St. John's Dance: Difference between revisions
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#REDIRECT [[Dancing mania]] |
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{{wikify-date|March 2006}} |
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'''St. John's Dance''' (known as ''Johannistanz'' or ''Johannestanz'' in |
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[[Germany]]) was the [[medieval]] name for a phenomenon which emerged during |
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the time of [[the Black Death]]. The medical term is ''chorea imagnativa aestimative''. Basically, |
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it is a form of [[apraxia]] expressing itself as "dancing rage," as |
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uncontrolled ecstatic body movements. In the eyes of the church, those |
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suffering from St. John's Dance were possessed by [[the devil]]. |
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The following excerpt (translated form the German) describes a bit of detail surrounding St. John's Dance: |
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"This dancing rage doubtlessly had no organic reasons but was caused |
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by mass hysteria breaking out as a result of fear of the Black Death. |
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It started in [[Aachen]] [Germany] in 1374 and spread over large parts of |
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Europe. It was Germany where this phenomenon was called 'St. |
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Johannestanz' [St. John's Dance] first. [[John the Baptist]] was the |
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patron saint against epilepsy and other kinds of apraxia. The 'dancing |
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epidemic' received its name as an expression for the hope for healing. |
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Later, 'St. John's Dance' was renamed 'St. Vitustanz' or 'Veitstanz' |
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[St. Vitus' Dance], because of a legend about [[St. Vitus]], a [[Sicilian]] |
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youth who died during the anti-Christian [[pogrom]]s of the [[4th century]]. |
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According to this legend, St. Vitus had prayed to god to relieve all |
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those from the dancing rage who [[fasting|fasted]] the evening before his dying |
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day. The tradition claims that immediately after that a voice from |
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heaven was heard saying: 'Vitus, your prayer are answered'. Thus St. |
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Vitus became the patron saint of all those suffering from the dancing |
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rage." |
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==References== |
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*Bezirkskrankenhaus Taufkirchen, Huntington Zentrum Süd (County |
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Hospital Taufkirchen, Huntington Center South), 'Chroea Huntington' |
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* A medical article on this topic (49 pages) is available here, but only in a German version: |
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[http://www.huntington-sued.de/Chorea%20-%20Facharbeit.pdf] |
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[[Category:Middle Ages]] |
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Latest revision as of 02:55, 27 September 2006
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