CHAPTER I.

Produced by Turgut Dincer, Robert Tonsing, Linda Cantoni

and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at

https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images

generously made available by The Internet Archive)

THE

EPIDEMICS

OF

THE MIDDLE AGES.

FROM THE GERMAN OF

J. F. C. HECKER, M.D.

PROFESSOR AT FREDERICK WILLIAM’S UNIVERSITY AT BERLIN,

AND MEMBER OF VARIOUS LEARNED SOCIETIES IN

ALBANY, BERLIN, BONN, COPENHAGEN, DIJON, DRESDEN, ERLANGEN, HANAU,

HEIDELBERG, LEIPZIG, LONDON, LYONS, MARSEILLES, METZ, NAPLES,

NEW YORK, OFFENBURG, PHILADELPHIA, STOCKHOLM,

TOULOUSE, WARSAW AND ZURICH.

TRANSLATED BY

B. G. BABINGTON, M.D. F.R.S.,

ETC.

LONDON

MDCCCXLIV

LONDON:

GEORGE WOODFALL AND SON,

ANGEL COURT, SKINNER STREET

GENERAL PREFACE.

The Council of the SYDENHAM SOCIETY having deemed Hecker’s three

treatises on different Epidemics occurring in the Middle Ages worthy

of being collected into a volume, and laid before its members in an

English dress, I have felt much pleasure in presenting them with the

copyright of the Black Death; in negociating for them, the purchase

of that of the Dancing Mania, whereof I could resign only my share of

a joint interest; and, in preparing for the press these productions,

together with a translation, now for the first time made public, of the

Sweating Sickness. This last work, from its greater length, and from

the immediate relation of its chief subject to our own country, may be

considered the most interesting and important of the series.

Professor Hecker is generally acknowledged to be the most learned

medical historian, and one of the most able medical writers in Germany.

His numerous works suffice to show not only with what zeal he has

laboured, but also how highly his labours have been appreciated by his

countrymen; and when I state that, with one trifling exception, they

have all been translated into other languages, I furnish a fair proof

of the estimation in which they are held in foreign countries; and,

so far at least as regards the originals, a full justification of the

Council of the Sydenham Society in their choice on the present occasion.

The “Schwarze Tod,” or “Black Death,” was published in 1832; and I

was prompted to undertake its translation, from a belief that it

would prove interesting at a moment when another fearful epidemic, the

Cholera, with which it admitted of comparison in several particulars,

was fresh in the memory of men. The “Tanzwuth,” or “Dancing Mania,”

came out shortly afterwards; and, as it appeared to me that, though

relating to a less terrific visitation, it possessed an equal share of

interest, and, holding a kind of middle place between a physical and a

moral pestilence, furnished subject of contemplation for the general

as well as the professional reader, I determined on adding it also to

our common stock of medical literature. When the “Englische Schweiss,”

or “Sweating Sickness,” which contained much collateral matter little

known in England, and which completed the history of the principal

epidemics of the middle ages, appeared in 1834, I proceeded to finish

my task; but failing in the accomplishment of certain arrangements

connected with its publication, I laid aside my translation for the

time under a hope, which has at length been fulfilled, that at some

future more auspicious moment, it might yet see the light.

It must not be supposed that the author, in thus taking up the history

of three of the most important epidemics of the middle ages, although

he has illustrated them by less detailed notices of several others,

considers that he has exhausted his subject; on the contrary, it is his

belief, that, in order to come at the secret springs of these general

morbific influences, a most minute as well as a most extended survey

of them, such as can be made only by the united efforts of many, is

required. He would seem to aim at collecting together such a number of

facts from the medical history of all countries and of all ages, as may

at length enable us to deal with epidemics in the same way as Louis has

dealt with individual diseases; and thus by a numerical arrangement of

data, together with a just consideration of their relative value, to

arrive at the discovery of general laws. The present work, therefore,

is but one stone of an edifice, for the construction of which he

invites medical men in all parts of the world to furnish materials[1].

Whether the information which could be collected even by the most

diligent and extensive research would prove sufficiently copious and

accurate to enable us to pursue this method with complete success,

may be a matter of doubt; but it is at least probable, that many

valuable facts, now buried in oblivion, would thus be brought to

light; and the incidental results, as often occurs in the pursuit of

science, might prove as serviceable as those which were the direct

object of discovery. Of what immense importance, for instance, in the

fourteenth century, would a general knowledge have been of the simple

but universal circumstance, that in all severe epidemics, from the

time of Thucydides[2] to the present day, a false suspicion has been

entertained by the vulgar, that the springs or provisions have been

poisoned, or the air infected by some supposed enemies to the common

weal. How many thousands of innocent lives would thus have been spared,

which were barbarously sacrificed under this absurd notion?

Whether Hecker’s call for aid in his undertaking has, in any instance,

been answered by the physicians of Germany, I know not; but he will

be as much pleased to learn, as I am to inform him, that it was

the perusal of the “Black Death” which suggested to Dr. Simpson of

Edinburgh the idea of collecting materials for a history of the

Leprosy, as it existed in Great Britain during the middle ages; and

that this author’s very learned and interesting antiquarian researches

on that subject, as published in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical

Journal, have been the valuable, and, I trust, will not prove the

solitary result.

As the three treatises, now comprised for the first time under the

title of “The Epidemics of the Middle Ages,” came out at different

periods, I have thought it best to prefix to each the original preface

of the author; and to the two which have already been published in

English, that of the translator also; while Hecker’s Address to the

Physicians of Germany, although written before the publication of the

“Englische Schweiss,” forms an appropriate substitute for an author’s

general preface to the whole volume.

At the end of the “Black Death,” I had originally given, as No. III.

of the Appendix, some copious extracts from Caius’ “Boke or Counseill

against the Disease commonly called the Sweate or Sweatyng Sicknesse;”

but this little treatise is so characteristic of the times in which

it was written, so curious, so short, and so very scarce[3], that I

have thought it worth while, with the permission of the council of our

Society, to reprint it entire, and to add it in its more appropriate

place, as an Appendix to the Sweating Sickness.

ADDRESS

TO THE

PHYSICIANS OF GERMANY.

BY J. F. C. HECKER.

It has long been my earnest desire to address my honoured colleagues,

especially those with whom I feel myself connected by congeniality

of sentiment, in order to impress on them a subject in which science

is deeply interested, and which, according to the direct evidence

of Nature herself, is one of the most exalted and important that

can be submitted to the researches of the learned. I allude to the

investigation of Epidemic Diseases, on a scale commensurate with the

extent of our exertions in other departments, and worthy of the age

in which we live. It is, with justice, required of medical men, since

their sole business is with life, that they should regard it in a

right point of view. They are expected to have a perception of life,

as it exists individually and collectively: in the former, to bear in

mind the general system of creation; in the latter, to demonstrate the

connexion and signification of the individual phenomena,—to discern

the one by the aid of the other, and thus to penetrate, with becoming

reverence, into the sanctuary of cosmical and microcosmical science.

This expectation is not extravagant, and the truth of the principles

which the medical explorer of nature deduces from it, is so obvious,

that it seems scarcely possible that any doubts should be entertained

on the subject.

Yet we may ask, Has medical science as it exists in our days, with all

the splendour which surrounds it, with all the perfection of which it

boasts, satisfied this demand? This question we are obliged to answer

in the negative.

Let us consider only the doctrine of diseases, which has been

cultivated since the commencement of scientific study. It has grown

up amid the illumination of knowledge and the gloom of ignorance; it

has been nurtured by the storms of centuries; its monuments of ancient

and modern times cannot be numbered, and it speaks clearly to the

initiated, in the languages of all civilized nations. Yet, hitherto, it

has given an account only of individual diseases, so far as the human

mind can discern their nature. In this it has succeeded admirably, and

its success becomes every year greater and more extensive.

But if we extend our inquiries to the diseases of nations, and of the

whole human race, science is mute; as if it were not her province

to take cognizance of them, and shows us only an immeasurable and

unexplored country, which many suppose to be merely a barren desert,

because no one to whose voice they are wont to listen, gives any

information respecting it. Small is the number of those who have

traversed it; often have they arrested their steps, filled with

admiration at striking phenomena; have beheld inexhaustible mines

waiting only for the hand of the labourer, and, from contemplating the

development of collective organic life, which science nowhere else

displays to them on so magnificent a scale, have experienced all the

sacred joy of the naturalist to whom a higher source of knowledge has

been opened. Yet could they not make themselves heard in the noisy

tumult of the markets, and still less answer the innumerable questions

directed to them by many, as from one mouth, not indeed to inquire

after the truth, but to obtain a confirmation of an anciently received

opinion, which originated in the fifth century before our era.

Hence it is, that the doctrine of epidemics, surrounded by the other

flourishing branches of medicine, remains alone unfruitful—we might

almost say stunted in its growth. For, to the weighty opinions

of Hippocrates, to the doctrines of Fracastoro which contain

the experience of the much-tried Middle Ages, and lastly to the

observations of Sydenham, only trifling and isolated facts have been

added. Beyond these facts there exist, even up to the present times,

only assumptions, which might, long since, have been reduced to their

original nothingness, had that serious spirit of inquiry prevailed

which comprehends space and penetrates ages.

No epidemic ever prevailed during which the need of more accurate

information was not felt, and during which the wish of the learned was

not loudly expressed, to become acquainted with the secret springs

of such stupendous engines of destruction. Was the disease of a new

character?—the spirit of inquiry was roused among physicians; nor were

the most eminent of them ever deficient either in courage or in zeal

for investigation. When the glandular plague first made its appearance

as an universal epidemic, whilst the more pusillanimous, haunted by

visionary fears, shut themselves up in their closets, some physicians

at Constantinople, astonished at the phenomenon, opened the boils of

the deceased. The like has occurred both in ancient and modern times,

not without favourable results for science; nay, more matured views

excited an eager desire to become acquainted with similar or still

greater visitations among the ancients; but as later ages have always

been fond of referring to Grecian antiquity, the learned of those

times, from a partial and meagre predilection, were contented with the

descriptions of Thucydides, even where nature had revealed, in infinite

diversity, the workings of her powers.

These researches, if indeed they deserved that name, were never

scientific or comprehensive. They never seized but upon a part, and

no sooner had the mortality ceased, than the scarcely awakened zeal

relapsed into its former indifference to the interesting phenomena

of nature, in the same way as abstemiousness, which had ever been

practised during epidemics, only as a constrained virtue, gave

place, as soon as the danger was over, to unbridled indulgence. This

inconstancy might almost bring to our mind the pious Byzantines who, on

the shock of an earthquake, in 529, which appeared as the prognostic

of the great epidemic, prostrated themselves before their altars by

thousands, and sought to excel each other in Christian self-denial

and benevolence; but no sooner did they feel the ground firm beneath

their feet, than they again abandoned themselves, without remorse, to

all the vices of the metropolis. May I be pardoned for this comparison

of scientific zeal with other human excitements? Alas! even this is

a virtue which few practise for its own sake, and which, with the

multitude, stands quite as much in need as any other, of the incentives

of fear and reward.

But we are constrained to acknowledge that among our medical

predecessors, these incentives were scarcely ever sufficiently

powerful to induce them to leave us circumstantial and scientific

accounts of contemporary epidemics, which, nevertheless, have, even

in historical times, afflicted, in almost numberless visitations,

the whole human race. Still less did it occur to them to take a

more exalted stand, whence they could comprehend at one view, these

stupendous phenomena of organic collective life, wherein the whole

spirit of humanity powerfully and wonderfully moves, and thus regard

them as one whole, in which higher laws of nature, uniting together the

utmost diversity of individual parts, might be anticipated or perceived.

Here a wide, and almost unfathomable chasm occurs in the science of

medicine, which, in this age of mature judgment and multifarious

learning, cannot, as formerly, be overlooked. History alone can fill

it up; she alone can give to the doctrine of diseases that importance

without which its application is limited to occurrences of the moment;

whereas the development of the phenomena of life, during extensive

periods, is no less a problem of research for the philosopher, who

makes the boundless science of nature his study, than the revolutions

of the planet on which we move. In this region of inquiry the very

stones have a language, and the inscriptions are yet legible which,

before the creation of man, were engraved by organic life, in wondrous

forms on eternal tablets. Exalted ideas of the monuments of primæval

antiquity are here excited, and the forms of the antemundane ways and

creations of nature are conjured up from the inmost bosom of the earth,

in order to throw their bright beaming light upon the surface of the

present.

Medicine extends not so far. The remains of animals make us indeed

acquainted, even now, with diseases to which the brute creation was

subject long ere the waters overflowed, and the mountains sunk; but

the investigation which is our more immediate object, scarcely reaches

to the beginning of human culture. Records of remote and of proximate

eras, lie before us in rich abundance. They speak of the deviations

and destructions of human life, of exterminated and newly-formed

nations; they lay before us stupendous facts, which we are called

upon to recognise and expound in order to solve this exalted problem.

If physicians cannot boast of having unrolled these records with the

avidity of true explorers of Nature, they may find some excuse in the

nature of the inquiry—for the characters are dead, and the spirits of

which they are the magic symbols, manifest themselves only to him

who knows how to adjure them. Epidemics leave no corporeal traces;

whence their history is perhaps more intellectual than the science

of the Geologist, who, on his side, possesses the advantage of

treating on subjects which strike the senses, and are therefore more

attractive,—such as the impressions of plants no longer extant, and the

skeletons of lost races of animals. This, however, does not entirely

exculpate us from the charge of neglecting our science, in a quarter

where the most important facts are to be unveiled. It is high time to

make up for what has been left unaccomplished, if we would not remain

idle and mean-spirited in the rear of other naturalists.

I was animated by these and similar reflections, and excited too by

passing events, when I undertook to write the history of the “Black

Death.” With some anxiety, I sent this book into the world, for it

was scarcely to be expected that it would be everywhere received with

indulgence, since it belonged to an hitherto unknown department of

historical research, the utility of which might not be obvious in our

practical times. Yet I soon received encouragement, not only from

learned friends, but also from other men of distinguished merit, on

whose judgment I placed great reliance; and thus I was led to hope that

it was not in vain, and without some advantage to science, that I had

unveiled the dismal picture of a long departed age.

This work I have followed up by a treatise on a nervous disorder,

which, for the first time, appeared in the same century, as an

epidemic, with symptoms that can be accounted for only by the spirit of

the Middle Ages—symptoms which, in the manner of the diffusion of the

disease among thousands of people, and of its propagation for more than

two centuries, exercised a demoniacal influence over the human race,

yet in close, though uncongenial alliance, with kindlier feelings.

I have prepared materials for various other subjects, so far as the

resources at my disposal extend, and I may hope, if circumstances prove

favourable, to complete by degrees, the history of a more extensive

series of Epidemics on the same plan as the “Black Death,” and the

“Dancing Mania.”

Amid the accumulated materials which past ages afford, the powers and

the life of one individual, even with the aid of previous study, are

insufficient to complete a comprehensive history of Epidemics. The

zealous activity of many must be exerted if we would speedily possess

a work which is so much wanted in order that we may not encounter

new epidemics with culpable ignorance of analogous phenomena. How

often has it appeared on the breaking out of epidemics, as if the

experience of so many centuries had been accumulated in vain. Men gazed

at the phenomena with astonishment, and even before they had a just

perception of their nature, pronounced their opinions, which, as they

were divided into strongly opposed parties, they defended with all the

ardour of zealots, wholly unconscious of the majesty of all-governing

nature. In the descriptive branches of natural history, a person would

infallibly expose himself to the severest censure, who should attempt

to describe some hitherto unknown natural production, whether animal or

vegetable, if he were ignorant of the allied genera and species, and

perhaps neither a botanist nor zoologist; yet an analogous ignorance of

epidemics, in those who nevertheless discussed their nature, but too

frequently occurred, and men were insensible to the justest reproof.

Thus it has ever been, and for this reason we cannot apply to ourselves

in this department, the significant words of Bacon, that we are the

ancients, and our forefathers the moderns, for we are equally remote,

with them, from a scientific and comprehensive knowledge of epidemics.

This might, and ought to be otherwise, in an age which, in other

respects, may, with justice, boast of a rich diversity of knowledge,

and of a rapid progress in the natural sciences.

If in the form of an address to the physicians of Germany, I express

the wish to see such a melancholy state of things remedied, the

nature of the subject requires that, with the exception of the still

prevailing Cholera, remarkable universal epidemics should be selected

for investigation. They form the grand epochs, according to which

those epidemics which are less extensive, but not, on that account,

less worthy of observation, naturally range themselves. Far be it from

me to recommend any fixed series, or even the plan and method to be

pursued in treating the subject. It would, perhaps, be, on the whole,

most advantageous, if my honoured Colleagues, who attend to this

request, were to commence with those epidemics for which they possess

complete materials, and that entirely according to their own plan,

without adopting any model for imitation, for in this manner simple

historical truth will be best elicited. Should it, however, be found

impracticable to furnish historical descriptions of entire epidemics,

a task often attended with difficulties, interesting fragments of all

kinds, for which there are rich treasures in MSS. and scarce works in

various places, would be no less welcome and useful towards the great

object of preparing a collective history of epidemics.

Up to the present moment, it might almost seem that the most

essential preliminaries are wanting for the accomplishment of such

an undertaking. The study of medical history is everywhere at a low

ebb;—in France and England scarcely a trace remains, to the most

serious detriment of the whole domain of medicine; in Germany too,

there are but few who suspect what inexhaustible stores of instructive

truth are lying dormant within their power; they may, perhaps,

class them among theoretical doctrines, and commend the laborious

investigation of them without being willing to recognise their spirit.

None of the Universities of Germany, whose business it ought to be

to provide, in this respect, for the prosperity of the inheritance

committed to their charge, can boast a Professor’s chair for the

History of Medicine; nay, in many, it is so entirely unknown, that it

is not even regarded as an object of secondary importance, so that it

is to be apprehended that the fame of German erudition, may, at least

in medicine, gradually vanish, and our medical knowledge become, as

practical indeed, but at the same time as assuming, as mechanical,

and as defective, as that of France and England. Even those noble

institutions, the Academies, in which the spirit of the eighteenth

century still lingers, and whose more peculiar province it is to

explore the rich pages of science, have not entered upon the history

of Epidemics, and by their silence have encouraged the unfounded and

injurious supposition, that this field is desolate and unfruitful.

All these obstacles are indeed great, but to determined and persevering

exertion they are not insuperable; and, though we cannot conceal them

from ourselves, we should not allow them to daunt our spirit. There is,

in Germany, a sufficiency of intellectual power to overcome them; let

this power be combined, and exert itself in active co-operation. Sooner

or later a new road must be opened for Medical Science. Should the time

not yet have arrived, I have at least endeavoured to discharge my duty,

by attempting to point out its future direction.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

GENERAL PREFACE v

HECKER’S ADDRESS ix

THE BLACK DEATH.

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE xxiii

PREFACE xxvii

CHAPTER I.

General Observations 1

CHAPTER II.

The Disease 2

CHAPTER III.

Causes—Spread 11

CHAPTER IV.

Mortality 21

CHAPTER V.

Moral Effects 32

CHAPTER VI.

Physicians 50

APPENDIX:—

I. The Ancient Song of the Flagellants 68

II. Examination of the Jews accused of poisoning the Wells 74

THE DANCING MANIA.

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE 81

PREFACE 85

CHAPTER I.

DANCING MANIA IN GERMANY AND THE NETHERLANDS.

Sect. 1.—St. John’s Dance 87

2.—St. Vitus’s Dance 91

3.—Causes 94

4.—More ancient Dancing Plagues 97

5.—Physicians 100

6.—Decline and Termination of the Dancing Plague 103

CHAPTER II.

DANCING MANIA IN ITALY.

Sect. 1.—Tarantism 107

2.—Most Ancient Traces.—Causes 110

3.—Increase 116

4.—Idiosyncracies.—Music 119

5.—Hysteria 126

6.—Decrease 129

CHAPTER III.

DANCING MANIA IN ABYSSINIA.

Sect. 1.—Tigretier 133

CHAPTER IV.

Sympathy 139

APPENDIX:—

I. Extract from “Vita Gregorii XI.,” &c. 153

II. From “Chronicon Magnum,” &.c 154

III. From “die Limburger Chronik,” &c. 155

IV. From “die Chronica van Coellen,” &c. 156

V. From “an Account of Convulsive Diseases in Scotland,” &c. 157

VI. Music for the Dance of the Tarantati, &c. 167

THE SWEATING SICKNESS.

PAGE

PREFACE 177

CHAPTER I.

FIRST VISITATION. 1485.

Sect. 1.—Eruption 181

2.—The Physicians 185

3.—Causes 187

4.—Other Epidemics 188

5.—Richmond’s Army 190

6.—Nature of the Sweating Sickness.—Preliminary

Investigation 191

CHAPTER II.

SECOND VISITATION. 1506.

Sect. 1.—Mercenary Troops 193

2.—New Circumstances 196

3.—Sweating Sickness 197

4.—Accompanying Phenomena 198

5.—Petechial Fever in Italy. 1505 199

6.—Other Diseases 203

7.—Blood Spots 205

CHAPTER III.

THIRD VISITATION. 1517.

Sect. 1.—Poverty 208

2.—Sweating Sickness 209

3.—Causes 211

4.—Habits of the English 212

5.—Contagion 215

6.—Influenzas 218

7.—Epidemics of 1517 223

CHAPTER IV.

FOURTH VISITATION. 1528, 1529.

Sect. 1.—Destruction of the French Army before Naples, 1528 228

2.—Trousse-Galant in France, 1528, and the following years 235

3.—Sweating Sickness in England, 1528 238

4.—Natural Occurrences.—Prognostics 240

5.—Sweating Sickness in Germany, 1529 246

6.————————————————————— the Netherlands 254

7.————————————————————— Denmark, Sweden, and Norway 255

8.—Terror 257

9.—Moral Consequences 261

10.—The Physicians 264

11.—Pamphlets 270

12.—Form of the Disease 278

CHAPTER V.

FIFTH VISITATION. 1551.

Sect. 1.—Eruption 290

2.—Extension and Duration 291

3.—Causes.—Natural Phenomena 295

4.—Diseases 297

5.—John Kaye 301

CHAPTER VI.

SWEATING SICKNESSES.

Sect. 1.—The Cardiac Disease of the Ancients. (Morbus Cardiacus.) 306

2.—The Picardy Sweat. (Suette des Picards—Suette Miliaire.) 315

3.—The Roettingen Sweating Sickness 324

Chronological Survey 330

Catalogue of Works referred to 339

APPENDIX.—A Boke, or Counseill against the Disease commonly

called the Sweate, or Sweatyng Sicknesse. By

Jhon Caius 353

LIST OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS 381

THE BLACK DEATH.

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.

In reading Dr. Hecker’s account of the Black Death which destroyed so

large a portion of the human race in the fourteenth century, I was

struck, not only with the peculiarity of the Author’s views, but also

with the interesting nature of the facts which he has collected. Some

of these have never before been made generally known, while others

have passed out of mind, being effaced from our memories by subsequent

events of a similar kind, which, though really of less magnitude and

importance, have, in the perspective of time, appeared greater, because

they have occurred nearer to our own days.

Dreadful as was the pestilence here described, and in few countries

more so than in England, our modern historians only slightly allude to

its visitation:—Hume deems a single paragraph sufficient to devote to

its notice, and Henry and Rapin are equally brief.

It may not then be unacceptable to the medical, or even to the general

reader, to receive an authentic and somewhat detailed account of one of

the greatest natural calamities that ever afflicted the human race.

My chief motive, however, for translating this small work, and at

this particular period, has been a desire that, in the study of the

causes which have produced and propagated general pestilences, and of

the moral effects by which they have been followed, the most enlarged

views should be taken. The contagionist and the anti-contagionist may

each find ample support for his belief in particular cases; but in

the construction of a theory sufficiently comprehensive to explain

throughout, the origin and dissemination of universal disease, we

shall not only perceive the insufficiency of either doctrine, taken

singly, but after admitting the combined influence of both, shall even

then find our views too narrow, and be compelled, in our endeavours

to explain the facts, to acknowledge the existence of unknown powers,

wholly unconnected either with communication by contact or atmospheric

contamination.

I by no means wish it to be understood, that I have adopted the

author’s views respecting astral and telluric influences, the former of

which, at least, I had supposed to have been, with alchemy and magic,

long since consigned to oblivion; much less am I prepared to accede

to his notion, or rather an ancient notion derived from the East and

revived by him, of an organic life in the system of the universe. We

are constantly furnished with proofs, that that which affects life is

not itself alive; and whether we look to the earth for exhalations,

to the air for electrical phenomena, to the heavenly bodies for an

influence over our planet, or to all these causes combined, for the

formation of some unknown principle noxious to animal existence, still,

if we found our reasoning on ascertained facts, we can perceive nothing

throughout this vast field for physical research which is not evidently

governed by the laws of inert matter—nothing which resembles the

regular succession of birth, growth, decay, death, and regeneration,

observable in organized beings. To assume, therefore, causes of whose

existence we have no proof, in order to account for effects which,

after all, they do not explain, is making no real advance in knowledge,

and can scarcely be considered otherwise than an indirect method of

confessing our ignorance.

Still, however, I regard the author’s opinions, illustrated as they are

by a series of interesting facts diligently collected from authentic

sources, as, at least, worthy of examination before we reject them, and

valuable, as furnishing extensive data on which to build new theories.

I have another, perhaps I may be allowed to say a better, motive for

laying before my countrymen this narrative of the sufferings of past

ages,—that by comparing them with those of our own time, we may be made

the more sensible how lightly the chastening hand of Providence has

fallen on the present generation, and how much reason, therefore, we

have to feel grateful for the mercy shown us.

The publication has, with this view, been purposely somewhat delayed,

in order that it might appear at a moment when it is to be presumed

that men’s thoughts will be especially directed to the approaching

hour of public thanksgiving, and when a knowledge of that which they

have escaped, as well as of that which they have suffered, may tend to

heighten their devotional feelings on that solemn occasion.

When we learn that, in the fourteenth century, one quarter, at least,

of the population of the old world was swept away in the short space of

four years, and that some countries, England among the rest, lost more

than double that proportion of their inhabitants in the course of a few

months, we may well congratulate ourselves that our visitation has not

been like theirs, and shall not justly merit ridicule, if we offer our

humble thanks to the “Creator and Preserver of all mankind” for our

deliverance.

Nor would it disgrace our feelings, if, in expiation of the abuse

and obloquy not long since so lavishly bestowed by the public on the

medical profession, we should entertain some slight sense of gratitude

towards those members of the community, who were engaged, at the risk

of their lives and the sacrifice of their personal interests, in

endeavouring to arrest the progress of the evil, and to mitigate the

sufferings of their fellow men.

I have added, at the close of the Appendix, some extracts from a scarce

little work in black letter, called “A Boke or Counseill against the

Disease commonly called the Sweate or Sweatyng Sicknesse,” published

by Caius in 1552. This was written three years before his Latin

treatise on the same subject, and is so quaint, and, at the same time,

so illustrative of the opinions of his day, and even of those of the

fourteenth century, on the causes of universal diseases, that the

passages which I have quoted will not fail to afford some amusement as

well as instruction. If I have been tempted to reprint more of this

curious production than was necessary to my primary object, it has been

from a belief that it would be generally acceptable to the reader to

gather some particulars regarding the mode of living in the sixteenth

century, and to observe the author’s animadversions on the degeneracy

and credulity of the age in which he lived. His advice on the choice of

a medical attendant cannot be too strongly recommended, at least _by a

physician_; and his warning against quackery, particularly the quackery

of _painters_, who “scorne (_quære_ score?) you behind your backs with

their medicines, so filthy that I am ashamed to name them,” seems quite

prophetic.

In conclusion, I beg to acknowledge the obligation which I owe to my

friend Mr. H. E. Lloyd, whose intimate acquaintance with the German

language and literature will, I hope, be received as a sufficient

pledge that no very important errors remain in a translation which he

has kindly revised.

London, 1833.

PREFACE.

We here find an important page of the history of the world laid open

to our view. It treats of a convulsion of the human race, unequalled

in violence and extent. It speaks of incredible disasters, of despair

and unbridled demoniacal passions. It shews us the abyss of general

licentiousness, in consequence of an universal pestilence, which

extended from China to Iceland and Greenland.

The inducement to unveil this image of an age, long since gone by, is

evident. A new pestilence has attained almost an equal extent, and

though less formidable, has partly produced, partly indicated, similar

phenomena. Its causes and its diffusion over Asia and Europe, call on

us to take a comprehensive view of it, because it leads to an insight

into the organism of the world, in which the sum of organic life is

subject to the great powers of Nature. Now, human knowledge is not yet

sufficiently advanced, to discover the connexion between the processes

which occur above, and those which occur below, the surface of the

earth, or even fully to explore those laws of nature, an acquaintance

with which would be required; far less to apply them to great

phenomena, in which one spring sets a thousand others in motion.

On this side, therefore, such a point of view is not to be found, if

we would not lose ourselves in the wilderness of conjectures, of which

the world is already too full: but it may be found in the ample and

productive field of historical research.

History—that mirror of human life in all its bearings, offers, even for

general pestilences, an inexhaustible, though scarcely explored, mine

of facts; here too it asserts its dignity, as the philosophy of reality

delighting in truth.

It is conformable to its spirit to conceive general pestilences as

events affecting the whole world—to explain their phenomena by the

comparison of what is similar. Thus the facts speak for themselves,

because they appear to have proceeded from those higher laws which

govern the progression of the existence of mankind. A cosmical

origin and convulsive excitement, productive of the most important

consequences among the nations subject to them, are the most striking

features to which history points in all general pestilences. These,

however, assume very different forms, as well in their attacks on

the general organism, as in their diffusion; and in this respect a

development from form to form, in the course of centuries, is manifest,

so that the history of the world is divided into grand periods in which

positively defined pestilences prevailed. As far as our chronicles

extend, more or less certain information can be obtained respecting

them.

But this part of medical history, which has such a manifold and

powerful influence over the history of the world, is yet in its

infancy. For the honour of that science which should everywhere guide

the actions of mankind, we are induced to express a wish, that it may

find room to flourish amidst the rank vegetation with which the field

of German medical science is unhappily encumbered.

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 civilization. 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_[4].

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[5], whose own son, Andronikus, died

of this plague in Constantinople, notices great imposthumes[6] 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[7], which are no less produced by plague in all

its forms. In many cases, black spots[8] 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 stupified 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 would 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[9]. 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 (_anthraxartigen_)

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[10]; 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[11]. 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[12].

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[13]. 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[14] 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[15]; 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[16].

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[17], are opposed by another account, according to which the

mortal spitting of blood was met with in Germany[18]; 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 in the year 1349, only 16,000 people were carried

off, the generality expired by the third or fourth day[19]. 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[20]; and lastly, very frequent sudden deaths occurred on the coasts

of the North Sea and in Westphalia, without any further development of

the malady[21].

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 survived 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[22].

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, in two

days[23]. 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 as

sources of contagion[24], 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 annals of contemporaries report that

throughout the land only a tenth part of the inhabitants remained

alive[25].

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[26].

In Poland the infected were attacked with spitting of 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[27].

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[28].

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 14th 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[29], 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[30]. 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 his

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[31].

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 _black 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 so late as

the fourteenth day[32]. 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[33].

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 generalization 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 Hou-kouang

and Ho-nan, 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

thunder storms, were observed in the north of France; and so early

as the eventful year of 1333, an eruption of Etna took place[34].

According to the Chinese annals, 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 the 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-tcheou 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[35].

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[36].

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[37]; and there could be no deception in so

palpable a phenomenon[38]. The credibility of unadorned traditions,

however little they may satisfy physical research, can scarcely be

called in question when we consider the connexion 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 every

thing within a circumference of more than a hundred leagues, infecting

the air far and wide[39]. 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[40], 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 on

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 of 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[41].

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[42]. It is recorded that, during

this earthquake, the wine in the casks became turbid, a statement

which may be considered as furnishing a 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 shewn, 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[43].

These destructive earthquakes extended as far as the neighbourhood

of Basle[44], and recurred until the year 1360, throughout Germany,

France, Silesia, Poland, England and Denmark, and much further

north[45].

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[46]; 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[47], 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, floods and

failures in crops were so general, that few places were exempt from

them; and though an historian of this century assures us, that there

was an abundance in the granaries and storehouses[48], 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 bake-houses, from which, in April, ninety-four thousand loaves of

bread, each of twelve ounces in weight, were daily dispensed[49]. 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

mothers’ arms,—want, misery and despair, were general throughout

Christendom[50].

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 shewed 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 unfavourable 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

civilization of the European nations, in the most ancient and in modern

times, or that detrimental circumstances, which have yielded only to

the civilization 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[51]; hence there is

ground for supposing that it sprung 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 14th itself,

before it had half expired, was visited by five or six pestilences[52].

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 connexion

between Asia, Europe and Africa[53]. 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[54], 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[55], 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[56]; in Cesena, the 1st

of June[57]; 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[58]. 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[59]. Poland received the plague in 1349,

probably from Germany[60], 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 14th century. The people were yet

but little civilized. 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 feodal 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.

Kairo lost daily, when the plague was raging with its greatest

violence, from 10 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

Maara el 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[61]; 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[62]. 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[63]. Considering the occurrences of the 14th

and 15th 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[64]

In Venice 100,000[65]

In Marseilles, in one month 16,000[66]

In Siena 70,000[67]

In Paris 50,000[68]

In St. Denys 14,000[69]

In Avignon 60,000[70]

In Strasburg 16,000[71]

In Lübeck 9,000[72]

In Basle 14,000

In Erfurt, at least 16,000

In Weimar 5,000[73]

In Limburg 2,500[74]

In London, at least 100,000[75]

In Norwich 51,100[76]

To which may be added—

Franciscan Friars in Germany 124,434[77]

Minorites in Italy 30,000[78]

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.

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[79]. 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[80], were bereft of all their

inhabitants.

In many places in France not more than two out of twenty of the

inhabitants were left alive[81], and the capital felt the fury of the

plague, alike in the palace and the cot.

Two queens[82], one bishop[83], 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.

The churchyards were soon unable to contain the dead[84], 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[85]; so likewise, in all populous cities,

extraordinary measures were adopted, in order speedily to dispose

of the dead. In Vienna, where for some time 1200 inhabitants died

daily[86], 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[87], 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[88], 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[89]. 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[90] 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[91]; 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[92], 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[93]. 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 the dead, and to toll the bells at

their funerals, in order that the living might not abandon themselves

to despair[94].

We have more exact accounts of England; most of the great cities

suffered incredible losses; above all, Yarmouth, in which, 7052 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[95]. It is said, that in the whole

country, scarcely a tenth part remained alive[96]; 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[97]; 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 than 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[98].

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[99].

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[100]. 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[101], 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

an hundred of the pilgrims escaped[102].

Italy was, in consequence, depopulated anew; and those who returned,

spread poison and corruption of morals in all directions[103]. 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[104]; 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—Håken and Knut, half-brothers of King Magnus; and in

Westgothland alone, 466 priests[105]. 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[106]. 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[107].

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[108].

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 be

justified, amounted to at least 105,000,000 in the 16th 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 develope 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 every

thing 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 14th 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 treble 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[109]. Some writers of authority, as,

for example, the physician Savonarola[110], 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[111].

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[112], 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[113].

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 eye-witnesses, 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

14th 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[114], 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[115]. They marched through the cities, in well

organized 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[116]. 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 of the 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 the

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[117]. 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[118].

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

11th 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[119], 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

provinces 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[120].

In the year 1296, there was a great procession of the Flagellants in

Strasburg[121]; 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[122]. 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 13th and 14th

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 four pence 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 ancles. They then lay down

in a large circle, in different positions, according to the nature of

their 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[123]. 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[124]. One of them, in

conclusion, stood 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[125]. 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[126]. 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[127].

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[128], 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[129].

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 authorized; and, on pain of excommunication,

prohibited throughout Christendom the continuance of these

pilgrimages[130]. Philip VI., supported by the condemnatory judgment

of the Sorbonne, forbad their reception in France[131]. 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[132], and Preczlaw, of Breslaw, who condemned to

death one of their Masters, formerly a deacon; and, in conformity with

the barbarity of the times, had him publicly burnt[133]. In Westphalia,

where so shortly before they had venerated the Brothers of the Cross,

they now persecuted them with relentless severity[134]; 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[135].

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 12th

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[136]. They alone were considered as having brought this fearful

mortality upon the Christians[137]. 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 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 14th 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[138], 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 every body’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[139]. 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[140]. 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[141]. 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 inclosed 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[142]. 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[143]. Many, however,

refused to accept the base price of blood, and, indignant at the

scenes of blood-thirsty avarice, which made the infuriated multitude

forget[144] 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[145].

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[146]; and mothers were often seen throwing their

children on the pile, to prevent their being baptized, and then

precipitating themselves into the flames[147]. 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[148]. Many Jews who had embraced Christianity, repented of

their apostacy,—and, returning to their former faith, sealed it with

their death[149].

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[150]. 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[151]. Duke Albert of Austria burned 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[152]. 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[153]. 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[154]: 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 connexion 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.[155]; 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 the Rabbis and rich men[156]. Apparently there were but few

who did not consider this extravagant accusation well founded; indeed,

in many writings of the 14th 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[157].

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 families, 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 sooth 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 first 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 morn 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[158]: “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[159]. 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 14th 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 19th 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 14th 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 envelope 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 chamomile 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 sixth 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 is in general prejudicial. Going out at night, and even until

three o’clock in the morning, is dangerous, on account of the 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.”[160]

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 14th 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 14th 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 shewn 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 14th

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[161]. 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 every thing

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 laid 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[162]. 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 14th century[163]. 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[164], was general among the people[165]; 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[166].

Arrangements for the protection of the healthy against contagious

diseases, the necessity of which is shewn from these notions, were

regarded by the ancients as useful; and by many, 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 2nd 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[167]. This

mildness of the ancients, in whose manner of thinking inhumanity was

so often and so undisguisedly conspicuous, might excite surprise, if

it were any thing 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 moderns;

but this was shewn 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[168]. That the governments

in the 14th 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[169], 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, agreed

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 14th and 15th centuries omits an

opportunity of representing them as among the general prognostics

of great plagues; nor can we, for our parts, 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 alchymy, 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 the 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[170], 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[171]. 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 of 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[172]; 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[173]. 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[174].

Still more distinct notions on the causes of the plague were stated

to his contemporaries in the 14th century, by Galeazzo di Santa

Sofia, a learned man, a native of Padua, who likewise treated

plague-patients at Vienna[175], 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 every thing 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 14th and 15th centuries, but he has also promulgated an

opinion which must, even now, serve as a foundation for our scarcely

commenced investigations into cosmical influences[176]. _Pestilence_

and _epidemy_, consist not in alterations of the four primary

qualities[177], 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[178]. The

causes of the _pestilence_ and _epidemy_ are, first of all, astral

influences, especially on occasion 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[179], at the

present day.

In the exposition of his therapeutical views of the plague, a clearness

of intellect is again shewn 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 (venæ sectio

eradicativa). 2d, Strengthening of the heart and prevention of

putrescence. 3d, 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[180], a contemporary relative of

Galeazzo, on the prevention and treatment of plague, can have caused

much harm, although, perhaps, even in the 14th 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, shews that the

published views of the most celebrated physicians of the 14th 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 apologize

for many surgeons and physicians of his time, who neglected their

duty[181]. He asserted boldly, and with truth, “_that all epidemic

diseases might become contagious[182], 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 shewn 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[183]. 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[184]. He recommended burning the boils with a red-hot

iron, only in the plague without fever, which occurred in single

cases[185]; and was always ready to correct those over-hasty surgeons,

who, with fire and violent remedies, did irremediable injury to their

patients[186]. 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[187]. 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 15th and

16th centuries[188].

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 2dly, 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 14th 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 Jan. 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

any body. 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[189].”

These orders, in correspondence with the spirit of the 14th 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 barricado of three

houses in which the plague had broken out, maintained itself free from

the “_Great Mortality_,” for a considerable time[190]; 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 forbad the admission of people from infected places into his

territories, on pain of death[191]. 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, than the 14th; for when it broke out in Italy, in the year

1399, and still demanded new victims, it was for the 16th 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[192].

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 a 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 civilized society, have prevented it

from remaining domesticated; which it most probably was in the more

ancient times.

In the 15th century, during which it broke out seventeen times in

different places in Europe[193], 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 the perilous

profits of the merchant. Until towards the end of the 15th 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 forbad 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[194].

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 every thing 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[195]. Bills of health were probably first

introduced in the year 1527, during a fatal plague[196] 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[197]. Bills of health,

however, were not general until the year 1665[198].

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 fœtus, not to mention that

the alchymists 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

more modern times[199].

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 civilization 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 civilization, 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.

APPENDIX.

I.

Das alte Geisslerlied

NACH MASSMANN’S AUSGABE VON HERRN PROFESSOR LACHMANN MIT DER

HANDSCHRIFT VERGLICHEN.

Sve siner sele wille pleghen

De sal gelden unde weder geuen

So wert siner sele raed

Des help uns leue herre goed

Nu tredet here we botsen wille 5

Vle wi io de hetsen helle

Lucifer is en bose geselle

Sven her hauet

Mit peke he en lauet

Datz vle wi ef wir hauen sin 10

Des help uns maria koninghin

Das wir dines kindes hulde win

Jesus crist de wart ge vanghen

An en cruce wart he ge hanghen

Dat cruce wart des blodes rod 15

Wer klaghen sin marter unde sin dod

Sunder war mide wilt tu mi lonen

Dre negele unde en dornet crone

Das cruce vrone en sper en stich

Sunder datz leyd ich dor dich 20

Was wltu nu liden dor mich

So rope wir herre mit luden done

Unsen denst den nem to lone

Be hode uns vor der helle nod

Des bidde wi dich dor dinen dod 25

Dor god vor gete wi unse blot

Dat is uns tho den suden guot

Maria muoter koninginghe

Dor dines leuen kindes minne

Al unse nod si dir ghe klaghet 30

Des help uns moter maghet reyne.

De erde beuet och kleuen de steyne

Lebe hertze du salt weyne

Wir wenen trene mit den oghen

Unde hebben des so guden louen 35

Mit unsen sinnen unde mit hertzen

Dor uns leyd crist vil manighen smertzen

Nu slaed w sere

Dor cristus ere.

Dor god nu latet de sunde mere 40

Dor god nu latet de sunde varen

Se wil sich god ouer uns en barmen

Maria stund in grotzen noden

Do se ire leue kint sa doden

En svert dor ire sele snet 45

Sunder dat la di wesen led

In korter vrist

God tornich ist

Jesus wart gelauet mid gallen

Des sole wi an en cruce vallen 50

Er heuet uch mit uwen armen

Dat sic god ouer uns en barme

Jesus dorch dine namen dry

Nu make uns hir van sunde vry

Jesus dor dine wnden rod 55

Be hod uns vor den gehen dod

Dat he sende sinen geist

Und uns dat kortelike leist

De vrowe unde man ir e tobreken

Dat wil god selven an en wreken 60

Sveuel pik und och de galle

Dat gutet de duuel in se alle

Vor war sint se des duuels spot

Dor vor behode uns herre god

De e de ist en reyne leuen 65

De had uns god selven gheuen

Ich rade uch vrowen unde mannen

Dor god gy solen houard annen

Des biddet uch de arme sele

Dorch god nu latet houard mere 70

Dor god nu latet houard varen

So wil sich god ouer uns en barmen

Cristus rep in hemelrike

Sinen engelen al gelike

De cristenheit wil mi ent wichen 75

Des wil lan och se vor gaen

Marie bat ire kint so sere

Leue kint la se di boten

Dat wil ich sceppen dat se moten

Bekeren sich. 80

Des bidde ich dich

Gi logenere

Gy meynen ed sverer

Gi bichten reyne und lan de sunde uch ruwen

So wil sich god in uch vor nuwen 85

Owe du arme wokerere

Du bringest en lod up en punt

Dat senket din an der helle grunt

Ir morder und ir straten rouere

Ir sint dem leuen gode un mere 90

Ir ne wilt uch ouer nemende barmen

Des sin gy eweliken vor loren

Were dusse bote nicht ge worden

De cristenheit wer gar vorsunden

De leyde duuel had se ge bunden 95

Maria had lost unsen bant

Sunder ich saghe di leue mere

Sunte peter is portenere

Wende dich an en he letset dich in

He bringhet dich vor de koninghin 100

Leue herre sunte Michahel

Du bist en plegher aller sel

Be hode uns vor der helle nod

Dat do dor dines sceppers dod.

The Ancient Song of the Flagellants.

ACCORDING TO MASSMANN’S EDITION COMPARED WITH THE

MS. BY PROFESSOR LACHMANN.

(_Translation._)

Whoe’er to save his soul is fain,

Must pay and render back again.

His safety so shall he consult:

Help us, good Lord, to this result.

Ye that repent your crimes, draw nigh. 5

From the burning hell we fly,

From Satan’s wicked company.

Whom he leads

With pitch he feeds.

If we be wise we this shall flee. 10

Maria! Queen! we trust in thee,

To move thy Son to sympathy.

Jesus Christ was captive led,

And to the cross was riveted.

The cross was reddened with his gore 15

And we his martyrdom deplore.

“Sinner, canst thou to me atone.

Three pointed nails, a thorny crown,

The holy cross, a spear, a wound,

These are the cruel pangs I found. 20

What wilt thou, sinner, bear for me?”

Lord, with loud voice we answer thee,

Accept our service in return,

And save us lest in hell we burn.

We, through thy death, to thee have sued. 25

For God in heaven we shed our blood:

This for our sins will work to good.

Blessed Maria! Mother! Queen!

Through thy loved Son’s redeeming mean

Be all our wants to thee portrayed. 30

Aid us, Mother! spotless maid!

Trembles the earth, the rocks are rent[200],

Fond heart of mine, thou must relent.

Tears from our sorrowing eyes we weep;

Therefore so firm our faith we keep 35

With all our hearts—with all our senses.

Christ bore his pangs for our offences.

Ply well the scourge for Jesus’ sake,

And God through Christ your sins shall take.

For love of God abandon sin, 40

To mend your vicious lives begin,

So shall we his mercy win.

Direful was Maria’s pain

When she beheld her dear One slain.

Pierced was her soul as with a dart: 45

Sinner, let this affect thy heart.

The time draws near

When God in anger shall appear.

Jesus was refreshed with gall:

Prostrate crosswise let us fall, 50

Then with uplifted arms arise,

That God with us may sympathize.

Jesus, by thy titles three[201],

From our bondage set us free.

Jesus, by thy precious blood, 55

Save us from the fiery flood.

Lord, our helplessness defend,

And to our aid thy Spirit send.

If man and wife their vows should break

God will on such his vengeance wreak. 60

Brimstone and pitch, and mingled gall,

Satan pours on such sinners all.

Truly, the devil’s scorn are they:

Therefore, O Lord, thine aid we pray.

Wedlock’s an honourable tie 65

Which God himself doth sanctify.

By this warning, man, abide,

God shall surely punish pride.

Let your precious soul entreat you,

Lay down pride lest vengeance meet you. 70

I do beseech ye, pride forsake,

So God on us shall pity take.

Christ in heaven, where he commands,

Thus addressed his angel bands:—

“Christendom dishonours me, 75

Therefore her ruin I decree.”

Then Mary thus implored her Son:—

“Penance to thee, loved Child, be done;

That she repent be mine the care;

Stay then thy wrath, and hear my prayer.” 80

Ye liars!

Ye that break your sacrament,

Shrive ye throughly and repent.

Your heinous sins sincerely rue,

So shall the Lord your hearts renew. 85

Woe! usurer, though thy wealth abound,

For every ounce thou mak’st a pound

Shall sink thee to the hell profound.

Ye murd’rers, and ye robbers all,

The wrath of God on you shall fall, 90

Mercy ye ne’er to others shew,

None shall ye find; but endless woe.

Had it not been for our contrition,

All Christendom had met perdition.

Satan had bound her in his chain; 95

Mary hath loosed her bonds again.

Glad news I bring thee, sinful mortal,

In heaven Saint Peter keeps the portal,

Apply to him with suppliant mien,

He bringeth thee before thy Queen. 100

Benignant Michael, blessed saint,

Guardian of souls, receive our plaint.

Through thy Almighty Maker’s death,

Preserve us from the hell beneath.

II.

Examination of the Jews accused of poisoning the Wells[202].

_Answer from the Castellan of Chillon to the City of Strasburg,

together with a Copy of the Inquisition and Confession of

several Jews confined in the Castle of Chillon on suspicion of

poisoning. Anno 1348._

To the Honorable the Mayor, Senate and Citizens of the City of

Strasburg, the Castellan of Chillon, Deputy of the Bailiff of Chablais,

sendeth greeting with all due submission and respect.

• • • • •

Understanding that you desire to be made acquainted with the confession

of the Jews, and the proofs brought forward against them, I certify, by

these presents, to you, and each of you that desires to be informed,

that they of Berne have had a copy of the inquisition and confession

of the Jews who lately resided in the places specified, and who were

accused of putting poison into the wells and several other places: as

also the most conclusive evidence of the truth of the charge preferred

against them. Many Jews were put to the question, others being excused

from it, because they confessed, and were brought to trial and burnt.

Several Christians, also, who had poison given them by the Jews for

the purpose of destroying the Christians, were put on the wheel and

tortured. This burning of the Jews and torturing of the said Christians

took place in many parts of the county of Savoy.

Fare you well.

• • • • •

_The Confession made on the 15th day of September, in the

year of our Lord 1348, in the Castle of Chillon, by the Jews

arrested in Neustadt, on the Charge of Poisoning the Wells,

Springs and other places; also Food, &c., with the design of

destroying and extirpating all Christians._

I. Balavignus, a Jewish physician, inhabitant of Thonon, was arrested

at Chillon in consequence of being found in the neighbourhood. He was

put for a short time to the rack, and on being taken down, confessed,

after much hesitation, that, about ten weeks before, the Rabbi Jacob

of Toledo, who, because of a citation, had resided at Chamberi since

Easter, sent him, by a Jewish boy, some poison in the mummy of an

egg: it was a powder sewed up in a thin leathern pouch accompanied by

a letter, commanding him, on penalty of excommunication, and by his

required obedience to the law, to throw this poison into the larger

and more frequented wells of the town of Thonon, to poison those

who drew water there. He was further enjoined not to communicate

the circumstance to any person whatever, under the same penalty. In

conformity with this command of the Jewish rabbis and doctors of the

law, he, Balavignus, distributed the poison in several places, and

acknowledged having one evening placed a certain portion under a stone

in a spring on the shore at Thonon. He further confessed that the said

boy brought various letters of a similar import, addressed to others

of his nation, and particularly specified some directed severally to

Mossoiet, Banditon, and Samoleto of Neustadt; to Musseo Abramo and

Aquetus of Montreantz, Jews residing at Thurn in Vivey; to Benetonus

and his son at St. Moritz; to Vivianus Jacobus, Aquetus and Sonetus,

Jews at Aquani. Several letters of a like nature were sent to Abram

and Musset, Jews at Moncheoli; and the boy told him that he had taken

many others to different and distant places, but he did not recollect

to whom they were addressed. Balavignus further confessed that, after

having put the poison into the spring at Thonon, he had positively

forbidden his wife and children to drink the water, but had not thought

fit to assign a reason. He avowed the truth of this statement, and, in

the presence of several credible witnesses, swore by his law, and the

Five Books of Moses, to every item of his deposition.

On the day following, Balavignus, voluntarily and without torture,

ratified the above confession verbatim before many persons of

character, and, of his own accord, acknowledged that, on returning one

day from Tour near Vivey, he had thrown into a well below Mustruez,

namely that of La Conerayde, a quantity of the poison tied up in a rag,

given to him for the purpose by Aquetus of Montreantz, an inhabitant of

the said Tour: that he had acquainted Manssiono, and his son Delosaz,

residents of Neustadt, with the circumstance of his having done so, and

advertised them not to drink of the water. He described the colour of

the poison as being red and black.

On the nineteenth day of September, the above-named Balavignus

confessed, without torture, that about three weeks after Whitsuntide,

a Jew named Mussus told him that he had thrown poison into the well,

in the custom-house of that place, the property of the Borneller

family; and that he no longer drank the water of this well, but that

of the lake. He further deposed that Mussus informed him that he had

also laid some of the poison under the stones in the custom-house at

Chillon. Search was accordingly made in this well, and the poison

found: some of it was given to a Jew by way of trial, and he died

in consequence. He also stated that the rabbis had ordered him and

other Jews to refrain from drinking of the water for nine days after

the poison was infused into it; and immediately on having poisoned

the waters, he communicated the circumstance to the other Jews. He,

Balavignus, confessed that about two months previously, being at Evian,

he had some conversation on the subject with a Jew called Jacob, and,

among other things, asked him whether he also had received writings

and poison, and was answered in the affirmative; he then questioned

him whether he had obeyed the command, and Jacob replied that he had

not, but had given the poison to Savetus, a Jew, who had thrown it

into the Well de Morer at Evian. Jacob also desired him, Balavignus,

to execute the command imposed on him with due caution. He confessed

that Aquetus of Montreantz had informed him that he had thrown some of

the poison into the well above Tour, the water of which he sometimes

drank. He confessed that Samolet had told him that he had laid the

poison which he had received, in a well, which, however, he refused to

name to him. Balavignus, as a physician, further deposed that a person

infected by such poison coming in contact with another while in a state

of perspiration, infection would be the almost inevitable result; as

might also happen from the breath of an infected person. This fact

he believed to be correct, and was confirmed in his opinion by the

attestation of many experienced physicians. He also declared that none

of his community could exculpate themselves from this accusation, as

the plot was communicated to all; and that all were guilty of the above

charges. Balavignus was conveyed over the lake from Chillon to Clarens,

to point out the well into which he confessed having thrown the powder.

On landing, he was conducted to the spot; and, having seen the well,

acknowledged that to be the place, saying, “This is the well into which

I put the poison.” The well was examined in his presence, and the linen

cloth in which the poison had been wrapped was found in the wastepipe

by a notary-public named Heinrich Gerhard, in the presence of many

persons, and was shewn to the said Jew. He acknowledged this to be the

linen which had contained the poison, which he described as being of

two colours, red and black, but said that he had thrown it into the

open well. The linen cloth was taken away and is preserved.

Balavignus, in conclusion, attests the truth of all and every thing

as above related. He believes this poison to contain a portion of the

basilisk, because he had heard, and felt assured, that the above poison

could not be prepared without it.

• • • • •

II. Banditono, a Jew of Neustadt, was, on the fifteenth day of

September, subjected for a short time to the torture. After a long

interval, he confessed having cast a quantity of poison, about the size

of a large nut, given him by Musseus, a Jew, at Tour, near Vivey, into

the well of Carutet, in order to poison those who drank of it.

The following day, Banditono, voluntarily and without torture, attested

the truth of the aforesaid deposition; and also confessed that the

Rabbi Jacob von Pasche, who came from Toledo and had settled at

Chamberi, sent him, at Pilliex, by a Jewish servant, some poison about

the size of a large nut, together with a letter directing him to throw

the powder into the wells on pain of excommunication. He had therefore

thrown the poison, which was sown up in a leathern bag, into the well

of Cercliti de Roch; further, also, that he saw many other letters in

the hands of the servant addressed to different Jews; that he had also

seen the said servant deliver one, on the outside of the upper gate,

to Samuletus, the Jew, at Neustadt. He stated, also, that the Jew,

Massolet, had informed him that he had put poison into the well near

the bridge at Vivey.

• • • • •

III. The said Manssiono, Jew of Neustadt, was put upon the rack on

the fifteenth day of the same month, but refused to admit the above

charge, protesting his entire ignorance of the whole matter; but the

day following, he, voluntarily and without any torture, confessed,

in the presence of many persons, that he came from Mancheolo one day

in last Whitsun-week, in company with a Jew named Provenzal, and, on

reaching the well of Chabloz Crüez between Vyona and Mura, the latter

said, “You must put some of the poison which I will give you into that

well, or woe betide you!” He therefore took a portion of the powder

about the bigness of a nut, and did as he was directed. He believed

that the Jews in the neighbourhood of Evian had convened a council

among themselves relative to this plot, before Whitsuntide. He further

said that Balavignus had informed him of his having poisoned the well

de la Conerayde below Mustruez. He also affirmed his conviction of the

culpability of the Jews in this affair, stating that they were fully

acquainted with all the particulars, and guilty of the alleged crime.

On the third day of the October following, Manssiono was brought before

the commissioners, and did not in the least vary from his former

deposition, or deny having put the poison into the said wells.

The above-named Jews, prior to their execution, solemnly swore by

their Law to the truth of their several depositions, and declared that

all Jews whatsoever, from seven years old and upwards, could not be

exempted from the charge of guilt, as all of them were acquainted with

the plot, and more or less participators in the crime.

[_The seven other examinations scarcely differ from the above, except

in the names of the accused, and afford but little variety. We will,

therefore, only add a characteristic passage at the conclusion of this

document. The whole speaks for itself._]

There still remain numerous proofs and accusations against the

above-mentioned Jews: also against Jews and Christians in different

parts of the county of Savoy, who have already received the punishment

due to their heinous crime; which, however, I have not at hand, and

cannot therefore send you. I must add, that all the Jews of Neustadt

were burnt according to the just sentence of the law. At Augst, I was

present when three Christians were flayed on account of being accessory

to the plot of poisoning. Very many Christians were arrested for this

crime in various places in this country, especially at Evian, Gebenne,

Krusilien and Hochstett, who at last and in their dying moments were

brought to confess and acknowledge that they had received the poison

from the Jews. Of these Christians some have been quartered; others

flayed and afterwards hanged. Certain commissioners have been appointed

by the magistrates to enforce judgment against all the Jews; and I

believe that none will escape.

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

| FOOTNOTES: |

| |

| [1] I might here enlarge on the general importance of the study of |

| epidemics; but this has been so fully set forth in the author’s |

| Address to the Physicians of Germany, which immediately follows, as |

| well as in the Preface to the Sweating Sickness, at p. 177, that |

| any further observations on this subject would be superfluous on my |

| part. |

| |

| [2] στε καὶ ἐλέχθη ὑπ’ αὐτῶν ὡς οἱ Πελοποννήσιοι φάρμακα |

| ἐσβεβλήκοιεν ἐς τὰ φρέατα. _Thucyd. Hist._ B. ii. 49. “The disease |

| was attributed by the people to poison, and nothing apparently |

| could be more authentic than the reports that were spread of |

| miscreants taken in the act of putting poisonous drugs into the |

| food and drink of the common people.” Observations on the Cholera |

| in St. Petersburg, p. 9. by G. W. Lefevre, M.D. 8vo. 1831. |

| |

| [3] Only two copies are known to exist, one in the British Museum, |

| and one in the library of the College of Physicians. |

| |

| [4] La Mortalega Grande. _Matth. de Griffonibus._ _Muratori._ |

| Script. rer. Italicar. T. XVIII. p. 167. D. They were called by |

| others _Anguinalgia_. _Andr. Gratiol._ Discorso di Peste. Venet. |

| 1576. 4to. Swedish: _Diger-döden._ _Loccenii_ Histor. Suecan. L. |

| III. p. 104.—Danish: _den sorte Dod._ _Pontan._ Rer. Danicar. |

| Histor. L. VIII. p. 476.—Amstelod. 1631, fol. Icelandic: _Svatur |

| Daudi._ _Saabye_, Tagebuch in Grönland. Introduction XVIII. |

| _Mansa_, de Epidemiis maxime memorabilibus, quæ in Dania grassatæ |

| sunt, &c. Part I. p. 12. Havniæ, 1831, 8.—In Westphalia the name of |

| _de groete Doet_ was prevalent. _Meibom._ |

| |

| [5] _Joann. Cantacuzen._ Historiar. L. IV. c. 8. Ed. Paris. p. 730. |

| 5. The ex-emperor has indeed copied some passages from Thucydides, |

| as _Sprengel_ justly observes, (Appendix to the Geschichte der |

| Medicin. Vol. I. H. I. S. 73,) though this was most probably only |

| for the sake of rounding a period. This is no detriment to his |

| credibility, because his statements accord with the other accounts. |

| |

| [6] Ἀποστάσεις μεγάλαι. |

| |

| [7] Μελαίναι φλυκτίδες. |

| |

| [8] ὥσπερ στίγματα μέλανα. |

| |

| [9] _Guidon. de Cauliaco_ Chirurgia. Tract 11. c. 5. p. 113. Ed. |

| Lugdun. 1572. |

| |

| [10] Et fuit tantæ contagiositatis specialiter quæ fuit cum |

| sputo sanguinis, quod non solum morando, sed etiam inspiciendo |

| unus recipiebat ab alio: intantum quod gentes moriebantur sine |

| servitoribus, et sepeliebantur sine sacerdotibus, pater non |

| visitabat filium, nec filius patrem: charitas erat mortua, spes |

| prostrata. |

| |

| [11] _Deguignes_, Histoire générale des Huns, des Turcs, des |

| Mogols, &c. Tom. IV. Paris, 1758. 4to. p. 226. |

| |

| [12] Decameron. Giorn. I. Introd. |

| |

| [13] From this period black petechiæ have always been considered as |

| fatal in the plague. |

| |

| [14] A very usual circumstance in plague epidemics. |

| |

| [15] _Auger. de Biterris_, Vitæ Romanor. pontificum, _Muratori_ |

| Scriptor. rer. Italic. Vol. III. Pt. II. p. 556. |

| |

| [16] Contin. altera Chronici _Guillelmi de Nangis_ in _d’Acher_, |

| Spicilegium sive Collectio Veterum Scriptorum, &c. Ed. de la |

| _Barre_, Tom. III. p. 110. |

| |

| [17] “The people all died of boils and inflamed glands which |

| appeared under the arms and in the groins.” _Jac. v. Königshoven_, |

| the oldest Chronicle of Alsace and Strasburg, and indeed of all |

| Germany. Strasburg, 1698. 4. cap. 5, § 86. p. 301. |

| |

| [18] _Hainr. Rebdorff_, Annales, _Marq. Freher_. Germanicarum rerum |

| Scriptores. Francof. 1624. fol. p. 439. |

| |

| [19] _Königshoven_, in loc. cit. |

| |

| [20] Anonym. Leobiens. Chron. L. VI. in _Hier. Pez_, Scriptor. |

| rer. Austriac. Lips. 1721. fol. Tom. I. p. 970. The above named |

| appearances are here called, _rote sprinkel, swarcze erhubenn_ und |

| _druesz under den üchsen und ze den gemüchten_. |

| |

| [21] _Ubb. Emmiie_ rer. Frisiacar. histor. L. XIV. p. 203. Lugd. |

| Bat. 1616. fol. |

| |

| [22] _Guillelmus de Nangis_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [23] _Ant. Wood_, Historia et Antiquitates Universit. Oxoniens. |

| Oxon. 1764. fol. L. l. p. 172. |

| |

| [24] _Mezeray_, Histoire de France. Paris, 1685. fol. T. II. p. 418. |

| |

| [25] _Barnes_, who has given a lively picture of the black plague, |

| in England, taken from the Registers of the 14th century, describes |

| the external symptoms in the following terms: knobs or swellings |

| in the groin or under the armpits, called kernels, biles, blains, |

| blisters, pimples, wheals or plague-sores. The Hist. of Edw. III. |

| Cambridge, 1688, fol. p. 432. |

| |

| [26] _Torfæus_, Historia rerum Norvegicarum. Hafn. 1711. fol. |

| L. ix. c. 8. p. 478. This author has followed _Pontanus_ (Rerum |

| Danicar. Historia. Amstelod. 1631. fol.) who has given only a |

| general account of the plague in Denmark, and nothing respecting |

| its symptoms. |

| |

| [27] _Dlugoss_, vide Longini Histor. polonic. L. xii. Lips. 1711. |

| fol. T. I. p. 1086. |

| |

| [28] _W. M. Richter_, Geschichte der Medicin in Russland. Moskwa, |

| 1813, 8. p. 215. _Richter_ has taken his information on the black |

| plague in Russia, from authentic Russian MSS. |

| |

| [29] Compare on this point, _Balling’s_ treatise “Zur Diagnostik |

| der Lungenerweichung.” Vol XVI. ii. 3. p. 257 of litt. Annalen der |

| ges. Heilkunde. |

| |

| [30] It is expressly ascertained with respect to Avignon and |

| Paris, that uncleanliness of the streets increased the plague |

| considerably. _Raim. Chalin de Vinario._ |

| |

| [31] _De Peste_ Libri tres, opera _Jacobi Dalechampii_ in lucem |

| editi. Lugduni, 1552. 16. p. 35. _Dalechamp_ has only improved the |

| language of this work, adding nothing to it but a preface in the |

| form of two letters. _Raymond Chalin de Vinario_ was contemporary |

| with _Guy de Chauliac_ at Avignon. He enjoyed a high reputation, |

| and was in very affluent circumstances. He often makes mention |

| of cardinals and high officers of the papal court, whom he had |

| treated; and it is even probable, though not certain, that he was |

| physician to Clement VI. (1342–1352), Innocent VI. (1352–1362), and |

| Urban V. (1362–1370). He and _Guy de Chauliac_ never mention each |

| other. |

| |

| [32] _Dalechamp_, p. 205—where, and at pp. 32–36, the |

| plague-eruptions are mentioned in the usual indefinite terms: |

| Exanthemata viridia, cærulea, nigra, rubra, lata, diffusa, velut |

| signata punctis, &c. |

| |

| [33] “Pestilentis morbi gravissimum symptoma est, quod zonam vulgo |

| nuncupant. Ea sic fit: Pustulæ nonnunquam per febres pestilentes |

| fuscæ, nigræ, lividæ existunt, in partibus corporis a glandularum |

| emissariis sejunctis, ut in femore, tibia, capite, brachio, |

| humeris, quarum fervore et caliditate succi corporis attracti, |

| glandulas in trajectione replent, et attollunt, unde bubones fiunt |

| atque carbunculi. _Ab iis tanquam solidus quidam nervus in partem |

| vicinam distentam ac veluti convulsione rigentem producitur, puta |

| brachium vel tibiam, nunc rubens, nunc fuscus, nunc obscurior, nunc |

| virens, nunc iridis colore, duos vel quatuor digitos latus._ Hujus |

| summo, qua desinit in emissarium, plerumque tuberculum pestilens |

| visitur, altero vero extremo, qua in propinquum membrum porrigitur, |

| carbunculus. Hoc scilicet malum vulgus zonam cinctumve nominat, |

| periculosum minus, cum hic tuberculo, illic carbunculo terminatur, |

| quam si tuberculum in capite solum emineat.” p. 198. |

| |

| [34] _V. Hoff._ Geschichte der natürlichen Veränderungen der |

| Erdoberfläche, T. II. p. 264. Gotha, 1824. This eruption was not |

| succeeded by any other in the same century, either of Etna or of |

| Vesuvius. |

| |

| [35] _Deguignes_, loc. cit. p. 226, from Chinese sources. |

| |

| [36] Ibid. p. 225. |

| |

| [37] There were also many locusts which had been blown into the |

| sea by a hurricane, and afterwards cast dead upon the shore, and |

| produced a noxious exhalation; and _a dense and awful fog was |

| seen in the heavens, rising in the East, and descending upon |

| Italy_. Mansfeld Chronicle, in M. _Cyriac Spangenberg_, chap. |

| 287, fol. 336. b. Eisleben, 1572. Compare _Staind._ Chron. (?) |

| in _Schnurrer_, (“Ingens vapor magnitudine horribili boreali |

| movens, regionem, magno adspicientium terrore dilabitur,”) and |

| _Ad. von Lebenwaldt_, Land-Stadt-und Hausarzney-Buch. fol. p. 15. |

| Nuremberg, 1695, who mentions a dark, thick mist which covered the |

| earth. _Chalin_ expresses himself on this subject in the following |

| terms:—“Cœlum ingravescit, _aër impurus sentitur: nubes crassæ ac |

| multæ luminibus cœli obstruunt, immundus ac ignavus tepor hominum |

| emollit corpora, exoriens sol pallescit_.” p. 50. |

| |

| [38] See Caius’ account of the causes of the sweating sickness, in |

| the Appendix.—_Transl. note._ |

| |

| [39] _Mezeray_, Histoire de France, Tom. II. 418. Paris, 1685. |

| Compare _Oudegheerst’s_ Chroniques de Flandres. Antwerp, 1571, 4to. |

| Chap. 175, f. 297. |

| |

| [40] They spread in a direction from East to West, over most of |

| the countries from which we have received intelligence. Anonym. |

| Leobiens, Chron. loc. cit. |

| |

| [41] _Giov. Villani_ Istorie Fiorentine, L. XII. chap. 121, 122. in |

| _Muratori_, T. XIII. pp. 1001, 1002. Compare Barnes, loc. cit. p. |

| 430. |

| |

| [42] _J. Vitoduran._ Chronicon, in _Füssli. Thesaurus_ Histor. |

| Helvet. Tigur. 1735. fol. p. 84. |

| |

| [43] _Albert. Argentiniens._ Chronic. in _Urstis._ Scriptor. rer. |

| Germanic. Francof. 1585. fol. P. II. p. 147. Compare _Chalin_, loc. |

| cit. |

| |

| [44] _Petrarch._ Opera. Basil. 1554. fol. p. 210. _Barnes_, loc. |

| cit. p. 431. |

| |

| [45] “Un tremblement de terre universel, mesme en France et aux |

| pays septentrionaux, renversoit les villes toutes entières, |

| déracinoit les arbres et les montagnes, et remplissoit les |

| campagnes d’abysmes si profondes, qu’il semblait que l’enfer eût |

| voulu engloutir le genre humain.” _Mezeray_, loc. cit. p. 418. |

| _Barnes_, p. 431. |

| |

| [46] _Villani_, loc. cit. c. 119. p. 1000. |

| |

| [47] _Guillelm. de Nangis_, Cont. alt. Chron. loc. cit. p. 109. |

| |

| [48] Ibid. p. 110. |

| |

| [49] _Villani_, loc. cit. c. 72. p. 954. |

| |

| [50] Anonym. Istorie Pistolesi, in _Muratori_, T. XI. p. 524. “Ne |

| gli anni di Chr. 1346 et 1357, fu grandissima carestia in tutta la |

| Christianità, in tanto, che molta gente moria di fame, e fu grande |

| mortalità in ogni paese del mondo.” |

| |

| [51] According to _Papon_, its origin is quite lost in the |

| obscurity of remote ages; and even before the Christian Era, we are |

| able to trace many references to former pestilences. De la peste, |

| ou époques mémorables de ce fléau, et les moyens de s’en préserver. |

| T. II. Paris, An VIII. de la rép. 8. |

| |

| [52] 1301, in the South of France; 1311, in Italy; 1316, in Italy, |

| Burgundy and Northern Europe; 1335, the locust year, in the middle |

| of Europe; 1340, in Upper Italy; 1342, in France; and 1347, in |

| Marseilles and most of the larger islands of the Mediterranean. |

| Ibid. T. II. p. 273. |

| |

| [53] Compare _Deguignes_, loc. cit. p. 288. |

| |

| [54] According to the general Byzantine designation, “from the |

| country of the hyperborean Scythians.” _Kantakuzen_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [55] _Guid. Cauliac_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [56] _Matt. Villani_, Istorie, in _Muratori_, T. XIV. p. 14. |

| |

| [57] Annal. Cæsenat, _Ibid._ p. 1179. |

| |

| [58] _Barnes_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [59] _Olof Dalin’s_, Svea-Rikes Historie, III. vol. Stockholm, |

| 1747–61, 4. Vol. II. C. 12, p. 496. |

| |

| [60] _Dlugoss_, Histor. Polon. L. IX. p. 1086, T. I. Lips. 1711, |

| fol. |

| |

| [61] _Deguignes_, loc. cit. p. 223, f. |

| |

| [62] _Matt. Villani_, Istoria, loc. cit. p. 13. |

| |

| [63] _Knighton_, in _Barnes_, loc. cit. p. 434. |

| |

| [64] _Jno. Trithem_ Annal. Hirsaugiens. (Monast. St. Gall. Hirsaug. |

| 1690. fol.) T. II. p. 296. According to _Boccacio_, loc. cit. |

| 100,000; according to _Matt. Villani_, loc. cit. p. 14, three out |

| of five. |

| |

| [65] _Odoric. Raynald._ Annal. ecclesiastic. Colon. Agripp. 1691. |

| fol. Vol. XVI. p. 280. |

| |

| [66] _Vitoduran._ Chronic. in _Füssli_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [67] _Tromby_, Storia de _S. Brunone_ e dell’ordine Cartusiano. |

| Vol. VI. L. VIII. p. 235. Napol. 1777. fol. |

| |

| [68] _Barnes_, p. 435. |

| |

| [69] Ibid. |

| |

| [70] _Baluz._ Vitæ Papar. Avenionens. Paris, 1693–4. Vol. I. p. |

| 316. According to _Rebdorf_ in _Freher_. loc. cit. at the worst |

| period, 500 daily. |

| |

| [71] _Königshoven_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [72] According to _Reimar Kork_, from Easter to Michaelmas 1350, |

| 80 to 90,000; among whom were eleven members of the senate, and |

| bishop John IV. Vid. _John Rud_. _Becker_, Circumstantial History |

| of the Imper. and free city of Lübeck. Lübeck, 1782, 84, 1805. |

| 3 Vols. 4. Vol. I. p. 269. 71. Although Lübeck was then in its |

| most flourishing state, yet this account, which agrees with that |

| of _Paul Lange_, is certainly exaggerated. (Chronic. Citizense, |

| in _I. Pistorius_, Rerum Germanic. Scriptores aliquot insignes, |

| cur. _Struve_. Ratisb. 1626. fol. p. 1214.) We have, therefore, |

| chosen the lower estimate of an anonym. writer. Chronic. Sclavic. |

| by _Erpold Lindenbrog_. Scriptores rerum Germanic. Septentrional. |

| vicinorumque populor. diversi, Francof. 1630. fol. p. 225, and |

| _Spangenberg_, loc. cit., with whom again the assurance of the two |

| authors, that on the 10th August, 1350, 15 or 1700 (according to |

| _Becker_ 2500) persons had died, does not coincide. Compare Chronik |

| des Franciskaner Lesemeisters _Detmar_, nach der Urschrift und mit |

| Ergänzungen aus anderen Chroniken herausgeg. published by F. H. |

| _Grautoff_. Hamburg, 1829, 30. 8. P. I. p. 269. App. 471. |

| |

| [73] _Förstemann_, Versuch einer Geschichte der christlichen |

| Geisslergesellschaften, in _Staüdlin’s_ und _Tzschirner’s_, Archiv |

| für alte und neue Kirchengeschichte, Vol. III. 1817. |

| |

| [74] Limburg Chronicle, pub. by _C. D. Vogel_. Marburg, 1828. 8vo. |

| p. 14. |

| |

| [75] _Barnes_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [76] Ibid. |

| |

| [77] _Spangenberg_. fol. 339. a. Grawsam Sterben vieler faulen |

| Troppfen. Many lazy monks died a cruel death. |

| |

| [78] _Vitoduran_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [79] _Becker_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [80] _Hainr._ _Rebdorf._ p. 630. |

| |

| [81] _Guillelm. de Nang._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [82] _Johanna_, queen of Navarre, daughter of _Louis X._, and |

| _Johanna_ of Burgundy, wife of king _Philip_ de Valois. |

| |

| [83] _Fulco de Chanac._ |

| |

| [84] _Mich. Felibien_, Histoire de la ville de Paris, Liv. XII. |

| Vol. II. p. 601, Paris, 1725. fol. Comp. _Guillelm. de Nangis._ |

| loc. cit. and _Daniel_, Histoire de France, Tom. II. p. 484. |

| Amsterd. 1720. 4to. |

| |

| [85] _Torfæus_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [86] According to another account, 960. Chronic. Salisburg, in |

| _Pez._ loc. cit. T. I. p. 412. |

| |

| [87] According to an anonymous Chronicler, each of these pits is |

| said to have contained 40,000; this, however, we are to understand |

| as only in round numbers. Anonym. Leobiens, in _Pez._ p. 970. |

| According to this writer, above seventy persons died in some |

| houses, and many were entirely deserted, and at St. Stephen’s |

| alone, fifty-four ecclesiastics were cut off. |

| |

| [88] _Auger. de Biterris_ in _Muratori_. Vol. III. P. II. p. 556. |

| The same is said of Paderborn, by _Gobelin Person_, in _Henr. |

| Meibom._ Rer. Germanic. Script. T. I. p. 286. Helmstadt, 1688. fol. |

| |

| [89] _Spangenberg._ loc. cit. chap. 287. fol. 337. b. |

| |

| [90] _Barnes_, 435. |

| |

| [91] _Trithem._ Annal. Hirsaug. loc. cit. |

| |

| [92] Loc. cit. L. XII. c. 99. p. 977. |

| |

| [93] Chronic. Claustro-Neoburg. in _Pez._ Vol. I. p. 490. Comp. |

| _Barnes_, p. 435. _Raynald_ Histor. ecclesiastic, loc. cit. |

| According to this account, a runaway Venetian is said to have |

| brought the plague to Padua. |

| |

| [94] _Giov. Villani_, L. XII. c. 83. p. 964. |

| |

| [95] _Barnes_, p. 436. |

| |

| [96] _Wood_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [97] _Wood_ says, that before the plague, there were 13,000 |

| students at Oxford; a number which may, in some degree, enable us |

| to form an estimate of the state of education in England at that |

| time, if we consider that the universities were, in the middle |

| ages, frequented by younger students, who in modern times do not |

| quit school till their 18th year. |

| |

| [98] _Barnes_ and _Wood_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [99] _Gobelin. Person_, in _Meibom._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [100] _Juan de Mariana._ Historia General de España, illustrated |

| by Don _José Sabau y Blanco_. Tom. IX. Madrid, 1819. 8vo. Libro |

| XVI. p. 225. Don _Diego Ortiz de Zúñiga_, Annales ecclesiasticos y |

| seculares de Sevilla. Madrid, 1795. 4to. T. II. p. 121. Don _Juan |

| de Ferreras_, Historia de España. Madrid, 1721. T. VII. p. 353. |

| |

| [101] _Gobelin. Person_, loc. cit. Comp. _Chalin_, p. 53. |

| |

| [102] _Guillelm. de Nangis_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [103] _Spangenberg._ fol. 337. b. Limburg. Chronic, p. 20. “Und die |

| auch von Rom kamen, wurden eines Theils böser als sie vor gewesen |

| waren.” |

| |

| [104] _Guillelm. de Nangis_, loc. cit. and many others. |

| |

| [105] _Dalin’s_ Svea Rikes Historie, Vol. II. c. 12. p. 496. |

| |

| [106] _Saabye._ Tagebuch in Grönland. Einleit. XVIII.—_Torfæi_ |

| Histor. Norveg. Tom. IV. L. IX. c. viii. p. 478–79. _F. G. Mansa_, |

| De epidemiis maxime memorabilibus quæ in Dania Grassatæ sunt, et de |

| Medicinæ statu. Partic. I. Havn. 1831. 8vo. p. 12. |

| |

| [107] _Torfæi_ Groenlandia antiqua, s. veteris Groenlandiæ; |

| descriptio. Havniæ, 1715. 8vo. p. 23.—_Pontan._ Rer. danicar. |

| Histor. Amstelod. 1631. fol. L. VII. p. 476. |

| |

| [108] _Richter_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [109] We shall take this view of the subject from _Guillelm. de |

| Nangis_ and _Barnes_, if we read them _with attention_. Compare |

| _Olof Dalin_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [110] Practica de ægritudinibus a capite usque ad pedes. Papiæ, |

| 1486. fol. Tract VI. c. vii. |

| |

| [111] “Darnach, da das Sterben, die Geiselfarth, Römerfarth, |

| Judenschlacht, als vorgeschrieben stehet, ein End hatte, da hub |

| die Welt wieder an zu leben und fröhlich zu seyn, und machten |

| die Männer neue Kleidung.” Limburger Chronik. p. 26. After this, |

| when, as was stated before, the Mortality, the Processions of the |

| Flagellants, the Expeditions to Rome, and the Massacre of the Jews, |

| were at an end, the world began to revive and be joyful, and the |

| people put on new clothing. |

| |

| [112] _Chalin_, loc. cit. p. 92. _Detmar’s_ Lübeck Chronicle, V. I. |

| p. 401. |

| |

| [113] Chronic. _Ditmari_, Episcop. Mersepurg, Francof. 1580, fol. |

| p.358.—“_Spagenberg_, p. 338. The lamentation was piteous; and |

| the only remaining solace, was the prevalent anxiety, inspired by |

| the danger, to prepare for a glorious departure; no other hope |

| remained—death appeared inevitable. Many were hence induced to |

| search into their own hearts, to turn to God, and to abandon their |

| wicked courses: parents warned their children, and instructed them |

| how to pray, and to submit to the ways of Providence: neighbours |

| mutually admonished each other; none could reckon on a single |

| hour’s respite. Many persons, and even young children, were seen |

| bidding farewell to the world; some with prayer, others with |

| praises on their lips.” |

| |

| [114] _Torfæi_ Hist. rer. Norvegic. L. IX. c. viii. p. 478. (Havn. |

| 1711, fol.) _Die Cronica van der hilliger Stat van Coellen, off dat |

| tzytboich_, Coellen, 1490, fol. p. 263. “_In dem vurss jair erhoiff |

| sich eyn alzo wunderlich nuwe Geselschaft in Ungarien_,” &c. The |

| Chronicle of the holy city of Cologne, 1499. In this same year, a |

| very remarkable society was formed in Hungary. |

| |

| [115] _Albert. Argentinens._ Chronic. p. 149, in _Chr. Urstisius_. |

| Germaniæ historicorum illustrium Tomus unus. Francof. 1585, |

| fol.—_Guillelm. de Nang._ loc. cit.—Comp. also the Saxon Chronicle, |

| by _Mattheus Dresseren_, Physician and Professor at Leipsig, |

| Wittenberg, 1596, fol. p. 340; the above-named Limburg Chronicle, |

| and the Germaniæ Chronicon, on the origin, name, commerce, &c., of |

| all the Teutonic nations of Germany: by _Seb. Francken_, of Wörd. |

| Tübingen, 1534, fol. p. 201. |

| |

| [116] _Ditmar_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [117] _Königshoven_, Elsassische und Strassburgische Chronicke. |

| loc. cit. p. 297. f. |

| |

| [118] _Albert. Argentin._ loc. cit. They never remained longer than |

| one night at any place. |

| |

| [119] Words of _Monachus Paduanus_, quoted in _Förstemann’s_ |

| Treatise, which is the best upon this subject.—See p. 24. |

| |

| [120] _Schnurrer_, Chronicle of the Plagues, T. I. p. 291. |

| |

| [121] _Königshoven_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [122] _Förstemann_, loc. cit. The pilgrimages of the Flagellants of |

| the year 1349, were not the last. Later in the 14th century this |

| fanaticism still manifested itself several times, though never to |

| so great an extent: in the 15th century, it was deemed necessary, |

| in several parts of Germany, to extirpate them by fire and sword; |

| and in the year 1710, processions of the Cross-bearers were still |

| seen in Italy. How deeply this mania had taken root, is proved by |

| the deposition of a citizen of Nordhäusen (1446): that his wife, |

| in the belief of performing a Christian act, wanted to scourge her |

| children, as soon as they were baptized. |

| |

| [123] _Königshoven_, p. 298: |

| |

| “_Stant uf durch der reinen Martel ere; |

| Und hüte dich vor der Sünden mere._” |

| |

| [124] _Guill. de Nang._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [125] _Albert. Argentinens._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [126] We meet with fragments of different lengths in the Chronicles |

| of the times, but the only entire MS. which we possess, is in the |

| valuable Library of President _von Meusebach_. _Massmann_ has had |

| this printed, accompanied by a translation, entitled _Erläuterungen |

| zum Wessobrunner Gebet des_ 8^{ten} _Jahrhunderts. Nebst_ ZWEIEN |

| _noch ungedruckten_, GEDICHTEN DES VIERZEHNTEN JAHRHUNDERTS, |

| Berlin, 1824. “Elucidations of the Wessobrunn Prayer of the 8th |

| century, together with two unpublished Hymns the 14th century.” |

| We shall subjoin it at the end of this Treatise, as a striking |

| document of the age. The Limburg Chronicle asserts, indeed, that it |

| was not composed till that time, although a part, if not the whole, |

| of it, was sung in the procession of the Flagellants, in 1260.—See |

| Incerti auctoris Chronicon rerum per Austriam Vicinasque regiones |

| gestarum inde ab anno 1025, usque ad annum 1282. Munich, 1827 8, p. |

| 9. |

| |

| [127] _Trithem._ Annal. Hirsaugiens, T. II. p. 206. |

| |

| [128] He issued a bull against them, Oct. 20, 1349. _Raynald. |

| Trithem._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [129] But as they at last ceased to excite astonishment, were no |

| longer welcomed by the ringing of bells, and were not received with |

| veneration, as before, they vanished as human imaginations are wont |

| to do. Saxon Chronicle, by _Matt. Dresseren_. Wittenberg, 1596, |

| fol. p. 340, 341. |

| |

| [130] _Albert. Argentinens._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [131] _Guillelm. de Nangis._ |

| |

| [132] _Ditmar._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [133] _Klose_ of Breslaw’s Documental History and Description, 8vo. |

| Vol. II. p. 190. Breslaw, 1781. |

| |

| [134] Limburg Chronicle, p. 17. |

| |

| [135] _Kehrberg’s_ Description of Königsberg, _i. e._ Neumark, |

| 1724, 4to. p. 240. |

| |

| [136] So says the Polish historian _Dlugoss_, loc. cit., while most |

| of his contemporaries mention only the poisoning of the wells. It |

| is evident, that in the state of their feelings, it mattered little |

| whether they added another still more formidable accusation. |

| |

| [137] In those places where no Jews resided, as in Leipsig, |

| Magdeburg, Brieg, Frankenstein, &c., the grave-diggers were accused |

| of the crime.—V. _Möhsen’s_ History of the Sciences in the March of |

| Brandenburg, T. II. p. 265. |

| |

| [138] See the original proceedings, in the Appendix. |

| |

| [139] _Hermanni Gygantis_ Flores temporum, sive Chronicon |

| Universale—_Ed. Meuschen._ Lugdun. Bat. 1743. 4to. p. 139. Hermann, |

| a Franciscan monk of Franconia, who wrote in the year 1349, was an |

| eye-witness of the most revolting scenes of vengeance, throughout |

| all Germany. |

| |

| [140] _Guid. Cauliac._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [141] _Hermann._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [142] _Albert. Argentin._—_Königshoven_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [143] _Dies was ouch die Vergift, die die Juden döttete._ “This |

| was also the poison that killed the Jews,” observes _Königshoven_, |

| which he illustrates by saying, that their increase in Germany was |

| very great, and their mode of gaining a livelihood, which, however, |

| was the only resource left them, had engendered ill-will against |

| them in all quarters. |

| |

| [144] Many wealthy Jews, for example, were, on their way to the |

| stake, stripped of their garments, for the sake of the gold coin |

| that was sewed in them.—_Albert. Argentinens._ |

| |

| [145] Vide preceding note. |

| |

| [146] _Spangenberg_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [147] _Guillelm. de Nangis._—_Dlugoss_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [148] _Albert. Argentinens._ |

| |

| [149] _Spangenberg_ describes a similar scene which took place at |

| Kostnitz. |

| |

| [150] _Guillelm. de Nang.—Raynald._ |

| |

| [151] Histor. Landgrav. _Thuring._ in _Pistor._ loc. cit. Vol. I. |

| p. 948. |

| |

| [152] Anonym. _Leobiens_, in _Pez._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [153] _Spangenberg._ In the county of Mark, the Jews were no better |

| off than in the rest of Germany. Margrave _Ludwig_, the Roman, even |

| countenanced their persecutions, of which _Kehrberg_, loc. cit. |

| 241. gives the following official account: Coram cunctis Christi |

| fidelibus præsentia percepturis, ego _Johannes_ dictus _de Wedel_ |

| Advocatus, inclyti Principis Domini, _Ludovici_, Marchionis, |

| publice profiteor et recognosco, quod nomine Domini mei civitatem |

| Königsberg visitavi et intravi, et ex parte Domini Marchionis |

| Consulibus ejusdem civitatis in adjutorium mihi assumtis, _Judæos |

| inibi morantes igne cremavi_, bonaque omnia eorundem Judæorum |

| ex parte Domini mei totaliter usurpavi et assumsi. In cujus |

| testimonium præsentibus meum sigillum appendi. Datum A.D. 1351. in |

| Vigilia S. Matthæi Apostoli. |

| |

| [154] _Basnage_, Histoire des Juifs. A la Haye, 1716. 8vo. T. IX. |

| Part 2. Liv. IX. Chap. 23. §. 12. 24. pp. 664. 679. This valuable |

| work gives an interesting account of the state of the Jews of the |

| middle ages. Compare _J. M. Jost’s_ History of the Israelites from |

| the time of the Maccabees to the present day. T. VII. Berlin, 1827. |

| 8vo. pp. 8. 262. |

| |

| [155] _Albert. Argentinens._ |

| |

| [156] _Hermann._ _Gygas._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [157] On this subject see _Königshoven_, who has preserved some |

| very valuable original proceedings. The most important are, the |

| criminal examinations of ten Jews, at Chillon, on the Lake of |

| Geneva, held in September and October, 1348.—V. Appendix. They |

| produced the most strange confessions, and sanctioned, by the |

| false name of justice, the blood-thirsty fanaticism which lighted |

| the funeral piles. Copies of these proceedings were sent to Bern |

| and Strasburg, where they gave rise to the first persecutions |

| against the Jews.—V. also the original document of the offensive |

| and defensive Alliance between _Berthold von Götz_, Bishop of |

| Strasburg, and many powerful lords and nobles, in favour of the |

| city of Strasburg, against Charles IV. The latter saw himself |

| compelled, in consequence, to grant to that city an amnesty for the |

| Jewish persecutions, which in our days would be deemed disgraceful |

| to an imperial crown. Not to mention many other documents, which no |

| less clearly shew the spirit of the 14th century, p. 1021. f. |

| |

| [158] _Guillelm. de Nangis_, p. 110. |

| |

| [159] “Curationem omnem respuit pestis confirmata.”—_Chalin_, p. 33. |

| |

| [160] _Jacob. Francischini de Ambrosiis._ In the Appendix to the |

| Istorie Pistolesi, in _Muratori_, Tom. XI. p. 528. |

| |

| [161] _Gentilis de Fulgineo_ Consilia. De Peste Cons. I. II. fol. |

| 76, 77. Venet. 1514. fol. |

| |

| [162] —“venenosa putredo circa partes cordis et pulmonis de quibus |

| exeunte venenoso vapore, periculum est in vicinitatibus.” Cons. I. |

| fol. 76, a. |

| |

| [163] _Dr. Maclean’s_ notion that the doctrine of contagion was |

| first promulgated in the year 1547, by Pope Paul III., &c., thus |

| falls to the ground, together with all the arguments founded on |

| it.—See _Maclean_ on Epid. and Pestilent. Diseases, 8vo, 1817, Pt. |

| II. Book II. ch. 3, 4.—_Transl. note._ |

| |

| [164] Lippitudo contagione spectantium oculos afficit.—_Chalin de |

| Vinario_, p. 149. |

| |

| [165] See the Author’s Geschichte der Heilkunde, Vol. II. P. III. |

| |

| [166] Compare _Marx_, Origines contagii. Caroliruh. et Bad. 1824. 8. |

| |

| [167] _Cæl. Aurelian._ Chron. L. IV. c. 1. p. 497. _Ed. Amman._ |

| “Sed hi ægrotantem destituendum magis imperant, quam curandum, quod |

| a se alienum humanitas approbat medicinæ.” |

| |

| [168] _Geschichte der Heilkunde_, Vol. II. p. 248. |

| |

| [169] _Chalin_ assures us expressly, that many nunneries, by |

| closing their gates, remained free from the contagion. It is worthy |

| of note, and quite in conformity with the prevailing notions, |

| that the continuance in a thick, moist atmosphere, was generally |

| esteemed more advantageous and conservative, on account of its |

| being more impenetrable to the astral influence, inasmuch as the |

| inferior cause kept off the superior.—_Chalin_, p. 48. |

| |

| [170] This was called _Affluxus_, or _Forma specifica_, and was |

| compared to the effect of a magnet on iron, and of amber on |

| chaff.—_Chalin de Vinario_, p. 23. |

| |

| [171] Causa universalis agens—causa particularis patiens. To this |

| correspond, in _Chalin_, the expressions Causa superior et inferior. |

| |

| [172] Purging with alöetic pills; bleeding; purification of the air |

| by means of large fires; the use of treacle; frequent smelling to |

| volatile substances, of which certain “poma,” were prepared; the |

| internal use of Armenian bole,—a plague-remedy derived from the |

| Arabians, and, throughout the middle ages, much in vogue, and very |

| improperly used; and the employment of acescent food, in order to |

| resist putridity. _Guy de Chauliac_ appears to have recommended |

| flight to many. Loc. citat. p. 115. Compare _Chalin_, L. II., who |

| gives most excellent precepts on this subject. |

| |

| [173] _Auger. de Biterris_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [174] L. I. c. 4. p. 39. |

| |

| [175] Fol. 32. loc. cit. |

| |

| [176] _Galeacii de Sancta Sophia_, Liber de Febribus. Venet. 1514, |

| fol. (Printed together with _Guillelmus Brixiensis, Marsilius de |

| Sancta Sophia, Ricardus Parisiensis._ fol. 29. seq.) |

| |

| [177] Warmth, cold, dryness and moisture. |

| |

| [178] The talented _Chalin_ entertains the same conviction, |

| “Obscurum interdum esse vitium aëris, sub pestis initia et menses |

| primos, hoc est argumento: _quod cum nec odore tetro gravis, |

| nec turpi colore fœdatus fuerit, sed purus, tenuis, frigidus, |

| qualis in montosis et asperis locis esse solet, et tranquillus, |

| vehementissima sit tamen pestilentia infestaque_,” etc. p. 28. The |

| most recent observers of malaria have stated nothing more than this. |

| |

| [179] Compare _Enr. di Wolmar_, Abhandlung über die Pest. Berlin, |

| 1827. 8vo. |

| |

| [180] Tractatus de Febribus, fol. 48. |

| |

| [181] De Peste Liber, pura latinitate donatus a _Jacobo |

| Dalechampio_. Lugdun. 1552. 16. p. 40. 188. “Longe tamen plurimi |

| congressu eorum qui fuerunt in locis pestilentibus periclitantur |

| et gravissime, quoniam e causa duplici, nempe et aëris vitio, et |

| eorum qui versantur nobiscum, vitio. _Hoc itaque modo fit, ut unius |

| accessu in totam modo familiam, modo civitatem, modo villam, pestis |

| invehatur._” Compare p. 20, “Solæ privatorum ædes pestem sentiunt, |

| _si adeat qui in pestilenti loco versatus est_.”—“Nobis proximi |

| ipsi sumus, nemoque est tanta occœcatus amentia, qui de sua salute |

| potius quam aliorum sollicitus non sit, maxime in contagione tam |

| cita et rapida.” Rather a loose principle, which might greatly |

| encourage low sentiments, and much endanger the honour of the |

| medical profession, but which, in _Chalin_, who was aware of the |

| impossibility of avoiding contagion in uncleanly dwellings, is so |

| far excusable, that he did not apply it to himself. |

| |

| [182] Morbos omnes pestilentes esse contagiosos, audacter ego |

| equidem pronuntio et assevero. p. 149. |

| |

| [183] Vide preceding note, pp. 162, 163. |

| |

| [184] Ibid. p. 97. 166. “Qualis (vita) esse solet eorum, qui |

| sacerdotiorum et cultus divini prætextu, genio plus satis indulgent |

| et obsequuntur, ac Christum speciosis titulis ementientes, Epicurum |

| imitantur.” Certainly a remarkable freedom of sentiment for the |

| 14th century. |

| |

| [185] Ibid. p. 183. 151. |

| |

| [186] Ibid. p. 159. 189. |

| |

| [187] Canonica de Febribus, ad Raynerium Siculum, 1487, s. 1. |

| cap. 10, sine pag. “Febris pestilentialis est febris contagiosa |

| ex ebullitione putrefactiva in altero quatuor humorum cordi |

| propinquorum principaliter.” |

| |

| [188] _Valesci de Tharanta_, Philonium. Lugduni, 1535. 8. L. VII. |

| c. 18. fol. 401. b. seq.—Compare _Astruc._ Mémoires pour servir à |

| l’Histoire de la Faculté de Médecine de Montpellier. Paris, 1767. |

| 4. p. 208. |

| |

| [189] Chronicon Regiense, _Muratori_, Tom. XVIII. p. 82. |

| |

| [190] _Adr. Chenot_, Hinterlassene Abhandlungen über die ärztlichen |

| und politischen Anstalten bei der Pestseuche. Wien, 1798, 8vo. p. |

| 146. From this period it was common in the middle ages to barricade |

| the doors and windows of houses infected with plague, and to suffer |

| the inhabitants to perish without mercy.—_S. Möhsen_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [191] Chron. Reg. loc. cit. |

| |

| [192] _Muratori_, Tom. XVI. p. 560.—Compare _Chenot_, loc. cit. p. |

| 146. |

| |

| [193] _Papon_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [194] _Chenot_, p. 145. |

| |

| [195] _Le Bret_, Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig. Riga, 1775. |

| 4, Part II. Div. 2. p. 752. |

| |

| [196] _Zagata_, Cronica di Verona, 1744. 4, III. p. 93. |

| |

| [197] _Le Bret_, loc. cit. Compare Hamburger Remarquen of the year |

| 1700, pp. 282 and 305. |

| |

| [198] Göttinger gelehrte Anzeigen, 1772, p. 22. |

| |

| [199] The forty days’ duration of the Flood, the forty days’ |

| sojourn of Moses on Mount Sinai, our Saviour’s fast for the same |

| length of time in the wilderness; lastly, what is called the Saxon |

| term (Sächsische Frist,) which lasts for forty days, &c. Compare |

| _G. W. Wedel_, Centuria Exercitationum Medico-philologicarum. _De |

| Quadragesima Medica._ Jenæ, 1701. 4. Dec. IV. p. 16. |

| |

| [200] We hence perceive with what feelings subterraneous thunders |

| were regarded by the people. |

| |

| [201] For the sake of thy Trinity. |

| |

| [202] An appearance of justice having been given to all later |

| persecutions by these proceedings, they deserve to be recorded as |

| important historical documents. The original is in Latin, but we |

| have preferred the German translation in Königshoven’s Chronicle, |

| p. 1029. |

| |

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

THE DANCING MANIA.

TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE.

Dr. Hecker’s account of the “Black Death” having, in its English

translation, met with a favourable reception, I am led to believe that

the “Dancing Mania,” a similar production by the same able writer, will

also prove acceptable. Should this be the case, it is my intention

to complete the series by translating the history of the “Sweating

Sickness,” the only remaining epidemic considered by our author to

belong to the Middle Ages.

The mind and the body reciprocally and mysteriously affect each

other, and the maladies which are the subject of these pages, are so

intimately connected with the disordered state of both, that it is

often difficult to determine on which they more essentially depend, or

which they more seriously influence.

The physician will probably be led by their contemplation to admit that

the imagination has a larger share in the production of disease than he

might, without a knowledge of the striking facts here recorded, have

supposed to be within the limits of possibility. He has, no doubt,

already observed, that joy will affect the circulation, grief the

digestion; that anger will heat the frame as perniciously as ardent

spirits, and that fear will chill it as certainly as ice; but he may

not have carried his observation to the extent of perceiving, that not

only single and transient effects, but specific diseases are produced

through the agency of mental impressions, and he may therefore still

be surprised to find that the dances of St. John and of St. Vitus, as

they formerly spread by sympathy from city to city, gave rise to the

same deviations from bodily health, in all the individuals whom they

attacked; that Tarantism was the same disease, whether medically or

morally considered, all over Italy; and that the “Lycanthropia,” of

the past, and the “Leaping Ague” of the present times, have each its

respective train of peculiar symptoms.

The moralist will view these records of human frailty in a different

light; he will examine the state of society which favoured the

propagation of such maladies; he will inquire how far they have been

the offspring of the ages in which they appeared, and although he may

not be disposed to think with our author, that they can never return,

he will at least deduce from the facts here laid before him, that they

originate in those minds, whether ignorant or ill-educated, in which

the imagination is permitted to usurp the power of sober sense, and

the ideal is allowed to occupy the thoughts to the exclusion of the

substantial.

That such minds are most frequently to be met with in an age of

ignorance, we should naturally suppose, and we are borne out in that

supposition by the fact, that these diseases have been declining in

proportion to the advance of knowledge; but credulity and enthusiasm

are not incompatible with a high degree of civilization: and if, among

the educated classes, the female sex is more sentimental than the male,

and the affluent are more credulous than those who are dependent on

their own exertions for their support, it is to be accounted for by

the fact, that they usually devote more leisure to the pleasurable

contemplation of works of imagination, and are less imperatively

called on to improve their judgment by the dry study of facts, and

the experience acquired in the serious business of life. But there is

no class, even in this age of boasted reason, wholly exempt from the

baneful influence of fanaticism; and instances are not wanting, in

our own days, and in this very capital, to prove, that disorders (how

can we more charitably designate them?) much resembling some of those

described in the following pages, may make their appearance among

people who have had all the advantages of an enlightened education, and

every opportunity of enlarging their minds by a free intercourse with

refined society.

I thus venture to hope, that by bestowing a leisure hour on this small

portion of medical history, the physician may enlarge his knowledge

of disease, and the moralist may gather a hint for the intellectual

improvement of his fellow-men. The author has, however, a more extended

object in view—the histories of particular epidemics are with him but

the data from which we are to deduce the general laws that govern

human health in the aggregate. Whether there be such an _entity_ as

collective organic life, and whether, as a consequence, there exist

general laws which regulate its healthy or morbid condition, I do not

here undertake to determine; but the notion is peculiar, and in order

that it may be more fully exposed to the reader, I have translated as

an introduction to the present volume[203], an Appeal which Dr. Hecker

has made to the medical profession of his own country for assistance

in his undertaking. If, in the course of the remarks contained in this

address, he has been somewhat severe in his censure of the neglect,

both in this country and in France, of the study of Medical History, I

freely confess myself to be one of those who are more anxious to profit

by his castigation than to dispute its justice.

I have added a few Notes, which I trust will be found not inapplicable.

They consist chiefly of parallel accounts in illustration of what is

set forth in the text; and with the same view, I have thrown together

in No. V. of the Appendix, some Histories of Local Epidemics, and have

referred to some single cases, which seem to me to have a peculiar

interest in connexion with the subject of this work, and to render it,

on the whole, more complete.

PREFACE.

The diseases which form the subject of the present investigation afford

a deep insight into the workings of the human mind in a state of

society. They are a portion of history, and will never return in the

form in which they are there recorded; but they expose a vulnerable

part of man—the instinct of imitation—and are therefore very nearly

connected with human life in the aggregate. It appeared worth while to

describe diseases which are propagated on the beams of light—on the

wings of thought; which convulse the mind by the excitement of the

senses, and wonderfully affect the nerves, the media of its will and of

its feelings. It seemed worth while to attempt to place these disorders

between the epidemics of a less refined origin, which affect the body

more than the soul, and all those passions and emotions which border on

the vast domain of disease, ready at every moment to pass the boundary.

Should we be able to deduce from the grave facts of history here

developed, a convincing proof that the human race, amidst the creation

which surrounds it, moves in body and soul as an individual whole, the

Author might hope that he had approached nearer to his ideal of a grand

comprehension of diseases in time and space, and be encouraged, by the

co-operation of contemporaries, zealous in the search of truth, to

proceed along the path which he has already entered, in prosecuting the

investigation.

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 characterized, 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 times.

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[204]. 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[205] 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[206]. 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[207].

Where the disease was completely developed, the attack commenced

with epileptic convulsions[208]. 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[209]. 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[210]. 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[211].

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[212].

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[213], and about the

same time at Metz, the streets of which place are said to have been

filled with eleven hundred dancers[214]. 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[215].

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 mean time, 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[216].

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[217]. 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 the 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 unimportant

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[218]. 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[219]). 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

connexions, 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 solemnize 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.”[220]

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 connexion 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 solemnized 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[221]. 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[222]. 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[223], 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[224]. In these fragments

of the dominion of mysticism and superstition, historical connexion 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

Maine 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[225].

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[226]. 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[227]. Another occurrence was related to have taken

place on the Mosel 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[228]. 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[229]. 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

civilization 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[230]. 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[231]. 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[232], 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[233], 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,

æstimativa), 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[234]. 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 characterized 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[235]. 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 connexion 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 person, 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[236]. 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[237]. 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[238], 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[239]. 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

unfrequent 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[240]. 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

referrible 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 ecstacy, 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[241].

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[242]. 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[243]. It

is to be regretted that no trace of this music has reached our 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.

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[244].

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[245]—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[246]. We leave it, for the present, without further

notice, and turn to a malady most extraordinary in all its phenomena,

having a close connexion 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[247] gives the earliest account of this

strange disorder. Nobody had the least doubt that it was caused by

the bite of the _tarantula_[248][249], 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[250], 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”[251]. 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 ἀσκαλαβώτης[252],

it is the less extraordinary that the unlearned country people of

Apulia should confound the much dreaded ground-spider with the fabulous

star-lizard[253], 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[254], 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[255]. 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[256] 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 stupified, 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[257], 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

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[258]. Gariopontus[259], 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[260]. 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 referrible,

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[261] 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[262], which spread boundless

devastation and misery over Italy. Men’s minds were everywhere morbidly

sensitive; and as it happens 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, give 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 pressed 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[263]. 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[264], 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[265], 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 hours

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 dejection 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 players 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.—IDIOSYNCRACIES.—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[266]. Even women scorned all female delicacy[267] 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 any thing with metallic lustre, was quite common up to the period

when, in modern times, the disease disappeared[268].

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[269]. 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 ecstacy,

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[270].

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[271].

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[272]. Some, in whom this susceptibility

was carried to the greatest pitch, cast themselves with blind fury into

the blue waves[273], 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 feelings.

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[274]. 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[275], or the

paroxysms of mania[276], 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[277] 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[278]. 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[279]. 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,”[280] 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[281].

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 idiosyncracies 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[282]. 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[283]. 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[284].

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[285].

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[286].

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[287].

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[288]. Ferdinando saw a boy five years old seized with the

dancing mania[289], 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[290].

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 subjects of them; so that they

did not recover their natural heat until they had engaged in violent

dancing[291]. Their anguish and sense of oppression forced from them

a cold perspiration; the secretion from the kidneys was pale[292],

and they had so great a dislike to every thing 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[293]. 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[294], 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[295],

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[296];

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[297], like those of the

St. John’s dancers, while the violence of the intestinal disorder

was indicated in others by obstinate constipation or diarrhœa and

vomiting[298]. 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 and all kinds of animal poisons, and the dying man was, as if by

a miracle, restored to life and the power of speech[299]. Now, since

it is quite out of the question that the bole could have any thing 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[300].

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[301]. 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

Tarentella, compelled to dance[302]. 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[303]. 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 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[304]. 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[305]. 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[306].

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[307]. 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[308], 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 violent rotatory motion in a suspended box,

compelled him to vomit[309].

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[310]. 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[311].

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, nor 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[312] 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 stigmatized 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 connexion 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[313]. 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[314]. 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[315]; 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 incontestible effects of animal magnetism. Other physicians and

naturalists[316] 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 every one, that we have presented the facts freed from

all extraneous speculation.

CHAPTER III.

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 ecstacy, with the same violent effect on

the nerves of motion. It occurs most frequently in the Tigrè country,

being thence called Tigretier, and is probably the same malady which is

called in the Æthiopian language Astarāgaza[317]. On this subject we

will introduce the testimony of Nathaniel Pearce[318], an eye-witness,

who resided nine years in Abyssinia. “The Tigretier,” 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 expenses 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[319], 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 baptized 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[320], 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 stedfastly 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 civilization 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 phenomenon in question, and his work evinces

throughout his attractive and unpretending impartiality.

Comparison is the mother of observation, and may here elucidate one

phenomena 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 condition of the Abyssinians of modern times is,

in regard to superstition, a mirror of the condition of the European

nations in 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[321]. They boast that they are

descendants of St. George. It is precisely in Tigrè, 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 in a manner quite peculiar. The blacksmiths and potters form,

among the Abyssinians, a society, or caste called in Tigrè _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 hyænas and other beasts

of prey, on which account they are feared by every body, 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 earring, 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[322]. To the budas is

also ascribed the gift of enchantment, especially that of the influence

of the evil eye[323]. 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[324], 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.”[325]

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 subjects

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 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 alternate 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[326].”

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[327]. 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 mean time, their convulsions continued, and

they remained, during this condition, so abstracted from every earthly

thought, that they staid 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, 4000 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 ecstacy, 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[328].

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 public 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 Shetland. 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[329].

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 the 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 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, _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[330]. 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[331]. 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, made like

sacks, closed at the feet. If they received any bruises by falling

down, they were healed with earth from the grave of the uncanonized

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[332]. 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.

The insanity of the Convulsionnaires lasted, without interruption,

until the year 1790, and during these fifty-nine years, called

forth more lamentable phenomena than 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 Grands 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[333], and

after him Lorry[334], 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[335] 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[336].

6. Similar fanatical sects exhibit among all nations[337] of ancient

and modern times the same phenomena. An over-strained 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[338], and insanity, suicidal disgust of life,

and incurable nervous disorders[339], 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.

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 ecstacy

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[340], 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 Mænades, 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[341].

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)[342], to which many thousands flock from great

distances[343], 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 ecstacy and

violent spasms into which they are thrown, and others have publicly

stripped themselves and jumped into the rivers. They have swooned

away[344] 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[345] 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[346].

But enough of these extravagances, which, even in our own 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.

APPENDIX

I.

_Petri de Herentals_, Prioris Floreffiensis Vita _Gregorii

XI._, in _Stephan. Baluzii_ Vitæ Paparum Avenionensium. T. I.

Paris, 1693. _4to. p. 483_.

Ejus tempore, videlicet A. D. MCCCLXXV., mira secta tam virorum quam

mulierum venit Aquisgrani de partibus Alamanniæ, et ascendit usque

Hanoniam seu Franciam, cujus talis fuit conditio. Nam homines utriusque

sexus illudebantur a dæmonio, taliter quod tam in domibus quam in

plateis et in Ecclesiis se invicem manibus tenentes chorizabant et in

altum saltabant, ac quædam nomina dæmoniorum nominabant, videlicet

_Friskes_ et similia, nullam cognitionem in hujusmodi chorizatione

nec verecundiam sui propter astantes populos habentes. Et in fine

hujus chorizationis in tantum circa pectoralia torquebantur, quod

nisi mappulis lineis a suis amicis per medium ventris fortiter

stringerentur, quasi furiose clamabant se mori. Hi vero in Leodio per

conjurationes sumptas de illis quæ in catechismo ante baptismum fiunt,

a dæmonio liberabantur, et sanati dicebant, quod videbatur eis _quod in

hora hujus chorizationis erant in fluvio sanguinis, et propterea sic

in altum saltabant_. Vulgus autem apud Leodium dicebat quod hujusmodi

plaga populo contigisset eo, quod populus male baptizatus erat, maxime

a Presbyteribus suas tenentibus concubinas. Et propter hoc proposuerat

vulgus insurgere in clerum, eos occidendo et bona eorum diripiendo,

nisi Deus de remedio providisset per conjurationes prædictas. Quo viso

cessavit tempestas vulgi taliter quod clerus multo plus a populo fuit

honoratus. De ista autem chorizatione seu secta talia extant rigmata:

Oritur in seculo nova quædam secta

In gestis aut in speculo visa plus nec lecta.

Populus tripudiat nimium saltando.

Se unus alteri sociat leviter clamando.

_Frisch friskes cum gaudio clamat uterque sexus._

Cunctus manutergio et baculo connexus.

Capite fert pelleum desuper sertum.

_Cernit Mariæ filium et cœlum apertum._

Deorsum prosternitur. Dudum fit ululatus.

Calcato ventre cernitur statim liberatus.

Vagatur loca varia pompose vivendo.

Mendicat necessaria propriis parcendo.

_Spernit videre rubea et personam flentem._

Ad fidei contraria crigit hic gens mentem.

Noctis sub umbraculo ista perpetravit.

Cum naturali baculo subtus se calcavit.

Clerum habet odio. Non curat sacramenta.

Post sunt Leodio remedia inventa,

Hanc nam fraudem qua suggessit sathan est convictus.

Conjuratus evanescit. Hinc sit Christus benedictus.

II.

_Jo. Pistorii_ Rerum familiarumque Belgicarum Cbronicon magnum.

Francof. 1654. _fol. p. 319_. De chorisantibus.

Item Anno. Dn. MCCCLXXIV. tempore pontificates venerabilis Domini

Joannis de Arckel Episcopi Leodiensis, in mense Julio in crastino

divisionis Apostolorum visi sunt dansatores scilicet chorisantes,

qui postea venerunt Trajectum, Leodium, Tungrim et alia loca istarum

partium in mense Septembri. Et cœpit hæc _dæmoniaca pestis_ vexare in

dictis locis et circumvicinis masculos et fœminas maxime pauperes et

levis opinionis ad magnum omnium terrorem; pauci clericorum vel divitum

sunt vexati. Serta in capitibus gestabant, circa ventrem mappa cum

baculo se stringebant circa umbilicum, ubi post saltationem cadentes

nimium torquebantur, et ne creparentur pedibus conculcabantur, vel

contra creporem cum baculo ad mappam duriter se ligabant, vel cum pugno

se trudi faciebant, rostra calceorum aliqui clamabant se abhorrere,

unde in Leodio fieri tunc vetabantur. Ecclesias chorisando occupabant,

et crescebant numerose de mense Septembri et Octobri, processiones

fiebant ubique, litaniæ et missæ speciales. Leodii apud Sanctam

crucem scholaris servitor in vesperis dedicationis, cœpit ludere cum

thuribulo, et post vesperas fortiter saltare. Evocatus a pluribus,

ut diceret Pater noster, noluit, et Credo respondit in diabolum.

Quod videns capellanus, allata stola conjuravit cum per exorcismum

baptizandorum, et statim dixit: Ecce inquit, scholaris recedit cum

parva toga et calceis rostratis. Dic, tunc inquit, Pater noster et

Credo. At ille utrumque dixit perfecte et curatus est. Apud Harstallium

uno mane ante omnium Sanctorum, multi eorum ibi congregati consilium

habuerunt, ut pariter venientes omnes canonicos, presbyteres et

clericos Leodienses occiderent. Canonicus quidam parvæ mensæ minister

Simon in claustro Leodiensi apud capellam Beatæ virginis, in Deo

confortatus, scalam projecit in collum unius, dicens Evangelium: In

principio erat verbum, super caput ejus, et per hoc fuit liberatus,

et pro miraculo statim fuit pulsatum. Apud S. Bartolomæum Leodii,

præsentibus multis, cuidam alii exorcisanti respondit dæmon: Ego exibo

libenter. Expecta, inquit presbyter, volo tibi loqui. Et postquam

aliquos alios curasset, dixit illi, loquere tu personaliter et responde

mihi. Tum solus respondit dæmon: Nos eramus duo, sed socius meus

nequior me, ante me exivit, habui tot pati in hoc corpore, si essem

extra, nunquam intrarem in corpus Christianum. Cui presbyter: Quare

intrasti corpora talium personarum? Respondit: Clerici et presbyteres

dicunt tot pulchra verba et tot orationes, ut non possemus intrare

corpora ipsorum. Si adhuc fuisset expectatum per quindenam vel mensem,

nos intrassemus corpora divitum, et postea principum, et sic per eos

destruxissemus clerum. Et hæc fuerunt ibi a multis audita et postea a

multis narrata. Hæc pestis intra annum satis invaluit, sed postea per

tres aut quatuor annos omnino cessavit.

III[347].

Die Limburger Chronik, herausgegeben von _C. D. Vogel_.

Marburg, 1828, _8vo. s. 71_.

Anno 1374 zu mitten im Sommer, da erhub sich ein wunderlich Ding auff

Erdreich, und sonderlich in Teutschen Landen, auff dem Rhein und auff

der Mosel, also dass Leute anhuben zu tantzen und zu rasen, und stunden

je zwey gegen ein, und tantzeten auff einer Stätte einen halben Tag,

und in dem Tantz da fielen sie etwan offt nieder, und liessen sich

mit Füssen tretten auff ihren Leib. Davon nahmen sie sich an, dass

sie genesen wären. Und lieffen von einer Stadt zu der andern, und

von einer Kirchen zu der andern, und huben Geld auff von den Leuten,

wo es ihnen mocht gewerden. Und wurd des Dings also viel, dass man

zu Cölln in der Stadt mehr dann fünff hundert Täntzer fand. Und fand

man, dass es eine Ketzerey war, und geschahe um Golds willen, das

ihr ein Theil Frau und Mann in Unkeuschheit mochten kommen, und die

vollbringen. Und fand man da zu Cölln mehr dann hundert Frauen und

Dienstmägde, die nicht eheliche Männer hatten. Die wurden alle in der

Täntzerey Kinder-tragend, und wann dass sie tantzeten, so bunden und

knebelten sie sich hart um den Leib, dass sie desto geringer wären.

Hierauff sprachen ein Theils Meister, sonderlich der guten Artzt,

das ein Theil wurden tantzend, die von heisser Natur wären, und von

andern gebrechlichen natürlichen Sachen. Dann deren war wenig, denen

das geschahe. Die Meister von der heiligen Schrift, die beschwohren der

Täntzer ein Theil, die meynten, dass sie besessen wären von dem bösen

Geist. Also nahm es ein betrogen End, und währete wohl sechszehn Wochen

in diesen Landen oder in der Mass. Auch nahmen die vorgenannten Täntzer

Mann und Frauen sich an, dass sie kein roth sehen möchten. Und war ein

eitel Teuscherey, und ist verbottschaft gewesen an Christum nach meinem

Bedünken.

IV.

Die Chronica van der hilliger Stat van Coellen. A. D.

MCCCLXXIV. fol. 277. Coellen, 1499. fol.

In dem seluen iair stonde eyn groisse kranckheit vp vnder den mynschen,

ind was doch niet vill me gesyen dese selue kranckheit vur off nae ind

quam van natuerlichen ursachen as die meyster schrijnen, ind noemen

Sij maniam, dat is raserie off unsynnicheit. Ind vill lude beyde man

ind frauwen junck ind alt hadden die kranckheit. Ind gyngen vyss huyss

ind hoff, dat deden ouch junge meyde, die verliessen yr alderen,

vrunde ind maege ind lantschaff. Disse vurss mynschen zo etzlichen

tzijden as Sij die kranckheit anstiesse, so hadden Sij eyn wonderlich

bewegung yrre lychamen. Sij gauen vyss kryschende vnd grusame stymme,

ind mit dem wurpen Sij sich haestlich up die erden, vnd gyngen liggen

up yren rugge, ind beyde man ind vrauwen moist men vmb yren buych ind

vmp lenden gurdelen vnd kneuelen mit twelen vnd mit starcken breyden

benden, asso stijff vnd harte als men mochte.

Item asso gegurt mit den twelen dantzten Sij in kyrchen ind in clusen

ind vp allen gewijeden steden. As Sij dantzten, so sprungen Sij allit

vp ind rieffen, _Here sent Johan, so so, vrisch ind vro here sent

Johan_.

Item die ghene die die kranckheit hadden wurden gemeynlichen gesunt

bynnen. VV. dagen. Zom lesten geschiede vill bouerie vnd droch dae mit.

Eyndeyll naemen sich an dat Sij kranck weren. vp dat Sij mochten gelt

dae durch bedelen. Die anderen vinsden sich kranck vp dat Sij mochten

vnkuyschheit bedrijuen mit den vrauwen. jnd gyngen durch alle lant ind

dreuen vill bouerie. Doch zo lesten brach idt vyss ind wurden verdreuen

vyss den landen. Die selue dentzer quamen ouch zo Coellen tusschen

tzwen vnser lieuen frauwen missen Assumptionis ind Natiuitatis.

V.

In the third volume of the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal,

p. 434, there is an account of “some convulsive diseases in certain

parts of Scotland, which is taken from Sir J. Sinclair’s statistical

account, and from which I have thought it illustrative of our author’s

subject to make some extracts; the first that is noticed is peculiar to

a part of Forfarshire, and is called the leaping ague, which bears so

close an analogy to the original St. Vitus’s Dance, or to Tarantism,

that it seems to want only the “foul fiend,” or the dreaded bite, as

a cause, and a Scotch reel or strathspey as a cure, to render the

resemblance quite complete. “Those affected with it first complain

of a pain in the head, or lower part of the back, to which succeed

convulsive fits, or _fits of dancing_, at certain periods. During the

paroxysm they have all the appearance of madness, distorting their

bodies in various ways, and leaping and springing in a surprising

manner, whence the disease has derived its vulgar name. Sometimes they

run with astonishing velocity, and often over dangerous passes, to

some place out of doors, which they have fixed on in their own minds,

or, perhaps, even mentioned to those in company with them, and then

_drop down quite exhausted_. At other times, especially when confined

to the house, they climb in the most singular manner. In cottages, for

example, they leap from the floor to what is called the baulks, or

those beams by which the rafters are joined together, springing from

one to another with the agility of a cat, or whirling round one of

them, with a motion resembling the fly of a jack. Cold bathing is found

to be the most effectual remedy; but when the fit of dancing, leaping,

or running comes on, _nothing tends so much to abate the violence of

the disease, as allowing them free scope to exercise themselves, till

nature be exhausted_. No mention is made of its being peculiar to any

age, sex, or condition of life, although I am informed by a gentleman

from Brechin, that it is most common before puberty. In some families

it seems to be hereditary; and I have heard of one, in which a horse

was always kept ready saddled, to follow the young ladies belonging to

it, when they were seized with a fit of running. It was first observed

in the parish of Kenmuir, and has prevailed occasionally in that and

the neighbouring parishes, for about seventy years: but it is not now

nearly so frequent as it was about thirty years ago. The history of

this singular affection is still extremely imperfect: and it is only

from some of the medical practitioners in that part of the country

where it prevails, that a complete description can be expected.”

Our author has already noticed the convulsive disease prevalent in

the Shetland Islands, and has quoted Hibbert’s account of it. The

following, however, from a very valuable manuscript account of the

Orkney and Shetland Islands, drawn up about 1774, by George Low, with

notes, by Mr. Pennant, is given in the journal already cited, and will

be read with interest. The facts were communicated to Mr. Low by the

Rev. Wm. Archibald, parochial clergyman of Unst, the most northerly of

the Shetlands.

“There is a most shocking distemper, which has of late years prevailed

very much, especially among young women, and was hardly known thirty

or forty years ago. About that period only one person was subject to

it. The inhabitants give it the name of convulsion fits; and indeed,

in appearance it something resembles epilepsy. In its first rise, it

began with a palpitation of the heart, of which they complained for a

considerable time; it at length produced swooning fits, in which people

seized with it would lie motionless upwards of an hour. At length, as

the distemper gathered strength, when any violent passion seized, or

on a sudden surprise, they would all at once fall down, toss their

arms about, with their bodies, into many odd shapes, crying out all

the while most dismally, throwing their heads about from side to side,

with their eyes fixed and staring. At first this distemper obtained

in a private way, with one female, but she being seized in a public

way, at church, the disease was communicated to others; but, whether

by the influence of _fear_ or _sympathy_, is not easy to determine.

However this was, our public assemblies, especially at church, became

greatly disturbed by their outcries. This distemper always prevails

most violently during the summer time, in which season, for many years,

we are hardly one sabbath free. In these few years past, it has not

prevailed so extensively, and upon the whole, seems on the decline.

One thing remarkable in this distemper is, that as soon as the fit is

over, the persons affected with it are generally as lively and brisk

as before; and if it happens at any of their public diversions, as

soon as they revive, they mix with their companions, and continue

their amusement as vigorously as if nothing had happened. Few men are

troubled with this distemper, which seems more confined to women; but

there are instances of its seizing men, and girls of six years of

age. With respect to the nature of this disease, people who have made

enquiry about it differ, but most imagine it hysterical; however, this

seems not entirely the case, as men and children are subject to it;

however, it is a new disease in Shetland, but whence imported, none can

imagine.

“When the statistical account of this parish was published, this awful

and afflicting disease was becoming daily less common. In the parishes

of Aithsting, Sandsting, and Northmaven, in which it was once very

frequent, it was now totally extinct. In the last of these the cure is

said to have been effected by a very singular remedy, which, if true,

and there seems no reason to doubt it, shows the influence of moral

causes in removing, as well as in inducing convulsive disorders.” The

cure is attributed to a rough fellow of a kirk officer, who tossed a

woman in that state, with whom he had been frequently troubled, into a

ditch of water. She was never known to have the disease afterwards, and

others dreaded the same treatment.

“It, however, still prevails in some of the northern parishes,

particularly in Delting, although, according to the description given

of it, with some alteration in its symptoms.

“Convulsion fits of a very extraordinary kind seem peculiar to this

country. The patient is first seized with something like fainting, and

immediately after utters wild cries and shrieks, the sound of which, at

whatever distance, immediately puts all who are subject to the disorder

in the same situation. It most commonly attacks them when the church

is crowded, and often interrupts the service in this and many other

churches in the country. On a sacramental occasion, fifty or sixty

are sometimes carried out of the church, and laid in the churchyard,

where they struggle and roar with all their strength, for five or ten

minutes, and then rise up without recollecting a single circumstance

that happened to them, or being in the least hurt or fatigued with

the violent exertions they had made during the fit. One observation

occurs on this disorder, that, during the late scarce years it was

very uncommon, and, during the two last years of plenty (1791), it has

appeared more frequently.

“Similar instances of epidemical convulsions are already upon record;

but the history of that which occurred in Anglesea, North Wales, is the

most remarkable, as its progress was, in all probability, checked by

the judicious precautions recommended by Dr. Haygarth.

“In 1796, on the estates of the Earl of Uxbridge and Holland Griffith,

Esq., 23 females, from 10 to 25, and one boy, of about 17 years of age,

who had all intercourse with each other, were seized with an unusual

kind of convulsions, affecting only the upper extremities. It began

with pain of the head, and sometimes of the stomach and side, not very

violent; after which there came on violent twitchings or convulsions of

the upper extremities, continuing with little intermission, and causing

the shoulders almost to meet by the exertion. In bed the disorder was

not so violent: but, in some cases at least, it continued even during

sleep. Their pulse was moderate, the body costive, and the general

health not much impaired. In general they had a hiccough; and, when

the convulsions were most violent, giddiness came on, with the loss

of hearing and recollection. During their convalescence, and they

all recovered, the least fright or sudden alarm brought on a slight

paroxysm.

“Dr. Haygarth, who was consulted on the means of relieving these

unfortunate people, successfully recommended the use of antispasmodics;

that all girls and young women should be prevented from having any

communication with persons affected with those convulsions; and that

those who were ill should be kept separate as much as possible.”

The same paper from which the above extracts have been taken, quotes

a remarkable instance in which religious enthusiasm was the exciting

cause of a convulsive disease analogous to those already noticed. The

account is given by the Rev. Dr. Meik, at great length. It appears,

that in January, 1742, about 90 persons in the parish of Cambuslang,

in Lanarkshire, were induced to subscribe a petition to the minister,

urging him to give them a weekly lecture, to which he readily assented.

Nothing particular occurred at the first two lectures, but, at the

third, to which the hearers had been very attentive, when the minister

in his last prayer expressed himself thus, “Lord, who hath believed

our report; and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?—where are the

fruits of my poor labours among this people?” several persons in the

congregation cried out publicly, and about fifty men and women came

to the minister’s house, expressing strong convictions of sin, and

alarming fears of punishment. After this period, so many people from

the neighbourhood resorted to Cambuslang, that the minister thought

himself obliged to provide them with daily sermons or exhortations,

and actually did so for seven or eight months. The way in which the

converts were affected, for it seems they were affected much in the

same way, though in very different degrees, is thus described. “They

were seized, all at once, commonly by something said in the sermons or

prayers, with the most dreadful apprehensions concerning the state of

their souls, insomuch that many of them could not abstain from crying

out, in the most public and frightful manner, ‘bewailing their lost

and undone condition by nature; calling themselves enemies to God,

and despisers of precious Christ; declaring that they were unworthy

to live on the face of the earth; that they saw the mouth of hell

open to receive them, and that they heard the shrieks of the damned;’

but the universal cry was, ‘What shall we do to be saved?’ The agony

under which they laboured was expressed, not only by words, but also

by violent agitations of body; by clapping their hands and beating

their breasts; by shaking and trembling; by faintings and convulsions;

and sometimes by excessive bleeding at the nose. While they were in

this distress, the minister often called out to them, not to stifle or

smother their convictions, but to encourage them: and, after sermon

was ended, he retired with them to the manse, and frequently spent the

best part of the night with them in exhortations and prayers. Next day,

before sermon began, they were brought out, and, having napkins tied

round their heads, were placed all together on seats before the tents,

where they remained sobbing, weeping, and often crying aloud, till the

service was over. Some of those who fell under conviction were never

converted; but most of those who fell under it were converted in a few

days, and sometimes in a few hours. In most cases their conversion

was as sudden and unexpected as their conviction. They were raised all

at once from the lowest depth of sorrow and distress, to the highest

pitch of joy and happiness; crying out with triumph and exultation,

‘that they had overcome the wicked one; that they had gotten hold of

Christ, and would never let him go; that the black cloud which had

hitherto concealed him from their view was now dispelled; and that

they saw him, with a pen in his hand, blotting out their sins.’ Under

these delightful impressions, some began to pray, and exhort publicly,

and others desired the congregation to join with them in singing a

particular psalm, which they said God had commanded them to sing.

From the time of their conviction to their conversion, many had no

appetite for food, or inclination to sleep, and all complained of their

sufferings during that interval.”

The following account, which closes the paper whence the above

quotations have been extracted, is taken from an Inaugural Essay on

Chorea Sancti Viti, by Felix Robertson of Tennessee, 8vo. Philadelph.

1805.

“The Chorea, which is more particularly the subject of this

dissertation, made its appearance during the summer of 1803, in the

neighbourhood of Maryville, (Tennessee,) in the form of an epidemic.

Previously to entering on its history, I think it necessary to premise

a few cursory remarks on the mode of life of those amongst whom it

originated, for some time before the appearance of the disease.

“I suppose there are but few individuals in the United States, who

have not at least heard of the unparalleled blaze of enthusiastic

religion which burst forth in the western country, about the year

1800; but it is, perhaps, impossible to have a competent idea of its

effects, without personal observation. This religious enthusiasm

travelled like electricity, with astonishing velocity, and was felt,

_almost instantaneously_, in every part of the states of Tennessee

and Kentucky. It often proved so powerful a stimulus, that every

other entirely lost its effect, or was but feebly felt. Hence that

general neglect of earthly things, which was observed, and the almost

perpetual attendance at places of public worship. Their churches are,

in general, small and every way uncomfortable; the concourse of people,

on days of worship, particularly of extraordinary meetings, was very

numerous, and hundreds who lived at too great a distance to return home

every evening, came supplied with provisions, tents, &c., for their

sustenance and accommodation, during the continuance of the meeting,

which commonly lasted from three to five days. They, as well as many

others, remained on the spot day and night, the whole or greater part

of this time, worshipping their Maker almost incessantly. The outward

expressions of their worship consisted chiefly in alternate crying,

laughing, singing, and shouting, and, at the same time, performing that

variety of gesticulation, which the muscular system is capable of

producing. It was under these circumstances that some found themselves

unable, by voluntary efforts, to suppress the contraction of their

muscles; and, to their own astonishment, and the diversion of many

of the spectators, they continued to act from necessity, the curious

character which they had commenced from choice.

“The disease no sooner appeared, than it spread with rapidity through

the medium of the principle of imitation; thus it was not uncommon for

an affected person to communicate it to the greater part of a crowd,

who, from curiosity or other motives, had collected around him. It is

at this time, in almost every part of Tennessee and Kentucky, and in

various parts of Virginia, but is said not to be contagious (or readily

communicated) as at its commencement. It attacks both sexes, and every

constitution, but evidently more readily those who are enthusiasts in

religion, such as those above described, and females; children of six

years of age, and adults of sixty, have been known to have it, but a

great majority of those affected are from fifteen to twenty-five. The

muscles generally affected are those of the trunk, particularly of the

neck, sometimes those of the superior extremities, but very rarely, if

ever, those of the inferior. The contractions are sudden and violent,

such as are denominated convulsive, being sometimes so powerful, when

in the muscles of the back, that the patient is thrown on the ground,

where, for some time, his motions more resemble those of a live fish,

when thrown on land, than any thing else to which I can compare them.

“This, however, does not often occur, and never, I believe, except at

the commencement of the disease. The patients, in general, are capable

of standing and walking, and many, after it has continued a short time,

can attend to their business, provided it is not of a nature requiring

much steadiness of body. They are incapable of conversing with any

degree of satisfaction to themselves or company, being continually

interrupted by those irregular contractions of their muscles, each

causing a grunt, or forcible expiration; but the organs of speech do

not appear to be affected, nor has it the least influence on the mind.

They have no command over their actions by any effort of volition, nor

does their lying in bed prevent them, but they always cease during

sleep. This disease has remissions and exacerbations, which, however,

observe no regularity in their occurrence or duration. During the

intermission a paroxysm is often excited at the sight of a person

affected, but more frequently by the common salute of shaking hands.

The sensations of the patients in a paroxysm are generally agreeable,

which the enthusiastic class often endeavour to express, by laughing,

shouting, _dancing_, &c.

“Fatigue is almost always complained of after violent paroxysms, and

sometimes a general soreness is experienced. The heart and arteries

appear to be no further affected by the disease, than what arises from

the exercise of the body; nor does any change take place in any of the

secretions or excretions. It has not proved mortal in a single instance

within my knowledge, but becomes lighter by degrees, and finally

disappears. In some cases, however, of long continuance, it is attended

with some degree of melancholia, which seems to arise entirely from the

patient’s reflections, and not directly from the disease.

“The state of the atmosphere has no influence over it, as it rages with

equal violence in summer and in winter; in moist and in dry air.”

In the above examples, nervous disorders bearing a strong resemblance

to those of the middle ages, are shown to exist in an _epidemic_

form, both in Europe and America, at the present time; but in these

instances some general cause of mental excitement—and none is more

powerful than religious enthusiasm—seems to have been requisite for

their propagation. Their appearance, however, in _single cases_, is

occasionally independent of any such origin, which leads to a belief,

not without support in the experiments of modern physiologists,

that they occasionally proceed from physical causes, and that it is

therefore not necessary to consider them in all cases as the offspring

of a disordered imagination.

A well marked case of a disease approximating to the original

Dancing Mania, is related by Mr. Kinder Wood, in the 7th volume of

the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, p. 237. The patient, a young

married woman, is described to have suffered from headache and

sickness, together with involuntary motions of the eyelids, and most

extraordinary contortions of the trunk and extremities, for several

days, when the more remarkable symptoms began to manifest themselves,

which are thus recorded:—

“February 26. Slight motions of the limbs came on in bed. She arose

at nine o’clock, after which they increased, and became unusually

severe. She was hurled from side to side of the couch-chair upon which

she sat, for a considerable time, without intermission; was sometimes

instantaneously and forcibly thrown upon her feet, when she jumped

and stamped violently. She had headache; the eyelids were frequently

affected, and she had often a sudden propensity to spring or leap

upwards. The affection ceased about eleven o’clock in the forenoon,

the patient being very much fatigued; but it returned about noon, and

a third time in the afternoon, when she was impelled into every corner

of the room, and began to strike the furniture and doors violently with

the hand, as she passed near them, the sound of which afforded her

great satisfaction. The fourth attack was at night; was very violent,

and ended with sickness and vomiting. She went to bed at half-past

eleven. Her nights were invariably good. The last three attacks were

more violent than the former ones, but they continued only half an hour

each.

“February 27. The attack commenced in bed, and was violent, but of

short duration. When she arose about ten, she had a second attack,

continuing an hour, except an interval of five minutes. She now struck

the furniture more violently and more repeatedly. Kneeling on one

knee, with the hands upon the back, she often sprang up suddenly and

struck the top of the room with the palm of the hand. To do this, she

rose fifteen inches from the floor, so that the family were under the

necessity of drawing all the nails and hooks from the ceiling. She

frequently danced upon one leg, holding the other with the hand, and

occasionally changing the legs. In the evening, the family observed

the blows upon the furniture to be more continuous, and to assume

the regular time and measure of a musical air. As a strain or series

of strokes was concluded, she ended with a more violent stroke or a

more violent spring or jump. Several of her friends also at this time

noticed the regular measure of the strokes, and the greater regularity

the disease was assuming; the motions being evidently affected, or in

some measure modified by the strokes upon the surrounding bodies. She

chiefly struck a small slender door, the top of a chest of drawers, the

clock, a table, or a wooden screen placed near the door. The affection

ceased about nine o’clock, when the patient went to bed.

“February 28. She arose very well at eight. At half-past nine the

motions recommenced; they were now of a more pleasant nature; the

involuntary actions, instead of possessing their former irregularity

and violence, being changed into a measured step over the room,

connected with an air, or series of strokes, and she beat upon the

adjacent bodies as she passed them. In the commencement of the

attack, the lips moved as if words were articulated, but no sound

could be distinguished at this period. It was curious indeed to

observe the patient at this time, moving around the room with all the

vivacity of the country dance, or the graver step of the minuet, the

arms frequently carried, not merely with ease, but with elegance.

Occasionally all the steps were so directed as to place the foot

constantly where the stone flags joined to form the floor, particularly

when she looked downwards. When she looked upwards, there was an

irresistible impulse to spring up to touch little spots or holes in

the top of the ceiling; when she looked around, she had a similar

propensity to dart the forefinger into little holes in the furniture,

&c. One hole in the wooden screen received the point of the forefinger

many hundred times, which was suddenly and involuntarily darted into it

with an amazing rapidity and precision. There was one particular part

of the wall to which she frequently danced, and there placing herself

with the back to it, stood two or three minutes. This by the family was

called ‘_the measuring place_.’

“In the afternoon the motions returned, and proceeded much as in the

morning. At this time a person present, surprised at the manner in

which she beat upon the doors, &c., and thinking he recognised the

air, without further ceremony began to sing the tune; the moment this

struck her ears, she turned suddenly to the man, and dancing directly

up to him, continued doing so till he was out of breath. The man now

ceased a short time, when commencing again, he continued till the

attack stopped. The night before this, her father had mentioned his

wish to procure a drum, associating this dance of his daughter with

some ideas of music. The avidity with which she danced to the tune

when sung as above stated, confirmed this wish, and accordingly a drum

and fife were procured in the evening. After two hours of rest, the

motions again reappeared, when the drum and fife began to play the air

to which she had danced before, viz. the ‘Protestant Boys,’ a favourite

popular air in this neighbourhood. In whatever part of the room she

happened to be, she immediately turned and danced up to the drum, and

as close as possible to it, and there she danced till she missed the

step, when the involuntary motions instantly ceased. The first time she

missed the step in five minutes; but again rose, and danced to the drum

two minutes and a half by her father’s watch, when, missing the step,

the motions instantly ceased. She rose a third time, and missing the

step in half a minute, the motions immediately ceased. After this, the

drum and fife commenced as the involuntary actions were coming on, and

before she rose from her seat; and four times they completely checked

the progress of the attack, so that she did not rise upon the floor to

dance. At this period the affection ceased for the evening.

“March 1. She arose very well at half-past seven. Upon my visit this

morning, the circumstances of the preceding afternoon being stated, it

appeared clear to me, that the attacks had been shortened. Slow as I

had seen the effects of medicine in the comparatively trifling disease

of young females, I was very willing that the family should pursue the

experiment, whilst the medical means were continued.

“As I wished to see the effect of the instrument over the disease, I

was sent for at noon, when I found her dancing to the drum, which she

continued to do for half an hour without missing the step, owing to the

slowness of the movement. As I sat counting the pulse, which I found

to be 120, in the short intervals of an attack, I noticed motions of

the lips, previous to the commencement of the dance, and placing my

ear near the mouth I distinguished a tune. After the attack of which

this was the beginning, she informed me, in answer to my inquiry, that

there always was a tune dwelling upon her mind, which at times becoming

more pressing, irresistibly impelled her to commence the involuntary

motions. The motions ceased at four o’clock.

“At half-past seven the motions commenced again, when I was sent for.

There were two drummers present, and an unbraced drum was beaten till

the other was braced. She danced regularly to the unbraced drum, but

the moment the other commenced she instantly ceased. As missing the

time stopped the affections, I wished the measure to be changed during

the dance, which stopped the attack. It also ceased upon increasing

the rapidity of the beat, till she could no longer keep time; and it

was truly surprising to see the rapidity and violence of the muscular

exertion, in order to keep time with the increasing movement of the

instrument. Five times I saw her sit down the same evening, at the

instant that she was unable to keep the measure; and in consequence

of this I desired the drummers to beat one continued roll, instead

of a regular movement. She arose and danced five minutes, when both

drums beat a continued roll: the motions instantly stopped, and the

patient sat down. In a few minutes the motions commencing again, she

was suffered to dance five minutes, when the drums again began to

roll, the effect of which was instantaneous; the motions ceased, and

the patient sat down. In a few minutes the same was repeated with the

same effect. It appeared certain that the attacks could now be stopped

in an instant, and I was desirous of arresting them entirely, and

breaking the chain of irregular associations which constituted the

disease. As the motions at this period always commenced in the fingers,

and propagated themselves along the upper extremities to the trunk, I

desired the drummers, when the patient arose to dance, to watch the

commencement of the attack, and roll the drums before she arose from

the chair. Six times successively the patient was hindered from rising,

by attending to the commencement of the affection; and before leaving

the house, I desired the family to attend to the commencement of the

attacks, and use the drum early.

“March 2. She arose at seven o’clock, and the motions commenced at

ten; she danced twice before the drummer was prepared, after which

she attempted to dance again four several times; but one roll of a

well-braced drum hindered the patient from leaving her seat, after

which the attacks did not recur. She was left weakly and fatigued by

the disease, but with a good appetite. In the evening of this day an

eruption appeared, particularly about the elbows, in diffused patches

of a bright red colour, which went off on the third day.”

Other cases might be adduced, (see 23d vol. of the Edinburgh Medical

and Surgical Journal, p. 261; 31st vol. of ditto, p. 299; 5th vol. of

the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, pp. 1 to 23, &c.,) but as there

is none more striking than this, they would unnecessarily swell this

number of the Appendix, which has already extended to an undue length.

VI.

MUSIC FOR THE DANCE OF THE TARANTATI,

FROM

ATHAN. KIRCHER.

_Magness. de Arte magnetica. Rom. 1654. fol. p. 591.—Repeated

in Sam. Hafenreffer, Nosodochium, in quo cutis affectus

traduntur. Ulm. 1660. 8vo. p. 485._

[Illustration: I. _Primus modus Tarantella._]

[Illustration: II. _Secundus modus._]

[Illustration: III. _Tertius modus._]

[Illustration: IV. _Antidotum Tarantulæ._]

[Illustration: V.]

Stu pettu è fattu Cimbalu d’Amuri:

Tasti li sensi mobili, e accorti:

Cordi li chianti, sospiri, e duluri:

Rosa è lu Cori miu feritu à morti:

Strali è lu ferru, chiai so li miei arduri:

Marteddu è lu pensieri, e la mia sorti:

Mastra è la Donna mia, ch’à tutti l’huri

Cantando canta leta la mia morti.

Some strophes, which are no longer extant, were usually sung between

these and the following lines:—

Allu mari mi portati,

Se voleti che mi sanati.

Allu mari, alla via:

Cosi m’ama la Donna mia.

Allu mari, allu mari:

Mentre campo, t’aggio amari.

[Illustration: VI. _Tarantella._]

[Illustration: _Ritornello._]

[Illustration: VII. _Tono hypodorio._]

[Illustration]

[Illustration: VIII. _Alia clausula._]

[Illustration]

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

| FOOTNOTES: |

| |

| [203] By this term the reader is now to understand the “Epidemics |

| of the Middle Ages.” This work not having been published, as a |

| whole, in the original, there is no general preface by the Author. |

| His Address to the Physicians of Germany is therefore prefixed as |

| an appropriate substitute. |

| |

| [204] _Odor. Raynald._ Annal. Ecclesiastic. A. 1374. Lucæ, 1752. |

| fol. Tom. VII. p. 252. |

| |

| [205] _Joh. Wier’s_ ample Catalogue of Spirits gives no information |

| on this point. Pseudomonarchia dæmonum. Opera omnia, Amstelod. |

| 1660. 4to. p. 649.—_Raynald_ mentions the word _Frisckes_ as the |

| name of a spirit; but this mistake is easily accounted for by his |

| ignorance of the language; for, according to the Chronicle of |

| Cologne, the St. John’s dancers sang during their paroxysm: “Here |

| Sent Johan. so so, _vrisch_ ind vro, here Sent Johan.” St. John so, |

| so, brisk and cheerful, St. John. Die Cronica van der hilliger Stat |

| van Coellen, fol. 277. Coellen, 1499. fol. |

| |

| [206] _Cyr. Spangenberg_, Adels-Spiegel—_Mirror of Nobility_, a |

| detailed historical account of what nobility is, &c. Schmalkalden, |

| 1591. fol. Fol. 403. b. |

| |

| [207] _Petr. de Herentals_, Appendix, No. I. |

| |

| [208] _Jo. Trithem._ Chronic. Sponheimense, A. 1374. Opera |

| historic. Francof. 1601. fol. p. 332. Also: _Abrah. Bzovii_ Annal. |

| Ecclesiastic. Tom. XIV. Colon. Agripp. 1625. fol. Ann. 1374. |

| (Maniaca passio. S. Johannis chorea.) |

| |

| [209] _Jo. Pistorii_ Rerum Familiarumque Belgicarum Chronicon |

| magnum. Francof. 1654. fol. p. 319. Here the persons affected |

| are called _dansatores_, _chorisantes_. See the whole passage in |

| the Appendix, No. II. Compare Incerti auctoris vetus chronicon |

| Belgicum, Matthæi veteris ævi Analecta. Hag. com. 1738. 4to. Tom. |

| I. p. 51. “Anno MCCCLXXIV. the _dansers_ appeared. Gens impacata |

| cadit, dudum cruciata salvat.” This should be salivat; a quotation |

| from a Latin poem not now extant. |

| |

| [210] The Limburg Chronicle, published by _C. D. Vogel_, Marburg, |

| 1828. 8vo. p. 27. This singular phenomenon cannot but remind us |

| of the “Demon of Fashion,” of the middle ages. Extravagant as the |

| love of dress was after the middle of the fourteenth century, |

| the opposition of the enemies of fashion was equally great, and |

| they let slip no opportunity of crying down every change or |

| innovation as the work of the devil. Hence it is extremely probable |

| that the fanatic penitential sermons of zealous priests excited |

| this singular aversion of the St. Vitus dancers. In later times |

| also, signs and wonders took place, on account of things equally |

| insignificant, and the fury of the possessed was directed against |

| the fashions. Compare _Möhsen’s_ History of the Sciences in the |

| Mark of Brandenburg, p. 498. f. |

| |

| [211] _Petr. de Herentals._ Appendix, No. I. |

| |

| [212] Respecting the exorcisms used, see E. G. _Förstemann_, the |

| Christian Societies of Flagellants. Halle, 1828. 8vo. p. 232. |

| |

| [213] Limburg Chronicle, p. 71. Cologne Chronicle, loc. cit. See |

| Appendix, Nos. III. and IV. |

| |

| [214] Dans la ville y eut des dansans, tant grands que petits, onze |

| cents. Journal de Paris, 1785. |

| |

| [215] _Schenk._ v. _Grafenberg._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [216] “Chorus Sancti Viti, or St. Vitus’ Dance; the lascivious |

| dance, Paracelsus calls it, because they that are taken with it, |

| can do nothing but dance till they be dead, or cured. It is so |

| called for that the parties so troubled were wont to go to St. |

| Vitus for help; and, after they had danced there awhile, they were |

| certainly freed. ’Tis strange to hear how long they will dance, |

| and in what manner, over stools, forms, tables; even great bellied |

| women sometimes (and yet never hurt their children) will dance |

| so long that they can stir neither hand nor foot, but seem to be |

| quite dead. One in red clothes they cannot abide. Musick above all |

| things they love; and therefore magistrates in Germany will hire |

| musicians to play to them, and some lusty, sturdy companions to |

| dance with them. This disease hath been very common in Germany, as |

| appears by those relations of Schenkius, and Paracelsus in his book |

| of madness, who brags how many several persons he hath cured of it. |

| Felix Platerus (_de Mentis Alienat. cap. 3._) reports of a woman in |

| Basle whom he saw, that danced a whole month together. The Arabians |

| call it a kind of _palsie_. Bodine, in his fifth book, de Repub. |

| cap. 1. speaks of this infirmity; Monavius, in his last epistle to |

| Scoltizius, and in another to Dudithus, where you may read more |

| of it.”—_Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy_, Vol. I. p. 15.—_Transl. |

| note._ |

| |

| [217] _J. of Köningshoven_, the oldest German Chronicle in |

| existence. The contents are general, but devoted more exclusively |

| to Alsace and Strasburg, published by _Schiltern_, Strasburg, 1698. |

| 4to. Observat. 21, of St. Vitus’s Dance, p. 1085. f. |

| |

| “_Viel hundert_ fingen zu Strassburg an |

| Zu tanzen und springen Frau und Mann, |

| Am offnen Markt, Gassen und Strassen |

| Tag und Nacht ihrer viel nicht assen. |

| Bis ihn das Wüthen wieder gelag. |

| St. Vits Tanz ward genannt die Plag.” |

| |

| “Many hundreds of men and women began to dance and jump in the |

| public market-place, the lanes, and the streets of Strasburg. Many |

| of them ate nothing for days and nights, until their mania again |

| subsided. The plague was called St. Vitus’s Dance.” |

| |

| [218] _Cæs. Baron._ Annales ecclesiastic. Tom. II. p. 819. Colon. |

| Agripp. 1609. fol. See the more ample Acta Sanctorum Junii (The |

| 15th of June is St. Vitus’s day) Tom. II. p. 1013. Antwerp. 1698. |

| fol. From which we shall merely add that Mazara, in Sicily, is |

| supposed to have been the birth-place of our Saint, and that |

| his father’s name was _Hylas_; that he went from thence with |

| _Crescentia_ (probably his nurse) and _Modestus_ to Lucania, with |

| both of whom he suffered martyrdom under _Diocletian_. They are all |

| said to have been buried at Florence, and it was not long before |

| the miraculous powers of St. Vitus, which had already manifested |

| themselves in his life-time, were acknowledged throughout Italy. |

| The most celebrated of his chapels were situated on the Promontory |

| of Sicily (called by his name), in Rome and in Polignano, whither |

| many pilgrimages were made by the sick. Persons who had been bitten |

| by mad dogs believed that they would find an infallible cure at |

| his altars, though the power of the Saint in curing wounds of this |

| kind was afterwards disputed by the followers of St. Hubertus, the |

| Saint of the Chase. In 672, his body was with much pomp moved to |

| Apulia, but soon after the priests of many churches and chapels |

| in Italy, gave out that they were in possession of portions of |

| the saint’s body which worked miracles. In the eighth century the |

| veneration of this youthful martyr extended itself to France, and |

| the honour of possessing his body was conferred on the church of |

| St. Denys. By command of the Pope it was solemnly delivered on |

| the 19th of March, 836, by the Abbot _Hilduwinus_, of St. Denys, |

| to the Abbot _Warinus_, of Corvey, (founded in 822). On its way |

| thither, which occupied three months (to the 13th of June), many |

| miracles were performed, and the subsequent Abbots of Corvey were |

| able for centuries to maintain the popular belief in the miraculous |

| healing power of their relics, which had indiscriminate influence |

| on all diseases, more especially on those of a demoniacal kind. See |

| Monachi anonymi Historia translationis S. Viti. In _G. H. Pertz_, |

| Monumenta Germaniæ Historica. Tom. II. Hannov. 1828. fol. p. 576. |

| As a proof of the great veneration for St. Vitus in the fourteenth |

| century, we may further mention that Charles IV. dedicated to him |

| the Cathedral of Prague, of which he had laid the foundation, and |

| caused him to be proclaimed Patron Saint of Bohemia, and a nominal |

| body of the holy martyr was, for this purpose, brought from Parma. |

| Act. Sanctor. loc. cit. |

| |

| [219] Probably a corruption of Apotropæi. The expression is |

| constantly met with; for example, in _Agricola_, Proverbs, No. 497. |

| These are the θεοὶ ἀλεξικάκοι, the dii averrunci of the antients. |

| The fourteen saints, to whose churches (between Bamberg and Coburg) |

| thousands still annually make pilgrimages, are the following: |

| 1. Georgius. 2. Blasius. 3. Erasmus. 4. Vitus. 5. Pantaleon. |

| 6. Christophorus. 7. Dionysius. 8. Cyriacus. 9. Achatius. 10. |

| Eustachius. 11. Ægidius. 12. Margaretha. 13. Catharina. 14. Barbara. |

| |

| [220] _J. Agricola._ Sybenhundert und fünffzig Teutscher |

| Sprichwörter. No. 497. Seven hundred and fifty German Proverbs. |

| Hagenau, 1537. 8vo. fol. 248. |

| |

| [221] _St. Augustine_ had already warned the people against |

| committing excesses and singing profane songs at the festival of |

| St. John: “Nec permittamus solemnitatem sanctam cantica luxuriosa |

| proferendo polluere.”—_St. Augusti_ Denkwürdigkeiten aus der |

| Christlichen Archäologie. Vol. III. p. 166. Leipzig. 1820. 8vo. |

| Memorabilia of Christian Archæology. |

| |

| [222] _Wirthwein._ Series chronologic. Epistolarum S. Bonifacii ab |

| ann. 716–755. LVII. Concil. Liptinens. p. 131. XV. De igne fricato |

| de ligno, id est, Nodfyr. See _Joh. Reiskii_. Untersuchung des bei |

| den Alten Teutschen gebräuchlichen heidnischen Nodfyrs, imgleichen |

| des Oster-und Johannis-Feuers. Enquiry respecting the heathen |

| Nodfyrs customary among the ancient Germans, and also the Easter |

| and St. John’s fires. Frankfort, 1696. 8vo. |

| |

| [223] The Bishop _Theodoret_ of Cyrus in Syria, states, that at |

| the festival of St. John, large fires were annually kindled in |

| several towns, through which men, women and children jumped; |

| and that young children were carried through by their mothers. |

| He considered this custom as an ancient Asiatic ceremony of |

| purification, similar to that recorded of Ahaz, in 2 Kings, xvi. |

| 3. (Quæstiones in IV. Libr. Regum. Interrogat. 47, p. 352. _Beati |

| Theodoreti_, Episcop. Cyri Opera omnia, Ed. _Jac. Sirmondi_, Lùt. |

| Paris. 1642. fol. T. I.) _Zonaras, Balsamon and Photius_ speak of |

| the St. John’s fires in Constantinople, and the first looks upon it |

| as the remains of an old Grecian custom. See _Reiske_, loc. cit. p. |

| 81. That such different nations should have had the same idea of |

| fixing the purification by fire on St. John’s day, is a remarkable |

| coincidence, which perhaps can be accounted for only by its analogy |

| to baptism. |

| |

| [224] The Life and Adventures of _Nathaniel Pearce_, written by |

| himself, during a residence in Abyssinia from the year 1810 to |

| 1819. Edited by _J. J. Halls_. 2 Vols. 8vo. London, 1831. chap. ix. |

| p. 290. |

| |

| [225] _Joann. Trithem._ Annal. Hirsaugiens. Oper. Tom. II. Hirsaug. |

| 1690. fol. p. 263. A. 1374. See the before-mentioned Chronicle of |

| Cologne, fol. 276. b., wherein it is said that the people passed in |

| boats and rafts over the city walls. |

| |

| [226] What took place at the St. John’s fires in the middle ages |

| (about 1280) we learn by a communication from the Bishop _Guil. |

| Durantes_ of Aquitania (Rationale divinorum officiorum. L. VII. c. |

| 26. In _Reiske_, loc. cit. p. 77.) Bones, horns, and other rubbish, |

| were heaped together to be consumed in smoke, while persons of all |

| ages danced round the flames as if they had been possessed, in the |

| same way as at the Palilia, an ancient Roman lustration by fire, |

| whereat those who took part in them, sprang through a fire made of |

| straw. (Ovid. Met. XIV. 774. Fast. IV. 721.) Others seized burning |

| flambeaux, and made a circuit of the fields, in the supposition |

| that they thereby screened them from danger, while others, again, |

| turned a cart wheel, to represent the retrograde movement of the |

| sun. |

| |

| [227] _J. Chr. Beckmann_, Historia des Fürstenthums Anhalt. Zerbst. |

| History of the Principality of Anhalt. Zerbst. 1710. fol. Part III. |

| book 4. chap. 4. § 3. p. 467. |

| |

| [228] _Martini_ Minoritæ Flores temporum, in _Jo. Georg. Eccard_, |

| Corpus historiæ medii ævi. Lips. 1723. fol. Tom. I. p. 1632. |

| |

| [229] _Beckmann_, loc. cit. § 1. f. p. 465, where many other |

| observations are made on this well known circumstance. The priest |

| named, is the same who is still known in the nursery tales of |

| children as the _Knecht Ruprecht_. |

| |

| [230] “Das dich Sanct Veitstanz ankomme.” May you be seized with |

| St. Vitus’s Dance. _Joh. Agricola_, Sybenhundert und fünffzig |

| Teutscher Sprichwörter. Hagenau, 1537, 8. No. 497. p. 268. |

| |

| [231] _Spangenberg_ (Adels-Spiegel. Mirror of Nobility, loc. cit.) |

| in his own forcible manner, thus expresses himself on this subject: |

| “It was afterwards pointed out by some, that these people could not |

| have been properly baptized, or at all events, that their baptism |

| was ineffectual, because they had received it from priests who |

| shamelessly lived in open cohabitation with unchaste harlots. Upon |

| this the lower classes rose in rebellion, and would have killed all |

| the priests.” Compare Appendix, No. I. |

| |

| [232] _Bzovii_ Annal. ecclesiastic. loc. cit. 1468. |

| |

| [233] See Appendix, Nos. III. and IV. |

| |

| [234] _Theophrasti Bombast von Hohenheym_, 7 Buch in der Artzney. |

| Von den Krankheiten, die der Vernunft berauben. 7th Book on |

| Medicine. Of the diseases which produce insanity. Tract I. chap. 3, |

| p. 491. Tract II. chap. 3, p. 501. Opera. Strassburg, 1616. fol. |

| Tom. I. |

| |

| [235] Chorea procursiva of the moderns. _Bernt_, Monographia Choreæ |

| Sti. Viti. Prag. 1810. p. 25. |

| |

| [236] This proceeding was, however, no invention of his, but an |

| imitation of a usual mode of enchantment by means of wax figures |

| (peri cunculas). The witches made a wax image of the person who |

| was to be bewitched; and in order to torment him, they stuck it |

| full of pins, or melted it before the fire. The books on magic, |

| of the middle ages, are full of such things; though the reader |

| who may wish to obtain information on this subject, need not go |

| so far back. Only eighty years since, the learned and celebrated |

| _Storch_, of the school of _Stahl_, published a treatise on |

| witchcraft, worthy of the fourteenth century. “Abhandlung von |

| Kinderkrankheiten.” Treatise on the Diseases of Children. Vol. IV. |

| p. 228. Eisenach, 1751–8. |

| |

| The ancients were in the habit of employing wax in incantations. |

| |

| Thus Simoetha in Theocritus: |

| |

| Ὡς τοῦτον τὸν καρὸν ἐγὼ σὺν δαίμονι τάκω, |

| Ὡς τάκοιθ’ ὑπ’ ἔρωτος ὁ Μύνδιος αὐτίκα Δέλφις. |

| _See Potter’s Antiquities_, Vol. II. p. 251. |

| |

| and Horace— |

| |

| “Lanea et effigies erat, altera cerea.” |

| _Lib._ 1. _Sat._ 8. _l._ 30. |

| _Transl. note._ |

| |

| [237] See _Agricola_, loc. cit. p. 269. No. 498. |

| |

| [238] _Johann Schenck von Graffenberg_, born 1530, took his degree |

| at Tübingen, in 1554. He passed the greater part of his life as |

| physician to the corporation of Freiburg in the Breisgau, and died |

| in 1598. |

| |

| [239] _J. Schenkii a Graffenberg_ Observationum medicarum, |

| rariarum, &c. Libri VII. Lugdun. 1643. fol. L. I. Obs. VIII. p. 136. |

| |

| [240] It is related by _Felix Plater_ (born 1536, died 1614) |

| that he remembered in his youth the authorities of Basle having |

| commissioned several powerful men to dance with a girl who had |

| the dancing mania, till she recovered from her disorder. They |

| successively relieved each other; and this singular mode of cure |

| lasted above four weeks, when the patient fell down exhausted, and |

| being quite unable to stand, was carried to an hospital, where |

| she recovered. She had remained in her clothes all the time, |

| and, entirely regardless of the pain of her lacerated feet, she |

| had merely sat down occasionally to take some nourishment, or to |

| slumber, during which the hopping movement of her body continued. |

| _Felic. Plateri_ Praxeos medicæ opus. L. I. ch. 3. p. 88. Tom. I. |

| Basil. 1656. 4to. Ejusd. Observation. Basil. 1641. 8. p. 92. |

| |

| [241] The 15th of June. Here therefore they did not wait till the |

| Festival of St. John. |

| |

| [242] _Gregor. Horstii_ Observationum medicinalium singularium |

| Libri IV. priores. His accessit Epistolarum et Consultationum |

| medicar. Lib. I. Ulm. 1628. 4to. Epistol. p. 374. |

| |

| [243] _Jo. Bodin._ Method. historic. Amstelod. 1650. 12mo, Ch. V. |

| p. 99.—Idem, de Republica. Francofurt. 1591. 8vo. Lib. V. Ch. I. p. |

| 789. |

| |

| [244] A very remarkable case, illustrative in part of this |

| observation, where, however, not the person who was supposed to be |

| the subject of the demoniacal malady, but its alleged authors, were |

| punished, is thus reported by Dr. Watt of Glasgow:—“It occurred |

| at Bargarran, in Renfrewshire, in 1696. The patient’s name was |

| Christian Shaw, a girl of eleven years of age. She is described |

| as having had violent fits of leaping, dancing, running, crying, |

| fainting, &c., but the whole narrative is mixed up with so much |

| credulity and superstition, that it is impossible to separate truth |

| from fiction. These strange fits continued from August, 1696, |

| till the end of March in the year following, when the patient |

| recovered.” An account of the whole was published at Edinburgh, |

| in 1698, entitled, “A true Narrative of the Sufferings of a Young |

| Girl, who was strangely molested by evil spirits, and their |

| instruments, in the West, collected from authentic testimonies.” |

| |

| The whole being ascribed to witchcraft, the clergy were most active |

| on the occasion. Besides occasional days of humiliation, two solemn |

| fasts were observed throughout the whole bounds of the Presbytery, |

| and a number of clergymen and elders were appointed in rotation, to |

| be constantly on the spot. So far the matter was well enough. But |

| such was the superstition of the age, that a memorial was presented |

| to his Majesty’s most honourable Privy Council, and on the 19th |

| of January, 1697, a warrant was issued, setting forth “that there |

| were pregnant grounds of suspicion of witchcraft in Renfrewshire, |

| especially from the afflicted and extraordinary condition of |

| Christian Shaw, daughter of John Shaw, of Bargarran.” A commission |

| was therefore granted to Alexander Lord Blantyre, Sir John Maxwell, |

| Sir John Shaw, and five others, together with the sheriff of the |

| county, to inquire into the matter, and report. This commission is |

| signed by eleven privy councillors, consisting of some of the first |

| noblemen and gentlemen in the kingdom. |

| |

| The report of the commissioners having fully confirmed the |

| suspicions respecting the existence of witchcraft, another warrant |

| was issued on the 5th of April, 1697, to Lord Hallcraig, Sir |

| John Houston, and four others, “to try the persons accused of |

| witchcraft, and to sentence the guilty to be burned, or otherwise |

| executed to death, as the commission should incline.” |

| |

| The commissioners, thus empowered, were not remiss in the discharge |

| of their duty. After twenty hours were spent in the examination |

| of witnesses, and counsel heard on both sides, the counsel for |

| the prosecution “exhorted the jury to beware of condemning the |

| innocent; but at the same time, should they acquit the prisoners in |

| opposition to legal evidence, they would be accessory to all the |

| blasphemies, apostacies, murders, tortures, and seductions, whereof |

| these enemies of heaven and earth should hereafter be guilty.” |

| After the jury had spent six hours in deliberation, seven of the |

| miserable wretches, three men and four women, were condemned to |

| the flames, and the sentence faithfully executed at Paisley, on |

| the 10th of June, 1697.—_Medico-Chirurg. Trans._ Vol. V. p. 20, et |

| seq.—_Transl. note._ |

| |

| [245] Compare _Olaus Magnus_, de gentibus septentrionalibus. Lib. |

| XVIII. Ch. 45–47. p. 642, seq. Rom. 1555. fol. |

| |

| [246] _Burton_, in his Anatomy of Melancholy, has the following |

| observations, which, with the ample references by which they are |

| accompanied, will furnish materials for such a history. |

| |

| “_Lycanthropia_, which _Avicenna_ calls _cucubuth_, others _lupinam |

| insaniam_, or wolf-madness, when men run howling about graves |

| and fields in the night, and will not be persuaded but that they |

| are wolves, or some such beasts. _Aëtius_ (Lib. 6. cap. 11.) and |

| _Paulus_ (Lib. 3. cap. 16.) call it a kind of _melancholy_; but I |

| should rather refer it to _madness_, as most do. Some make a doubt |

| of it, whether there be any such disease. _Donat. ab Altomari_ |

| (Cap. 9. Art. Med.) saith, that he saw two of them in his time: |

| _Wierus_ (De Præstig. Demonum, 1. 3. cap. 21.) tells a story of |

| such a one at Padua, 1541, that would not believe to the contrary, |

| but that he was a wolf. He hath another instance of a Spaniard, who |

| thought himself a bear. _Forestus_ (Observat. lib. 10. de Morbis |

| Cerebri, c. 15.) confirms as much by many examples; one, among the |

| rest, of which he was an eye-witness, at Alcmaer in Holland.—A poor |

| husbandman that still hunted about graves, and kept in churchyards, |

| of a pale, black, ugly, and fearful look. Such, belike, or little |

| better, were king Prœtus’ daughters, (_Hippocrates_ lib. de |

| insaniâ,) that thought themselves kine: and Nebuchadnezzar, in |

| Daniel, as some interpreters hold, was only troubled with this |

| kind of madness. This disease, perhaps, gave occasion to that bold |

| assertion of Pliny, (Lib. 8. cap. 22. homines interdum lupos fieri; |

| et contra,) _some men were turned into wolves in his time, and from |

| wolves to men again_; and to that fable of Pausanias, of a man that |

| was ten years a wolf, and afterwards turned to his former shape; to |

| Ovid’s (Met. lib. 1.) tale of Lycaon, &c. He that is desirous to |

| hear of this disease, or more examples, let him read _Austin_ in |

| his eighteenth book, _de Civitate Dei_, cap. 5; _Mizaldus_, cent. |

| 5. 77; _Schenkius_, lib. 1. _Hildesheim, Spicil. 2. de maniâ_; |

| Forestus, lib. 10. _de morbis cerebri; Olaus Magnus; Vicentius |

| Bellavicensis, spec. met._ lib. 31. c. 122; _Pierius, Bodine, |

| Zuinger, Zeilgur, Peucer, Wierus, Spranger, &c._ This malady, saith |

| _Avicenna_, troubleth men most in February, and is now-a-days |

| frequent in Bohemia and Hungary, according to _Heurnius_. (Cap. de |

| Man.) _Schernitzius_ will have it common in Livonia. They lie hid, |

| most part, all day, and go abroad in the night, barking, howling, |

| at graves and deserts; _they have usually hollow eyes, scabbed legs |

| and thighs, very dry and pale_, (Ulcerata crura; sitis ipsis adest |

| immodica; pallidi; lingua sicca,) saith _Altomarus_: he gives a |

| reason there of all the symptoms, and sets down a brief cure of |

| them.”—_Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy._ Tenth Edit.: 8vo. 1804. |

| Vol. 1. Page 13, et seq. |

| |

| It is surprising that so learned a writer as _Burton_ should |

| not have alluded to Oribasius, who flourished 140 years before |

| _Aëtius_, and of whom _Freind_ says, “In auctore hoc miri cujusdam |

| morbi prima mentio est; is Λυκάνθρωπος sive Λυκανθρωπία dicitur, |

| estque melancholiæ, aut insaniæ, species quænam ita ab illo |

| descripta: ‘Quos hoc malum infestos habet, nocturno tempore domo |

| egressi, Lupos in omnibus rebus imitantur, et ad diem usque circa |

| tumulos vagantur mortuorum. Hos ita cognosce: pallidi sunt, oculos |

| hebetes et siccos, non illachrymantes, eosque concavos habent: |

| lingua siccissima est, nulla penitus in ore saliva conspicitur, |

| siti enecti; crura vero, quia noctu sæpe offendunt, sine remedio |

| exulcerata.’—‘Quod ad morbum ipsum attinet, si peregrinantibus |

| fides adhibenda est, fuit olim in quibusdam regionibus, ut in |

| Livonia, Hibernia, et aliis locis visi non infrequens,’” &c.—_J. |

| Freind. Opera omnia Med._ fol. London. 1733. |

| |

| De hujus morbi antiquitatibus vide elegantem _Böttigeri_ |

| disputationem in _Sprengelii_ Beitr. z. Gesch. d. Med. 11. p. 1–45. |

| _Blancard. Lexic. Med._ Edit. noviss. 8vo. Lipsiæ, 1822.—_Transl. |

| note._ |

| |

| [247] Born 1430, died 1480. Cornucopiæ latinæ linguæ. Basil. 1536. |

| fol. Comment. in primum _Martialis_ Epigramma, p. 51, 52. “Est et |

| alius stellio ex araneorum genere, qui, simili modo, ascalabotes a |

| Græcis dicitur, et colotes et galeotes, lentiginosus in cavernulis |

| dehiscentibus, per æstum terræ habitans. Hic majorum nostrorum |

| temporibus in Italia visus non fuit, nunc frequens in Apulia |

| visitur. Aliquando etiam in Tarquinensi et Corniculano agro, et |

| vulgo similiter _tarantula_ vocatur. Morsus ejus perraro interemit |

| hominem, semistupidum tamen facit, et varie afficit, _tarantulam_ |

| vulgo appellant. _Quidam cantu audito, aut sono, ita excitantur, ut |

| pleni lætitia et semper ridentes saltent, nec nisi defatigati et |

| semineces desistant._ Alii semper flentes, quasi desiderio suorum |

| miserabilem vitam agant. Alii visa muliere, libidinis statim ardore |

| incensi, veluti furentes in eam prosiliant. Quidam ridendo, quidam |

| flendo moriantur.” |

| |

| [248] Lycosa Tarantula. |

| |

| [249] The Aranea Tarantula of _Linnæus_, who, after the technical |

| description, says, “Habitat in Europa australi, potissimum |

| Apulia, in Barbaria, in Tauria, Russiæque, australis desertis, in |

| Astracania ad montes Sibiriæ Altaicos usque, in Persia et reliquo |

| Oriente, in solo præsertim argillaceo in antris, morsu quamvis |

| interdum dolente, olimque famosum tarantismum musica sanandum |

| excitare credito, vix unquam periculoso, cinerascens, oculis |

| duobus prioribus rubris, thorace in areas nigras diviso in centrum |

| concurrentes, abdomine supra fasciis maxillisque nigris.”—_Systema |

| Naturæ._ Tom. I. pars v. p. 2956. |

| |

| For particulars regarding the habits of the Lycosæ, see |

| _Griffith’s_ Transl. of _Cuvier’s_ Animal Kingdom. Vol. |

| XIII. p. 427 and p. 480. et seq. The author states that _M. |

| Chabrier_ has published (Soc. Acad. de Lille 4^e cahier) some |

| curious observations on the _Lycosa tarantula_ of the south of |

| France.—_Transl. note._ |

| |

| [250] _Matthiol._ Commentar. in Dioscorid. L. II. ch. 59. p. 363. |

| Ed. Venet. 1565. fol. |

| |

| [251] _Perotti_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [252] Probably Lacerto Gecko, as also the synonymes, κωλώτης and |

| γαλεώτης quoted by him. |

| |

| [253] Lacerta Stellio. It need scarcely be observed that the |

| venomous nature of this harmless creature was a pure invention of |

| Roman superstition. |

| |

| [254] See _Athan. Kircher._ loc. cit. |

| |

| [255] From 1451–1458. _Tiraboschi._ VI. 11. p. 356. |

| |

| [256] See p. 12. et seq. |

| |

| [257] _Aëtius_, who wrote at the end of the sixth century, |

| mentions six which occur in the older works. 1. ῥάγιον, 2. λύκος, |

| 3. μυρμήκειον 4. κρανοκολάπτης, by others, κεφαλοκρούστης, 5. |

| σκληροκέφαλον, and 6. σκωλήκιον. Tetrabl. IV. Serm. I. ch. 18. in |

| _Hen. Steph._ Compare _Dioscorid._ Lib. VI. ch. 42. _Matthiol._ |

| Commentar. in Dioscorid. p. 1447. _Nicand._ Theriac. V. 8. 715. |

| 755. 654. |

| |

| [258] Aranearum multæ species sunt. Quæ ubi mordent, faciunt multum |

| dolorem, ruborem, frigidum sudorem, et citrinum colorem. Aliquando |

| quasi stranguriæ in urina duritiem, et virgæ extensionem, intra |

| inguina, et genua, tetinositatem in stomacho. Linguæ extensionem, |

| ut eorum sermo non possit discerni. _Vomunt humiditatem quasi |

| araneæ telam_, et ventris emollitionem similiter, &c. De communibus |

| medico cognitu necessariis locis. Lib. VIII. cap. 22. p. 235. |

| Basil. 1539. fol. |

| |

| [259] He lived in the middle of the eleventh century, and was a |

| junior contemporary with _Constantine_ of Africa. _J. Chr. Gottl. |

| Ackermann_, Regimen sanitatis Salerni sive Scholæ Salernitanæ de |

| conservanda bona valetudine præcepta. Stendal. 1790. 8vo. p. 38. |

| |

| [260] The passage is as follows: “Anteneasmon est species maniæ |

| periculosa nimium. Irritantur tanquam maniaci, et in se manus |

| injiciunt. Hi subito arripiuntur, _cum saltatione manuum et pedum, |

| quia intra aurium cavernas quasi voces diversas sonare falso |

| audiunt, ut sunt diversorum instrumentorum musicæ soni; quibus |

| delectantur, ut statim saltent_, aut cursum velocem arripiant; |

| subito arripientes gladium percutiunt se aut alios: morsibus |

| se et alios attrectare non dubitant. Hos Latini percussores, |

| alii dicunt dæmonis legiones esse, ut dum eos arripiunt, vexent |

| et vulnerent. Diligentia eis imponenda est, quando istos sonos |

| audierint, includantur, et post accessionis horas phlebotomentur, |

| et venter eis moveatur. Cibos leves accipiant cum calida aqua, ut |

| omnis ventositas, quæ in cerebro sonum facit, egeratur. In ipsa |

| accessione silentium habeant. Quod si spumam per os ejecerint, _vel |

| ex canis rabidi morsu causa fuerit_, intra septem dies moriuntur.” |

| _Garioponti_, medici vetustissimi, de morborum causis, accidentibus |

| et curationibus. Libri VIII. Basil. 1536. 8vo. L. I. ch. 2. p. 27. |

| |

| [261] _J. P. Papon._ De la peste, ou les époques mémorables de ce |

| fléau. Paris, an 8. 8vo. Tome II. page 270. (1119. 1126. 1135. |

| 1193. 1225. 1227. 1231. 1234. 1243. 1254. 1288. 1301. 1311. 1316. |

| 1335. 1340.) |

| |

| [262] 1347 to 1350. |

| |

| [263] _Athanasius Kircher_ gives a full account of the instruments |

| then in use, which differed very slightly from those of our days. |

| Musurgia universalis, sive Ars magna consoni et dissoni. Romæ, |

| 1650, fol. Tom. I. p. 477. |

| |

| [264] Genialium dierum Libri VI. Lugdun. Bat. 1673. 8vo. Lib. II. |

| ch. 17. p. 398. _Alex. ab Alexandro_, a distinguished Neapolitan |

| lawyer, lived from 1461 to 1523. The historian _Gaudentius Merula_, |

| who became celebrated about 1536, makes only a very slight mention |

| of the Tarantism. Memorabilium _Gaud. Merulæ_ Novariensis opus, &c. |

| Lugdun. 1656. 8vo. L. III. ch. 69. p. 251. |

| |

| [265] _Petr. And. Matthioli_ Commentarii in Dioscorid. Venet. 1565. |

| fol. Lib. II ch. 57. p. 362. |

| |

| [266] _Athanas. Kircher._ Magnes sive de Arte magnetica Opus. Rom. |

| 1654. fol. p. 589. |

| |

| [267] _Joann. Juvenis_ de antiquitate et varia Tarentinorum fortuna |

| Lib. VIII. Neapol. 1589. fol. Lib. II. ch. 17. p. 107. With the |

| exception of the statement quoted, _Juvenis_ has borrowed almost |

| every thing from _Matthioli_. |

| |

| [268] _Simon. Alloys._ _Tudecius_, physician to Queen Christine, |

| saw a case of this kind in July, 1656. _Bonet._ Medicina |

| septentrionalis collatit. Genev. 1684. fol. |

| |

| [269] _Epiphan. Ferdinand._ Centum historiæ seu observationes et |

| casus medici. Venet. 1621. fol. Hist. LXXXI. p. 259. _Ferdinando_, |

| a physician in Messapia at the commencement of the seventeenth |

| century, has collected, with much diligence, the various statements |

| respecting the Tarantism of his time. He “_was himself an eye |

| witness of it_,” (p. 265.) and is by far the most copious of all |

| the old writers on this subject. |

| |

| [270] _Kircher_, loc. cit. pp. 588, 589. |

| |

| [271] _Ferdinand._ p. 259. |

| |

| [272] For example:— |

| |

| “Allu mari mi portati |

| Se voleti che mi sanati. |

| Allu mari, alla via: |

| Cosi m’ama la donna mia. |

| Allu mari allu mari: |

| Mentre campo, t’aggio amari.” |

| |

| _Kircher_, loc. cit. p. 592.—Appendix, No. V. |

| |

| [273] _Ferdinand._ loc. cit. p. 257. |

| |

| [274] _Kircher_, p. 589. |

| |

| [275] _Plin._ Hist. Nat. Lib. XXVIII. ch. 2. p. 447. Ed. _Hard._ |

| |

| [276] _Cael. Aurelian._ Chron. Lib. I. ch. 5. p. 335. Ed. _Amman_. |

| |

| [277] _Democritus_ and _Theophrastus_ made mention of it. See |

| _Gell._ Noct. Attic. Lib. IV. ch. 13. |

| |

| [278] _Ferdinand._ p. 260. |

| |

| [279] _Bagliv._ loc. cit. p. 618. From more decided statements, |

| however, we learn, that of those who had been bitten only one or |

| two in a thousand died. _Ferdinand._ p. 255. |

| |

| [280] Il carnevaletto delle donne. _Bagliv._ p. 617. |

| |

| [281] _Ferdinand._ pp. 254. 260. |

| |

| [282] _Ferdinand._ p. 259. Slow music made the Tarantel dancers |

| feel as if they were crushed: spezzati, minuzzati, p. 260. |

| |

| [283] _A. Kircher_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [284] See Appendix, No. V. |

| |

| [285] _Bagliv._ loc. cit. p. 623. |

| |

| [286] _A. Kircher_, loc. cit. |

| |

| [287] _Ferdinand._ p. 262. |

| |

| [288] This is said of an old man of Avetrano, who was ninety-four |

| years of age. pp. 254. 257. |

| |

| [289] Idem, p. 261. |

| |

| [290] _Ferdinando_ saw a man who was hard of hearing listen with |

| great eagerness during the dance, and endeavour to approach the |

| drums and fifes as nearly as possible. p. 258. |

| |

| [291] Idem, p. 260. |

| |

| [292] Idem, p. 256. |

| |

| [293] Idem, p. 260. |

| |

| [294] Idem, p. 261. |

| |

| [295] _Ferdinand._ p. 256. |

| |

| [296] Idem, p. 258. |

| |

| [297] Idem, p. 257. |

| |

| [298] Idem, p. 256. |

| |

| [299] De Contag. Lib. III. ch. 2. p. 212. Opera Lugdun. 1591. 8vo. |

| |

| [300] De Contag. p. 254. |

| |

| [301] Idem, ibid. |

| |

| [302] Idem, p. 262. |

| |

| [303] Idem, p. 261. |

| |

| [304] “The imaginations of women are always more excitable than |

| those of men, and they are therefore susceptible of every folly |

| when they lead a life of strict seclusion, and their thoughts |

| are constantly turned inwards upon themselves. Hence in orphan |

| asylums, hospitals, and convents, the nervous disorder of one |

| female so easily and quickly becomes the disorder of all. I have |

| read in a good medical work that a nun, in a very large convent |

| in France, began to mew like a cat; shortly afterwards other nuns |

| also mewed. At last all the nuns mewed together every day at a |

| certain time for several hours together. The whole surrounding |

| Christian neighbourhood heard, with equal chagrin and astonishment, |

| this daily cat-concert, which did not cease until all the nuns |

| were informed that a company of soldiers were placed by the police |

| before the entrance of the convent, and that they were provided |

| with rods, and would continue whipping them until they promised not |

| to mew any more. |

| |

| “But of all the epidemics of females which I myself have seen |

| in Germany, or of which the history is known to me, the most |

| remarkable is the celebrated Convent-epidemic of the fifteenth |

| century, which Cardan describes, and which peculiarly proves |

| what I would here enforce. A nun in a German nunnery fell to |

| biting all her companions. In the course of a short time all the |

| nuns of this convent began biting each other. The news of this |

| infatuation among the nuns soon spread, and it now passed from |

| convent to convent, throughout a great part of Germany, principally |

| Saxony and Brandenburg. It afterwards visited the nunneries of |

| Holland, and at last the nuns had the biting mania even as far as |

| Rome.”—_Zimmermann_ on Solitude, Vol. II. Leipsig. 1784.—_Transl. |

| note._ |

| |

| [305] _Georg. Baglivi_, Diss. de Anatome, morsu et effectibus |

| Tarantulæ. pp. 616, 617. Opp. Lugdun. 1710. 4to. |

| |

| [306] _Ferdinando_, p. 257. |

| |

| [307] Idem, pp. 256, 257, 258. |

| |

| [308] _Ferdinando_, p. 258. |

| |

| [309] _Adam Olearius._ Vermehrte Moscowitische und Persianische |

| Reisebeschreibung. Travels in Muscovy and Persia. Schleswig, 1663. |

| fol. Book IV. p. 496. |

| |

| [310] _Geor. Baglivi_, Dissertatio VI. de Anatome, morsu et |

| effectibus Tarantulæ. (written in 1595.) Opera omnia, Lugdun. 1710. |

| 4to. p. 599. |

| |

| [311] This physician once saw three patients, who were evidently |

| suffering from a malignant fever, and whose illness was attributed |

| by the bystanders to the bite of the tarantula, forced to dance by |

| having music played to them. One of them died on the spot, and the |

| two others very shortly after. Ch. 7. p. 616. |

| |

| [312] Among the instances in which imposture successfully taxes |

| popular credulity, perhaps there is none more remarkable at the |

| present day than that afforded by the Psylli of Egypt, a country |

| which furnishes another illustration of our author’s remark at |

| the commencement of the next chapter. This sect, according to the |

| testimony of modern writers, continues to exhibit the same strange |

| spectacles as the ancient serpent-eaters of Cyrene, described by |

| Strabo, 17 Dio. 51. c. 14. Lucan, 9. v. 894. 937. Herodot. 4. c. |

| 173. Paus. 9. c. 28. Savary states that he witnessed a procession |

| at Rosetta, where a band of these seeming madmen, with bare arms |

| and wild demeanour, held enormous serpents in their hands which |

| writhed round their bodies and endeavoured to make their escape. |

| These Psylli, grasping them by the neck, tore them with their teeth |

| and ate them up alive, the blood streaming down from their polluted |

| mouths. Others of the Psylli were striving to wrest their prey from |

| them, so that it seemed a struggle among them who should devour a |

| serpent. The populace followed them with amazement, and believed |

| their performance to be miraculous. Accordingly they pass for |

| persons inspired, and possessed by a spirit who destroys the effect |

| of the serpent. |

| |

| Sonnini, though not so fortunate as to witness a public exhibition |

| of such performances, yet gives the following interesting account |

| of what he justly calls a remarkable specimen of the extravagance |

| of man. After adverting to the superstitious origin of the sect, |

| he goes on to say that a Saadi, or serpent-eater, came to his |

| apartment accompanied by a priest of his sect. The priest carried |

| in his bosom a large serpent of a dusky green and copper colour, |

| which he was continually handling; and after having recited a |

| prayer, he delivered it to the Saadi. The narrative proceeds:—“With |

| a vigorous hand the Saadi seized the serpent, which twisted itself |

| round his naked arm. He began to appear agitated; his countenance |

| was discomposed; his eyes rolled; he uttered terrible cries, bit |

| the animal in the head, and tore off a morsel, which we saw him |

| chew and swallow. On this his agitation became convulsive; his |

| howlings were redoubled, his limbs writhed, his countenance assumed |

| the features of madness, and his mouth, extended by terrible |

| grimaces, was all in a foam. Every now and then he devoured a fresh |

| morsel of the reptile. Three men endeavoured to hold him, but he |

| dragged them all three round the chamber. His arms were thrown |

| about with violence on all sides, and struck every thing within |

| their reach. Eager to avoid him, M. Forneti and I were obliged |

| sometimes to cling to the wall, to let him pass and escape his |

| blows. We could have wished the madman far away. At length the |

| priest took the serpent from him, but his madness and convulsions |

| did not cease immediately; he bit his hands, and his fury |

| continued. The priest then grasped him in his arms, passed his hand |

| gently down his back, lifted him from the ground, and recited some |

| prayers. By degrees his agitation diminished, and subsided into a |

| state of complete lassitude, in which he remained a few moments. |

| |

| “The Turks who were present at this ridiculous and disgusting |

| ceremony were firmly persuaded of the reality of this religious |

| fury; and it is very certain that, whether it were reality or |

| imposture, it is impossible to see the transports of rage and |

| madness exhibited in a more striking manner, or have before |

| your eyes a man more calculated to inspire terror.”—_Hunter’s |

| Translation of Sonnini’s Travels_, 8vo. 1799.—_Transl. note._ |

| |

| [313] _Franc. Serao_, della Tarantola o vero Falangio di Puglia. |

| Napol. 1742.—See _Thom. Fasani_, De vita, muniis et scriptis |

| _Franc. Serai_, &c. Commentarius. Neapol. 1784. 8vo. p. 76. et seq. |

| |

| [314] _Thom. Fasani_, De vita, muniis et scriptis _Franc. Serai_, |

| &c. Commentarius, p. 88. |

| |

| [315] Idem, p. 89. |

| |

| [316] _H. Mercurialis_, de Venenis et Morbis Venenosis, (Venet. |

| 1601. 4to. Lib. II. ch. 6. p. 39.) repeats the silly tale, that |

| those who were bitten continued, during their paroxysm, to be |

| occupied with whatever they had been engaged in at the time |

| they received the bite, and proves, by a fact which had been |

| communicated to him, that already, in the sixteenth century, |

| they were able to distinguish impostors from those who had been |

| really bitten. _H. Cardani_, de Subtilitate Libri XXI. Basil. |

| 1560. 8vo. Lib. IX. p. 635. The baneful effect of the venom of |

| the tarantula was obviated, not so much by music as by the great |

| exertion used in dancing. Compare _J. Cæs. Scaliger_. Exoteric. |

| Exercitt. Libri XV. de Subtilitate, Francof. 1612. 8vo. Ex. 185. |

| p. 610.—_J. M. Fehr_, Anchora sacra vel Scorzonera. Jen. 1666. |

| 8vo. p. 127. From _Alexander ab Alexandro_, and several later |

| writers.—_Stalpart van der Wiel_, Observatt. rarior. Lugdun. Bat. |

| 1687. 8vo. Cent. 1. Obs. C. p. 424. According to _Kircher_.—_Rod. |

| a Castro_, Medicus politicus. Hamburg, 1614. 4to. Lib. IV. ch. |

| 16. p. 275. According to _Matthioli_.—_D. Cirillo_, Some account |

| of the Tarantula, Philosoph. Trans. Vol. LX. 1770, describes |

| Tarantism as a common imposture. So also does _J. A. Unzer_, The |

| Physician, Vol. II. pp. 473. 640, Vol. III. pp. 466, 526, 528, |

| 529, 530, 533, 553; likewise _A. F. Büsching_, Eigene Gedanken und |

| gesammelte Nachrichten von der Tarantel, welche zur gänzlichen |

| Vertilgung des Vorurtheils von der Schädlichkeit ihres Bisses, |

| und der Heilung desselben durch Musik, dienlich und hinlänglich |

| sind. Observations and statements respecting the Tarantula, which |

| suffice entirely to set aside the prejudice respecting the venom |

| of its bite, as also its cure by music. Berlin, 1772. 8vo. A very |

| shallow criticism.—_P. Forest._ Observatt. et Curatt. medicinal. |

| Libri 30, 31 et 32. Francof. 1509. fol. Ob. XII. p. 41. diligently |

| compiled from his predecessors.—_Phil. Camerar._ Operæ horarum |

| subcisivarum. Francof. 1658. 4to. Cent. II. cap. 81. p. 317.—_R. |

| Mead_, a mechanical account of poisons: London, 1747. 8vo. p. |

| 99. contends for the reality of Tarantism with _R. Boyle_. An |

| essay of the great effects of even languid and unheeded motion, |

| &c. London, 1685. ch. VI.—So also _J. F. Cartheuser_, Fundamenta |

| pathologiæ et therapiæ. Francof. a. V. 1758. 8vo. Tom. I. p. |

| 334. _Th. Willis_ de morbis convulsivis. cap. VII. p. 492. Opp. |

| Lugdun. 1681. 4to. According to _Gassendi_, _Ferdinando_, _Kircher_ |

| and others.—_L. Valetta_, de Phalangio Apulo opusculum. Neapol. |

| 1706.—_Thom. Cornelio_ (professor at Naples in the middle of the |

| seventeenth century). Letter to _J. Dodington_ concerning some |

| observations made of persons pretending to be stung by Tarantulas. |

| Phil. Transactions, No. 83. p. 4066. 1672. considers Tarantism |

| to be St. Vitus’s dance.—_Jos. Lanzoni_, de Venenis, cap. 57. p. |

| 140. Opp. Lausann. 1738. 4to. Tom. I. mostly from _Baglivi_.—_J. |

| Schenk_, a _Grafenberg_. Observatt. Medicar. Lib. VII. Obs. |

| 122. p. 792. Tom. II. Ed. Francof. 1600. 8vo. was himself an |

| eye-witness.—_Wolfg. Senguerd_, Tractatus physicus de Tarantula. |

| Ludg. Bat. 1668. 12mo.—_Herm. Grube_, De ictu Tarantulæ et vi |

| musices in eius curatione conjecturæ physico-medicæ. Francof. |

| 1679. 8vo—_Athan. Kircher_, Musurgia universalis. Rom. 1650. fol. |

| Tom. II. IX. ch. 4. p. 218.—_M. Köhler_, in den Svenska Vetenskaps |

| Academiens Handlingar. 1758. p. 29. Transactions of the Swedish |

| Academy of Sciences—Berlin Collection for the Furtherance of |

| the Science of Medicine. Vol. V. Pt. I. p. 53. 1772.—_Burserii_ |

| Institutiones medic. pract. tom. III. p. 1. cap. 7. § 219. p. 159. |

| ed. _Hecker_.—_J. S. Halle_, Gifthistorie. History of Poisons, |

| Berlin, 1786. 8vo.—_Blumenbach_, Naturgeschichte, Natural History, |

| p. 412.—_E. F. Leonhardt_, Diss. de Tarantismo, Berol. 1827. 8vo. |

| and many others. |

| |

| [317] This may, however, be considered merely as a conjecture, |

| founded upon the following passage in _Ludolf’s_ Lexicon Æthiopic. |

| Ed. 2da. Francof. 1699. fol. p. 142. _Astarāgaza_, de vexatione |

| quadam diabolica accipitur. Marc. i. 26. ix. 18. Luc. ix. 39. |

| Græcus habet σπαράττειν, vellicare, discerpere. _Sed Æthiopes, |

| teste Gregorio, pro morbo quodam accipiunt, quo quis perpetuo pedes |

| agitare et quasi calcitrare cogitur._ Fortassis est Saltatio S. |

| Viti, vulgo St. Veitstanz. |

| |

| [318] The Life and Adventures of _Nathaniel Pearce_, written by |

| himself, during a residence in Abyssinia, from the year 1810 to |

| 1819. London, 1831. 8vo. Vol. I. ch. ix. p. 290. |

| |

| [319] The Evangelist and _St. John_ the Baptist have been at all |

| times, and among all nations, confounded with each other, so that |

| the relation of the latter to one and the same phenomenon in such |

| different ages and climates is very probable. |

| |

| [320] She was a native Greek. |

| |

| [321] _Pearce_, p. 289. Compare p. 34.—_E. G. Förstemann_, Die |

| christlichen Geisslergesellschaften. The Christian Societies of |

| Flagellants. Halle, 1828. 8vo. |

| |

| [322] Idem, loc. cit. |

| |

| [323] Among the ancient Greeks βασκήσις. This superstition is more |

| or less developed among all the nations of the earth, and has not |

| yet entirely disappeared from Europe. |

| |

| [324] _Paracelsus._ |

| |

| [325] Gentleman’s Magazine, 1787, March, p. 268.—_F. B. Osiander_, |

| Ueber die Entwickelungskrankheiten in den Blüthenjahren des |

| weiblichen Geschlechts. On the disorders of young women, &c. |

| Tübingen, 1820, Vol. I. p. 10. |

| |

| [326] This account is given by _Fritze_. _Hufeland’s_ Journal der |

| practischen Heilkunde, Vol. XII. 1801. Part I. p. 110. Hufeland’s |

| Journal of Practical Medicine. |

| |

| [327] Compare _J. G. Zimmermann_, Ueber die Einsamkeit. Leipsig, |

| 1784. 8vo. Vol. II. ch. 6. p. 77. On Solitude.—_J. P. Falret_, De |

| l’hypochondrie et du suicide. Paris, 1822. 8vo. and others. |

| |

| [328] This statement is made by _J. Cornish_. See _Fothergill_ and |

| _Want’s_ Medical and Physical Journal, vol. xxxi. 1814. pp. 373–379. |

| |

| [329] _Samuel Hibbert_, Description of the Shetland Islands, |

| comprising an account of their geology, scenery, antiquities, and |

| superstitions. Edinburgh, 1822. 4to. p. 399. |

| |

| [330] About this time the following couplet was circulated:— |

| |

| “De par le Roi, défense à Dieu |

| De faire miracle dans ce lieu.” |

| |

| [331] This kind of assistance was called the “Grands Secours.” |

| _Boursier_, Mémoire Théologique sur ce qu’on appelle les |

| Secours violens dans les Convulsions. Paris, 1788. 12mo. Many |

| Convulsionnaires were seized with illness in consequence of this |

| singularly erroneous mode of cure. A Dominican friar died from the |

| effects of it—though accidents of this kind were kept carefully |

| concealed. See _Renault_ (parish priest at Vaux, near Auxerre; |

| obiit, 1796), Le Secourisme détruit dans ses fondemens, 1759. 12mo. |

| and Le Mystère d’Iniquité, 1788. 8vo. |

| |

| [332] _Arouet_, the father of _Voltaire_, visited, in Nantes, a |

| celebrated Convulsionnaire, _Gabrielle Mollet_, whom he found |

| occupied in pulling the bells off a child’s coral, to designate the |

| rejection of the unbelievers. Sometimes she jumped into the water, |

| and barked like a dog. She died in 1748. |

| |

| [333] _J. Phil. Hecquet_ (obiit 1737). La Naturalisme des |

| Convulsions. Soleure, 1733. 8vo. |

| |

| [334] De Melancholia et Morbis Melancholicis. Paris, 1765. 2 vols. |

| 8vo. |

| |

| [335] Especially from 1784 to 1788. |

| |

| [336] See _Grégoire_, Histoire des Sectes Religieuses, tome ii. |

| ch. 13. p. 127. Paris, 1828. 8vo. The following words of this |

| meritorious author, on the mental state of his countrymen, are |

| very well worthy of attention. “L’esprit public est dans un état |

| de fluctuation persévérante: _des âmes flétries par l’égoïsme |

| n’ont que le caractère de la servitude_; l’education viciée ne |

| forme guère que des êtres dégradés; la religion est méconnue ou |

| mal enseignée; _la nation présente des symptômes alarmans de sa |

| décrépitude_, et présage des malheurs dont on ne peut calculer |

| l’étendue ni la durée.” P. 161. |

| |

| [337] “I had occasion to witness at Cairo another species of |

| religious fanaticism. I heard one day, at a short distance from my |

| residence, for several hours together, singing, or more properly |

| crying, so uniform and fatiguing, that I inquired the cause of |

| this singularity. I was told that it was some dervise or monk, |

| who repeated, while _dancing_ on his heels, the name of Allah, |

| till, completely exhausted, he sank down insensible. These unhappy |

| visionaries, in fact, often expire at the end of this holy _dance_; |

| and the cries of the one whom I heard, having commenced in the |

| afternoon, and continued during the whole of the night, and part |

| of the following morning, I doubt not that his pious enthusiasm |

| cost him his life.”—_Recollections of Egypt, by the Baroness Von |

| Minutoli._ London, 1827. |

| |

| In Arabia the same fanatical zeal exists, as we find from the |

| following passage of an anonymous history of the Wahabis, published |

| in Paris, in 1810: “La prière la plus méritoire consiste à crier |

| le nom de Dieu, pendant des heures entières, et le plus saint est |

| celui qui répète ce nom le plus long temps et le plus vite. Rien |

| de plus curieux que le spectacle des Schekhs, qui, dans les fêtes |

| publiques, s’essayent à l’envi, et hurlent le nom d’Allah d’une |

| manière effrayante. La plupart enroués sont forcés de se taire, et |

| abandonnent la palme au sainte à forte poitrine, qui, pour jouir |

| de sa victoire, s’efforce et jette encore quelque cris devant ses |

| rivaux réduits au silence. Epuisé de fatigue, baigné de sueur, il |

| tombe enfin au milieu du peuple dévot, qui s’empresse à le relever |

| et le porte en triomphe. Les principales mosquées retentissent, |

| tous les Vendredis, des cris dictés par cette singulière émulation. |

| Le Schekh, que ses poumons ont sanctifié, conserve son odeur de |

| sainteté par des extases et des transports, souvent dangereux pour |

| les Chrétiens que le hazard en rend témoins malgré cux.”—_Transl. |

| note._ |

| |

| [338] For examples see _Osiander_, Entwickelungskrankheiten. Loc. |

| cit. p. 45. |

| |

| [339] Among 108 cases of insanity, _Perfect_ mentions eleven of |

| mania and methodistical enthusiasm, _in nine of which suicide was |

| committed_. Annals of Insanity. London, 1808. 8vo. |

| |

| [340] _Harris Rowland_ and _William Williams_. |

| |

| [341] _John Evans_, Sketch of the Denominations of the Christian |

| World. 13th edition. London, 1814. 12mo. p. 236.—See _Grégoire_, |

| loc. cit. tome iv. chap. xiii. p. 483. |

| |

| [342] _Mrs. Trollope’s_ Domestic Manners of the Americans. A |

| Revival, pp. 108–112. Shaking Quakers, pp. 195–196. Camp Meeting, |

| p. 233. London, 2 vols. 1832.—_Transl. note._ |

| |

| [343] In Kentucky, assemblies of from ten to twelve thousand have |

| frequently taken place. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and |

| New York, are also the theatres of these meetings.—_Grégoire_, tome |

| iv. p. 496. |

| |

| [344] At one of these camp-meetings a traveller saw above eight |

| hundred persons faint away. Idem. He nowhere met with more frequent |

| instances of suicide in consequence of Demonomania, than in North |

| America. |

| |

| [345] Idem. p. 498. These are the _Barkers_. Numerous other |

| convulsive Methodistical sects abound in North America. The |

| _Shakers_, who are inimical to marriage, would also have been |

| mentioned, were not their contortions much less violent than those |

| of the Jumpers.—See _Grégoire_, tome v. p. 195. _Evans_, p. 267. |

| |

| [346] See _Perrin du Lac_, Voyage dans les deux Louisianes. |

| Paris, 1805. 8vo. chap. ix. pp. 64, 65. chap. xvii. pp. 128, |

| 129.—_Michaud_, Voyage à l’ouest des Monts Alleghanys. Paris, |

| 1804. 8vo. p. 212.—_John Melish_, Travels in the United States of |

| America. Philadelphia, 1812. 8vo. vol. i. p. 26.—_Lambert_, Travels |

| through Canada and the United States. London, 1810. 8vo. vol. iii. |

| p. 44.—_John Howison_, Sketches of Upper Canada. Edinburgh, 1822. |

| 8vo. p. 150.—_Edward Allen Talbot_, Cinq Années de Résidence au |

| Canada. Paris, 1825. 8vo. tome ii. p. 147. |

| |

| [347] The substance of Nos. III. and IV. having been embodied in |

| the text, it seems only necessary to insert here the original |

| old German, which is couched in language too coarse to admit of |

| translation.—_Transl. note._ |

| |

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

THE SWEATING SICKNESS.

PREFACE.

The present work is a continuation of my treatises on collateral

subjects, and, like them, maintains the opinion, that great epidemics

are epochs of development, wherein the mental energies of mankind are

exerted in every direction. The history of the world bears indisputable

testimony to this fact. The tendencies of the mind, the turn of thought

of whole ages, have frequently depended on prevailing diseases; for

nothing exercises a more potent influence over man, either in disposing

him to calmness and submission, or in kindling in him the wildest

passions, than the proximity of inevitable and universal danger. Often

have infatuation and fanaticism, hatred and revenge, engendered by

an overwhelming fear of death, spread fire and flames throughout the

world. Famine and diseases, among which may be instanced the fiery

plague of St. Anthony, were no less powerful in calling forth the

chivalrous spirit of the crusades than the enthusiastic eloquence of

Peter the Hermit—the Black Death brought thousands to the stake, and

aroused the fearful penances of the Flagellants—while the oriental

leprosy cast a gloomy shade over society throughout the whole course of

the middle ages.

With all such commotions, the most striking events of the world are

in intimate relation, and unquestionably, amid the changing forms of

existence in the human race, more has always depended on the prevailing

tone of thought than on the rude powers by which those events were

produced. The historian, therefore, who would investigate the hidden

influence of mind, cannot dispense with medical research. The facts

themselves convince him of the organic union of the corporeal and the

spiritual in all human affairs, and consequently of the innate vital

connexion of all human knowledge. Hence, in a medical point of view,

how vast is the field for observation presented by the history of

popular diseases. Present bodily sufferings[348], are, collectively,

but a step in the development,—but one phase of morbid life amid a

long series of phenomena, and hence are not fully understood without

a previous knowledge of the past, and historical research. How can we

recognise the ring of Saturn as such, so long as our axis of vision

is in its plane, and we see it only as a line. Great pestilences

have vanished or been dispersed; from causes apparently the most

insignificant, the most important consequences have resulted, and

throughout the vicissitudes of danger and devastation, the operations

of mighty laws of nature are everywhere manifested in the social

tendencies of entire centuries.

This is no aërial realm of transitory conjectures—facts themselves

speak in a thousand reminiscences. If we do but investigate the

past with unprejudiced assiduity—if we do but consider even the few

successful researches which have hitherto been made in historical

pathology, (perhaps those who are kindly disposed will recognise even

mine,) we shall not fail to arrive at a centre of reality, which

the healing art, to its great detriment, has hitherto been far from

reaching, whilst it has occasionally penetrated into a less fertile

soil, or even encumbered itself with the accumulated rubbish of the

pedantic dogmas of the schools.

The state, which founds its legislation on a knowledge of realities,

which expects from the physical sciences information respecting human

life collectively, considered in all its relations, has a right to

demand from its physicians a general insight into the nature and

causes of popular diseases. Such an insight, however, as is worthy

the dignity of a science, cannot be obtained by the observation of

isolated epidemics, because nature never in any one of them displays

herself in all her bearings, nor brings into action, at one time, more

than a few of the laws of general disease. One generation, however

rich it may be in stores of important knowledge, is never adequate to

establish, on the foundation of actually observed phenomena, a doctrine

of popular diseases worthy of the name. The experience of all ages is

the source whence we must in this case draw, and medical investigation

is the only road which leads to this source, unless, indeed, we would

be unprepared to meet new epidemics, and would maintain the unfounded

opinion that medical science, as it now exists, is the full result of

all preceding efforts.

An insight, not only into general visitations of disease, which in

the course of ages have appeared in divers forms, but also into every

single disease, whether it occurs in intimate connexion with others

or not, is rendered more distinct by a knowledge of the contemporary

circumstances which attend its development. I would fain hope,

therefore, that the future research and diligence of physicians devoted

to the pursuit of truth and science, will be more generally directed

to historical investigation; and that universities and academies will

concede to it that prominent place, which, from its high importance, as

an extensive branch of natural philosophy, it justly demands.

Whether the following inquiry into one of the most remarkable diseases

on record corresponds with these views, I must leave my readers to

judge. The historian will discern what social feelings are produced

among nations by great events, and to the physician a picture of

suffering will be unveiled, to which the diseases of the present time

afford no parallel. I have throughout kept in view the spirit and the

dignity of the sixteenth century, which was as remarkable for military

triumphs as for tragic events; and I look with confidence for the same

indulgence and goodwill now, which, through the kindness of friends, I

have already enjoyed both at home and abroad, in a higher degree than

my sincere gratitude can find words to express.

THE SWEATING SICKNESS.

CHAPTER I.

THE FIRST VISITATION OF THE DISEASE—1485.

“Sound drums and trumpets, boldly and cheerfully,

God and Saint George! Richmond and victory!”—SHAKESPEARE.

SECT. 1.—ERUPTION.

After the fate of England had been decided by the battle of Bosworth,

on the 22d of August, 1485[349], the joy of the nation was clouded

by a mortal disease which thinned the ranks of the warriors, and

following in the rear of Henry’s victorious army, spread in a few weeks

from the distant mountains of Wales to the metropolis of the empire.

It was a violent inflammatory fever, which, after a short rigor,

prostrated the powers as with a blow; and amidst painful oppression

at the stomach, headache and lethargic stupor, suffused the whole

body with a fetid perspiration. All this took place in the course of

a few hours, and the crisis was always over within the space of a

day and night[350]. The internal heat which the patient suffered was

intolerable, yet every refrigerant was certain death. The people were

seized with consternation when they saw that scarcely one in a hundred

escaped[351], and their first impression was that a reign commencing

with such horrors would doubtless prove most inauspicious[352].

At first the new foe was scarcely heeded; citizens and peasants went

in joyful processions to meet the victorious army. Henry’s march from

Bosworth towards London resembled a triumph, which was everywhere

celebrated by festivals; for the nation, after its many years of civil

war, looked forward to happier days than they had enjoyed under the

blood-thirsty Richard.

Very shortly, however, after the king’s entry into the capital on

the 28th of August[353], the Sweating Sickness[354], as the disease

was called, began to spread its ravages among the densely peopled

streets of the city. Two lord mayors and six aldermen died within one

week[355], having scarcely laid aside their festive robes; many who

had been in perfect health at night, were on the following morning

numbered among the dead. The disease for the most part marked for its

victims robust and vigorous men; and as many noble families lost their

chiefs, extensive commercial houses their principals, and wards their

guardians, the festivities were soon converted into grief and mourning.

The coronation of the king, which was expected to overcome the scruples

that many entertained of his right to the throne, was of necessity

postponed in this general distress[356], and the disease, in the mean

time, spread without interruption and over the whole kingdom from east

to west[357].

It is agreed that the pestilence did not commence till the very

beginning of August, 1485, and was in obvious connexion with the

circumstances of the times. To return to their native country had

long been the ardent desire of the Earl of Richmond and his faithful

followers. At the age of 15, (1471,) having escaped the vengeance of

the House of York, and the assassins of Edward, he was overtaken by

a storm, and fell into the hands of Francis II., Duke of Bretagne,

who long detained him prisoner, but on the death of Edward, in 1483,

supplied him with means to enforce his claims to the English throne, as

the last descendant of the House of Lancaster. This first undertaking

miscarried. A storm drove back the bold adventurer to Dieppe, and

compelled him once more to throw himself, with his five hundred English

followers, on the hospitality of Duke Francis. Richard’s influence

with the Duke, however, rendered his stay there somewhat dangerous.

Richmond withdrew privately, and endeavoured to gain over to his cause

Charles VIII., who was yet a minor. A small subsidy of French troops,

some pieces of artillery, and an adequate supply of money, were finally

granted to his repeated solicitations. This little band was quickly

augmented to 2000 men, who were all embarked, and on the 25th of July,

1485, they weighed anchor at Havre, and seven days after, the standard

of Richmond was raised in Milford Haven[358].

They landed at the village of Dale, on the west side of the harbour,

and on the evening of their arrival, or very early on the following

morning, Richmond hastened to Haverfordwest, where no messenger had

yet announced the renewal of the civil war. It appears that he reached

Cardigan, on the northern shore, on the 3d of August, and for the

first time granted to his small but increasing army the repose of an

encampment.

After a short halt, he set forward with confidence, crossed the Severn

at Shrewsbury[359], turned from thence to Newport and Stafford,

and pitched his camp at Litchfield, probably before the 18th of

August[360]. The distance to this place from Milford Haven is 170

miles, and the road leads over wooded mountains and cultivated fields,

without touching upon any swampy lands. Litchfield, however, lies low,

and it was here that the army encamped in a damp situation, till it

broke up for the neighbouring field of Bosworth. Thither Richmond, with

scarcely 5000 men, and having his right wing covered by a morass, went

to meet his deadly foe, whose army doubled his own. The combat was at

first furious, but in two hours Lord Stanley crowned the conqueror with

Richard’s diadem[361].

All these events so rapidly succeeded each other in the course of

three weeks, that the knights and soldiers of Richmond, more and

more excited every day by fear and hope, were scarcely equal to such

exertions. Yet the very rapidity of the movements of the army was the

cause why the disease could not spread so quickly, nor obstruct the

final decision of Bosworth, although the report of it had already,

before this event, spread universal terror; so that Lord Stanley, when

authoritatively summoned by Richard to repair to his standard, sought

to gain time, and, by way of excuse, alleged the prevalence of the new

disease[362].

After the victory of Bosworth, King Henry remained two days in

Leicester, and then without further delay hastened to London, which he

reached in less than four days, unaccompanied by military parade, and

attended only by a select body of followers. The remainder of his army,

which stood greatly in need of repose after its severe toils, were not

in a condition for marching, they therefore halted in the neighbouring

towns, and were probably disbanded, according to the custom of the

age[363].

The Sweating Sickness is said not to have made its appearance in London

till the 21st of September[364], but historians have most likely

intended by that day to mark the commencement of its virulence, which

continued to the end of the following month, and lasted, therefore, in

all, about five weeks.

During this short period a large portion of the population[365] fell

victims to the new epidemic, and the lamentation was without bounds

so long as the people were ignorant that this fearful disease, unable

to establish its dominion, would only pass through the country like a

flash of lightning, and then again give place to the active intercourse

of society and the cheering hope of life.

There was no security against a second attack; for many who had

recovered were seized by it, with equal violence, a second, and

sometimes a third time, so that they had not even the slender

consolation enjoyed by sufferers in the plague[366] and small-pox, of

entire immunity after having once surmounted the danger[367].

Thus by the end of the year the disease had spread over the whole

of England, and visited every place with the same severity as the

metropolis. Many persons of rank, of the ecclesiastical and the civil

classes, became its victims; and great was the consternation when, in

the month of August, it broke out in Oxford. Professors and students

fled in all directions: but death overtook many of them, and this

celebrated university was deserted for six weeks[368]. Three months

later it appeared at Croyland, and on the 14th of November, carried off

Lambert Fossedyke, abbot of the monastery[369]. No authentic accounts

from other quarters have been handed down to our times, but we may

infer, from the general grief and anxiety which prevailed, that the

loss of human life was very considerable.

SECT. 2.—THE PHYSICIANS.

The physicians could do little or nothing for the people in this

extremity[370]. They are nowhere alluded to throughout this epidemic,

and even those who might have come forward to succour their fellow

citizens, had fallen into the errors of Galen, and their dialectic

minds sank under this appalling phenomenon. This holds good even of

the famous Thomas Linacre, subsequently physician in ordinary to two

monarchs[371], and founder of the College of Physicians, in 1518.

In the prime of his youth he had been an eye-witness of the events

at Oxford, and survived even the second and third eruption of the

Sweating Sickness; but in none of his writings do we find a single word

respecting this disease, which is of such permanent importance. In

fact, the restorers of the medical science of ancient Greece, who were

followed by all the most enlightened men in Europe, with the single

exception of Linacre, occupied themselves rather with the ancient terms

of art than with actual observation, and in their critical researches

overlooked the important events that were passing before their

eyes[372]. This reminds us of the later Greek physicians, who for four

hundred years paid no attention to the small-pox, because they could

find no description of it in the immortal works of Galen[373].

No resource was therefore left to the terrified people of England but

their own good sense, and this led them to the adoption of a plan of

treatment, than which no physician in the world could have given them

a better; namely, not to resort to any violent medicines, but to apply

moderate heat, to abstain from food, taking only a small quantity of

mild drink, and quietly to wait for four-and-twenty hours the crisis

of this formidable malady. Those who were attacked during the day, in

order to avoid any chill, immediately went to bed in their clothes,

and those who sickened by night did not rise from their beds in the

morning; while all carefully avoided exposing to the air even a hand or

foot. Thus they anxiously guarded against heat or cold, so as not to

excite perspiration by the former, nor to check it by the latter—for

they well knew that either was certain death[374].

The report of the infallibility of this method soon spread over

the whole kingdom, and thus towards the commencement of 1486, many

were rescued from death. On New Year’s Day, a violent tempest arose

in the south-east, and by purifying the atmosphere relieved the

oppression under which the people laboured, and thus, to the joy of

the whole nation, the epidemic was swept away without leaving a trace

behind[375].

SECT. 3.—CAUSES.

It was thought remarkable, even at that time, that the Sweating

Sickness did not extend beyond the limits of England, and that,

remaining the unenviable property of that nation, it did not even

spread to Scotland, Ireland, or Calais which belonged to Britain. Much,

doubtless, was owing to the peculiarity of the climate, more still to

atmospherical changes, and something also to the habits of the people

and the circumstances of the times. It plainly appeared in the sequel

that the English Sweating Sickness was a spirit of the mist, which

hovered amid the dark clouds. Even in ordinary years, the atmosphere

of England is loaded with these clouds during considerable periods,

and in damp seasons they would prove the more injurious to health,

as the English of those times were not accustomed to cleanliness,

moderation in their diet, or even comfortable refinements. Gluttony

was common among the nobility as well as among the lower classes; all

were immoderately addicted to drinking[376], and the manners of the age

sanctioned this excess at their banquets and their festivities. If we

consider that the disease mostly attacked strong and robust men—that

portion of the people who abandoned themselves without restraint to

all the pleasures of the table—while women, old men, and children,

almost entirely escaped, it is obvious that a gross indulgence of the

appetite must have had a considerable share in the production of this

unparalleled plague.

To this may be added, the humidity of the year 1485, which is

represented by most chronicles as very remarkable[377]. Throughout

the whole of Europe the rain fell in torrents, and inundations were

frequent. Damp weather is not prejudicial to health if it be merely

temporary, but if the rain be excessive for a series of years, so that

the ground is completely saturated, and the mists attract baneful

exhalations out of the earth, man must necessarily suffer from the

noxious state of the soil and atmosphere. Under these circumstances

epidemics must inevitably follow. The five preceding years had been

unusually wet[378], 1485 proved equally so; the last hot and droughty

summer was that of 1479[379]. Extensive inundations of the Tiber,

the Po, the Danube, the Rhine, and most of the other great rivers,

took place in 1480, and were attended with the usual consequences,

the deterioration of the air, misery and disease[380]. The greatest

inundation ever remembered in England was that of the Severn, in

October, 1483. It was long afterwards called the Duke of Buckingham’s

Great Water[381], because it frustrated the rebellion of this powerful

subject against Richard III., whom he had been instrumental in placing

upon the throne; and consequently defeated also the first enterprise

of Henry VII. It lasted full ten days, and the tremendous ravages

occasioned by the overwhelming torrent dwelt long in the memory of the

people.

SECT. 4.—OTHER EPIDEMICS.

During the whole of this period the nations of Europe were visited

with various and destructive plagues. In 1477, the Bubo-plague

broke out in Italy, and raged without interruption till 1485[382].

It was accompanied by striking natural phenomena, among which we

may reckon an enormous flight of locusts in 1478[383] and 1482, and

remarkable inter-current diseases, such as inflammatory pain in the

side, throughout the whole of Italy in 1482[384]. In Switzerland and

Southern Germany malignant epidemics[385] appeared in the train of

drought and famine in 1480 and 1481, while putrid fever accompanied by

phrenites[386], prevailed in Westphalia, Hesse and Friesland. There had

never been in the memory of the inhabitants of these districts so many

ignes fatui as during this period. There too the people suffered from

the failure of the harvest, so that it was necessary to obtain supplies

from Thuringen[387]. France, where, under the fearful reign of Louis

XI., oppression and misery seemed to mock the gifts of heaven, became

in 1482, after a two years’ scarcity, the scene of a devastating

plague. It was an inflammatory fever with delirium, accompanied by such

intense pain in the head, that many dashed out their brains against

the wall, or rushed into the water; while others, after incessantly

running to and fro, died in a state of the greatest agony. According

to the notion of the age, this disease was attributed to astral

influences, for it could not have been brought on only by famine,

which left to the poor peasantry, south of the Loire, nothing but the

roots of wild herbs to support their miserable existence[388], since

the higher classes were also frequently attacked[389]. This fever was

without doubt accompanied by inflammation of the meninges, or even of

the brain itself, and was, perhaps, identical with that which at the

same period desolated the north-west of Germany as far as the shores

of the North Sea, only that it was heightened by the greater natural

vivacity and miserable situation of the French people, who were kept

in a state of perpetual dread by the cruel executions of Louis[390].

This pestilence occasioned the king to follow the advice of his morose

physician[391] in ordinary, and to keep himself closely confined within

the town of Plessis des Tours. It was prohibited under a heavy penalty

to speak in his presence of death which was carrying off its victims in

all directions, and forty crossbowmen kept guard in the fosse of the

castle to put to death every living thing which might approach[392].

Two years after, in 1484, virulent diseases[393] again visited Germany

and Switzerland; and thus it seemed as if the nations were everywhere

threatened with death and destruction.

SECT. 5.—RICHMOND’S ARMY.

From these data, which might easily be extended[394], it is evident

that the Sweating Sickness of 1485 did not make its appearance without

great and general premisory events, which for a series of years

imparted to the people of England a susceptibility to dangerous and

unusual diseases. If, besides this, we take into account the gloomy

temperament of the English, and the general depression of their

spirits, in consequence of the sanguinary wars of the red and white

roses, a series of events which seems to have shaken their faith

in an overruling Providence, we may readily conceive that it would

require but a very slight impulse to excite a powerful commotion

in the mysterious mechanism of the human body. This impulse was

evidently given by the landing of Richmond’s army in the very year

when great and portentous evils were anticipated; for on the 16th of

March, the same day when Queen Ann, the unfortunate wife of Richard

III., expired, a total eclipse of the sun enveloped all Europe in

darkness, and gave rise to gloomy prognostications[395]. Even under

ordinary circumstances, wars beget pestilential disorders—how much

more inevitably must these have arisen in the then existing state

of affairs! Richmond’s army consisted not of brave men animated by

zeal to avenge their dishonoured country or to serve a good cause.

It was composed of wandering freebooters, “vile landskneckte,” as

they were called in Germany, who assembled under his banner at

Havre,—sharpshooters formed under Louis XI., who recklessly pillaged

Normandy, and whom Charles VIII. gladly made over to Henry, in order to

free his own peaceful territories from so great a scourge[396]. This

army may not have been worse than others of the same period[397]; but

cooped up as they were for a whole week in dirty ships, they doubtless

carried about with them all the material for germinating the seeds of a

pestilential disorder, which broke out soon after on the banks of the

Severn and in the camp at Litchfield.

SECT. 6.—NATURE OF THE SWEATING SICKNESS.

PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION.

Before we proceed further, some account is here required of the

nature of this disease. It was an inflammatory rheumatic fever, with

great disorder of the nervous system. This assumption is supported

by the manner of its origin and its especial characteristic of being

accompanied by a profuse and injurious perspiration. From the judgment

that we are now capable of forming of the pernicious influences which

prevailed in the year 1485, it may, without hesitation, be admitted

that the humidity of that and of the preceding years affected the

functions of the lungs and of the skin, and disturbed the relation

of this very important tissue to the internal organs of life. This

is the usual commencement of rheumatic fevers, which bear the same

relation to the Sweating Sickness as slight symptoms bear to severe

ones of the same kind. The predominance of affections of the brain

and of the nerves, however, gave to the English epidemic a peculiar

character. The functions of the eighth pair of nerves were violently

disordered in this disease, as was shewn by oppressed respiration and

extreme anxiety with nausea and vomiting, symptoms to which the moderns

attach much importance[398]. The stupor and profound lethargy shew

that there was injury of the brain, to which, in all probability, was

added a stagnation of black blood in the torpid veins. We must also

take into the account a previous corruption and decomposition of the

blood, which, even if we should be disinclined to infer their existence

from the offensive perspiration of the disease itself, were proved

by striking phenomena of a similar nature that occurred in Central

Europe about the same time; for the scurvy prevailed as an epidemic,

more especially in Germany, in the year 1486, and with such severe

and unusual symptoms, that people were inclined to regard it as a

totally new malady[399]. Now such is the vital connexion of different

functions that every impediment to respiration, whether in consequence

of pressure from without, or through spasm and irritation of the nerves

from within, or even from a morbid condition of the circulating fluid,

infallibly calls forth the compensating activity of the skin, and the

body becomes suffused with an alleviating perspiration.

Thus it plainly appears that the profuse perspiration in the disease

of which we are treating, notwithstanding its apparently injurious

tendency, was the result of a commotion excited on the part of the

lungs, which was critical with respect to the disease itself; and

this is in accordance with all the causes of which we still have any

knowledge. Noxious and even stinking fogs penetrated into the organs

of respiration, and as the blood was thus so much affected in its

composition and in its vitality that its corrupt state was only to

be obviated by profuse perspiration, the inevitable consequence was

an interference with the extensive functions of the eighth pair of

nerves, which interference, as later writers relate, extended in many

cases to the spinal marrow, and brought on violent convulsions[400].

We have here only one essential cause, out of many, for this gigantic

disease, and one too which accounts for its advance and spread. It

is highly probable, for the reasons stated, and as according with

all human experience, that it first broke out in the army of Henry

the VIIth, and beyond all doubt that it spread from west to east,

and afterwards in a retrograde course from east to west. With the

perfectly equable operation of the predisposing causes, from which

the disease ought indubitably to have broken out all over England

at the same time, had the condition of the atmosphere been its sole

occasion, we must additionally presume a special cause for its progress

through towns and villages. This, according to all appearance, was to

be found in the air, impregnated with foul odours, which surrounded

the sick, and abounded in the tents and dwellings in which Henry the

VIIth’s soldiers, after various privations and hard service, amid

storms and rain, were closely crowded together. Of both causes modern

observation furnishes analogous examples. Intermittent fevers spread

more easily in air which is contaminated by sick people, and bands

of soldiers, themselves in perfect health, have not unfrequently

conveyed camp fever to remote places. It signifies very little by

what expressions of the schools these occurrences are designated; it

is best perhaps to abstain from them altogether, for they are all

inadequate, and occasion misconceptions. Contemporaries, however,

were certainly justified in not admitting the notion of contagion in

the same sense as when the term is applied to the plague, with which

they were well acquainted[401]. For very frequently cases which were

not to be explained on the principle of contagion communicated by

persons diseased, occurred among people of rank, and manifestly arose

independently of the usual causes. In these cases the fear of death,

which everywhere was the harbinger of the disease, and threw the nerves

of the chest into spasmodic commotion, gave an impulse to the malady

for which the quality of the atmosphere and luxury had long made

preparation. Had this view of contemporaries been even less impartial

than it really was, it would have found the most striking confirmation

in the sudden cessation of the pestilence throughout the whole country.

For the destructive spirits of air, which would not have been discerned

even by the proud naturalists of the nineteenth century, dispersed and

vanished for half an age in the fury of the tempest which raged on the

1st of January, 1486.