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{{Short description|Practitioner of a form of mortification of the flesh}}
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[[File:Guardia Sanframondi (31500390952).jpg|thumb|300px|A [[confraternity of penitents]] in Italy mortifying the flesh with [[Discipline (instrument of penance)|disciplines]] in a seven-hour procession; [[capirote]] are worn by penitents so that attention is not drawn towards themselves, but to [[God in Christianity|God]], as they repent.]]
'''Flagellants''' are practitioners of a form of [[mortification of the flesh]] by [[whip]]ping their skin with various [[instruments of penance]].<ref name="Nethersole2018"/> Many Christian [[confraternities of penitents]] have flagellants, who beat themselves, both in the privacy of their dwellings and in public processions, to repent of [[Christian views on sin|sins]] and share in the [[Passion of Jesus]].<ref name="Nethersole2018">{{cite book |last1=Nethersole |first1=Scott |title=Art and Violence in Early Renaissance Florence |date=2018 |publisher=[[Yale University ]] |isbn=978-0-300-23351-3 |page=107 |language=English |quote=As Fra Antonio emphasised, the ''confratelli'' sought through self-inflicted pain to gain remission for their sins, by sharing in Christ's suffering, ''in imitatione Christi''.}}</ref>

In the 14th century, a movement within [[Western Christianity]] known as Flagellantism became popular and adherents "began beating their flesh in a public penitential ritual in response to war, famine, plague and fear engendered by millenarianism."<ref name="Nethersole2018"/> Though this movement withered away, the practices of public repentance and promoting peace were adopted by the flagellants in Christian, especially Roman Catholic, [[confraternities of penitents]] that exist to the present-day.<ref name="Nethersole2018"/>

== History ==
[[Image:Spanish flagellant (Christian mystic) · HHWXI26.svg|upright|thumb|1904 illustration of a medieval Spanish flagellant.]]
[[Flagellation]] (from Latin ''flagellare'', to whip) was quite a common practice amongst the more fervently religious throughout antiquity. The practice became popular in 1260 thanks to the example of Blessed [[:it:Raniero_Fasani|Raniero Fasani]] of Perugia,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Flagellant Confraternities and Italian Art, 1260–1610: Ritual and Experience |url=http://www.caareviews.org/reviews/3621 |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=Flagellant Confraternities and Italian Art, 1260–1610: Ritual and Experience}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Riniero de' Barcobini Fasani e Bonaparte Ghisilieri {{!}} Storia e Memoria di Bologna |url=https://www.storiaememoriadibologna.it/archivio/opere/riniero-de-barcobini-fasani-e-bonaparte-ghisilieri |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=www.storiaememoriadibologna.it}}</ref> a saintly hermit who began scourging himself publicly after receiving an apparition of the Virgin Mary and St. Bevignate who told him to start preaching penance for sins and to establish peace.<ref>{{Citation |title=Raniero Fasani |date=2023-10-03 |work=Wikipedia |url=https://it.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raniero_Fasani&oldid=135792439 |access-date=2024-06-19 |language=it}}</ref> He attracted followers and the movement grew in popularity throughout Italy and the rest of Europe.

[[Christianity]] has formed a permanent tradition surrounding the doctrine of [[mortification of the flesh]], ranging from self-denial, wearing hairshirts and chains, to fasting and self-flagellation using the [[Discipline (instrument of penance)|discipline]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Grayling |first1=A. C. |title=Religion and its mortifying history of self inflicted pain |url=https://www.thetimes.com/best-law-firms/profile-legal/article/religion-and-its-mortifying-history-of-self-inflicted-pain-dkd8z2wlxlb |work=[[The Times]] |date=29 August 2008 }}</ref> Those who practice self-flagellation claim that [[St. Paul]]'s statement in the [[Bible]] ‘I chastise my body’ refers to self-inflicted bodily scourging ({{Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|9:27|KJV}}).<ref>Tierney, John. “Flagellation.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Last modified September 1, 1909. Accessed March 5, 2020. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06092a.htm .</ref> There are prominent Christians who have practiced self-flagellation. [[Martin Luther]], the Protestant [[Reformation|Reformer]], self-flagellated among other ascetic practices during his early years as an Augustinian friar (although he later condemned such practices).<ref name="Mansch Peters 2016 p. ">{{cite book | last1=Mansch | first1=L.D. | last2=Peters | first2=C.H. | title=Martin Luther: The Life and Lessons | publisher=McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers | year=2016 | isbn=978-0-7864-9854-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CA3MDAAAQBAJ | access-date=2022-05-12 | page=30}}</ref> Likewise, the [[Congregationalist]] writer [[Sarah Osborn]] also practiced self-flagellation in order "to remind her of her continued sin, depravity, and vileness in the eyes of God".<ref name="Rubin1994">{{cite book|last=Rubin|first=Julius H.|url=https://archive.org/details/religiousmelanch00rubi/page/115|title=Religious Melancholy and Protestant Experience in America|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1994|isbn=9780195083019|page=[https://archive.org/details/religiousmelanch00rubi/page/115 115]|language=English|quote=In the many letters to her correspondents, Fish, Anthony, Hopkins, and Noyes, Osborn examined the state of her soul, sought spiritual guidance in the midst of her perplexities, and created a written forum for her continued self-examination. She cultivated an intense and abiding spirit of evangelical humiliation--self-flagellation and self-torture to remind her of her continued sin, depravity, and vileness in the eyes of God.|url-access=registration}}</ref> It became "quite common" for members of the [[Tractarian]] movement within the [[Anglican Communion]] to practice self-flagellation using a discipline.<ref name="Yates1999">{{cite book|last=Yates|first=Nigel|author-link=Nigel Yates|title=Anglican Ritualism in Victorian Britain, 1830-1910|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1999|isbn=9780198269892|page=60|language=English|quote=Self-flagellation with a small scourge, known as a discipline, became quite common in Tractarian circles and was practised by Gladstone among others.}}</ref>

Historically speaking, in the 11th century, [[Peter Damian]], a [[Benedictines|Benedictine]] monk in the [[Roman Catholic]] tradition, taught that spirituality should manifest itself in physical discipline; he admonished those who sought to follow Christ to practice self-flagellation for the duration of the time it takes one to recite forty [[Psalms]], increasing the number of flagellations on holy days of the [[liturgical year|liturgical calendar]].<ref name="Fudgé2016"/> For Damian, only those who shared in the [[Passion of Christ|sufferings of Christ]] could be saved.<ref name="Fudgé2016">{{cite book |last1=Fudgé |first1=Thomas A. |title=Medieval Religion and its Anxieties: History and Mystery in the Other Middle Ages |date=20 October 2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-137-56610-2 |page=243 |language=English |quote=As justification for the mortification of the flesh, Peter Damian argued that only those who participated in the sufferings of Christ could be partakers of the promise that the faithful, one day, would inherit the kingdom of God and thereby join Christ in glory.}}</ref><ref name="Jeremiah2014">{{cite book |last1=Jeremiah |first1=Ken |title=Christian Mummification: An Interpretative History of the Preservation of Saints, Martyrs and Others |date=10 January 2014 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-8979-4 |page=92 |language=English}}</ref> Throughout Christian history, the mortification of the flesh, wherein one denies physical pleasures, has been commonly followed by members of the clergy, especially in Christian monasteries and convents; the 11th-century [[Dominicus Loricatus]] repeated the entire [[Psalter]] twenty times in one week, accompanying each [[psalm]] with a hundred lash-strokes to his back. The distinction of the Flagellants was to take this [[mortification of the flesh|self-mortification]] into the cities and other public spaces as a demonstration of [[piety]].<ref name="Nethersole2018"/>

== Flagellantism ==
{{More citations needed section|date=April 2021}}
Flagellantism was a 14th-century movement, consisting of penitents in the [[Catholic Church]]. It began as a [[Christian pilgrimage]] and was later condemned by the [[Catholic Church]] as [[heresy|heretical]]. The followers were noted for including public flagellation in their rituals. This was a common practice during the [[Black Death]], or the Great Plague.
[[File:Képes krónika - 126.oldal - Flagellánsok.jpg|thumb|379x379px|Flagellants in the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] in 1263 ([[Chronicon Pictum]], 1358)]]

===Spread in the 14th century===
[[File:Nuremberg chronicles - Flagellants (CCXVr).jpg|thumb|300px|Woodcut of flagellants ([[Nuremberg Chronicle]], 1493)]]
[[File:LAER Pieter van The Flagellants.jpg|thumb|300px|right|''The flagellants'' by [[Pieter van Laer]]]]
The first recorded incident was in Central Italy in [[Perugia]], in 1259, the year after severe crop damage and famine throughout Europe. From [[Perugia]] the phenomenon seemed to spread across [[Northern Italy]] and into Austria. Other incidents are recorded in 1296, 1333-34 (the Doves), notably at the time of the [[Black Death]] (1349), and 1399. The practice peaked during the Black Death. Spontaneously Flagellant groups arose across [[Northern Europe|Northern]] and [[Central Europe]] in 1349, including in England.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lewis-Stempel|first1=John|title=England : the autobiography : 2,000 years of English history by those who saw it happen|date=2006|publisher=Penguin|location=London|isbn=9780141019956|page=76|quote="Flagellants Come To London, Michaelmas 1349. Robert of Avesbury."}}</ref>

Initially the [[Catholic Church]] tolerated the Flagellants and individual monks, friars and priests joined in the early movements. By the 14th century, the Church was less tolerant and the rapid spread of the movement was alarming. [[Pope Clement VI|Clement VI]] officially condemned them in a [[papal bull|bull]] of October 20, 1349 and instructed Church leaders to suppress the Flagellants.{{sfn|Aberth|2010|p=144}} This position was reinforced in 1372 by [[Pope Gregory XI|Gregory XI]] who associated the Flagellants with other heretical groups, notably the [[Beghards]],{{sfn|Schmidt|2017|p=500}} and instructed inquisitors to eradicate them.{{sfn|Lea|1922|p=393}} They were accused of heresies including doubting the need for the sacraments, denying ordinary ecclesiastical jurisdiction and claiming to work [[miracle]]s.{{sfn|Cohn|1970|p=138}} In 1392, a sect of Flagellants and Beghards, consisting of peasants, were found throughout Swabia and Wurzburg.{{sfn|Lea|1922|p=395}} The papal inquisitor imposed the penance of preaching and joining a crusade against the Ottoman Turks.{{sfn|Lea|1922|p=395}}

The [[Inquisition]] was active against any revival of the movement in the 15th century, but action against the flagellants was often taken by the local princes. In 1414, 80–90 followers of [[Konrad Schmid]] were burned in [[Thuringia]], in Germany, even though they had recanted.{{sfn|Cohn|1970|p=142}} Three hundred were burnt in one day in 1416, also in Thuringia.{{sfn|Cohn|1970|p=142}} Other trials where the accused were condemned as Flagellants were recorded as late as the 1480s.{{sfn|Cohn|1970|p=147}} The practice of flagellation within the bounds of the Catholic Church continued as an accepted form of [[penance]].

Rulers like [[Catherine de' Medici]] and France's [[Henry III of France|King Henry III]] supported Flagellants but [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]] banned them. Flagellant orders like ''Hermanos Penitentes'' (Spanish 'Penitential Brothers') also appeared in colonial [[Spanish America]], even against the specific orders of Church authorities.

====In Italy====

The first recorded cases of mass popular flagellation occurred in [[Perugia]], in 1259. The prime cause of the Perugia episode is unclear, but it followed an outbreak of an epidemic<!-- which? --> and chroniclers report how [[mania]] spread throughout almost all the people of the city. Thousands of citizens gathered in great processions, singing and with crosses and banners, they marched throughout the city whipping themselves. It is reported that surprising acts of [[Charity (virtue)|charity]] and repentance accompanied the marchers. However, one chronicler noted that anyone who did not join in the flagellation was accused of being in league with the [[devil]]. They also killed [[Jew]]s and priests who opposed them. [[Marvin Harris]]<ref name="Harris">[[Marvin Harris]], ''Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches'', Chapter 10 <!-- page 197 out of 235 in my translated edition. -->.</ref> links them to the Messianic preaching of [[Gioacchino da Fiore]]. 

Similar processions occurred across [[Northern Italy]], with groups of up to 10,000 strong  processing in [[Modena]], [[Bologna]], [[Reggio Emilia|Reggio]] and [[Parma]]. Although certain city authorities refused the Flagellant processions entry. 

A similar movement arose again in 1399, again in [[Northern Italy]] in the form of the [[White Penitents]] or ''Bianchi'' movement. This rising is said to have been started by a peasant who saw a vision. The movement became known as the ''laudesi'' from their constant hymn singing. At its peak, a group of over 15,000 adherents gathered in [[Modena]] and marched to Rome, but the movement rapidly faded when one of its leaders was burned at the stake by order of [[Boniface IX]].

====In Germany and the Low Countries ====
{{Further|Black Death in the Holy Roman Empire#Low Countries}}
The German and Low Countries movement, the Brothers of the Cross, is particularly well documented - they wore white robes and marched across Germany in 33.5 day campaigns (each day referred to a year of [[Jesus]]'s earthly life) of [[penance]], only stopping in any one place for no more than a day. They established their camps in fields near towns and held their rituals twice a day. The ritual began with the reading of a letter, claimed to have been delivered by an [[angel]] and justifying the Flagellants' activities. Next, the followers would fall to their knees and scourge themselves, gesturing with their free hands to indicate their sin and striking themselves rhythmically to songs, known as ''[[Geisslerlieder]]'', until blood flowed. Sometimes the blood was soaked up in rags and treated as a holy [[relic]]. Originally members were required to receive permission to join from their spouses and to prove that they could pay for their food. However, some towns began to notice that sometimes Flagellants brought plague to towns where it had not yet surfaced. Therefore, later they were denied entry. They responded with increased physical penance.{{Citation needed|date=October 2017}}

== Modern flagellants ==
=== Christianity ===
[[File:Guardia Sanframondi - flagellanti 17.jpg|thumb|200px|A flagellant in Italy mortifying the flesh with a [[Discipline (instrument of penance)|discipline]] (2010).]]
==== Roman Catholicism ====
Modern processions of hooded Flagellants are still a feature of various Mediterranean [[Christian countries]], mainly in Italy, Spain and some of its former colonies such as the Philippines, usually every year during [[Lent]] and intensify during Holy Week. For example, in the ''[[comune]]'' of [[Guardia Sanframondi]] in [[Campania]], such parades are organized once every seven years. In Italy, members of the Flagellant movement were called ''disciplinati'', while ''laudesi'' never practiced flagellation, but met together in their own chapel to sing ''laudi'' (canticles) in honour of the [[Blessed Virgin]], but which gradually assumed a dramatic form and grew into a theatrical form known as ''rappresentazioni sacre''. A play in the Roman dialect of the 14th century, edited by Vattasso (Studi e Testi, no. 4, p.&nbsp;53), explicitly bears the title lauda.

In the Philippines, some practice penitential flagellation and [[Crucifixion in the Philippines|have themselves briefly crucified]], at times in fulfilment of a ''panatà'' (sacred [[vow]]) made to God. <ref>{{Cite web
| title = Men Crucify Themselves in Philippines
| work = Newser
| date = 18 April 2014
| access-date = 2014-06-16
| url = http://www.newser.com/story/185559/men-crucify-themselves-in-philippines.html
}} (during the end of Lent season).</ref><ref>{{Cite web
| title = Filipino devotees re-enact crucifixion of Christ
| work = Yahoo News
| date = 18 April 2014
| access-date = 2014-06-16
| url = https://news.yahoo.com/filipino-devotees-reenact-crucifixion-christ-093544016.html
}}</ref> Both customs are deemed as [[Heterodoxy|heterodox]] acts of penance by the [[Catholic Church in the Philippines|Church in the Philippines]], [[Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines|whose episcopate]] have condemned repeatedly.{{details|Penitentes (New Mexico)}}
[[Penitentes (New Mexico)|''Los hermanos penitentes'']] (English: “The penitent brothers”) is a semi-[[secret society]] of flagellants among Hispanic Roman Catholics in the [[U.S. state|American states]] of [[Colorado]] and [[New Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11635c.htm|website=[[New Advent]]|title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Los Hermanos Penitentes}}</ref>

=== Other religions ===
Unrelated practices exist in non-Christian traditions, including actual [[flagellation]] amongst some [[Shiites]] who were converted by the [[Qizilbash]] (commemorating the martyrdom of [[Husayn ibn Ali]]).{{clr}}

== See also ==
*[[Algolagnia]]
*[[Ashura]], [[Tatbir]]
*[[Dancing mania]]
*[[Flagellation]]
*''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'', which includes a scene of monks striking themselves on the forehead repeatedly with boards while chanting the [[missal]] passage ''[[Pie Jesu]].''
* [[Khlysts]] ([[Imperial Russia]])
*[[Penitentes (New Mexico)]]
*[[Self-harm]]
*''[[The Seventh Seal]]'', which also includes a scene of monks striking themselves on the forehead repeatedly with boards while chanting.
*[[Redemptive suffering]]
*[[La Cercha]]
* [[Nine_Emperor_Gods_Festival#Celebration_in_Thailand|Nine Emperor Gods Festival]]. Also referred to as the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, it is famous for its ritualised acts of flagellation, self-wounding, and trance-like ecstasies, as well as its vegetarian food-based fasting.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |title=From the Brink of the Apocalypse: Confronting Famine, War, Plague and Death in the Later Middle Ages |first=John |last=Aberth |edition=2nd |publisher=Routledge |year=2010  }}
*{{cite book |last=Cohn |first=Norman |title=The Pursuit of the Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-500456-6 |year=1970  }}
*{{cite book |title=A History of the Inquisition |first=Henry Charles |last=Lea |volume=II |publisher=The Macmillan Company |year=1922 }}
*{{cite book |title="And on this Rock I Will Build My Church". A new Edition of Schaff's "History of the Reformation 1517-1648" |editor-first=Muhammad Wolfgang G A |editor-last=Schmidt |publisher=Disserta Verlag |year=2017 }}

== External links ==

{{commons category|Self-flagellation}}
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Flagellants|short=x}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Flagellants|short=x}}

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[[Category:Christian worship and liturgy]]
[[Category:13th-century Catholicism]]
[[Category:14th-century Catholicism]]
[[Category:Confraternities]]
[[Category:Black Death]]
[[Category:Self-harm]]