The Purgatorial societies and orders of flagellants were other specialized medieval types. The church was once affiliated with a confraternity of flagellants known as the Battenti. During the neighborhood processions, several "flagellanti" ("flagellants") join in. In 1374, reports of Flagellants in Raversbeuren crop up. This is considered one of the reasons why flagellants often hid their faces. He believed that Baptists and Flagellants were "transmission points" for revolutionary propaganda. Also around this time, Italian flagellants developed the Italian folk hymns known as spiritual laude. Flagellants practiced self-flogging (whipping of oneself) to atone for sins.