Don't know what made me think of this, but I've just remembered the Mediaeval group known as the Flagellants.
The Flagellants seem to have arisen as a form of self-mortification, normally in response to some kind of natural disaster. In Perugia, they started whipping themselves in response to famine, while generally they seem to have become popular when the Plague broke out.
Although they thought that their self-punishment would bring God's favour, the irony was that, by wandering around the continent in the way they did, they could actually spread the very disease they thought that they were curing through their flagellation.
You could say they united Europe in its suffering.
Although the problem originated in the Mediterranean countries, Flagellants became a very popular movement across Europe. Especially in Germany, it seems, where strong punishments for national misdeeds were particulalrly popular. The countries of the British Isles, wisely, stayed out of the whole thing.
As I say, I've no idea why this occurs to me today. Just capturing the passing thought.
There's a convent in France that still makes whips for flagellation. Not only are they dirt cheap but each one also comes with a prayer. As a professional whip maker I consider this to be unfair competition.
ReplyDeleteIn modern times we call this "mental illness", unless money's involved of course, in which case it's something to do with public schools ;)
ReplyDeleteSee Steve I reckon their reaction's not so irrational.
ReplyDeleteThe continent is being ravaged by a disease you don't understand, for which there's no cure. With no evidence that any of the "scientific" solutions (such as sniffing an orange or burning sulphur or killing all the cats) are effective, what you gonna do? Assuming God's angry and trying to appease him sounds reasonable.
In these days we mostly can't imagine what it could be like, when a third or half the population was wiped out by a mysterious disease that nobody could explain.
Well AE I'd agree up to a point, given their indoctrination and lack of knowledge you could put the first few goes down to hopeful ignorance, but building a weird cult out of it that endures for a couple of centuries after becoming completely obvious it doesn't work is just plain bonkers! (mind you I reckon cross-browser development of HTML5 could prompt a resurgence!)
ReplyDeleteSteve, I guess if they believed plague was likely to kill them anyway then maybe they were focussed on the next life? Also, they were popular with the crowds.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively maybe the Flagellants didn't die of plague so much (being so susceptible to infection and blood loss)?
Meanwhile in England, being more rational and level-headed, we invented Morris Dancing.
Could be, although you'd think that the infliction of pain on oneself in order to avoid an infection would be very much a "this life" kind of concern. I think you're more on the money with the crowd pleasing idea, no doubt the status of such people would have been elevated because of their perceived piousness (pass the plate etc.), although I think in the end they were persecuted by the Church, a reversal of theological fortune fully in line with the earthly realisation that self flagellation is on the whole a zero sum game.
ReplyDeleteAs for morris dancing, isn't that just a less extreme (as is our English way) kind of penance in order to get people to buy you a pint? .. Seems perfectly reasonable ;)