Historical cause of death 1600s-1800s
What did St Vitus dance mean on a death certificate?
On a death record, St Vitus dance meant uncontrollable jerking and writhing movements, mostly in children after rheumatic fever. In modern terms it usually pointed to Sydenham's chorea. Death usually came from the rheumatic heart disease behind it, which may claim a sibling on a nearby page of the register. Expect it on records mostly 1600s-1800s.
Also written on records as: St Vitus's dance, chorea, the dance of St Vitus.
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Related terms
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FAQs
What is St Vitus dance called today?+
Sydenham's chorea, broadly speaking. Doctors of the period diagnosed without laboratory tests, so one label often covered several conditions we would now separate. This page explains historical record language and is not medical advice.
How was St Vitus dance written on death records?+
Clerks and doctors also wrote St Vitus's dance, chorea, and the dance of St Vitus. Spelling wandered from register to register, so check every variant before you decide a record is missing or wrong.
Where do these definitions come from?+
They are drawn from period dictionaries, government archive glossaries, and standard genealogy references, cross-checked against each other; provenance is documented with the dataset. Inside AncestorIQ, Deep Research reads the record itself and explains terms like this in context, against your ancestor's own document.
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