By the eleventh century the Franciscans were extolling self-flagellation as a penance. And the
Italian Benedictine
St. Pietro Damian organised group flagellation for laymen. Two hundred years later a
procession of fanatical
flagellants - closely linked to the Flagellant sect - set out under the auspices of St. Anthony of
Padua. This austere
saint, theologian and preacher-keen to combat manifest sexuality - was in fact adding to the
sexual ferment. In
1260 unofficial processions of voluntary scourgers, each member heartily whipping the man in
front of him,
started streaming through Italy and out into northern and central Europe. The participants, all
male, carried
banners and candles, and they sang as they marched.