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Are These Medieval Mysteries FINALLY Solved?

Are These Medieval Mysteries FINALLY Solved?
VOICE OVER: Rebecca Brayton
The time has come to dispel these medieval myths, rumors, and mysteries. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most mysterious medieval events or discoveries that have modern explanations, or at least theories. Our countdown of medieval mysteries that were finally solved includes the Dancing Plague of 1518, The Vinland Map, The Shroud of Turin, and more!

Are These Medieval Mysteries FINALLY Solved?


Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most mysterious medieval events or discoveries that have modern explanations, or at least theories.

#7: Dancing Plague of 1518

Dancing can be a lot of fun! But how about dancing for days - until you died? As bizarre as it sounds, the Dancing Plague of 1518 was an event in Strasbourg, modern-day, France, where between 50 and 400 people reportedly danced uncontrollably for weeks. There are a few theories that might explain the event. The first is that it was a result of stress-induced mass hysteria, caused by hardship and superstition. An alternative theory is that it was a severe case of food poisoning, from contaminated grain carrying ergot fungus. This poisoning could have produced powerful hallucinations, convulsions, and spasms.

#6: The Disappearance of the Greenland Vikings

In the 9th century, Norse Icelanders settled on Greenland’s southwestern coast. It was a harsh environment, but they managed to eke out a living. A few hundred years later, the ancestors of the Greenlandic Inuit also settled on the chilly island. But sometime after the 14th century, the Greenland Vikings disappeared, while the Inuit survived. There are several possible causes. One is the Little Ice Age, a period of regional cooling around that time. Another is the Black Death. While the Black Death didn’t reach Greenland, it could have disrupted trade with Europeans, which the Norse relied on for essential goods. Trade could also have been impacted by the declining value of ivory, due to an influx of ivory into Europe from Russia and Africa.

#5: The Bocksten Man

The Bocksten Man is an incredibly well-preserved body of a young man found in a Swedish peat bog in 1936. The mystery of his discovery focused on when and how this man died. Modern forensic analysis has since determined that he was between 25 and 35 years old, and lived in the 14th century. Based on the hood he wore, he may have had high social standing. The evidence suggests that he was brutally murdered - struck three times on the head, and thrown into the bog. His body had been impaled with wooden poles to keep it from resurfacing. Why, however, remains a mystery.

#4: The Vinland Map

While this isn’t actually from medieval times, it was initially purported to be! First circulated in 1957, the Vinland Map was supposedly a 15th-century world map featuring Africa, Asia, Europe, and a part of North America labeled "Vinland”. This map raised major questions about whether the Vikings could have had knowledge of North America before Christopher Columbus! We now know that they did - thanks to excavations in the 1960s of a Norse settlement on the island of Newfoundland. But in 2018, the Vinland Map was identified as a forgery, thanks to careful study of the ink and parchment. It had in fact been created in the 20th century!

#3: The Shroud of Turin

Purportedly the burial shroud of Jesus Christ, the Shroud of Turin has been an object of controversy ever since it emerged in 14th century France. Although denounced as a forgery soon after, it’s been preserved - and revered - in Turin Cathedral, Italy. In 1988, scientists employed radiocarbon dating techniques on the shroud's fibers, determining its origin to be between 1260 and 1390 AD. This placed the shroud squarely in the Middle Ages, indicating it was likely not the burial cloth of Christ, but rather a product of medieval craftsmanship. While there are still those of faith who choose to believe that the shroud covered Jesus, science contends that it’s a medieval forgery.

#2: King Richard III’s Lost Remains

For centuries, the whereabouts of King Richard III's final resting place remained a medieval mystery. Having died in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, he was buried in Greyfriars Church. However the exact location of the church and his grave were lost due to King Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. The enigma came to an end in 2012 when archaeologists uncovered a skeleton beneath the asphalt of a humble parking lot in Leicester, England. The remains were identified as the lost king through DNA analyses - comparing the DNA against that of Richard III's descendants. This breakthrough not only solved the centuries-old puzzle of the long-lost monarch but revealed the lost location of the Greyfriars Church.

#1: The Cause of the Black Death

For centuries, the causes of the Black Death, a catastrophic epidemic that struck Western Eurasia and North Africa in the 14th century, were unknown. Peaking in the late 1340s and early 50s, it killed an estimated 75-200 million people! At the time, people struggled to make sense of what must have seemed truly apocalyptic - suggesting that a conjunction of planets has released bad air, or that it was just God’s will. We now know that the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted by fleas on black rats, was to blame. This discovery resolved a longstanding mystery about this medieval pandemic's source. Today, the infection is treatable with antibiotics.

Are there any medieval mysteries you’d like answers to? Tell us in the comments.
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