_The practice of self-flagellation meets with some opposition; but
this is soon over-ruled by the fondness of the Public._
Voluntary flagellations, notwithstanding the zeal with which Cardinal
Damian endeavoured to promote them, were not, however, admitted, in
his time, by all persons, without exception. Thus, Odillon, Abbot of
Cluny, and Maurus of Cesena, two Saints whose Lives Cardinal Damian
himself has written, forbore the use of flagellations; or at least no
mention is made of their having practised them, in the Accounts the
Cardinal has given of their actions.
Nay, several persons openly blamed the pious ceremonies in question,
during the times of Cardinal Damian; for it was too alarming a
practice, for Men not to be concerned at its sudden progress; it was
an exercise of too ticklish a nature, for them to suffer themselves
to fall asleep on its introduction, or too interesting in its
consequence, for them not to be roused by the rattling of the blows.
Among those who thus condemned voluntary flagellations, the most
conspicuous was Peter Cerebrosus, a Monk who lived in those times,
and was moreover a friend to Cardinal Damian. This brought on,
an epistolary debate on the subject, between Cerebrosus and the
Cardinal, as we learn from the Works of the latter. Nor did the
Cardinal, it is to be observed, advance in his letters, that
self-flagellations were matter of strict duty: he only proved by the
authority of the Scriptures, that it was lawful to flagellate persons
who were guilty of offences; and he then gave it as his opinion, that
it was a laudable act in a Christian, voluntarily to inflict upon
himself that punishment which God had awarded against him, and which
he ought to suffer from the hands of other persons.
The opposition made by Cerebrosus had especially for its object, the
manner in which voluntary flagellations were performed. He blamed
the length of time, and the vehemence, with which certain persons
executed them; and condemned the extraordinary severity with which
the abovementioned Flogging-Masters used to lash themselves, while
they were singing a number of Psalms over. This caused the Cardinal
to write a new letter to him, in order to desire him to explain
better his sentiments on that subject: the following is an extract
from the Cardinal’s letter: ‘Perhaps you do not blame the practice of
self-discipline, though you condemn it when too long continued, and
performed with cruelty: perhaps you do not disapprove that discipline
be performed during the time one Psalm is singing, but you shudder at
the thought of singing the whole Psalter over. Now speak, my Brother,
I beseech you, if I may ask you the question, do you find fault with
those disciplines which are practised in the chapters of Convents? do
you also blame the use adopted in them, of prescribing to a Father
who confesses himself guilty of any slight fault, to undergo twenty,
or at most fifty lashes?’
To the above facts, an observation is to be added, which is, that,
though Cerebrosus maintained a different opinion from that of
Cardinal Damian, yet the latter never charged him with having fallen,
in that respect, into any kind of criminal error, or heresy, but on
the contrary, calls him his dear Son, his Brother in Christ, and
his good Friend, as appears from his Epistles xxvii and xxviii; as
well as from his lxiid Epistle, which he wrote to the Fathers of the
Monastery of Mount Cassin, in commendation of flagellations. This
mild and civil manner with which the above dispute was carried on,
between Cardinal Damian, and Peter Cerebrosus, reflects much honour
upon both, and shews that they were personages of eminent merit. Nor
did the Cardinal use the opinions of Cardinal Stephen, who, when
alive, had likewise opposed self-flagellations, with less moderation;
and he frequently calls him a Man of pious memory: though it is but
just to add, that this Cardinal Stephen was commonly suspected of
having died suddenly, on account of his having despised the exercise
in question.
However, notwithstanding the doubts of Peter Cerebrosus, and of
Cardinal Stephen, the practice of voluntary flagellations soon spread
itself far and wide; and we find it to have been adopted, since
the times we mention, by numbers of persons, eminent on account
either of their dignity, or their merit; several of whom have been
mentioned by Father Gretzer. Among them were St. Andrew Bishop of
Fiesola, Laurence Justinian, Abbot Poppo, and especially St. Anthelm,
Bishop of Bellay, who lived about an hundred years after Dominic
the _Cuirassed_ and Rodolph of Eugubio, and gloriously trod in the
footsteps of these two holy Men. ‘Every day (it is said in that
Saint’s Life, which was written by one of his intimate friends) every
day he scourged himself, making lashes fall thick on his back and
sides, and by thus heaping stripes upon stripes, he never suffered
his skin to remain whole, or free from marks of blows[83].’
Even Sovereigns, and Great Men, in the times we speak of, adopted for
themselves the practice of voluntary flagellation.
The Emperor Henry, who lived about the year 1070, ‘never ventured
(if we may credit Reginard’s account) to put on his Imperial robes,
before he had obtained the permission of a Priest for that purpose,
and had deserved it by confession and discipline.’
William of Nangis, in the Life of St. Lewis King of France, which
he has written, relates that that Prince, after he had made his
confession, constantly received discipline from his Confessor. To
this the same Author adds the following curious account. ‘I ought not
to omit to say, concerning the Confessor the King had before Geoffrey
_de Bello loco_, and who belonged to the Order of the _Predicant_
Friars, that he used to inflict upon him, hard and immoderate
disciplines; which the King, whose skin was rather tender, had much
ado to endure. This hardship, however, he never would speak of to
this Confessor; but after his death, he mentioned the fact, somewhat
jocularly, though not without humility, to the new Confessor[84].’
An instance of much the same nature with the facts above recited,
is to be found in one of _Osbertus’s_ Books. A certain English
Count having contracted an unlawful marriage with one of his near
relations, not only parted afterwards with her, but requested
besides to be disciplined in the presence of St. Dunstan, and of
the General Assembly of the Clergy. ‘Terrified (says _Osbertus_)
by the greatness of his offence, his obstinacy ceased; and after
having renounced his unlawful wedlock, he imposed upon himself the
task of penitence. As Dunstan was then presiding over a meeting of
the Clergy of the Kingdom, which was holden according to custom, the
Count came into the middle of the Assembly, bare-footed, clothed with
wool, and carrying rods in his hands; and threw himself, groaning and
weeping, at the feet of St. Dunstan. This instance of piety moved
the whole Assembly, and Dunstan more than the rest. However, as his
wish was thoroughly to reconcile the Man with God, he preserved an
appearance of severity in his looks, suitable to the occasion, and
for a whole hour persevered in denying his request: when, at last,
all the Prelates having joined in the entreaties of the Count, St.
Dunstan granted him the indulgence he was suing for.’ From the above
fact, we might conclude that flagellations voluntarily submitted to,
had become, even before the æra of Cardinal Damian, a settled method
of atoning for past sins, since St. Dunstan lived about an hundred
years before the Cardinal; that is, about the year 950.
Instances of Sovereigns, and Great Men, requesting to undergo
flagellations, must have been pretty common in the days we mention,
frequent allusions being made to it, in old books: among others,
in that old French Romance intitled, _The History of the Round
Table, and the Feats of the Knight, Lancelot du Lac_. King Arthur
is supposed in it, to have summoned all the Bishops who were in
his army, to his Chapel; and there to have requested of them, a
correction of the same kind as that undergone by the Count mentioned
by Osbertus[85].
From the times we mention, we find numerous proofs of
self-flagellations being used in Convents: and indeed it would
have been a very extraordinary circumstance, if, while the persons
above-named adopted that practice, Monks had rejected it. In the
liiid Article of the Statutes of the Abbey of Cluny, which were
collected by Peter Maurice, sirnamed the Venerable, who was raised
to the dignity of Abbot in the year 1122, the following account is
given. ‘It was ordained (it is said in that Article) that that part
of the Monastery which is on the left, beyond the left Choir, should
remain open to no strange persons, whether Ecclesiastical or Lay,
as it was formerly, and nobody admitted into it, except the Monks.
This was thus settled, because the Brothers had no place, except the
old Church of St. Peter, in which they could practise such holy and
secret exercises as are usual with religious persons, they therefore
claimed the use of the above new part of the Church, both for the
night and the day, that they might constantly therein make offerings
of the perfumes of their prayers to God, supplicate their Creator
by frequent acts of repentance and genuflexions, and mortify their
bodies by often inflicting upon themselves three flagellations,
either as penances for their sins, or as _an increase of their
merit_[86].’
The practice in question gained so much credit, about those times,
in Monasteries, that St. Bruno, who, a few years after the death of
Cardinal Damian, founded the Carthusian Order, thought it necessary
to restrain his Monks in that respect; not unlikely, perhaps, with
the view to check the pride which they used to derive from such
exercises. In one of the statutes laid by that Saint, which Prior
Guigues has collected, the following regulation is contained. ‘In
regard to such disciplines, watchings, and other religious exercises
as are not expressly enjoined by our Institution, let nobody among us
perform them, except it be by the Prior’s permission.’
So much were flagellations grown into fashion in the days we mention,
such attractions did they even seem to possess, that Ladies of
high rank would also inlist among the abovementioned Whippers, and
almost vied with Dominic the _Cuirassed_, Rodolph _de Eugubio_, St.
Anthelm, and Abbot Poppo, in regard to the regularity with which they
performed such meritorious exercises. Among those Ladies, particular
mention is made of St. Maria of Ognia, of St. Hardwigge, Dutchess of
Poland, of St. Hildegarde, and above all of the Widow Cechald, who
lived in the very times of Cardinal Damian, and performed wonderful
feats in the same career, as we are informed by St. Antonius, in the
second Volume of his History. The following is the account given by
St. Antonius, upon the authority of Cardinal Damian himself. ‘Not
only Men, but also Women of noble birth eagerly sought after that
kind of Purgatory; and the Widow of Cechaldus, a Woman of great birth
and dignity, gave an account, that in consequence of an obligation
she had previously imposed upon herself, she had gone through the
hundred years penance, three thousand lashes being the number
allotted for every year[87].’
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