Ergotism effect on society and religion.

by Redman2712

Hello all I have a question what’s been on my mind for years and I hope I can get some good perspective on my views.

So as we all know ergotism was a big thing in the Middle Ages and beyond.

Really my question is what is the effect it had on society? (In you’re view)

From what I can tell it effected a lot of people and I truly believe people tripping out during the Middle Ages would of definitely had a effect on peoples beliefs I. Religion as there was no other explanation.

I’ve also heard of mass hysteria outbreaks and the Salem witch trials where all due to ergotism.

Would I be right in saying that ergot had a profound effect on society and peoples religious beliefs

Thank you :)

First and most important. Your post comes off as very dismissive of pre-modern peoples, especially this line: "I truly believe people tripping out during the Middle Ages would of definitely had a effect on peoples beliefs I. Religion as there was no other explanation."

You really think that the only reason people believed in religion was because they were all on drugs? I highly advise halting on this path, because this is not a productive line of inquiry. I shall refer you to u/MagratMakeTheTea's post on pre-modern belief and religion.

On ergotism itself, some more posts.

u/idjet directly addresses a work claiming that the Early Modern witch craze was all about ergot;
u/sunagainstgold looks at more witchcraft material and why ergot doesn't work in this framework;
and also puts another hole in the 'they were all on drugs' thing.

For Salem specifically, I'm out of tags in this post, so see next post.