The Flagellant Processions

This section has been included to teach only one thing: Mastery of the body, and thus both the trancendance from it and the abuse of it, is a powerful force. One may at times be tempted to use this power publicly, and while there are short term positive results from spectacle, long term negative results are possible. There is wisdom in secrecy and longevity in discretion.

“shut himself up in his cell and stripped himself naked and took his scourge with the sharp spikes, and beat himself on the body and on the arms and on the legs, till blood poured off him as from a man who has been cupped.  One of the spikes on the scourge was bent crooked, like a hook, and whatever flesh it caught it tore off.  He beat himself so hard that the scourge broke into three bits and the points flew against the wall.  He stood there bleeding and gazed at himself.  It was such a wretched sight that he was reminded in many ways of the appearance of the beloved Christ, when he was fearfully beaten.  Out of pity for himself he began to weep bitterly.  And he knelt down, naked and covered in blood, in the frosty air, and prayed to God to wipe out his sins from before his gentle eyes.”   ---Cohn (127)

In the overcrowded and desolate cities and towns of medieval Italy a movement began, the flagellant procession.  The movement had its foundations with a hermit of the city of Perugia in the year 1260, and the movement quickly spread south towards Rome and north towards Lombard.  From that year on, until the late 1400’s the flagellant movement was a powerful force in medieval Europe. 
The flagellant processions of the medieval times were both frightening and inspirational.  In essence, the flagellants were punishers of their own bodies.  They would pierce, flog, and beat themselves both in public and in private.  This was all done with the hope of convincing God to have mercy upon the people, and visit them with less suffering and death.  They hoped that because of their acts of self-torture God would forgive them of their sins, gift them with salvation, and make the world that they presently lived in a somewhat better place.
The tortures that they inflicted against themselves were almost inhuman.  Many flogged themselves with a type of whip called a scourge; it consisted of a handle with several leather strips hanging off of it.  Each one of these leather strips had a twisted piece of metal fastened to the end of it so that when a person was struck the bits of metal would tear out flesh with each strike.  Other punishments involved torturing each other with hot iron spikes, simply burning and piercing the flesh until the person collapsed.  Some even carried life-sized crucifixes upon their backs, punishing themselves by carrying the heavy structure over the many hard miles that the processions covered on their journeys.  Some simply tied themselves up with rope and had themselves beaten, or they would just beat themselves.
The processions moved about from city to city, resting where they could and publicly torturing themselves.  They were usually lead by priests who had either given up on the church or had been forcibly removed from the church by their superiors.  When the hordes of man and boys would arrive in a city they would march into the city bearing banners and burning candles.  Once inside the city they would divide into groups and spread about the city, usually in front of local churches, and publicly punish themselves for hours at a time.
This public display of penance did a great deal to effect the masses that gathered to watch the flagellants.  People began to put aside their differences with each other, criminals confessed their crimes and made amends, ursurs gave back ill gotten funds, and enemies became friends and many blood feuds were called off.  As the processions moved on to the next town oftentimes a large number of people from each successive town would join the movement.The flagellant processions had become a beacon of hope to the downtrodden and suffering masses of Europe.  Soon the flagellants, as well as many of those who witnessed them, began to see themselves as not just working to absolve their own sins, but also the sins of others.  Many of the flagellants believed that they were taking on the sins of the world and like Jesus were sacrificing their own bodies in order to save humankind.  It was because of this that they were so accepted and loved by the masses of the towns and cities that they entered.  They were given food, financial assistance, and always gained new members when they left.
In order to understand why these horrific processions were so successful one must look at the world in which they lived.  Most of Europe’s common people lived in harsh poverty.  They were poorly clothed, starving, and constantly oppressed and harassed by the feudal state in which they lived.  The Lords of the state demanded taxes and the Church demanded tithes, neither of which the peasants could pay and still be able to live and support their families.  When wars would come the peasants had to support the armies that moved through the countries, and also suffered greatly when hostile forces would move upon their towns and villages.  All to often the poor would be made to support one army, but not be given protection and then massacred by the next army. The Church did little to help ease the suffering of the masses; in fact the Church was often seen as the enemy.  Corrupt priests and clergy members took advantage of the laity as they disgraced women and burned “heretics”, all the while demanding that each person pay tithes.  The commoners could not see how going to church, receiving Holy Communion, and prayer were doing them any good.  Loyalty to the Church seemed to have gotten them nowhere; it had even been harmful.  Needless to say there was a great deal of rage and dissatisfaction with the Church, and the flagellants offered another way for the masses to touch God.
Sometimes the flagellant processions would take a more revolutionary stance.  When these revolutionary flagellants entered cities they looted and burned churches, killed and tortured priests, and preached against the Pope and the Church.  These flagellants claimed that they could attain salvation through their own efforts and that they did not need the evil and corrupt Church to force them into anything. 
It was during this time of revolutionary flagellants that the princes and bishops began to suppress the movements and burn some of the leaders as heretics.  By the late 1200’s there were two distinct groups of flagellants.  The church and state generally tolerated the processions in Italy and France, because they were more orthodox in their theology and not revolutionaries.  However, the processions in Germany were ever increasingly fanatical and revolutionary.  Many of these flagellant movements were met with violence and condemnation as heretics.
A part of the reason for the German condemnation of some of the revolutionary flagellants as revolutionaries was because of the mystical significance of the number thirty-three and one half.  In some of the earlier flagellant movements the processions lasted for thirty-three and one half days, the supposed number of years which were spent by Jesus Christ on earth.  This mystical number, combined with the fact that many of the flagellant leaders of the time claimed to possess Heavenly Letters, divinely inspired words from God, gave the church and state amble grounds and reason to condemn and destroy many of the revolutionary flagellant processions from the late 1200’s to the late 1300’s.
The outbreak of the Black Plague served to ignite many more flagellant processions throughout Europe.  If the poverty and oppression were not enough, the Black Death made matters even worse.  Once again, like their predecessors in 1260, the new flagellants took up their scourges and began to march.  Like before, the flagellant processions gave hope to the people and the movement grew in power and numbers.  The flagellant movement died out in the 1480’s as the last of the flagellants either stopped marching or were burned as heretics.  Other than the suppression of revolutionaries, the flagellant movements died out for one major reason, disillusionment.  After decades of marching and penance the world just did not get any better for anyone.  The plague continued, the poverty continued, the oppression and the corruption of the church continued.  The flagellants, without their knowledge, began to unwittingly spread the very plague they were trying to stop.  Without any advanced knowledge of disease control or sanitation, they carried the sickness with them everywhere they went.  Once a member of the procession contracted the plague, the rest of the group was sure to get it and then spread it to whatever town they came in contact with.  The very nature of the flagellant processions was perfect for the spread of the plague, with their constant beating and bleeding bodies.  Many of the flagellant groups had also gotten wrapped up in eschatology and believed themselves to be living in the endtimes.When the end never came, and they realized that what they were doing was not helping the situation, they could do nothing but lay down their scourges in defeat and go back home.  They helped for a time, gave hope for a time, but in the end they could not make the changes they had sought to, a temporary solution to a very difficult and timeless situation.