PUNISHMENT FROM ON HIGH

An unshakeable certainty that the plague was God's punishment for sin led to desperate, and terrible, measures

- RHIANNON DAVIES

While the Black Death swept across towns, cities and countries, people desperately looked to the heavens for salvation. They also looked to God for an explanation for the plague, and went to extreme measures to call upon divine favour. Town squares all over continental Europe teemed with flagellants: men dressed in white robes marked with red crosses on the back, wielding whips and chanting in solemn tones. As their chorus rose to a crescendo, they would get on their knees and start lashing themselves. The whips, which had metal studs or nails tied to the leather thongs, flayed the skin, but the barbaric self-punishment would continue until the blood sprayed across the square.

Flagellants believed that there was a connection between enduring physical pain and avoiding the ravages of plague. Medieval Europe was ruled by religion, and many Christians fervently believed the preachings of the Church that the Black Death was God's way of punishing sinners. "These pestilences were for pure sin," wrote the contemporary poet William Langland.

Priests often prayed for plague victims, putting their own lives at risk