One of the linked papers talks about involuntary trance and the capacity for such a phenomenon to spread through extant systemic stress or fear. We know humans

One of the linked papers talks about involuntary trance and the capacity for such a phenomenon to spread through extant systemic stress or fear. We know humans can be captured or gripped by any number of involuntary phenomena, particularly when it becomes a social effect and in effect reduces individual conscious control in favor of the social locus. So that lens seems fairly valid on its face. This also took place during extraordinarily harsh times even for that particular point in history. There had been massive floods and damage to crops, with food prices soaring, in addition to newly-spreading syphilis. There was probably a fairly strong unconscious sense of loss of control in the first place.