FLAGELLANTS

(Lat. flagellum, om'A?/).) A sect of enthusiasts who first appeared in the middle of the 13th century, and being then repre ed, sprang up again with renewed violence in the 14th. Beginning first at Cremona in Italy, the contagion of the example spread in a few years throughout Europe; and every city was infested by multitudes who went naked from the loins upward, and inflicted upon th-emselves several daily flagellations, with the idea of obtaining thereby merit in the eyes of God. They formed themselves into a society, and at first were at least innocent in their behaviour; but as their numbers increased, they gave way to great exce es, and were eventually suppre ed by a holy war proclaimed against th»m by Pope Clement VI. [s. 468]