a sect of religious fanatics, one of the leading doctrines of whose creed was that by mortifying the flesh in every conceivable manner they propitiated the wrath and gained the favour of the Deity. The first recorded instances of self-flagellation are isolated cases which happened about the beginning of the fifth century of the Christian era. From this date the practice began to spread till the middle of the eleventh century, when, by the precepts and example of cardinal Peter Damian, it came to be regarded by many religious persons as a sort of duty. The custom was very warmly opposed by the more liberal minds among the clergy, but it continued to spread in despite of all opposition; and soon after the middle of the thirteenth century, the devotees of the system, no longer content to mortify themselves in private, began to do so in public, under the idea that they thus humiliated themselves more completely in the sight of God. Societies were now formed by which the doctrine of flagellation was promulgated throughout Europe; and the excesses into which they were frequently hurried by the ardour of their enthusiasm excited the astonishment even of their contemporaries. The originator and promoter of these fraternities was a monk of Perugia, Rainer by name. "About this time," says the monk of Padua in his chronicles of the year 1260, "when all Italy was filled with vice, the Perugians suddenly entered upon a course never before thought of; after them the Romans, and at length all Italy. The fear of Christ exerted upon the people so strong an influence, that men of noble and ignoble birth, old and young, traversed the streets of the city naked, yet without shame. Each carried a scourge in his hand with which he drew forth blood from his tortured body amid sighs and tears, singing at the same time penitential psalms, and entreating the compassion of the Deity. Both by day and night, and even in the coldest winters, by hundreds and thousands they wandered through cities and churches, streets and villages, with burning wax candles. Music was then silent, and the song of love echoed no more; nothing was heard but atoning lamentation. The most unfeeling could not refrain from tears; discordant parties were reconciled; usurers and robbers hastened to restore their unlawful gains; criminals before unsuspected came and confessed their crimes."

From Italy the Flagellants crossed into Germany, and visited Bavaria, Bohemia, Poland, and Alsatia, making many proselytes on the way. The princes and higher clergy, however, were little pleased with the fanatics, whose popularity lay chiefly with the lower orders. The public exposure of the person which this sect practised as a matter of duty offended good manners; their travelling in large Flagolet numbers afforded opportunities for every sort of tumult and sedition; and their extortion of alms was a severe tax upon the peaceful citizens. From the Continent they passed over into England, where they astonished the burglers of London and other cities by the severity of their discipline; but they were finally obliged to retire from Britain without having made a single convert. The purity of the early Flagellants was not long maintained by their successors; and at length, as immorality began to spread in many of the countries which they visited, they gradually fell into disfavour even with the people. At length their order was openly attacked by the celebrated Gerson; Pope Clement VII. thundered anathemas against them from the Vatican; and the officers of the Inquisition persecuted them with such severity that the sect at last disappeared altogether. An attempt made in Thuringia in 1414 by Conrad Schmidt to revive the order was suppressed by the trial and execution of that leader, and the more prominent among his followers.