Ergot poisoning and Religion
May 14, 2019 at 8:28 am
(This post was last modified: May 14, 2019 at 8:41 am by Smaug.)
Egrot is a fungus that grows on cereal grains, mostly on rye but also to a lesser extent on wheat and other cereals. Consuming ergot may cause hallucinations, seizures and gangrene. The composition of poisonous substances in ergot is dependant upon weather conditions so the set and the severity of symptoms may vary from year to year and from place to place. Baking does not break down these chemicals so the bread made out of contaminated grains turns out poisonous. In the Middle Ages gangrenous ergotism was commonly known as St. Anthony's fire and convulsive ergotism was known as St. Vitus dance. Ergotism was also known as 'fiery plague'. In Slavic lands it was known as 'evil writhe'.
Further reading:
St. Anthony's fire, St. Vitus' dance etc.
Apparently, the danger of ergot was more of less well-known in the classical antiquity. Ergot was also long-used by midwives and may have been used to make hallucinogenic drugs for religious rituals. But by the Middle Ages this knowledge had faded away almost completely. Since rye bread was the staple food of the lower classes it caused severe systematic mass-poisonings that rivaled the epidemics of plague. Sometimes it was accompanied by mass hallucinations. These mass-poisonings occured periodically with a period of a few years depending on weather conditions. And the general population was completely unaware of the cause untill late 1700's or so. It appears that the only ones that were still aware to some extent of the effects of ergot were the 'witches' and the 'witchdoctors'. Breakouts of egrotism still occur in poor countries, mostly in Africa.
St. Anthony's fire alone was enaugh to cause mass hysteria. But imagine, say, a whole province systematically consuming hallucinogenic drugs without knowing it! Now consider the overall religious mentality of those days and you can imagine people talking to God personally, witnessing miracles or getting assaulted by Satan's demons in broad daylight. Speaking of miracles. The order of St. Anthony was responsible for healing said disease. Since they fed the afflicted with wheat bread which was far less likely to be contaminated 'miraclous healings' were not uncommon. The higher classes and some of the clergy were basically out of danger for the same reason of not eating the poor man's bread.
It's going into conspiracy theory territory but still I can't help wondering if the high clergy actually knew what was going on
And I wonder how many miracles that religious apologets like citing now were actually the results of being high on ergot alkaloids.
Further reading:
St. Anthony's fire, St. Vitus' dance etc.
Apparently, the danger of ergot was more of less well-known in the classical antiquity. Ergot was also long-used by midwives and may have been used to make hallucinogenic drugs for religious rituals. But by the Middle Ages this knowledge had faded away almost completely. Since rye bread was the staple food of the lower classes it caused severe systematic mass-poisonings that rivaled the epidemics of plague. Sometimes it was accompanied by mass hallucinations. These mass-poisonings occured periodically with a period of a few years depending on weather conditions. And the general population was completely unaware of the cause untill late 1700's or so. It appears that the only ones that were still aware to some extent of the effects of ergot were the 'witches' and the 'witchdoctors'. Breakouts of egrotism still occur in poor countries, mostly in Africa.
St. Anthony's fire alone was enaugh to cause mass hysteria. But imagine, say, a whole province systematically consuming hallucinogenic drugs without knowing it! Now consider the overall religious mentality of those days and you can imagine people talking to God personally, witnessing miracles or getting assaulted by Satan's demons in broad daylight. Speaking of miracles. The order of St. Anthony was responsible for healing said disease. Since they fed the afflicted with wheat bread which was far less likely to be contaminated 'miraclous healings' were not uncommon. The higher classes and some of the clergy were basically out of danger for the same reason of not eating the poor man's bread.
It's going into conspiracy theory territory but still I can't help wondering if the high clergy actually knew what was going on
And I wonder how many miracles that religious apologets like citing now were actually the results of being high on ergot alkaloids.
