Currently, such a medical concept as an epidemic is often associated with massive infectious diseases in the ordinary reader. However, in the history of mankind, epidemics of a different type are known: mental ones.
The mention of mental epidemics is already in the works of Herodotus and Plutarch. They were especially widespread in the Middle Ages. These mass hysterical phenomena were most vividly expressed in various kinds of convulsions known as the dance of St. Vitt, the Italian folk dance of the tarantella and, finally, the so-called quietism.
Another type of mental epidemics can be considered religious, which took place in many places on the planet.
An example of this phenomenon is the epidemic of self-flagellation that spread from Italy to Europe in 1266, about which the historian reports the following:
“An unparalleled spirit of self-accusation suddenly took over the minds of the people. The fear of Christ fell upon everyone; noble and simple, old and young, even children of about five wandered the streets without clothes, with only one belt around their waist. Each had a lash of leather belts, which they scourged with tears and sighs their members so cruelly that blood poured from their wounds."
Latin "flagellum" means "whip, whip", and the movement was called flagellants or "scourging"
The first procession of self-flagellators known to history dates back to 1260. It originated in Italy during the internecine wars between the pope and the emperor. The hermit Rainer from Perugia gathered thousands of crowds of exalted people of all ages and classes to "by word and example call people to repentance and good deeds." They gave themselves up to mutual scourging, mutually arousing each other, for 33 days, in "memory of the years lived on earth by Christ."
Promotional video:
Soon, however, the infection of self-flagellation spread further and spread over a vast territory. According to the chronicle of 1261, self-flagellation was observed everywhere, until, finally, the church, in order to prevent dangerous consequences, together with the secular authorities, stopped this epidemic.
However, the scourging epidemic reached its highest peak during the years of the "black death" - a plague that devastated Europe. Under the influence of this terrible worldwide disaster, the religiosity of the population of all countries sharply increased, which led to the emergence of a number of psychic epidemics on religious grounds, including the epidemic of flagellants. Public opinion saw in the plague epidemic a punishment sent from above for the sins of people and found a way to atone for them in the form of gross, shocking self-torture.
“One of the whips ended with a sharp hook that ripped out chunks of flesh every time it touched the body. He beat himself so hard that the whip broke into three pieces, flying towards the wall."
No, this is not an excerpt from another volume of Fifty Shades of Gray. This description belongs to Heinrich Suso, a medieval German mystic, and it deals with the experience of flagellantism.
At the end of 1349, self-flagellators, or "crusaders", began to appear in droves in various European countries. It is believed that their first processions appeared in Austria and Germany. Moving from city to city, from village to village, they spread the mental infection throughout the country. Soon, self-flagellators began to appear in droves in urban settlements in the Netherlands and France.
Of the earlier, smaller epidemics of self-flagellation, one can point to the epidemics of 1296, 1333-1334, which took place in Strasbourg and Bergamo. Finally, the last procession of self-flagellators is attributed to 1414. However, this is not entirely accurate. Even under Henry III (1551 - 1589), small epidemics of flagellation occurred in France, which, allegedly, were patronized by the king himself, to whom history attributes pederastic inclinations.
Of this type of epidemic, the American religious movements known as the Great American Renaissance are also noteworthy.
So, in 1800, religious mania spread almost throughout the country, taking the greatest scope in the so-called "Kentucky revivals". The first open-air rally began on May 22 and lasted four days and three nights. Shouts, songs, prayers, exclamations, fits of convulsions turned this place into a huge arena. Those who tried to leave the gathering were either forced to return, as if drawn by some mysterious force, or fell in convulsions on the road.
The ulcer spread, raging with unrelenting fury. Families traveled from distant areas to attend rallies that sometimes drew tens of thousands of citizens.
Usually field meetings lasted 4 days, from Friday to Tuesday morning, and sometimes they dragged on for a whole week. One quickly followed the other. The people revived the forests and the roads leading to the gathering places. The tavern-worker quit his job, the old man grabbed the crutch, the young man forgot his entertainment, the plow was left in the furrow. All business has stopped. Brave hunters and respectable sailors, young people, girls and small children flocked to the common center of attraction.
There are also known large religious epidemics among the Jews, based on the prediction of the second coming of the Messiah. The most significant of these Messianic epidemics is the Sabbatai epidemic.
In 1665, a Jew named Sabbatai Zevi (Shabtai Tzvi) publicly declared himself the long-awaited messiah. The Jews rejoiced at this joyful news and, in the heat of faith in the madness of religious intoxication, ardently exclaimed: "Long live the king of the Jews, our messiah!"
A manic ecstasy took possession of their minds, men, women, children became hysterical. Businessmen abandoned their businesses, workers abandoned their crafts in order to devote themselves to prayer and repentance.
Day and night in the synagogues sighs, cries, sobs were heard. Religious mania reached such a force that all the rabbis who opposed it had to flee for their lives.
Among the Persian Jews, the excitement reached the point that all the Jewish cultivators stopped their work in the fields. Even Christians looked at the Sabbatai with fear, because a similar phenomenon was predicted for an apocalyptic year. The rumor about Sabbatai spread all over the world.
In Poland, Germany, Holland and England, the most serious Jews forgot their business on the stock exchange in order to talk about this amazing event.
Amsterdam Jews sent inquiries to their sales agents in the Levant and received a short, expressive answer: "This is none other than Him"!
Wherever the messages of the Messiah came, the Jews established fasting according to the cabalistic instructions of the prophet Nathan, and then indulged in wild frenzy. The Jewish communities of Amsterdam and Hamburg were notable for the absurdity of religious extravagance. In Amsterdam, Jews walked the streets with Torah scrolls, sang, galloped and danced like possessed people.
Men and women, boys and girls, squirmed in hysterical convulsions, shouting praise for the new messiah. Many wandered in mad prophetic delight, exclaiming: "Sabbatai Zawi is the true messiah of the tribe of David, he was given a crown and a kingdom!"
The Jews seemed completely lost their heads. The rich from everywhere flocked to Sabbatai, placing their wealth at his disposal. Many sold their homes and all property and went to Palestine. The number of pilgrims was so great that the cost of travel increased significantly. In the large commercial centers, trade stopped altogether: most of the Jewish merchants and bankers liquidated their affairs.
Belief in the divine mission of the Sabbatai has become a religious dogma, just as important as the dogma of the unity of God. And when Sabbatai was forced by the Sultan to accept Mohammedanism, even then the mystical messianic epidemic did not abate.
Many stubbornly denied the very fact of apostasy: it was not him, it was his shadow that adopted Islam. Even after the death of Sabbatai, his teachings continued to trouble the minds of the Jews for a long time, despite its apparent absurdity.
CHILDREN'S CROSS TRAVELS
Children's crusades should also be considered a peculiar form of medieval mental epidemics.
The first impetus for the emergence of the children's crusade in 1212-1213 was, according to some sources, a religious ritual performed at that time throughout France to incite hatred among the population against infidels.
Other sources claim that much of the case was a complete deception of eastern merchants pursuing commercial goals.
Chroniclers believe that the beginning of the first children's crusade was laid by a certain Franciscan shepherd Etienne from a village near Vendome. This shepherd allegedly once had a divine vision that gave him a letter to the French king. After that, Etienne began to appear in various localities and sing songs in which he urged children to unite together to return the holy land from the hands of the Saracens.
Hundreds and thousands of followers joined him, and soon an army was formed in this way, the number of which reached several tens of thousands of children. Despite the strict measures taken by Paris, it was not possible to extinguish this children's religious movement. Nor did the admonitions of the parents lead to anything, for the childish excitement exceeded all limits.
The movement gradually grew, choosing a direction for itself in the direction of the Mediterranean Sea. Finally it reached Marseilles. It is said that two merchants from Marseilles put the young crusaders on ships prepared in advance and went out to sea. But near Sardinia, these ships were wrecked, some of the children died, and the rest were taken by dexterous entrepreneurs to Buggia and Alexandria, where they were sold into slavery.
An almost analogous phenomenon took place simultaneously in Germany. A horde of children headed from Cologne across the Alps to the Adriatic Sea, led by a 10-year-old boy Nikolai. With the help of a series of speeches and promises, he succeeded in attracting thousands of male and female children along the way, with the sympathetic attitude of the population, which saw the command of heaven in this mass children's movement.
In Germany, to a greater extent than in France, adult men and women joined this procession, pursuing different goals and, mainly, the opportunity to satisfy their sexual desires. The outcome of the German children's crusade was as tragic as the outcome of the French children's campaign.
Most of the children died on the mainland from fatigue, hunger and disease. A small part of them returned home at the insistence of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216). Another part reached Genoa and Rome, from where some were returned to their homeland. When these children were asked why they went on a hike, they assured that they themselves did not know this. The power of the psychic infection was so great that consciousness and reason were suppressed at the root.
The second hike for children is considered to be a hike of 1237. It was classified by its manifestation as a dance epidemic. Finally, the third campaign of 1458 became known from some Latin and German chronicles. The purpose of this children's trip was a pilgrimage to St. Michael to Normandy. None of the children who took part in the campaign returned: some died from cold and hunger, the rest were sold into slavery.