Why the Quakers Quaked: The Influence of Climatic Change on Quaker Health, 1647-1659

Why the Quakers Quaked: The Influence of Climatic Change on Quaker Health, 1647-1659 Mary K. Matossian* Religious enthusiasm rose to a peak in England in the middle of the seventeenth century. Many individuals had visions, tremors, convulsions, andwent about foretelling the coming ofanew day. Groups called Seekers, Ranters, Levelers, Diggers, Muggletonians, and Fifth Monarchy Men spranguplikemushrooms. Evenamongorthodoxreligiousgroupsmillennial expectations were widespread by 1649. During the interregnum (16491660 ) every kind ofprophecy was aired, evenby young children. "On ahalf a dozen occasions between 1647 and 1654," reported Keith Thomas, "the deliberations of Oliver Cromwell and his colleagues were interrupted, so that some obscure prophet, often a woman, couldbe admitted to deliver her message."1 As readers ofthis journal know, among the religious enthusiasts ofthe 1650s were the Quakers, so-calledby outsiders because oftheir tendency to tremblewhen"the power" movedthem. They called each other Friends, and their organization, the Society of Friends. In the early years of their organization the Friends experienced many disturbing symptoms which physicians today call central nervous system (CNS) symptoms. This was especially true during the "Lamb's War," in the peak period of symptoms. 1651-1654. An anti-Quaker pamphlet published in 1655 began with this statement: "An infallible relation of their several Meetings, Shriekings, Shakings, Roarings, Yellings, Howlings, Tremblings in the Body...the Strange and Wonderful Satanic Apparitions, and the appearing ofthe Devil unto them in the likeness of a Black Boar, a Dog with Flaming Eyes, and a Black Man without a head. . . ."2 The purpose of this article is to understand the unusual states, mental, physical, and behavioral, which the early Quakers experienced, and which inspiredtheirname. Myresearch has suggestedthat somereligious phenomena can be better understood with the help of scientific findings. My hypothesis is that the central nervous system symptoms among Quakers and others may have been those of a disease called ergotism. I suggested this thesis in a book sixteen year ago.3 But I did not develop the idea at length. Since then, historical climatologists have made important * Mary K. Matossian is a Friend. Having retired from a career as ahistorian, she now lives next to the Stanford campus and uses the Stanford libraries. She is indebted to Dr. Katharine June Hakala, paleoclimatologist, for reading this manuscript and for many helpful suggestions. Why the Quakers Quaked37 advances, especially in the last three years. They have built mathematical models to explain climatic change in terms of "forcing factors," i.e. influences or determinants. Three ofthese factors are changes in the amount ofcarbon dioxide in the atmosphere, volcanic activity, and solar irradiation (as displayed in sunspots and auroras). All three are ofrelevance in this case. It is now possible to make a much tighter argument for the presence of ergotism in England during 1647-1 659, and especially during 165 1-1654. Ergotism was rarely diagnosed in England because, I think, it rarely occurred. Despite the fact that rye consumption, a necessary element in the causation of ergotism, was of major importance in the English diet up to about 1800, this factor alone was not sufficient to produce the disease. Although England's climate, especially in the northwest, was usually wet enough for the colonization ofrye by the microfungus Clavicepspurpurea, but the two factors together were not sufficient to explain the occurrence of ergotism. They could account only for its distribution in space, but not in time. Why did it begin when it did? Why did it end when it did? To answer those questions it is necessary to study trends in the temperature ofEngland. Winter, spring, and summer temperatures were determinants of the fungal colonization ofrye crops. These temperatures in England in 16471659 were uniquely conducive to the colonization of the rye crop by the ergot fungus. These temperatures were anomalous. Normally what protected the rye-eating English from ergotism epidemics was England's maritime type climate. The surrounding seas kept summer temperatures relatively cool and winter temperatures relatively mild. In contrast Russia, which suffered frequently from ergotism epidemics , had acontinental climate, with severe winters andwarmto hot summers. During 1647-1659 three conditions coincided in England: 1) reduced population level, associated with reduced landunder cultivation , reforestation, and, since trees store more carbon than plants...