1-157-485 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Flagellant, 16th century. Flagellants were members of a sect, known as the Brothers of the Cross, founded in c1260. They whipped themselves until blood ran in order to obtain God's mercy and to appease his wrath for the sins of mankind. During times of Plague they would process through the streets. The movement reached the peak of its popularity during the Black Death in the late 1340s. Although the Church initially tolerated the flagellants, alarmed by the spread of the movement, Pope Clement VI condemned them as heretics in a bull issued in 1349.