It all begins with screams, bodies twisting and writhing, some report visions of evil spirits. For the Puritans of Massachusetts at the end of the 17th century, the explanation was simple: the Evil One was at work. Yet behind the crises of Abigail Williams, Betty Parris and other young Salem girls, some researchers have proposed another culprit lurking at the heart of their diet: ergot, a fungus capable of transforming an ordinary loaf of bread into a dangerous one. space cake.
When rye is exposed to a very wet spring – which seems to have been the case in New England on the eve of the events of 1692 – the fungus Claviceps purpurea proliferates on the ears. When ingested, it releases alkaloids whose chemical structure is similar to that of LSD, causing internal burning, convulsions, tingling sensations, hallucinations and erratic behavior.
It was in 1976 that researcher Linnda Caporael first published this hypothesis in a famous article, which continues to cause debate among historians. She highlights the similarities between the accounts of possessions in Salem and the symptoms of convulsive ergotism described in Europe.
According to her, settlers unaware of the toxicity of these blackened grains would have simply used a contaminated harvest for their daily bread. “One of the first symptoms of ergotism is what was colloquially called “holy fire”, a generalized burning sensation that often affected younger people”recalls mycologist Rabern Simmons (Purdue University, United States) in Popular Mechanics.
But the matter is far from being settled. Although the mushroom thesis is attractive, it faces skepticism from some specialists. How can we explain that, in the same family, only certain children were affected while everyone ate the same bread? Why did the seizures seem to come on and off based on court hearings, which is inconsistent with strictly physiological poisoning? For many historians, the biological factor is not enough: the social, religious and political context plays a central role.
Between collective paranoia and social revenge
Salem, at the time, was a community under extreme tension: wars with the indigenous populations, harsh winters, rivalries between families, territorial disputes and stifling religious fervor, the region was a powder keg. In this climate of diffuse fear, the slightest rumor can be enough to trigger a crisis. Accusations of witchcraft do not strike randomly, they frequently target women considered difficult, widows, marginalized people or neighbors with whom conflicts already existed.
Even more disturbing, certain contemporary testimonies suggest an element of conscious manipulation. During Elizabeth Proctor’s trial, one of the young accusers allegedly admitted that she was exaggerating her convulsions “for fun” or to follow the movement – late declarations which remain debated, but illustrate to what extent the spiral of fear and social conformism could carry individuals away. Once the machine was launched, contesting the accusations meant risking being designated as an ally of Satan.
It was ultimately Governor William Phips who put an end to the trials, after rumors began to affect members of his own family and prominent figures. In May 1693, the prisons were emptied, the special commissions were dissolved and the executions stopped. The toll is heavy: 19 people hanged, at least one died under torture (Giles Corey, crushed under stones) and several deaths in custody – around twenty victims in total, victims of a punitive excess by the clergy and justice.
So, mushroom bread or social delirium? The answer probably lies somewhere between the two. Ergot may have played a triggering role, amplifying certain physical symptoms and making accounts of visions and convulsions credible. But it is humans – with their fears, their resentments, their neighborhood rivalries and their religious paranoia – who fueled the witch hunt.
