ABSTRACT
We have seen the customs of flagellation connected with religion taking their rise among heathen nations, and afterwards being adopted in the Christian Church, to form part of its penitential service. From being practised here and there by hermits, who led a life of solitude and self-mortification, it spread through the Church, and took a deeper hold on the minds of the people, until it reached a climax about the middle of the thirteenth century, and led to the formation of fraternities for the regular and public practice of flagellation. This sect first made its appearance in Italy in the year 1210, and the following account of it is given in the “Chronicon Ursitius Basiliensis” of the monk St. Justin of Padua:—
