What was spiderwort?

By Chelsie Vandaveer

December 6, 2002

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During the last centuries of the Middle Ages and well into the Renaissance, choreomania (dancing madness) sporadically swept through Europe. Thousands of people 'participated' in these episodes, but no single causative agent has been uncovered. It is believed St. Vitus's dance was caused by the toxic ergot, the fungus infecting rye. (See Herbal Folklore, September 10, 2001.) Other episodes appear linked to religious fervor or mass hysteria. In Italy, the disorder was called tarantism and linked, at least in people's minds, to the bite of a spider.

Big-Eyed Wolf Spider, Close Up, Italy Photographic Print
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Tarantism usually appeared during the hot summer months starting about Midsommer, June 24th, the celebrated date of summer solstice. (See Herbal Folklore, June 24, 2002) Symptoms of tarantism included headaches, sweating, trembling and twitching, sensations of suffocation, generalized body aches, and often severe melancholia. Religious edicts prevented the feasting and partying of the 'pagan' midsummer celebrations, but tarantism was permitted to be cured by musicians and days of lively dancing.

"Fringe Cures," Curing Tarantism by Dancing the Tarantella Giclee Print Pann
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Spider venom may cause any of the symptoms found in tarantism and, perhaps, the vigorous activity of dancing to the point of exhaustion aided the body in overcoming the toxin. John Gerard recommended the use of plants he called Phalangium or spiderwort: "[T]he leaves, seed, and floures, or any of them drunke in Wine, prevaileth against the bitings of Scorpions, and against the stinging and biting of the Spider called Phalangium...." (The Herbal, 1633 ed.) Gerard's Phalangium (the plants) are now classified in the genera, Asphodelus Linnaeus and Asphodeline Reichenbach.

Most cases of tarantism appear imagined. The biting of a spider was as good an excuse as any for a 'serious party' sanctioned by the authorities. Once bitten, the symptoms returned every year on the anniversary of the bite. Gerard mentioned, "The roots tunned (added to a large cask) up in new ale, and drunke for a month together, expelleth poison, yea although it have universally spred it selfe through the body." It is an interesting pandemic that can be cured with music, dancing, wine, and ale.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia has posted a photograph of the spider, Lycosa tarentula, the so-called cause of the epidemics of tarantism. To view the photograph and learn more, click on the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycosa_tarantula

Vicent Martínez C. has posted a close up of Asphodelus fistulosus, a plant called Phalangium or spiderwort by John Gerard in 1597. To view the photograph, click on the link:

http://www.botanical-online.com/fotosasphodelusfistulosus.htm

Skeptical Inquirer (CSICOP) has posted an informative essay, Rethinking the Dancing Mania by Robert E. Bartholomew. To learn more about these episodic manias of the Middle Ages, click on the link:

http://www.csicop.org/si/2000-07/dancing-mania.html

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