Question

Which of the following describes the flagellants?

a. whipped themselves for public penance and forgiveness.
b. traveled down the silk road with a message of repentance.
c. hunted for muslims; believed they poisoned the wells.
d. campaigned for quarantine and isolation.

Answer 1

The flagellants were a group of self-punishing penitents during the Black Death who believed their actions could appease God and end the plague. They were initially accepted but were later condemned by the Church, fading into history by the fifteenth century.

Step-by-step explanation:

The flagellants were a group of religious penitents who responded to the Black Death by ritually flogging themselves as a form of public penance for forgiveness. Their action was rooted in the belief that such ascetic practices could appease God's anger, thereby mitigating the spread of the plague that was devastating Europe.

Initially welcomed by communities hopeful of ending the plague, the flagellants traveled from town to town, inflicting self-harm and preaching penitence; however, their practices could also fan the flames of anti-Semitism through accusations against Jewish communities. By 1349, due to their radical actions, the flagellants were condemned by Pope Clement VI and eventually diminished by the fifteenth century. The response of the flagellants to the Black Death underscores the atmosphere of desperation and spiritual crisis of the time, which ultimately contributed to the shaping of European society and the rise of movements that would challenge the established Church, paving the way for the Protestant Reformation.