Flagellants
When the plague was affective
and spreading from town to town, The men in Germany, Hainault, Flanders and
Lorraine began a new sect on their own authority. They began to blame themselves
and punished themselves through pain and suffering. They began walking the
streets, stripped at the waist, and in large groups. They marched with bands and
in procession. They formed circles and whipped their backs with weighted
scourges, praising and rejoicing as they sang hymns up and down the streets.
They did this for 33 days, people watched and sometimes joined them, hoping that
they would be forgiven for their sins and that God would take pity on them.
They would whip themselves so
hard that every time they would draw blood. This wasn't just a few drops, they
shed a lot, and for 33 days straight. Would you be willing to beat yourself with
iron points? Does your religion mean that much to you? And are you that
unselfish that you would risk your life, and take the blame for something that
you were innocent of? Well, the Flagellants knew that they weren't to blame, but
they did what they thought that they had to do to rid the disease from the
world. Many of the Flagellants believed that they were imitating Christ.
Sacrificing their lives and punishing themselves in front of the world.
Punishing themselves for something that they didn't do.
What I don't understand about the Flagellants is that they would kill any and every Jew that they encountered, and even killed clergymen, who spoke against them. Many people were dying because of the Flagellants. Many people also wanted them to disappear. In my opinion, it was because they felt guilty seeing them sacrificing themselves. Others believed it was because they were not only killing themselves but because they were killing innocent Jewish people. But, this all stopped in October in 1349 when the pope condemned them and ordered all authorities to suppress them. This didn't stop the Flagellants, obviously they didn't care if they died and they reappeared in the fifteenth century when they plague was still affecting people.