General Cause of God’s Wrath

Out of these varying theories of cause—operating within the grand general cause of God’s wrath—came medieval responses and remedies. The scale of the disaster was quickly appreciated and gave rise to widespread panic and flight, the latter of course easier for the rich than for the poor. Omens were consulted. Belief in God’s anger led to numerous local attempts to propitiate the divine rage. Town after town held religious ceremonies and processions. Cities resolved to build new churches. Legislation attempted to enforce a purer morality on the populace, as in Siena where the city government outlawed gambling in an attempt to win divine favor, or in Tournai where swearing was forbidden and cohabiting couples were ordered to marry. In some dramatic cases groups of individuals took on themselves the sins of society and hoped by their suffering to assuage God’s anger. That response was most vivid in the processions of the Flagellants that moved through the towns of Germany and the Netherlands. The Flagellants were among the most striking manifestations of medieval millenarianism; they came to see themselves as armies of saints whose very blood had redemptive power, as they not only assumed the burden of humanity’s sins, but through their suffering (in their self-flagellation) assumed Jesus’ role as redeemer.