“Le Mal des Ardents”
(Ergot Poisoning)

Of all the diseases that decimated the mediaeval population, ergot poisoning or “Saint Anthony's Fire” was one of the most lethal. This disease was rife all over Europe and appeared in the Dauphiné around 1090-1096.

Contracted by food poisoning, the disease presented itself in two different ways: in the form of convulsions or gangrene. It left incurable lesions, the muscles stiffened, limbs became gangrenous and covered by ill-smelling and ulcerous sores, and a starvation of blood to the brain brought on a state of hallucination close to dementia.

At the time, the only hope for many of the sick was faith in the power of miracles of a Saint, and in this case particularly Saint Anthony. In 1596 the medical faculty of Marbourg in Germany attributed the origin of the disease to wheat contaminated by ergot (ergot is a fungal parasite called Claviceps Purpurea) which, when absorbed, results in poisoning of the blood.

« The evil would start by a black spot ; this spot spread rapidly causing an unbearable feeling of burning, dried out the skin and rotted the tissues and muscles that fell away in shreds from the bone structure. It was a voracious fire that progressively burnt out and finally consumed its victims. There was no way to treat the suffering. It took merely one night to serously affect many victims ; if they did not die after a few hours. »

11^th Century commentary by Sigebert de Gembloux.