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Flagellants are practitioners of a form of mortification of the flesh by their skin with various instruments of penance. Many Christian confraternities of penitents have flagellants, who beat themselves, both in the privacy of their dwellings and in public processions, to repent of sins and share in the Passion of Jesus.
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." 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.
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. Those who practice self-flagellation claim that St. Paul's statement in the Bible ‘I chastise my body’ refers to self-inflicted bodily scourging ().Tierney, John. “Flagellation.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Last modified September 1, 1909. Accessed March 5, 2020. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06092a.htm . There are prominent Christians who have practiced self-flagellation. Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformation, self-flagellated among other ascetic practices during his early years as an Augustinian friar (although he later condemned such practices). 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". It became "quite common" for members of the Tractarian movement within the Anglican Communion to practice self-flagellation using a discipline.
Historically speaking, in the 11th century, Peter Damian, a Benedictines 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. For Damian, only those who shared in the sufferings of Christ could be saved. (2016). 9781137566102, Springer. ISBN 9781137566102 (2014). 9780786489794, McFarland. ISBN 9780786489794 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 self-mortification into the cities and other public spaces as a demonstration of piety.
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. Clement VI officially condemned them in a papal bull of October 20, 1349 and instructed Church leaders to suppress the Flagellants. This position was reinforced in 1372 by Gregory XI who associated the Flagellants with other heretical groups, notably the Beghards, and instructed inquisitors to eradicate them. They were accused of heresies including doubting the need for the sacraments, denying ordinary ecclesiastical jurisdiction and claiming to work . In 1392, a sect of Flagellants and Beghards, consisting of peasants, were found throughout Swabia and Wurzburg. The papal inquisitor imposed the penance of preaching and joining a crusade against the Ottoman Turks.
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. Three hundred were burnt in one day in 1416, also in Thuringia. Other trials where the accused were condemned as Flagellants were recorded as late as the 1480s. 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 King Henry III supported Flagellants but 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.
Similar processions occurred across Northern Italy, with groups of up to 10,000 strong processing in Modena, Bologna, Reggio Emilia 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 the Philippines, some practice penitential flagellation and have themselves briefly crucified, at times in fulfilment of a panatà (sacred vow) made to God. (during the end of Lent season). Both customs are deemed as Heterodoxy acts of penance by the Church in the Philippines, whose episcopate have condemned repeatedly. Los hermanos penitentes (English: “The penitent brothers”) is a semi-secret society of flagellants among Hispanic Roman Catholics in the American states of Colorado and New Mexico.
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