showed the least symptom of being tired, though the musicians were +thoroughly exhausted; and when they stopped to refresh themselves +by drinking and resting a little she would discover signs of +discontent. + +"Next day, according to the custom in the cure of this disorder, +she was taken into the market-place, where several jars of maize +or tsug were set in order by the relations, to give drink to the +musicians and dancers. When the crowd had assembled, and the +music was ready, she was brought forth and began to dance and +throw herself into the maddest postures imaginable, and in this +manner she kept on the whole day. Towards evening she began to +let fall her silver ornaments from her neck, arms, and legs, one +at a time, so that in the course of three hours she was stripped +of every article. A relation continually kept going after her as +she danced, to pick up the ornaments, and afterwards delivered +them to the owners from whom they were borrowed. As the sun went +down she made a start with such swiftness that the fastest runner +could not come up with her, and when at the distance of about two +hundred yards she dropped on a sudden as if shot. Soon afterwards +a young man, on coming up with her, fired a matchlock over her +body, and struck her upon the back with the broad side of his +large knife, and asked her name, to which she answered as when in +her common senses--a sure proof of her being cured; for during the +time of this malady those afflicted with it never answer to their +Christian names. She was now taken up in a very weak condition +and carried home, and a priest came and baptised her again in the +name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, which ceremony concluded +her cure. Some are taken in this manner to the market-place for +many days before they can be cured, and it sometimes happens that +they cannot be cured at all. I have seen them in these fits dance +with a BRULY, or bottle of maize, upon their heads without +spilling the liquor, or letting the bottle fall, although they +have put themselves into the most extravagant postures. + +"I could not have ventured to write this from hearsay, nor could I +conceive it possible, until I was obliged to put this remedy in +practice upon my own wife, who was seized with the same disorder, +and then I was compelled to have a still nearer view of this +strange disorder. I at first thought that a whip would be of some +service, and one day attempted a few strokes when unnoticed by any +person, we being by ourselves, and I having a strong suspicion +that this ailment sprang from the weak minds of women, who were +encouraged in it for the sake of the grandeur, rich dress, and +music which accompany the cure. But how much was I surprised, the +moment I struck a light blow, thinking to do good, to find that +she became like a corpse, and even the joints of her fingers +became so stiff that I could not straighten them; indeed, I really +thought that she was dead, and immediately made it known to the +people in the house that she had fainted, but did not tell them +the cause, upon which they immediately brought music, which I had +for many days denied them, and which soon revived her; and I then +left the house to her relations to cure her at my expense, in the +manner I have before mentioned, though it took a much longer time +to cure my wife than the woman I have just given an account of. +One day I went privately, with a companion, to see my wife dance, +and kept at a short distance, as I was ashamed to go near the +crowd. On looking steadfastly upon her, while dancing or jumping, +more like a deer than a human being, I said that it certainly was +not my wife; at which my companion burst into a fit of laughter, +from which he could scarcely refrain all the way home. Men are +sometimes afflicted with this dreadful disorder, but not +frequently. Among the Amhara and Galla it is not so common." + +Such is the account of Pearce, who is every way worthy of credit, +and whose lively description renders the traditions of former +times respecting the St. Vitus's dance and tarantism intelligible, +even to those who are sceptical respecting the existence of a +morbid state of the mind and body of the kind described, because, +in the present advanced state of civilisation among the nations of +Europe, opportunities for its development no longer occur. The +credibility of this energetic but by no means ambitious man is not +liable to the slightest suspicion, for, owing to his want of +education, he had no knowledge of the phenomena in question, and +his work evinces throughout his attractive and unpretending +impartiality. + +Comparison is the mother of observation, and may here elucidate +one phenomenon by another--the past by that which still exists. +Oppression, insecurity, and the influence of a very rude +priestcraft, are the powerful causes which operated on the Germans +and Italians of the Middle Ages, as they now continue to operate +on the Abyssinians of the present day. However these people may +differ from us in their descent, their manners and their customs, +the effects of the above mentioned causes are the same in Africa +as they were in Europe, for they operate on man himself +independently of the particular locality in which he may be +planted; and the conditions of the Abyssinians of modern times is, +in regard to superstition, a mirror of the condition of the +European nations of the middle ages. Should this appear a bold +assertion it will be strengthened by the fact that in Abyssinia +two examples of superstitions occur which are completely in +accordance with occurrences of the Middle Ages that took place +contemporarily with the dancing mania. THE ABYSSINIANS HAVE THEIR +CHRISTIAN FLAGELLANTS, AND THERE EXISTS AMONG THEM A BELIEF IN A +ZOOMORPHISM, WHICH PRESENTS A LIVELY IMAGE OF THE LYCANTHROPY OF +THE MIDDLE AGES. Their flagellants are called Zackarys. They are +united into a separate Christian fraternity, and make their +processions through the towns and villages with great noise and +tumult, scourging themselves till they draw blood, and wounding +themselves with knives. They boast that they are descendants of +St. George. It is precisely in Tigre, the country of the +Abyssinian dancing mania, where they are found in the greatest +numbers, and where they have, in the neighbourhood of Axum, a +church of their own, dedicated to their patron saint, Oun Arvel. +Here there is an ever-burning lamp, and they contrive to impress a +belief that this is kept alight by supernatural means. They also +here keep a holy water, which is said to be a cure for those who +are affected by the dancing mania. + +The Abyssinian Zoomorphism is a no less important phenomenon, and +shows itself a manner quite peculiar. The blacksmiths and potters +form among the Abyssinians a society or caste called in Tigre +TEBBIB, and in Amhara BUDA, which is held in some degree of +contempt, and excluded from the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, +because it is believed that they can change themselves into +hyaenas and other beasts of prey, on which account they are feared +by everybody, and regarded with horror. They artfully contrive to +keep up this superstition, because by this separation they +preserve a monopoly of their lucrative trades, and as in other +respects they are good Christians (but few Jews or Mahomedans live +among them), they seem to attach no great consequence to their +excommunication. As a badge of distinction they wear a golden +ear-ring, which is frequently found in the ears of Hyaenas that +are killed, without its having ever been discovered how they catch +these animals, so as to decorate them with this strange ornament, +and this removes in the minds of the people all doubt as to the +supernatural powers of the smiths and potters. To the Budas is +also ascribed the gift of enchantment, especially that of the +influence of the evil eye. They nevertheless live unmolested, and +are not condemned to the flames by fanatical priests, as the +lycanthropes were in the Middle Ages. + + + +CHAPTER IV--SYMPATHY + + + +Imitation--compassion--sympathy, these are imperfect designations +for a common bond of union among human beings--for an instinct +which connects individuals with the general body, which embraces +with equal force reason and folly, good and evil, and diminishes +the praise of virtue as well as the criminality of vice. In this +impulse there are degrees, but no essential differences, from the +first intellectual efforts of the infant mind, which are in a +great measure based on imitation, to that morbid condition of the +soul in which the sensible impression of a nervous malady fetters +the mind, and finds its way through the eye directly to the +diseased texture, as the electric shock is propagated by contact +from body to body. To this instinct of imitation, when it exists +in its highest degree, is united a loss of all power over the +will, which occurs as soon as the impression on the senses has +become firmly established, producing a condition like that of +small animals when they are fascinated by the look of a serpent. +By this mental bondage morbid sympathy is clearly and definitely +distinguished from all subordinate degrees of this instinct, +however closely allied the imitation of a disorder may seem to be +to that of a mere folly, of an absurd fashion, of an awkward habit +in speech and manner, or even of a confusion of ideas. Even these +latter imitations, however, directed as they are to foolish and +pernicious objects, place the self-independence of the greater +portion of mankind in a very doubtful light, and account for their +union into a social whole. Still more nearly allied to morbid +sympathy than the imitation of enticing folly, although often with +a considerable admixture of the latter, is the diffusion of +violent excitements, especially those of a religious or political +character, which have so powerfully agitated the nations of +ancient and modern times, and which may, after an incipient +compliance, pass into a total loss of power over the will, and an +actual disease of the mind. Far be it from us to attempt to +awaken all the various tones of this chord, whose vibrations +reveal the profound secrets which lie hid in the inmost recesses +of the soul. We might well want powers adequate to so vast an +undertaking. Our business here is only with that morbid sympathy +by the aid of which the dancing mania of the Middle Ages grew into +a real epidemic. In order to make this apparent by comparison, it +may not be out of place, at the close of this inquiry, to +introduce a few striking examples:- + +1. "At a cotton manufactory at Hodden Bridge, in Lancashire, a +girl, on the fifteenth of February, 1787, put a mouse into the +bosom of another girl, who had a great dread of mice. The girl +was immediately thrown into a fit, and continued in it, with the +most violent convulsions, for twenty-four hours. On the following +day three more girls were seized in the same manner, and on the +17th six more. By this time the alarm was so great that the whole +work, in which 200 or 300 were employed, was totally stopped, and +an idea prevailed that a particular disease had been introduced by +a bag of cotton opened in the house. On Sunday the 18th, Dr. St. +Clare was sent for from Preston; before he arrived three more were +seized, and during that night and the morning of the 19th, eleven +more, making in all twenty-four. Of these, twenty-one were young +women, two were girls of about ten years of age, and one man, who +had been much fatigued with holding the girls. Three of the +number lived about two miles from the place where the disorder +first broke out, and three at another factory at Clitheroe, about +five miles distant, which last and two more were infected entirely +from report, not having seen the other patients, but, like them +and the rest of the country, strongly impressed with the idea of +the plague being caught from the cotton. The symptoms were +anxiety, strangulation, and very strong convulsions; and these +were so violent as to last without any intermission from a quarter +of an hour to twenty-four hours, and to require four or five +persons to prevent the patients from tearing their hair and +dashing their heads against the floor or walls. Dr. St. Clare had +taken with him a portable electrical machine, and by electric +shocks the patients were universally relieved without exception. +As soon as the patients and the country were assured that the +complaint was merely nervous, easily cured, and not introduced by +the cotton, no fresh person was affected. To dissipate their +apprehensions still further, the best effects were obtained by +causing them to take a cheerful glass and join in a dance. On +Tuesday the 20th, they danced, and the next day were all at work, +except two or three, who were much weakened by their fits." + +The occurrence here described is remarkable on this account, that +there was no important predisposing cause for convulsions in these +young women, unless we consider as such their miserable and +confined life in the work-rooms of a spinning manufactory. It did +not arise from enthusiasm, nor is it stated that the patients had +been the subject of any other nervous disorders. In another +perfectly analogous case, those attacked were all suffering from +nervous complaints, which roused a morbid sympathy in them at the +sight of a person seized with convulsions. This, together with +the supervention of hysterical fits, may aptly enough be compared +to tarantism. + +2. "A young woman of the lowest order, twenty-one years of age, +and of a strong frame, came on the 13th of January, 1801, to visit +a patient in the Charite Hospital at Berlin, where she had herself +been previously under treatment for an inflammation of the chest +with tetanic spasms, and immediately on entering the ward, fell +down in strong convulsions. At the sight of her violent +contortions six other female patients immediately became affected +in the same way, and by degrees eight more were in like manner +attacked with strong convulsions. All these patients were from +sixteen to twenty-five years of age, and suffered without +exception, one from spasms in the stomach, another from palsy, a +third from lethargy, a fourth from fits with consciousness, a +fifth from catalepsy, a sixth from syncope, &c. The convulsions, +which alternated in various ways with tonic spasms, were +accompanied by loss of sensibility, and were invariably preceded +by languor with heavy sleep, which was followed by the fits in the +course of a minute or two; and it is remarkable that in all these +patients their former nervous disorders, not excepting paralysis, +disappeared, returning, however, after the subsequent removal of +their new complaint. The treatment, during the course of which +two of the nurses, who were young women, suffered similar attacks, +was continued for four months. It was finally successful, and +consisted principally in the administration of opium, at that time +the favourite remedy. + +Now every species of enthusiasm, every strong affection, every +violent passion, may lead to convulsions--to mental disorders--to +a concussion of the nerves, from the sensorium to the very finest +extremities of the spinal chord. The whole world is full of +examples of this afflicting state of turmoil, which, when the mind +is carried away by the force of a sensual impression that destroys +its freedom, is irresistibly propagated by imitation. Those who +are thus infected do not spare even their own lives, but as a +hunted flock of sheep will follow their leader and rush over a +precipice, so will whole hosts of enthusiasts, deluded by their +infatuation, hurry on to a self-inflicted death. Such has ever +been the case, from the days of the Milesian virgins to the modern +associations for self-destruction. Of all enthusiastic +infatuations, however, that of religion is the most fertile in +disorders of the mind as well as of the body, and both spread with +the greatest facility by sympathy. The history of the Church +furnishes innumerable proofs of this, but we need go no further +than the most recent times. + +3. In a methodist chapel at Redruth, a man during divine service +cried out with a loud voice, "What shall I do to be saved?" at the +same time manifesting the greatest uneasiness and solicitude +respecting the condition of his soul. Some other members of the +congregation, following his example, cried out in the same form of +words, and seemed shortly after to suffer the most excruciating +bodily pain. This strange occurrence was soon publicly known, and +hundreds of people who had come thither, either attracted by +curiosity or a desire from other motives to see the sufferers, +fell into the same state. The chapel remained open for some days +and nights, and from that point the new disorder spread itself, +with the rapidity of lightning, over the neighbouring towns of +Camborne, Helston, Truro, Penryn and Falmouth, as well as over the +villages in the vicinity. Whilst thus advancing, it decreased in +some measure at the place where it had first appeared, and it +confined itself throughout to the Methodist chapels. It was only +by the words which have been mentioned that it was excited, and it +seized none but people of the lowest education. Those who were +attacked betrayed the greatest anguish, and fell into convulsions; +others cried out, like persons possessed, that the Almighty would +straightway pour out His wrath upon them, that the wailings of +tormented spirits rang in their ears, and that they saw hell open +to receive them. The clergy, when in the course of their sermons +they perceived that persons were thus seized, earnestly exhorted +them to confess their sins, and zealously endeavoured to convince +them that they were by nature enemies to Christ; that the anger of +God had therefore fallen upon them; and that if death should +surprise them in the midst of their sins the eternal torments of +hell would be their portion. The over-excited congregation upon +this repeated their words, which naturally must have increased the +fury of their convulsive attacks. When the discourse had produced +its full effect the preacher changed his subject; reminded those +who were suffering of the power of the Saviour, as well as of the +grace of God, and represented to them in glowing colours the joys +of heaven. Upon this a remarkable reaction sooner or later took +place. Those who were in convulsions felt themselves raised from +the lowest depths of misery and despair to the most exalted bliss, +and triumphantly shouted out that their bonds were loosed, their +sins were forgiven, and that they were translated to the wonderful +freedom of the children of God. In the meantime their convulsions +continued, and they remained during this condition so abstracted +from every earthly thought that they stayed two and sometimes +three days and nights together in the chapels, agitated all the +time by spasmodic movements, and taking neither repose nor +nourishment. According to a moderate computation, 4,000 people +were, within a very short time, affected with this convulsive +malady. + +The course and symptoms of the attacks were in general as +follows:- There came on at first a feeling of faintness, with +rigour and a sense of weight at the pit of the stomach, soon after +which the patient cried out, as if in the agonies of death or the +pains of labour. The convulsions then began, first showing +themselves in the muscles of the eyelids, though the eyes +themselves were fixed and staring. The most frightful contortions +of the countenance followed, and the convulsions now took their +course downwards, so that the muscles of the neck and trunk were +affected, causing a sobbing respiration, which was performed with +great effort. Tremors and agitation ensued, and the patients +screamed out violently, and tossed their heads about from side to +side. As the complaint increased it seized the arms, and its +victims beat their breasts, clasped their hands, and made all +sorts of strange gestures. The observer who gives this account +remarked that the lower extremities were in no instance affected. +In some cases exhaustion came on in a very few minutes, but the +attack usually lasted much longer, and there were even cases in +which it was known to continue for sixty or seventy hours. Many +of those who happened to be seated when the attack commenced bent +their bodies rapidly backwards and forwards during its +continuance, making a corresponding motion with their arms, like +persons sawing wood. Others shouted aloud, leaped about, and +threw their bodies into every possible posture, until they had +exhausted their strength. Yawning took place at the commencement +in all cases, but as the violence of the disorder increased the +circulation and respiration became accelerated, so that the +countenance assumed a swollen and puffed appearance. When +exhaustion came on patients usually fainted, and remained in a +stiff and motionless state until their recovery. The disorder +completely resembled the St. Vitus's dance, but the fits sometimes +went on to an extraordinarily violent extent, so that the author +of the account once saw a woman who was seized with these +convulsions resist the endeavours of four or five strong men to +restrain her. Those patients who did not lose their consciousness +were in general made more furious by every attempt to quiet them +by force, on which account they were in general suffered to +continue unmolested until nature herself brought on exhaustion. +Those affected complained more or less of debility after the +attacks, and cases sometimes occurred in which they passed into +other disorders; thus some fell into a state of melancholy, which, +however, in consequence of their religious ecstasy, was +distinguished by the absence of fear and despair; and in one +patient inflammation of the brain is said to have taken place. No +sex or age was exempt from this epidemic malady. Children five +years old and octogenarians were alike affected by it, and even +men of the most powerful frame were subject to its influence. +Girls and young women, however, were its most frequent victims. + +4. For the last hundred years a nervous affection of a perfectly +similar kind has existed in the Shetland Islands, which furnishes +a striking example, perhaps the only one now existing, of the very +lasting propagation by sympathy of this species of disorders. The +origin of the malady was very insignificant. An epileptic woman +had a fit in church, and whether it was that the minds of the +congregation were excited by devotion, or that, being overcome at +the sight of the strong convulsions, their sympathy was called +forth, certain it is that many adult women, and even children, +some of whom were of the male sex, and not more than six years +old, began to complain forthwith of palpitation, followed by +faintness, which passed into a motionless and apparently +cataleptic condition. These symptoms lasted more than an hour, +and probably recurred frequently. In the course of time, however, +this malady is said to have undergone a modification, such as it +exhibits at the present day. Women whom it has attacked will +suddenly fall down, toss their arms about, writhe their bodies +into various shapes, move their heads suddenly from side to side, +and with eyes fixed and staring, utter the most dismal cries. If +the fit happen on any occasion of pubic diversion, they will, as +soon as it has ceased, mix with their companions and continue +their amusement as if nothing had happened. Paroxysms of this +kind used to prevail most during the warm months of summer, and +about fifty years ago there was scarcely a Sabbath in which they +did not occur. Strong passions of the mind, induced by religious +enthusiasm, are also exciting causes of these fits, but like all +such false tokens of divine workings, they are easily encountered +by producing in the patient a different frame of mind, and +especially by exciting a sense of shame: thus those affected are +under the control of any sensible preacher, who knows how to +"administer to a mind diseased," and to expose the folly of +voluntarily yielding to a sympathy so easily resisted, or of +inviting such attacks by affectation. An intelligent and pious +minister of Shetland informed the physician, who gives an account +of this disorder as an eye-witness, that being considerably +annoyed on his first introduction into the country by these +paroxysms, whereby the devotions of the church were much impeded, +he obviated their repetition by assuring his parishioners that no +treatment was more effectual than immersion in cold water; and as +his kirk was fortunately contiguous to a freshwater lake, he gave +notice that attendants should be at hand during divine service to +ensure the proper means of cure. The sequel need scarcely be +told. The fear of being carried out of the church, and into the +water, acted like a charm; not a single Naiad was made, and the +worthy minister for many years had reason to boast of one of the +best regulated congregations in Scotland. As the physician above +alluded to was attending divine service in the kirk of Baliasta, +on the Isle of Unst, a female shriek, the indication of a +convulsion fit, was heard; the minister, Mr. Ingram, of Fetlar, +very properly stopped his discourse until the disturber was +removed; and after advising all those who thought they might be +similarly affected to leave the church, he gave out in the +meantime a psalm. The congregation was thus preserved from +further interruption; yet the effect of sympathy was not +prevented, for as the narrator of the account was leaving the +church he saw several females writhing and tossing about their +arms on the green grass, who durst not, for fear of a censure from +the pulpit, exhibit themselves after this manner within the sacred +walls of the kirk. + +In the production of this disorder, which no doubt still exists, +fanaticism certainly had a smaller share than the irritable state +of women out of health, who only needed excitement, no matter of +what kind, to throw them into prevailing nervous paroxysms. When, +however, that powerful cause of nervous disorders takes the lead, +we find far more remarkable symptoms developed, and it then +depends on the mental condition of the people among whom they +appear whether in their spread they shall take a narrow or an +extended range--whether confined to some small knot of zealots +they are to vanish without a trace, or whether they are to attain +even historical importance. + +5. The appearance of the Convulsionnaires in France, whose +inhabitants, from the greater mobility of their blood, have in +general been the less liable to fanaticism, is in this respect +instructive and worthy of attention. In the year 1727 there died +in the capital of that country the Deacon Paris, a zealous opposer +of the Ultramontanists, division having arisen in the French +Church on account of the bull "Unigenitus." People made frequent +visits to his tomb in the cemetery of St. Medard, and four years +afterwards (in September, 1731) a rumour was spread that miracles +took place there. Patients were seized with convulsions and +tetanic spasms, rolled upon the ground like persons possessed, +were thrown into violent contortions of their heads and limbs, and +suffered the greatest oppression, accompanied by quickness and +irregularity of pulse. This novel occurrence excited the greatest +sensation all over Paris, and an immense concourse of people +resorted daily to the above-named cemetery in order to see so +wonderful a spectacle, which the Ultramontanists immediately +interpreted as a work of Satan, while their opponents ascribed it +to a divine influence. The disorder soon increased, until it +produced, in nervous women, clairvoyance (Schlafwachen), a +phenomenon till then unknown; for one female especially attracted +attention, who, blindfold, and, as it was believed, by means of +the sense of smell, read every writing that was placed before her, +and distinguished the characters of unknown persons. The very +earth taken from the grave of the Deacon was soon thought to +possess miraculous power. It was sent to numerous sick persons at +a distance, whereby they were said to have been cured, and thus +this nervous disorder spread far beyond the limits of the capital, +so that at one time it was computed that there were more than +eight hundred decided Convulsionnaires, who would hardly have +increased so much in numbers had not Louis XV directed that the +cemetery should be closed. The disorder itself assumed various +forms, and augmented by its attacks the general excitement. Many +persons, besides suffering from the convulsions, became the +subjects of violent pain, which required the assistance of their +brethren of the faith. On this account they, as well as those who +afforded them aid, were called by the common title of Secourists. +The modes of relief adopted were remarkably in accordance with +those which were administered to the St. John's dancers and the +Tarantati, and they were in general very rough; for the sufferers +were beaten and goaded in various parts of the body with stones, +hammers, swords, clubs, &c., of which treatment the defenders of +this extraordinary sect relate the most astonishing examples in +proof that severe pain is imperatively demanded by nature in this +disorder as an effectual counter-irritant. The Secourists used +wooden clubs in the same manner as paviors use their mallets, and +it is stated that some Convulsionnaires have borne daily from six +to eight thousand blows thus inflicted without danger. One +Secourist administered to a young woman who was suffering under +spasm of the stomach the most violent blows on that part, not to +mention other similar cases which occurred everywhere in great +numbers. Sometimes the patients bounded from the ground, impelled +by the convulsions, like fish when out of water; and this was so +frequently imitated at a later period that the women and girls, +when they expected such violent contortions, not wishing to appear +indecent, put on gowns make like sacks, closed at the feet. If +they received any bruises by falling down they were healed with +earth from the grave of the uncanonised saint. They usually, +however, showed great agility in this respect, and it is scarcely +necessary to remark that the female sex especially was +distinguished by all kinds of leaping and almost inconceivable +contortions of body. Some spun round on their feet with +incredible rapidity, as is related of the dervishes; others ran +their heads against walls, or curved their bodies like rope- +dancers, so that their heels touched their shoulders. + +All this degenerated at length into decided insanity. A certain +Convulsionnaire, at Vernon, who had formerly led rather a loose +course of life, employed herself in confessing the other sex; in +other places women of this sect were seen imposing exercises of +penance on priests, during which these were compelled to kneel +before them. Others played with children's rattles, or drew about +small carts, and gave to these childish acts symbolical +significations. One Convulsionnaire even made believe to shave +her chin, and gave religious instruction at the same time, in +order to imitate Paris, the worker of miracles, who, during this +operation, and whilst at table, was in the habit of preaching. +Some had a board placed across their bodies, upon which a whole +row of men stood; and as, in this unnatural state of mind, a kind +of pleasure is derived from excruciating pain, some too were seen +who caused their bosoms to be pinched with tongs, while others, +with gowns closed at the feet, stood upon their heads, and +remained in that position longer than would have been possible had +they been in health. Pinault, the advocate, who belonged to this +sect, barked like a dog some hours every day, and even this found +imitation among the believers. + +The insanity of the Convulsionnaires lasted without interruption +until the year 1790, and during these fifty-nine years called +forth more lamentable phenomena that the enlightened spirits of +the eighteenth century would be willing to allow. The grossest +immorality found in the secret meetings of the believers a sure +sanctuary, and in their bewildering devotional exercises a +convenient cloak. It was of no avail that, in the year 1762, the +Grand Secours was forbidden by act of parliament; for thenceforth +this work was carried on in secrecy, and with greater zeal than +ever; it was in vain, too, that some physicians, and among the +rest the austere, pious Hecquet, and after him Lorry, attributed +the conduct of the Convulsionnaires to natural causes. Men of +distinction among the upper classes, as, for instance, Montgeron +the deputy, and Lambert an ecclesiastic (obt. 1813), stood forth +as the defenders of this sect; and the numerous writings which +were exchanged on the subject served, by the importance which they +thus attached to it, to give it stability. The revolution finally +shook the structure of this pernicious mysticism. It was not, +however, destroyed; for even during the period of the greatest +excitement the secret meetings were still kept up; prophetic +books, by Convulsionnaires of various denominations, have appeared +even in the most recent times, and only a few years ago (in 1828) +this once celebrated sect still existed, although without the +convulsions and the extraordinarily rude aid of the brethren of +the faith, which, amidst the boasted pre-eminence of French +intellectual advancement, remind us most forcibly of the dark ages +of the St. John's dancers. + +6. Similar fanatical sects exhibit among all nations of ancient +and modern times the same phenomena. An overstrained bigotry is +in itself, and considered in a medical point of view, a +destructive irritation of the senses, which draws men away from +the efficiency of mental freedom, and peculiarly favours the most +injurious emotions. Sensual ebullitions, with strong convulsions +of the nerves, appear sooner or later, and insanity, suicidal +disgust of life, and incurable nervous disorders, are but too +frequently the consequences of a perverse, and, indeed, +hypocritical zeal, which has ever prevailed, as well in the +assemblies of the Maenades and Corybantes of antiquity as under +the semblance of religion among the Christians and Mahomedans. + +There are some denominations of English Methodists which surpass, +if possible, the French Convulsionnaires; and we may here mention +in particular the Jumpers, among whom it is still more difficult +than in the example given above to draw the line between religious +ecstasy and a perfect disorder of the nerves; sympathy, however, +operates perhaps more perniciously on them than on other fanatical +assemblies. The sect of Jumpers was founded in the year 1760, in +the county of Cornwall, by two fanatics, who were, even at that +time, able to collect together a considerable party. Their +general doctrine is that of the Methodists, and claims our +consideration here only in so far as it enjoins them during their +devotional exercises to fall into convulsions, which they are able +to effect in the strangest manner imaginable. By the use of +certain unmeaning words they work themselves up into a state of +religious frenzy, in which they seem to have scarcely any control +over their senses. They then begin to jump with strange gestures, +repeating this exercise with all their might until they are +exhausted, so that it not unfrequently happens that women who, +like the Maenades, practise these religious exercises, are carried +away from the midst of them in a state of syncope, whilst the +remaining members of the congregations, for miles together, on +their way home, terrify those whom they meet by the sight of such +demoniacal ravings. There are never more than a few ecstatics, +who, by their example, excite the rest to jump, and these are +followed by the greatest part of the meeting, so that these +assemblages of the Jumpers resemble for hours together the wildest +orgies, rather than congregations met for Christian edification. + +In the United States of North America communities of Methodists +have existed for the last sixty years. The reports of credible +witnesses of their assemblages for divine service in the open air +(camp meetings), to which many thousands flock from great +distances, surpass, indeed, all belief; for not only do they there +repeat all the insane acts of the French Convulsionnaires and of +the English Jumpers, but the disorder of their minds and of their +nerves attains at these meetings a still greater height. Women +have been seen to miscarry whilst suffering under the state of +ecstasy and violent spasms into which they are thrown, and others +have publicly stripped themselves and jumped into the rivers. +They have swooned away by hundreds, worn out with ravings and +fits; and of the Barkers, who appeared among the Convulsionnaires +only here and there, in single cases of complete aberration of +intellect, whole bands are seen running on all fours, and growling +as if they wished to indicate, even by their outward form, the +shocking degradation of their human nature. At these camp- +meetings the children are witnesses of this mad infatuation, and +as their weak nerves are with the greatest facility affected by +sympathy, they, together with their parents, fall into violent +fits, though they know nothing of their import, and many of them +retain for life some severe nervous disorder which, having arisen +from fright and excessive excitement, will not afterwards yield to +any medical treatment. + +But enough of these extravagances, which even in our now days +embitter the live of so many thousands, and exhibit to the world +in the nineteenth century the same terrific form of mental +disturbance as the St. Vitus's dance once did to the benighted +nations of the Middle Ages. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg eText of The Black Death and The Dancing Mania +by Hecker + diff --git a/old/bdadm10.zip b/old/bdadm10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..de205e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/bdadm10.zip |