Flagellants In this manuscript illumination from 1349, shirtless flagellants scourge themselves with whips as they walk through the streets of the Flemish city of Tournai. The text notes that they are asking for God’s grace to return to the city after it has been struck with the “most grave” illness.
(The Flagellants of Doornik in 1349, copy of a miniature from The Chronicle of Aegidius Li Muisis/Private Collection/Bridgeman Images)