Flagellation and the Flagellants
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| Publisher | Fredonia Books (NL); Revised edition (May 2001) | |
| Pages | 596 pages | |
| Language | English | |
| Ship wt | 1.7 pounds | |
Flagellation and the Flagellants. A History of the Rod in All Countries from the Earliest Period to the Present Time is a book by "Reverend William M. Cooper". It was first published in 1870 by John Camden Hotten in Edinburgh, a second edition followed in 1873. The book had many new and revised editions since. The author's name is a pseudonym of James Glass Bertram (1824-1892).
The book is a comprehensive and detailed overview of flagellation in various religious orders, religious movements and individuals, followed by chapters on flagellation in non-religious contexts, both consensual and nonconsensual, and chapters on various eras and countries of the world. The book features some illustrations, interesting stories and quotations. It does not address in any way the topic of erotic flagellation.
Some newer editions have a modified title such as The History of the Rod or History of Flagellation Among Different Nations.
- "The line between pain and pleasure is as thin as the tail of a whip, and this classic work is the definitive history of flagellation through the ages. As it shows, flagellation is much more than a punishment - it is also intimately tied to discipline and eroticism, has a romantic and even comic side, and has also been used for medical purposes. No one is above the bite of the birch or rod - convent nuns were chastised severely, queens have been flogged, and even favorites of the sultan have had to endure the whip in the great seraglios. The author deals in great detail with whipping in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, the favorite parts of the body for whipping, flagellation and discipline in monasteries and convents, whipping in prisons, the rod in Russia, flagellation in America, whipping in Europe and the Far East, the flogging of slaves, military flogging, school punishments, and the birch in the boudoir, all enlivened with colorful anecdotes. There is a chapter on the instruments of whipping, a selection of ribald and erotic poems on whipping, a section on eccentric forms of whipping such as that practiced on prostitutes, many detailed line drawings, descriptive accounts, and a full index. The work shows the fundamental place whipping has always played in human history, both publicly and in private, and continues to play today."
The late Reverend William M. Cooper was an expert on the history of flagellation and discipline.
Related book by the same author
The same author has also written The Merry Order of St. Bridget -- Personal recollections of the use of the rod (1857), also known as The order of the rod in later editions, a work of flagellatory fiction.
Links
- Flagellation and the Flagellants on Google Books with an extensive preview
- Digitized illustrations of The history of the rod
- History of Flagellation Among Different Nations (digitized book, 1903/1930 edition)
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