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Flagellation is the act of whipping (Latin flagellum, "whip") the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches and the cat-o-nine-tails. Typically, whipping is performed on unwilling subjects as a punishment; however, flagellation can also be submitted to willingly, or performed on oneself, in religious or sadomasochistic contexts.

Disciplinary use and torture Edit

File:Prisoners whipped.jpg

Flogging is an approximate synonym that was probably derived from flagellum in the British navy, where flogging was a common disciplinary measure that became associated with a seaman's manly disregard for pain. Aboard ships, knittles or the cat o' nine tails was used for severe punishment, while a rope's end or starter was used to administer the lightest discipline to sailors.

Flagellation probably originated in the Near East but quickly spread throughout the ancient world. In Sparta, young men were flogged as a test of their masculinity. The Jews limited flagellation to forty strokes, and in practice delivered forty strokes minus one, so as to avoid any possibility of breaking this law due to a miscount. Additionally they would have a doctor monitor the punishment, who would stop it if it became too much for the person to safely bear.

In the Roman Empire, flagellation was often used as a prelude to crucifixion, and in this context is sometimes referred to as scourging. Whips with small pieces of metal or bone at the tips were commonly used. Such a device could easily cause disfigurement and serious trauma, such as ripping pieces of flesh from the body or loss of an eye. In addition to causing severe pain, the victim would be made to approach a state of hypovolemic shock due to loss of blood. The Romans reserved this torture for non-citizens, as stated in the lex Porcia and lex Sempronia, dating from 195 and 123 BC. The poet Horace refers to the horribile flagellum (horrible whip) in his Satires, calling for the end of its use. Typically, the one to be punished was stripped naked and bound to a low pillar so that he could bend over it, or chained to an upright pillar as to be stretched out. Two lictors (some reports indicate scourgings with four or six lictors) alternated blows from the bare shoulders down the body to the soles of the feet. There was no limit to the number of blows inflicted— this was left to the lictors to decide, though they were normally not supposed to kill the victim. Nonetheless, Livy, Suetonius and Josephus report cases of flagellation where victims died while still bound to the post. Flagellation was referred to as "half death" by some authors and apparently, many died shortly thereafter. Cicero reports in In Verrem, "pro mortuo sublatus brevi postea mortuus" ("taken away for a dead man, shortly thereafter he was dead"). Often the victim was turned over to allow flagellation on the chest, though this proceeded with more caution, as the possibility of inflicting a fatal blow was much greater.

Corporal punishment as whipping was especially popular in French Revolution. For example one of leaders of revolution Anne Josephe Theroigne de Mericourt went mad, ending her days in an asylum after public whipping. On the 31 May 1793 the Jacobin women seized her, stripped her naked, and flogged her on bare bottom in the public garden of the Tuileries. After humiliation shameless and bloodthirsty in delirium she started to live naked - refused to wear any garments, in memory of the outrage she had suffered.[1]

While flagellation and other forms of corporal punishment are now forbidden in most Western countries, flagellation is still a common form of punishment around the world, particularly in Islamic countries. Medically supervised caning is also still used as a punishment for some categories of crime in Singapore and Malaysia [1].

Flogging as military punishmentEdit

In the 1700s and 1800s, European armies administered floggings to common soldiers who committed breaches of the military code. During the American Revolutionary War, The American Congress raised the legal limit on lashes from 39 to 100 for soldiers who were convicted by courts-martial.[2] Generally, officers were not flogged. However, in 1745, a cashiered British officer could have his sword broken over his head, among other indignities inflicted on him.[3]

In the Napoleonic Wars, the maximum number of lashes that could be inflicted on soldiers in the British Army reached an astonishing 1,200. This many lashes could permanently disable or kill a man. Oman, historian of the Peninsular War, noted that the maximum sentence was inflicted "nine or ten times by general court-martial during the whole six years of the war" and that 1,000 lashes were administered about 50 times.[4] Other sentences were for 900, 700, 500 and 300 lashes. One soldier was sentenced to 700 lashes for stealing a beehive.[5] Another man was let off after only 175 of 400 lashes, but spent three weeks in the hospital.[6] Later in the war, the more draconian punishments were abandoned and the offenders shipped to New South Wales instead, where unfortunately, more whippings often awaited them. (See Australian penal colonies section.) Oman later wrote,



Australian penal colonies Edit


Flagellation took place either with a single whip or more notoriously, with the cat o' nine tails. Typically, the offender's upper half was bared and he was suspended by the hands beneath a tripod of wooden beams (known as 'the triangle'), while either one or two floggers administered the prescribed number of strokes. During the flogging, a doctor or other medical worker was consulted at regular intervals as to the condition of the prisoner - if the offender had fainted from blood loss or suffered extreme skin and flesh loss from the back, the punishment was usually suspended until such time that the offender had sufficiently healed. Once healed, the remainder of the required strokes were administered. Punishment was usually limited to 20, 50 or 100 strokes at one flogging, though records exist of prisoners in Australian penal colonies such as Norfolk Island or Port Arthur receiving more than 3,000 strokes over a number of months or years.

Due to its prevalence, flagellation featured prominently in the culture of early colonial Australia. It was often a mark of pride for a flogged former convict to "show his stripes" (expose his flagellation scars) as an "iron man", or to hide them at all costs if an emancipated convict was attempting to rebuild some semblance of a normal life in society. Children in the Australian colonies were often observed playing "flogging games" where a doll or another child would pretend to be "strung from the triangles" and whipped.

(See also: History of Australia).

Association with religion Edit


Christianity Edit

The Flagellation refers in a Christian context to the Flagellation of Christ, an episode in Jesus' physical degradation leading to the Crucifixion. (See also: The Passion, Jesus and the Money Changers). The practice of mortification of the flesh for religious purposes was utilized in the Christian Flagellant movements of the 13th century, and is still very common, to this day, in the Philippines and Latin America. Some strict monastic orders such as the Carmelites still practice mild self-flagellation using an instrument called a "discipline", a cattail whip made of light chains with small spikes or hooks on the end, which is flung over the shoulders repeatedly during private prayer. Practitioners are cautioned against over- or underuse of the device.


Flagellation is still in use today under Islamic Sharia law in Saudi Arabia for various crimes,i.e. sexual crimes,drug use or dealing.

While self-harm is forbidden in Islam many Shi'a Muslims perform self-flagellation to mourn the death of Hussain during Muharram. Most usually beat their chests with their hands, but the use of metal chains and spikes is common as well. The practice is common among Shiites in the Middle East and Asia, although is often frowned upon by other Shiites and other Muslims.

Ecstatics and Mystics Edit


Erotic use Edit

Main article: Erotic spanking

In the sexual sub-culture of BDSM, "flagellation" involves beating the submissive partner and is a form of impact play. Such a flogging is not always delivered with forceful blows; sometimes it is done with very soft blows, repeated a great many times so as to make the skin sensitive. Thus, the softest impact will eventually feel very intense. Flogging for erotic thrill, typically with implements such as floggers, whips, paddles, or canes, has been called the "English vice".[9] See also paraphilia.

The flogger used in this context consists of a handle with an number of attached thongs known as "falls". Falls are typically made of materials such as suede, leather, rubber, rope, or other or flexible materials. The length, number, and composition of the falls determines the sensation caused by the flogger. Floggers are usually characterized by the sensation they cause. "Thuddy" floggers typically impart a broadly felt deep muscle impact, while "stingy" floggers are felt as a sharp stinging sensation over the skin. The sensation of floggers can also vary with the techniques used by the top.

Floggers are typically applied to areas of the body which are well muscled, or protected by body fat, such as the upper back or buttocks. Vulnerable areas such as the abdomen, kidneys, and face are to be avoided. Some areas - such as female breasts - can be lightly flogged safely if appropriate care and skill is used. Intense flogging can leave bruising but typically does not cut or permanently mark the skin.

See also Edit


References and further reading Edit

  • Bean, Joseph W. Flogging, Greenery Press, 2000. ISBN 1-890159-27-1
  • Conway, Andrew. The Bullwhip Book. Greenery Press, 2000. ISBN 1-890159-18-2
  • Gibson, Ian. The English Vice: Beating, Sex and Shame in Victorian England and After. London: Duckworth, 1978. ISBN 0-715612-64-6
  • Martin, James Kirby & Lender, Mark Edward. A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763-1789. Arlington Heights, Ill.: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1982. ISBN 0-88295-812-7
  • Oman, Charles. Wellington's Army, 1809-1814. London: Greenhill, (1913) 1993. ISBN 0-947898-41-7
  • Rothenburg, Gunther E. The Art of Warfare in the Age of Napoleon. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980. ISBN 0-253-31076-8
  • Tomasson, Katherine & Buist, Francis. Battles of the '45. London: Pan Books, 1974.


  1. Roudinesco, Elisabeth. (1992) Madness and Revolution: The Lives and Legends of Theroigne de Mericourt, Verso. ISBN 0-86091-597-2. p.198
  2. Martin, p 76
  3. Tomasson, p 127
  4. Oman, p 239
  5. Oman, p 246
  6. Oman, p 254
  7. Oman, p 43
  8. Rothenberg, p 179
  9. Gibson

External links Edit

de:Flagellation el:Μαστίγωση es:Flagelación fa:شلاق‌زنی fr:Flagellation it:Flagellazione ja:鞭打ち pl:Chłosta pt:Flagelação sv:Kroppsstraff uk:Бичування zh:鞭打

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