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Flagellants are practitioners of a form of mortification of the flesh by whipping their skin with various instruments of penance . Many Christian confraternities of penitents have flagellants, who beat themselves, both in the privacy of their dwellings and in public processions, to repent of sins and share in the Passion of Jesus .

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59-583: In the 14th century, a movement within Western Christianity known as Flagellantism became popular and adherents "began beating their flesh in a public penitential ritual in response to war, famine, plague and fear engendered by millenarianism." Though this movement withered away, the practices of public repentance and promoting peace were adopted by the flagellants in Christian, especially Roman Catholic, confraternities of penitents that exist to

118-674: A panatà (sacred vow ) made to God. Both customs are deemed as heterodox acts of penance by the Church in the Philippines , whose episcopate have condemned repeatedly. Los hermanos penitentes (English: “The penitent brothers”) is a semi- secret society of flagellants among Hispanic Roman Catholics in the American states of Colorado and New Mexico . Unrelated practices exist in non-Christian traditions, including actual flagellation amongst some Shiites whom were converted by

177-479: A day. The ritual began with the reading of a letter, claimed to have been delivered by an angel and justifying the Flagellants' activities. Next, the followers would fall to their knees and scourge themselves, gesturing with their free hands to indicate their sin and striking themselves rhythmically to songs, known as Geisslerlieder , until blood flowed. Sometimes the blood was soaked up in rags and treated as

236-687: A feature of various Mediterranean Christian countries , mainly in Italy, Spain and some of its former colonies such as the Philippines, usually every year during Lent and intensify during Holy Week. For example, in the comune of Guardia Sanframondi in Campania , such parades are organized once every seven years. In Italy, members of the Flagellant movement were called disciplinati , while laudesi never practiced flagellation, but met together in their own chapel to sing laudi (canticles) in honour of

295-406: A holy relic . Originally members were required to receive permission to join from their spouses and to prove that they could pay for their food. However, some towns began to notice that sometimes Flagellants brought plague to towns where it had not yet surfaced. Therefore, later they were denied entry. They responded with increased physical penance. Modern processions of hooded Flagellants are still

354-730: A slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt , referred to as a "sin nature", to something as drastic as total depravity or automatic guilt of all humans through collective guilt. Most Western Christians use a version of the Nicene Creed that states that the Holy Spirit " proceeds from the Father and the Son ", where the original text as adopted by the First Council of Constantinople had "proceeds from

413-604: Is used as a collective term for all these. Today, the geographical distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is not nearly as absolute as in Antiquity or the Middle Ages, due to the spread of Christian missionaries , migrations , and globalisation . As such, the adjectives "Western Christianity" and "Eastern Christianity" are typically used to refer to historical origins and differences in theology and liturgy rather than present geographical locations. While

472-552: The Anglican Communion to practice self-flagellation using a discipline. Historically speaking, in the 11th century, Peter Damian , a Benedictine monk in the Roman Catholic tradition, taught that spirituality should manifest itself in physical discipline; he admonished those who sought to follow Christ to practice self-flagellation for the duration of the time it takes one to recite forty Psalms , increasing

531-514: The Blessed Virgin , but which gradually assumed a dramatic form and grew into a theatrical form known as rappresentazioni sacre . A play in the Roman dialect of the 14th century, edited by Vattasso (Studi e Testi, no. 4, p. 53), explicitly bears the title lauda. In the Philippines, some practice penitential flagellation and have themselves briefly crucified , at times in fulfilment of

590-838: The Catholic Church as heretical . The followers were noted for including public flagellation in their rituals. This was a common practice during the Black Death , or the Great Plague. The first recorded incident was in Central Italy in Perugia , in 1259, the year after severe crop damage and famine throughout Europe. From Perugia the phenomenon seemed to spread across Northern Italy and into Austria. Other incidents are recorded in 1296, 1333-34 (the Doves), notably at

649-592: The Council of Chalcedon (451), and then from Eastern Orthodoxy with the East-West Schism of 1054. With the last-named form of Eastern Christianity, reunion agreements were signed at the Second Council of Lyon (1274) and the Council of Florence (1439), but these proved ineffective. Historian Paul Legutko of Stanford University said the Catholic Church is "at the center of the development of

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708-812: The Holy See in Rome , which claimed primacy since Antiquity. The Latin Church is distinct from the Eastern Catholic Churches , also in full communion with the Pope in Rome , and from the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Churches , which are not in communion with Rome. These other churches are part of Eastern Christianity . The terms "Western" and "Eastern" in this regard originated with geographical divisions mirroring

767-907: The Isle of Man , the United Kingdom and Ireland are included in Western Europe , while Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania are included in Eastern Europe . The World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions is a biogeographical system developed by the international Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) organization, formerly the International Working Group on Taxonomic Databases. The WGSRPD standards, like other standards for data fields in botanical databases, were developed to promote "the wider and more effective dissemination of information about

826-497: The Isle of Man , the United Kingdom and Ireland are included in Western Europe . In the CIA World Factbook , the description of each country includes information about "Location" under the heading "Geography", where the country is classified into a region. The following countries are included in their classification "northern Europe": as well as the dependent areas: In this classification Jersey , Guernsey ,

885-666: The Julian calendar and Gregorian calendar respectively. However, before the Council of Nicea, various dates including Jewish Passover were observed. Nicea "Romanized" the date for Easter and anathematized a "Judaized" (i.e. Passover date for) Easter. The date of observance of Easter has only differed in modern times since the promulgation of the Gregorian calendar in 1582; and further, the Western Church did not universally adopt

944-731: The Nordic countries , often the British Isles and Baltic states , and sometimes Greenland . The United Nations geoscheme is a system devised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) which divides the countries of the world into regional and subregional groups, based on the M49 coding classification . The partition is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories. In

1003-618: The Qizilbash (commemorating the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali ). Western Christianity Western Christianity is one of two subdivisions of Christianity ( Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism , together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic Church , Independent Catholicism and Restorationism . The large majority of

1062-860: The Roman province of Africa . There is evidence of a Latin translation of the Bible as early as the 2nd century (see also Vetus Latina ). With the decline of the Roman Empire , distinctions appeared also in organization, since the bishops in the West were not dependent on the Emperor in Constantinople and did not come under the influence of the Caesaropapism in the Eastern Church . While

1121-557: The apostles and other early preachers of the religion. In Western Christianity's original area, Latin was the principal language. Christian writers in Latin had more influence there than those who wrote in Greek , Syriac , or other languages. Although the first Christians in the West used Greek (such as Clement of Rome ), by the fourth century Latin had superseded it even in the cosmopolitan city of Rome , as well as in southern Gaul and

1180-605: The see of Constantinople became dominant throughout the Emperor's lands, the West looked exclusively to the see of Rome , which in the East was seen as that of one of the five patriarchs of the Pentarchy , "the proposed government of universal Christendom by five patriarchal sees under the auspices of a single universal empire. Formulated in the legislation of the emperor Justinian I (527–565), especially in his Novella 131,

1239-416: The 16th century, as did Independent Catholicism in the 19th century. Thus, the term "Western Christianity" does not describe a single communion or religious denomination but is applied to distinguish all these denominations collectively from Eastern Christianity. The establishment of the distinct Latin Church, a particular church sui iuris of the Catholic Church , coincided with the consolidation of

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1298-512: The Americas (especially South America), Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific. Protestantism, including Anglicanism, came to North America, Australia-Pacific and some African locales. Today, the geographical distinction between Western and Eastern Christianity is much less absolute, due to the great migrations of Europeans across the globe, as well as the work of missionaries worldwide over

1357-766: The British Isles including the Brythonic Welsh and the Goidelic Scots Gaelic and Irish . The Celtic languages Cornish and Manx have been revived since becoming classed as extinct, being now spoken to a limited extent in Cornwall and the Isle of Man respectively. The Norman languages of Jèrriais and Guernésiais are spoken in Jersey and Guernsey, though are listed as endangered due to

1416-870: The Catholic Church accounting for over half and various Protestant denominations making up another 40%. Hussite movements of 15th century Bohemia preceded the main Protestant uprising by 100 years and evolved into several small Protestant churches, such as the Moravian Church . Waldensians survived also, but blended into the Reformed tradition . Relevant figures: Relevant figures: Relevant figures: Relevant figures: Relevant figures: Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of

1475-569: The Christian church has been culturally divided between the Latin-speaking West, whose centre was Rome , and the Greek-speaking East, whose centre was Constantinople . Cultural differences and political rivalry created tensions between the two churches, leading to disagreement over doctrine and ecclesiology and ultimately to schism . Like Eastern Christianity , Western Christianity traces its roots directly to

1534-669: The Eastern Orthodox Church, has traditionally held a distinction between God's essence, or that which He is, with God's energies, or that which He does. They hold that while God is unknowable in His essence, He can be known (i.e. experienced) in His energies. This is an extension of Eastern Christianity's apophatic theology , while Western Christians tend to prefer a view of divine simplicity , and claim that God's essence can be known by its attributes. Today, Western Christianity makes up close to 90% of Christians worldwide with

1593-527: The Father" without the addition of either "and the Son" or "alone". This Western version also has the additional phrase "God from God" ( Latin : Deum de Deo ), which was in the Creed as adopted by the First Council of Nicaea , but which was dropped by the First Council of Constantinople. The date of Easter usually differs between Eastern and Western Christianity, because the calculations are based on

1652-582: The Flagellant processions entry. A similar movement arose again in 1399, again in Northern Italy in the form of the White Penitents or Bianchi movement. This rising is said to have been started by a peasant who saw a vision. The movement became known as the laudesi from their constant hymn singing. At its peak, a group of over 15,000 adherents gathered in Modena and marched to Rome, but

1711-624: The Gregorian calendar at once, so that for some time the dates of Easter differed between the Eastern Church and the Roman Catholic Church, but not necessarily as between the Eastern Church and the Western Protestant churches. For example, the Church of England continued to observe Easter on the same date as the Eastern Church until 1753. Even the dates of other Christian holidays often differ between Eastern and Western Christianity. Eastern Christianity, and particularly

1770-603: The Latin Church maintains the use of the Latin liturgical rites , Protestant denominations and Independent Catholicism use various liturgical practices. The earliest concept of Europe as a cultural sphere (instead of simply a geographic term) appeared during the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century, which included territories that practiced Western Christianity at the time. For much of its history,

1829-615: The Protestant Reformer , self-flagellated among other ascetic practices during his early years as an Augustinian friar (although he later condemned such practices). Likewise, the Congregationalist writer Sarah Osborn also practiced self-flagellation in order "to remind her of her continued sin, depravity, and vileness in the eyes of God". It became "quite common" for members of the Tractarian movement within

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1888-610: The UN geoscheme, the following countries are classified as being in northern Europe: as well as the dependent areas: EuroVoc is a multilingual thesaurus maintained by the Publications Office of the European Union , giving definitions of terms for official use. In the definition of "northern Europe", the following countries are included: as well as the dependent area: In this classification Jersey , Guernsey ,

1947-715: The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, however, the West Germanic language Scots is also spoken as a minority language in parts of Scotland and Ireland. Beyond this, the Finnic languages of Finnish and Estonian are the most common first languages of Finland and Estonia respectively. The Baltic languages of Lithuanian and Latvian are the most common first languages of Lithuania and Latvia respectively. A number of Celtic languages are spoken in

2006-573: The city whipping themselves. It is reported that surprising acts of charity and repentance accompanied the marchers. However, one chronicler noted that anyone who did not join in the flagellation was accused of being in league with the devil . They also killed Jews and priests who opposed them. Marvin Harris links them to the Messianic preaching of Gioacchino da Fiore . Similar processions occurred across Northern Italy , with groups of up to 10,000 strong processing in Modena , Bologna , Reggio and Parma . Although certain city authorities refused

2065-438: The cultural divide between the Hellenistic East and Latin West and the political divide between the Western and Eastern Roman empires . During the Middle Ages , adherents of the Latin Church, irrespective of ethnicity, commonly referred to themselves as "Latins" to distinguish themselves from Eastern Christians ("Greeks"). Western Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization . With

2124-416: The entire Psalter twenty times in one week, accompanying each psalm with a hundred lash-strokes to his back. The distinction of the Flagellants was to take this self-mortification into the cities and other public spaces as a demonstration of piety . Flagellantism was a 14th-century movement, consisting of penitents in the Catholic Church . It began as a Christian pilgrimage and was later condemned by

2183-432: The expansion of European colonialism from the Early Modern era , the Latin Church, in time along with its Protestant secessions, spread throughout the Americas , much of the Philippines , Southern Africa , pockets of West Africa , and throughout Australia and New Zealand . Thus, when used for historical periods after the 16th century, the term "Western Christianity" does not refer to a particular geographical area but

2242-696: The flagellants was often taken by the local princes. In 1414, 80–90 followers of Konrad Schmid were burned in Thuringia , in Germany, even though they had recanted. Three hundred were burnt in one day in 1416, also in Thuringia. Other trials where the accused were condemned as Flagellants were recorded as late as the 1480s. The practice of flagellation within the bounds of the Catholic Church continued as an accepted form of penance . Rulers like Catherine de' Medici and France's King Henry III supported Flagellants but Henry IV banned them. Flagellant orders like Hermanos Penitentes (Spanish 'Penitential Brothers') also appeared in colonial Spanish America , even against

2301-401: The highest standards of living in the world. They often score highly on surveys measuring quality of life, such as the Human Development Index . Aside from the United Kingdom, they generally have a small population relative to their size, most of whom live in cities. The quality of education in much of Northern Europe is rated highly in international rankings, with Estonia and Finland topping

2360-433: The increasing prominence of English in the islands. While not the most common first languages in any country, Sámi languages such as North Sámi , Lule Sámi and South Sámi are spoken in the transnational region of Sápmi and are listed as endangered. During the Early Middle Ages , the Roman Catholic Church expanded into northern Europe and spread Christianity among the Germanic peoples . Christianity reached

2419-414: The list among the OECD countries in Europe. Germanic languages are widely spoken in northern Europe with North Germanic languages being the most common first language in the Faroe Islands ( Faroese ), Iceland ( Icelandic ), Denmark ( Danish ), Norway ( Norwegian ) and Sweden ( Swedish ). The West Germanic language English is the most common first language in Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man,

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2478-499: The mountainous western seaboard, Scotland and Scandinavia , and also often includes part of the large plain east of the Baltic Sea . The entire region's climate is at least mildly affected by the Gulf Stream . From the west climates vary from maritime and maritime subarctic climates. In the north and central climates are generally subarctic or Arctic and to the east climates are mostly subarctic and temperate / continental . Just as both climate and relief are variable across

2537-553: The movement grew in popularity throughout Italy and the rest of Europe. Christianity has formed a permanent tradition surrounding the doctrine of mortification of the flesh , ranging from self-denial, wearing hairshirts and chains, to fasting and self-flagellation using the discipline . Those who practice self-flagellation claim that St. Paul 's statement in the Bible ‘I chastise my body’ refers to self-inflicted bodily scourging ( 1 Corinthians 9:27 ). There are prominent Christians who have practiced self-flagellation. Martin Luther ,

2596-478: The movement rapidly faded when one of its leaders was burned at the stake by order of Boniface IX . The German and Low Countries movement, the Brothers of the Cross, is particularly well documented - they wore white robes and marched across Germany in 33.5 day campaigns (each day referred to a year of Jesus 's earthly life) of penance , only stopping in any one place for no more than a day. They established their camps in fields near towns and held their rituals twice

2655-401: The movement was alarming. Clement VI officially condemned them in a bull of October 20, 1349 and instructed Church leaders to suppress the Flagellants. This position was reinforced in 1372 by Gregory XI who associated the Flagellants with other heretical groups, notably the Beghards , and instructed inquisitors to eradicate them. They were accused of heresies including doubting the need for

2714-402: The number of flagellations on holy days of the liturgical calendar . For Damian, only those who shared in the sufferings of Christ could be saved. Throughout Christian history, the mortification of the flesh, wherein one denies physical pleasures, has been commonly followed by members of the clergy, especially in Christian monasteries and convents; the 11th-century Dominicus Loricatus repeated

2773-535: The past five centuries. Original sin , also called ancestral sin , is a Christian belief in a state of sin in which humanity has existed since the fall of man , stemming from Adam and Eve 's rebellion in the Garden of Eden , namely the sin of disobedience in consuming the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil . Theologians have characterized this condition in many ways, seeing it as ranging from something as insignificant as

2832-462: The peninsula of Jutland , the Baltic plain that lies to the east, and the many islands that lie offshore from mainland northern Europe and the main European continent. In some cases, Greenland is also included, although it is only politically European, comprising part of the Kingdom of Denmark , and not considered to be geographically in Europe. The area is partly mountainous, including the northern volcanic islands of Iceland and Jan Mayen , and

2891-433: The peoples of Scandinavia and the Baltic region in later centuries. The Latin alphabet along with the influence of Western Christianity spread northward from Rome , leading to written English , German , Dutch , Danish , Norwegian , Swedish , Icelandic , Latvian , Lithuanian , Estonian , Finnish and Sámi languages . The Sámi were the last peoples to be converted in the 18th century. The Hansa group in

2950-474: The present-day. Flagellation (from Latin flagellare , to whip) was quite a common practice amongst the more fervently religious throughout antiquity. The practice became popular in 1260 thanks to the example of Blessed Raniero Fasani of Perugia, a saintly hermit who began scourging himself publicly after receiving an apparition of the Virgin Mary and St. Bevignate who told him to start preaching penance for sins and to establish peace. He attracted followers and

3009-415: The region, so too is vegetation, with sparse tundra in the north and high mountains, boreal forest on the north-eastern and central regions temperate coniferous forests (formerly of which a majority was in the Scottish Highlands and south west Norway ) and temperate broadleaf forests growing in the south, west and temperate east. There are various definitions of northern Europe which always include

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3068-415: The sacraments, denying ordinary ecclesiastical jurisdiction and claiming to work miracles . In 1392, a sect of Flagellants and Beghards, consisting of peasants, were found throughout Swabia and Wurzburg. The papal inquisitor imposed the penance of preaching and joining a crusade against the Ottoman Turks. The Inquisition was active against any revival of the movement in the 15th century, but action against

3127-401: The southern coast of the Baltic Sea , which is about 54°N , or may be based on other geographical factors such as climate and ecology . The climate is mainly Oceanic climate (Cfb), Humid continental climate (Dfb), Subarctic climate (Dfc and Dsc) and Tundra (ET). Northern Europe might be defined roughly to include some or all of the following areas: British Isles , Fennoscandia ,

3186-427: The specific orders of Church authorities. The first recorded cases of mass popular flagellation occurred in Perugia , in 1259. The prime cause of the Perugia episode is unclear, but it followed an outbreak of an epidemic and chroniclers report how mania spread throughout almost all the people of the city. Thousands of citizens gathered in great processions, singing and with crosses and banners, they marched throughout

3245-410: The theory received formal ecclesiastical sanction at the Council in Trullo (692), which ranked the five sees as Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem." Over the centuries, disagreements separated Western Christianity from the various forms of Eastern Christianity: first from East Syriac Christianity after the Council of Ephesus (431) , then from that of Oriental Orthodoxy after

3304-405: The time of the Black Death (1349), and 1399. The practice peaked during the Black Death. Spontaneously Flagellant groups arose across Northern and Central Europe in 1349, including in England. Initially the Catholic Church tolerated the Flagellants and individual monks, friars and priests joined in the early movements. By the 14th century, the Church was less tolerant and the rapid spread of

3363-453: The values, ideas, science, laws, and institutions which constitute what we call Western civilization ". The rise of Protestantism led to major divisions within Western Christianity, which still persist, and wars—for example, the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585–1604 had religious as well as economic causes. In and after the Age of Discovery , Europeans spread Western Christianity to the New World and elsewhere. Roman Catholicism came to

3422-405: The world's 2.3 billion Christians are Western Christians (about 2 billion: 1.2 billion Latin Catholic and 1.17 billion Protestant). One major component, the Latin Church, developed under the bishop of Rome . Out of the Latin Church emerged a wide variety of independent Protestant denominations , including Lutheranism and Anglicanism , starting from the Protestant Reformation in

3481-452: The world's heritage of biological organisms for the benefit of the world at large". The system provides clear definitions and codes for recording plant distributions at four scales or levels, from "botanical continents" down to parts of large countries. The following countries are included in their classification of "northern Europe": as well as the dependent areas: Countries in northern Europe generally have developed economies and some of

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