黑死病期间西欧的鞭笞者运动(1348—1349)

The Flagellant Movement in the Black Death in Western Europe (1348-1349)

黑死病流行于西欧期间,鞭笞者运动兴盛一时。这一运动是在千禧年主义末世观的神学预设下,通过自我鞭笞来获得拯救的集体行为。在瘟疫肆虐的危机年代,鞭笞者与教会之间形成了互有分歧又彼此依存的关系。但随着运动的发展,鞭笞者反教会的色彩渐趋浓厚;更重要的是,因为瘟疫发作的时段性,以及鞭笞者宗教主张和实践效果的局限性,鞭笞者的追随者开始分化并减少。这便为教会排斥鞭笞者创造了条件。同时,鞭笞者的组织方式及其屠杀犹太人等过激行为,也对社会秩序造成了损害,从而招致了世俗政权的抵制。这样,鞭笞者运动成为众矢之的,衰退不可避免。这一运动是中世纪西欧社会 "小传统"的一种体现。以大、小传统关系变迁为视角,可以让我们更为全面地认识中世纪西欧的信仰世界。

The flagellant movement flourished while the Black Death was raging in Western Europe.It was a collective behavior aimed at salvation through self-flagellation and was influenced by the eschatological theology of millenarianism.While the plague ravaged Europe,a relationship grew up between the church and the flagellants that contained differences but also interdependence.However,as the movement grew,it developed anti-church tendencies.More importantly,because of the periodic nature of the plague outbreaks and the limitations of the movement's religious doctrines and practical effects,its followers began to splinter and grow fewer,providing conditions for their expulsion by the church.At the same time,the movement's mode of organization and its radical actions in massacring Jews,etc.,had a detrimental effect on society,leading to the opposition of the secular power.Under attack from all sides,its decline was inevitable.The flagellant movement reflects the'little tradition'of Western European society in the Middle Ages.Seen from the perspective of the changing relationship between the great tradition and the little tradition,it can give us a more comprehensive understanding of the world of faith in medieval Western Europe.