Medieval Outbreak: Nightmare Hallucinations and Falling Limbs

The disease began with a faint burning feeling on the skin.Red spots appeared.These spots covered the infected person's body; they felt like their limbs were on fire. Then, their arms would swell.They turned bright red.Terrible hallucinations attacked them.These hallucinations made them believe demons were attacking them before pulling them to Hell.Finally, gangrene set in. The victim's fingers and toes dropped off one by one. Few survived once infected.

The hallucinations people experienced after eating the ergot fungus were real. The fungus is chemically linked to LSD. In 1938, a Swiss chemist named Albert Hoffman was experimenting on the ergot fungus when he accidentally made LSD.

People suffered hallucinations after eating the ergot fungus. These hallucinations were real; the fungus shares a chemical link with LSD. A Swiss chemist named Albert Hoffman named this in 1938.Albert HoffmanThe image echoed rumors that St. Anthony's Fire caused flying hallucinations, making victims think they could fly. The building in the painting's background burns, perhaps referencing the disease. Art historians believe St. Anthony's Fire influenced many great Renaissance paintings.

The chemical similarities carry over to substance effects. Both cause severe hallucinations. Both have a long history influencing art: ergotism shaped some Renaissance masters; Acid drove the LSD.Anthony was a desert hermit who traveled the Egyptian wilderness. During his travels, the Devil tormented Anthony with hallucinations. Demons constantly attacked the saint in graphic ways. As St. Anthony's biographer wrote it, "[The demons] approach in different guise, and... they attempt to strike fear, changing their shapes, taking the forms of women, wild beasts, creeping things, gigantic bodies, and troops of soldiers."These torments stay in Anthony's head; they are nothing and quickly vanish. The link between St. Anthony's hallucinations and those from ergotism led to the name St. Anthony's Fire.

Northern Renaissance painters in the 16th century wrestled with dark themes. They focused on depictions of St. Anthony. One 16th-century painting (pictured above) shows this.The Temptation of St. AnthonyA painting attributed to a follower of Pieter Bruegel the Elder shows Anthony being pulled into the skies by fantastic beasts. These creatures, flying on huge fish and surrounded by winged creatures, drag the saint into the clouds.

The image echoed rumors. St. Anthony's Fire caused flying hallucinations, making victims feel they could fly. The building in the background shows flames, possibly referencing the disease. Many art historians think St. Anthony's Fire influenced many of the great Renaissance paintings.influencedmany of the great Renaissance paintings.

Why was St. Anthony's Fire named after St. Anthony?St. Anthonyof EgyptAnthony was a desert hermit. He wandered the Egyptian wilderness. During his travels, the Devil tormented Anthony with hallucinations. Demons constantly attacked the saint in graphic ways. As St. Anthony's biographer wrote, "[The demons] approach in different guise, and... they attempt to strike fear, changing their shapes, taking the forms of women, wild beasts, creeping things, gigantic bodies, and troops of soldiers."wroteThe demons approach in different guise, and... they attempt to strike fear, changing their shapes, taking the forms of women, wild beasts, creeping things, gigantic bodies, and troops of soldiers.

These torments only happen in Anthony's head. "For they are nothing and quickly disappear." The link between St. Anthony's hallucinations and ergotism caused by LSD connected the two, leading to the name St. Anthony's Fire.

In 944 CE, anoutbreakan outbreak of St. Anthony's Fire struck southern France. It took 40,000 lives. The cool, wet climate that year helped the fungus grow. It infected rye that peasants ground into flour. They did not know the flour held a deadly toxin.

In 945 anotheroutbreakThe disease struck Paris. Hugh the Great distributed a stockpile of "holy grains" from St. Mary's church. This aristocrat passed out uninfected grains. Victims did not know the disease came from moldy grains. Hugh's grains seemed miraculous; they did not actually contain ergot.

St. Anthony's Fire was so common that an entire religious order formed.The Order of Hospitallers of St. Anthony, founded in 1095, built over 370 hospitals.The Order of Hospitallers of St. Anthony, dating back to 1095, built more than 370 hospitals to treat victims. The hospitals were painted red.The hospitals were painted red so that even illiterate peasants knew what disorder they treated. These hospitals had a good record curing the disease, even though they missed the medical cause of St. Anthony's Fire.The hospitals had a good track record curing the disease, even though they missed the medical cause behind St. Anthony's Fire. Sufferers of St. Anthony's Fire might have seen divine help in recovery, but lacking rye bread at the hospital likely cured the disease.

While sufferers of St. Anthony's Fire saw divine intervention in recovery, lacking rye bread at the hospital likely cured the disease.

Rye became a popular grain in the early medieval period when it first grew in Europe for food.Europe first cultivated rye for food.Ergot poisoning followed quickly in Europe for food. The first recorded outbreak of "gangrenous ergotism," the disease's most serious form, hit the Rhine Valley in 857 CE. Victims called the disease "Holy Fire" due to the burning sensation and the fear that God sent it as punishment.

Victims suffered more than black toes and fallen fingers; they also experienced convulsions and hallucinations. Thousands died from the infected rye, and they did not know what caused the disease.

St. Anthony's Fire resulted from a fungus that infested moldy rye grains.Rye.Rye was a major grain in medieval Europe and a staple in many diets. Rye also brought a new danger.Claviceps purpurea.Claviceps purpurea, also known as the ergot fungus.The ergot fungus..

Ergot grows on grains, infecting them and sending out black spurs when cold. Rye was especially vulnerable because it was a winter crop and its dark color hid the ergot. If a peasant ate the moldy grains, the fungus might cause mild symptoms first—fatigue, nausea, and diarrhea. If they kept eating the grains, they could face a painful end.

The Isenheim Altarpiece.The Isenheim Altarpiece shows the suffering victims of St. Anthony's Fire. One hospital commissioned the altarpiece to help ease suffering.The Isenheim Altarpiece (pictured above) shows the torments victims of St. Anthony's Fire endured. One hospital commissioned the altarpiece for a chapel at the hospital.One hospital commissioned the Isenheim Altarpiece for a chapel at the hospital.One hospital commissioned the Isenheim Altarpiece for a chapel at the hospital.

Because the hospital had few medical fixes for the disease, prayer became a main treatment.Prayer was a central part of treatment.The afflicted saw their suffering in the altarpiece's scene. Art historian Horst Ziermann wrote, “It is possible that miraculous cures or symptom relief actually happened at the altar.”

Victims of St. Anthony's Fire were almost always peasants.Peasants.Peasants faced danger because rye bread was central to their diet. A small amount of ergot was unlikely to cause serious harm; it was used in some medical treatments. But peasants eating rye bread daily could easily die from the fungus.

No one knew the rye bread was deadly. Between 990 and 1130, over 50,000 people died from St. Anthony's Fire in southern France alone.

Art historians question if Renaissance masterpieces warned people about St. Anthony's Fire. Jan Mandijn'sSt. Anthony's Temptation.(above), painted around 1550, evenshowsthe painting depicts fire and gangrene in St. Anthony's torments, showing many signs of ergotism. Mandijn also paints apothecary tools and a flying saint, figures Europeans linked to St. Anthony's Fire. The hermit's hut roof shows strange grass bursting out, containing dark tips that look like the dangerous fungus.

However, the link between infected grain and St. Anthony's Fire was not found for a hundred years after Mandijn's painting. A French physician finallyrealizedwhat caused the outbreaks.

Small black growths on rye grain were calledcockspursFarmers thought cockspurs were harmless. Some medical practitioners used them to speed up childbirth (ergot caused uterine contractions). A French physician, Dr. Thuillier, realized cockspurs were harmful in 1670.

Dr. Thuillier realized the gangrenous limbs he often saw in his medical practice werenot contagious.—and that they appeared more often in poor rural areas. What disease could strike the poor but leave the rich immune? Thuiller looked at food, wondering if potatoes, a new French crop, caused the problem. Eventually, he saw the cockspurs could kill if there were too many.

Even though Dr. Thuilleridentifiedthe cause of St. Anthony's Fire in 1670, many peasants and farmers refused to believe him. Ergot poisoning outbreaks continued to infect thousands well into the 20th century. A major outbreak happened in 1951 in the small French town of Pont St. Esprit. Victims showed agitation, sweating, and insomnia; some developed psychosis. Four people died.