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Cofradía

Cofradías are lay religious institutions with their own charters and regulations, formed with the purpose of promoting charitable endeavors. After their inception in Europe, these fraternal institutions were reproduced across the oceans after the conquest of the Americas by Catholic nations.

In the early Middle Ages, religious confraternities formed by lay people arose in Europe in order to support church charitable institutions and to promote charity works and mutual aid. In many medieval cities, these confraternities became important institutions for the growing middle class as well as for the elite. Other important institutions arising at the time were the trade guilds; even though sometimes confraternities and trade guilds could form alliances, confraternities always maintained their religious purpose. It is important to note that initially, these lay associations functioned under the aegis of Church authorities.

In the late Middle Ages, Spanish society incorporated the confraternities—known in Spanish as cofradías—into a mixed form encompassing trade guild and religious confraternity, preserving the economic characteristics of the former and the sacred imperatives of the latter. In this manner, cofradías were able to serve their population in an ampler way. Uniquely equipped to face societal change and instability, as well as to bridge different demographics, cofradías became an important part of Spanish and, eventually, American society. Besides charity and community-building, cofradías provided—and continue to offer—opportunities for social networking, integration, and entertainment.

Cofradías in the Spanish Americas

Spanish colonization of the Americas—and the Portuguese conquest of Brazil—brought a massive influx of Catholic missionaries to the new colonies. Cofradías were soon organized in the new colonies, where they flourished among the Spanish, Creole, mestizo and indigenous populations, becoming a central institution in many villages and towns. Thus, the cofradías of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spanish North America inevitably took a different character than their European counterparts. Of special interest to many contemporary historians and social scientists, for example, are the diasporic cofradías in Latin America initially formed by the enslaved Africans, and the hybrid Catholic and indigenous religious rituals adopted by many native-born cofradías. Indeed, although the majority of cofradías have always been linked to a particular church or saint, a few cofradías in the 18th and 19th centuries took on a unique character; such is the case of the Cofradía de los Hermanos de la Costa, a confraternity of pirates and buccaneers, which operated in the Caribbean and eschewed any religious or national allegiance, and those formed by escaped slaves (cimarrones).

Cofradías in the United States

Cofradías have appeared in the United States in regions with large immigrant populations, to serve as mutual aid societies and help with other community needs. Some confraternities are uniquely American while others have ties to their counterparts in their countries of origin. However, the Catholic religion is not the majority in the United States as it is in Latin America, and Protestant cultures have not adopted the Catholic confraternity model. The lifestyle in the United States never proved fertile ground for the traditional cofradía model spreading as far and wide as in Latin America, so that it has remained a much smaller cultural phenomenon. Nevertheless, despite the dispersion effects of globalization, confraternities in the United States remain a notable institution in their communities.

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