A procession of flagellants. Engraving by François Morellon de la Cave.

Flagellants, group of religious people during the 13th century who proclaimed the imminence of the wrath of God against corruption and, as a religious rite, practiced public, self-inflicted scourgings. The sect arose in Perugia in 1259 and is said to have numbered 10.000. The members would run through the streets of a town lashing themselves about the shoulders, calling upon bystanders to join them. The outbreak of the Black Death, from 1347 to 1349, encouraged an intensified revival of the movement. A revival of the movement in Germany culminated in the condemnation of the sect by the Council of Constance (1414-1418)