Scourge

Ascourgeis awhipor lash, especially a multi-thong type, used to inflict severecorporal punishmentorself-mortification.It is usually made of leather.

Etymology

The word is most commonly considered to be derived from Old Frenchescorgier- "to whip", going further back to the Vulgar Latinexcorrigiare:the Latinprefixex- "out, off" with its additional English meaning of "thoroughly", pluscorrigia- "thong", or in this case "whip". Some connect it toLatin:excoriare,"toflay",built of two Latin parts,ex- ( "off" ) andcorium,"skin".

Description

A scourge (Latin:flagrum;diminutive:flagellum) consists of a rope with metal balls, bones, and metal spikes.

The scourge, orflail,and thecrookare the two symbols of power and domination depicted in the hands ofOsirisin Egyptian monuments.^[1]The shape of the flail or scourge is unchanged throughout history.^[2]However, when a scourge is described as a 'flail' as depicted in Egyptian mythology, it may be referring to use as an agricultural instrument. A flail's intended use was tothresh wheat,not to implement corporal punishment.^[3]

The priests ofCybelescourged themselves and others. Such stripes were considered sacred.^[4]

Hard material can be affixed to multiple thongs to give a flesh-tearing "bite". A scourge with these additions is called a scorpion.Scorpiois Latin for a Romanflagrumand is referred to in the Bible:1 Kings12:11: "...My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions" said Rehoboam, referring to increased conscription and taxation beyond Solomon's. The name testifies to the pain caused by thearachnid.Testifying to its frequent Roman application is the existence of the Latin wordsFlagrifer'carrying a whip' andFlagritriba'often-lashed slave'.^[4]According to theGospel of John,Pontius Pilate,the Roman governor of Judea, orderedJesus to be scourged.^[5]

Fifteenth-century woodcut of flagellants scourging themselves

Scourging was soon adopted as a sanction in the monastic discipline of the fifth and following centuries. Early in the fifth century it is mentioned byPalladius of Galatiain theHistoria Lausiaca,^[6]andSocrates Scholasticus^[7]tells us that, instead of being excommunicated, offending young monks were scourged. (See the sixth-century rules ofSt. Cæsarius of Arlesfor nuns,^[8]and ofSt. Aurelian of Arles.^[9]) Thenceforth scourging is frequently mentioned in monastic rules and councils as an enforcer of discipline.^[10]Its use as a punishment was general in the seventh century in all monasteries of the severeColumban rule.^[11]

Canon law(Decree of Gratian,Decretals of Gregory IX) recognized it as a punishment for ecclesiastics; even as late as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it appears in ecclesiastical legislation as a punishment forblasphemy,concubinageandsimony.Scourging as a means ofpenanceandmortificationis publicly exemplified in the tenth and eleventh centuries by the lives ofSt. Dominic Loricatus^[12]andSt. Peter Damian(died 1072). The latter wrote a special treatise in praise of self-flagellation; though blamed by some contemporaries for excess of zeal, his example and the high esteem in which he was held did much to popularize the voluntary use of a small scourge known as adiscipline,as a means of mortification and penance.^[4]

From then on the practice appeared in most medieval religious orders and associations.^[4]The fourteenth-centuryFlagellantswere named for their self-flagellation; KingLouis IX of FranceandElisabeth of Hungaryalso made private use of the "discipline".^[4]

Metaphoric use

Semi-literal uses such as "the scourge of God" forAttilatheHun(i.e. "God's whip with which to punish the nations" ) led tometaphoricuses to mean a severe affliction, e.g. "the scourge of drug abuse".

Notes

^"The Crook and Flail in Ancient Egypt".touregypt.Retrieved25 July2013.
^One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "scourge".Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
^Budge, Wallis(1971).Egyptian Magic.Dover. p.72.ISBN 0486226816.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eTierney 1909.
^John 19:1
^ Tierney 1909citesHistoria Lausiacavi
^Tierney 1909cites SocratesHist. Eccl.,IV, xxiii
^Tierney 1909citesPatrologia Latina,LXVII, 1111
^Tierney 1909citesPatrologia Latina,LXVIII, 392, 401-02
^Tierney 1909citesHefele,"Concilieng.", II, 594, 656
^Tierney 1909cites St. Columbanus, in "Regula Cœnobialis", c. x, inPatrologia Latina,LXXX, 215 sqq; for later centuries of the early Middle Ages seeLouis Thomassin,Vetus ac nova ecclesiae disciplina,II (3), 107;Du Cange,"Glossar. med. et infim. latinit.", s. v. "Disciplina";Gretser,"De spontaneâ disciplinarum seu flagellorum cruce libri tres" (Ingolstadt, 1603);Franz Quirin von Kober,"Die körperliche Züchtigung als kirchliches Strafmittel gegen Cleriker und Mönche" in Tüb. "Quartalschrift" (1875).
^Tierney 1909citesPatrologia Latina,CXLIV, 1017; the surname means 'strapped'

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Tierney, John j. (1909). "Flagellation".In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

External links

Scourging of Jesus- Video scene from the movieThe Passion of the Christ

[1] "The Crook and Flail in Ancient Egypt".touregypt.Retrieved25 July2013.

[EB1911-2] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "scourge".Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

[3] Budge, Wallis(1971).Egyptian Magic.Dover. p.72.ISBN 0486226816.

[FOOTNOTETierney1909-4] Tierney 1909.

[5] John 19:1

[6] Tierney 1909citesHistoria Lausiacavi

[7] Tierney 1909cites SocratesHist. Eccl.,IV, xxiii

[8] Tierney 1909citesPatrologia Latina,LXVII, 1111

[9] Tierney 1909citesPatrologia Latina,LXVIII, 392, 401-02

[10] Tierney 1909citesHefele,"Concilieng.", II, 594, 656

[11] Tierney 1909cites St. Columbanus, in "Regula Cœnobialis", c. x, inPatrologia Latina,LXXX, 215 sqq; for later centuries of the early Middle Ages seeLouis Thomassin,Vetus ac nova ecclesiae disciplina,II (3), 107;Du Cange,"Glossar. med. et infim. latinit.", s. v. "Disciplina";Gretser,"De spontaneâ disciplinarum seu flagellorum cruce libri tres" (Ingolstadt, 1603);Franz Quirin von Kober,"Die körperliche Züchtigung als kirchliches Strafmittel gegen Cleriker und Mönche" in Tüb. "Quartalschrift" (1875).

[12] Tierney 1909citesPatrologia Latina,CXLIV, 1017; the surname means 'strapped'

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