confraternities

The confraternity was an organization of the Christian faithful who did not belong to the church, but who banded together in order to live by Christian precepts and doctrine. The confraternities met for worship, for the instruction of the public and the young, for performing works of charity and visiting the sick, for organizing public processions, for the patronage of writers and artists, and for the celebration of weddings, funerals, and other important events. In some towns, a majority of men and many women belonged to a confraternity. By some estimates as many as one out of every five city-dwellers during the Renaissance belonged to such a group. Confraternities were most popular in Catholic Europe; Protestantism rejected the practice of confraternities and their adherence to traditional Catholic doctrines. Confraternities originated modern charities and the system of public welfare in Europe, on the basis of religious belief and worship, and also played a role in the reforms of the church hierarchy.

The confraternities originated in the Middle Ages, when the religious orders allowed lay people to join them as auxiliary members. Most confraternities were made up of urbanites who belonged to a growing middle class of merchants and artisans. In city politics, they became a force to be reckoned with, often opposed to ruling dynasties and the interests of the nobility. Some confraternities were small and secretive, and modeled themselves on the apostles of the New Testament. Others were larger and more public, welcoming anyone who qualified to enter their ranks. They were a familiar presence in cities containing churches, meeting houses, and dining halls for the use of their members. A few, such as the Brotherhood of the Rosary, crossed national boundaries. This confraternity, founded in Cologne, Germany, by Jacob Sprenger, reached a membership of 1 million, with members in Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, and the Low Countries.

Confraternities established hospitals and homes for orphans, the destitute, and the victims of epidemics. They collected alms for the poor, and in times of plague or natural disaster they organized relief for stricken families who had lost their breadwinners. A confraternity of Tuscany founded an ambulance service to transport the sick and wounded, an institution that has survived into the twenty-first century. Some confraternities had a more religious purpose, organized to build or maintain a local parish church, a function more common in northern Europe.

In Italy confraternities were organized in certain quarters of the cities and among certain communities. The structure and administration paralleled that of the merchant guilds by holding elections for their leaders and appointing secretaries and other functionaries. Members had to pass a review of their history and character, and had to be approved by a majority vote of the established members. Strict codes of behavior were set down for members, who were expected to contribute regular dues as well as labor and time; dues in some confraternities helped fund an early form of insurance, for the payment of medical, funeral, and other costs that members would have to bear in old age.

The confraternities held regular religious services, Masses, confession, and communion. Some penitential confraternities made their goal the expulsion of community sin by selling indulgences on behalf of the church, through acts such as flagellation in public, fasting and solemn religious processions. Confraternities staged mystery plays and musical works such as hymns and Masses that were commissioned from local composers.

The Protestant Reformation put an end to the traditional Catholic confraternities in many parts of northern Europe. In the doctrine of Martin Luther—who initiated the Reformation—salvation was secured by an individual's faith alone, which clashed with the Catholic emphasis on works and public piety. Many confraternities evolved into secular organizations, or limited their activities to church functions, a fate that was followed in later centuries by Catholic confraternities of southern Europe.

See Also: Catholicism; Reformation, Protestant