flagellant

Flagellant refers to a participant in a medieval penitential movement that emphasized self-inflicted pain as a public act of penance. The practice derives from the Latin flagellum, meaning “whip.” Beginning in the 13th century in Western Europe, flagellants formed itinerant bands that traveled from town to town, preaching repentance and performing ritual scourging in processions or open-air ceremonies. They typically wore simple robes and used scourges made of cords or rods to strike their own bodies.

Flagellants believed that physical suffering could atone for sin, deter divine punishment, and avert calamities such as plagues or social upheavals. Their demonstrations combined preaching, song, and mass participation, often drawing crowds and sometimes provoking local tension or fear.

Church authorities condemned flagellant practices as irregular and heterodox. Popes and bishops argued that penance should be administered through orthodox sacraments and clergy rather than autonomous lay-led movements. In many regions, flagellant bands were suppressed and their activities curtailed by late 14th century, and the movement largely declined, though isolated groups reappeared in later centuries.

Today, flagellant is primarily a historical term used by scholars to describe this phenomenon. The word also appears in literary and historical discussions to illustrate medieval religious fervor and the social dynamics of pestilence. Modern religious adherents generally reject self-inflicted flagellation as a discipline.