If you dream of living in the Middle Ages - the era of noble knights, charming princesses, impregnable citadels and crusades, then after reading this collection you may change your mind.
Nursing
The influence of religion in the Middle Ages was greater than ever. Many people, going into religion, observed at times inconceivable vows and often crossed the line between faith and fanaticism. Some of them considered it their duty to care for people with leprosy, licking the affected areas of the body and eating scabs of the skin! In medieval society, such people were considered practically saints.
Flagellants
Flagellanism is a medieval religious movement that became popular in the 13th century. The Flagellants believed that repentance before God could only be achieved by mortifying their own flesh. By killing was meant self-flagellation (in fact, the name of the movement flagellanism came from the Latin word flagellare - to scourge, whip, beat).
Arriving in the city, the flagellants lined up along the city street, bared their backs and took out their "tools of labor" - a whip with three branches bent at the ends in the opposite direction. The fanatics began to walk along the streets and, in front of the entire city, whipped themselves with all their strength with whips on the back, while the bent ends stuck in their backs so deep that they could only be pulled back by tearing out pieces of flesh. Within minutes, the line of flagellants was bleeding, turning their backs into a bloody mess. The movement reached its peak in popularity in the middle of the 14th century - during a terrible plague epidemic that covered all of Europe. The masses of self-flagelling people wanted to atone for sins before the Lord through pain, so that he would remove the epidemic from the city streets.
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Flagellants.
In addition to self-flagellation, the flagellants observed a strict fast all their lives, had at their disposal a minimum amount of personal belongings, slept exclusively on straw, and also rejected not only any intimate intimacy, but simply did not even talk to women.
And how did other people - ordinary townspeople - treat them? Shunned the flagellant and called them insane? On the contrary, they had great respect for and admired them. Coming to the city, the flagellants could always count on a plentiful table with refreshments, lodging and all kinds of reverence.
The Church banned flagellanism in 1349, apparently tired of the crowds of insane self-flagellating fanatics who, by their behavior, began to harm the Christian faith.
Stolpity
Stylites were called Christian saints who took an oath to pray for the rest of their lives on a certain hill, in other words, a “pillar”. The pillars were often pillars of buildings, tall stones or towers. Approaching the chosen place, the pillar, without any clothes or supplies, climbed up on it using a ladder, and then threw it back, starting to pray continuously in front of those around him. The believer remained on the pillar until he died there. The Stylites did not have problems with food and clothing - hundreds of believers flocked to them, who threw everything necessary for life to the prayer.
Luke the Stylite.
The most famous pillars were Alypius, who stood on the pillar for 53 years, and then, because of the failed legs, lay on it for another 14 years, and the Monk Luke the Stylite, who stood on the pillar for 45 years.
Irish sailor monks
This tradition was common among Irish monks during the Middle Ages. Many of them boarded a boat without any provisions and sailed far out to sea, where they threw their oars overboard. They believed that if God really hears their prayers, he will send a boat to a desert island, where they can build a hut and spend their whole lives in prayer. Of course, a huge number of monks died from lack of food and water, but some of them were actually thrown into uninhabited islands. This explains the large number of monasteries on the uninhabited islands around Ireland.