Aconfraternity (Spanish:cofradía;Portuguese:confraria) is generally aChristian voluntary association oflaypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works ofChristian charity orpiety, and approved by theChurch hierarchy. They are most common amongCatholics,Lutherans,Anglicans, and theWestern Orthodox. When a Catholic confraternity has received the authority to aggregate to itself groups erected in other localities, it is called anarchconfraternity.^[1] Examples include the variousconfraternities of penitents and theconfraternities of the cord, as well as theConfraternity of the Holy Guardian Angels and theConfraternity of the Rosary.

Confraternities were "the most sweeping and ubiquitous movement of the central and later Middle Ages".^[2]

Pious associations of laymen existed in very ancient times at Constantinople and Alexandria. In France, in the eighth and ninth centuries, the laws of theCarolingians mention confraternities and guilds. But the first confraternity in the modern and proper sense of the word is said to have been founded at Paris by BishopOdo (d. 1208). It was under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.^[1]

Confraternities had their beginnings in the early Middle Ages, and developed rapidly from the end of the twelfth century. The main object and duty of these societies were, above all, the practice of piety and works of charity.^[3]

Some confraternities were very widely spread, especially in the cities of theMiddle Ages. According to historian Konrad Eisenbichler, "After the State and the Church, the most well-organised membership system of medieval and early modern Europe was the confraternity—an association of lay persons who gathered regularly to pray and carry out a charitable activity. In cities, towns, and villages it would have been difficult for someone not to be a member of a confraternity, a benefactor of a confraternity’s charitable work, or, at the very least, not to be aware of a confraternity’s presence in the community."^[4]

Confraternities could be important and wealthy institutions for the elite, as in for example, theScuole Grandi of Venice. ThePurgatorial societies andorders of flagellants were other specialized medieval types. The medieval French termpuy designated a confraternity dedicated to artistic performance in music, song and poetry; the Germanmeistersingers were similar, though typically imitating tradeguilds in form. Starting in the fourteenth century, northern France saw the rise of confraternities and other lay communities of men and women, organized around trades and religious devotions dedicated to specific patron saints.^[5]

Various other congregations such as of the Holy Trinity, of the Scapular, etc., were founded between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. From the latter century onwards, these pious associations have multiplied greatly.^[1] TheArchconfraternity of the Gonfalone was headquartered in the Church of Santa Lucia del Gonfalone. Because of their white hooded robes, they were identified as the "White Penitents". They were established in 1264 at Rome.St. Bonaventure, at that timeInquisitor-general of theHoly Office, prescribed the rules, and the white habit, with the name Recommendati B. V.^[6]

Each Confraternity organization has a set of rules or by-laws to follow which every member promises to live by. Even though the Catholic Church works in harmony with the confraternity, these rules are notreligious vows, instead merely rules set up to govern the confraternal organization.^[7] Some confraternities allow only men, while others allow only women or only youth.

The religiosity of the members and their desire for a personal reward in the afterlife were reflected in confraternity activities, such as assisting with burials by donating burial robes or monetary payment, attending the burial mass, volunteering in the local hospitals, organization of and participation in religious feast days, giving dowries for local orphans, selling and preparing bread used for local religious holidays, escorting the condemned during the inquisition, burying the dead during epidemics and other charitable acts as deemed appropriate by the confraternity members or parish priest.^[8] Society could not function strictly through government programs because there was also a need to take care of matters such as burials, and provide for the poor and indigent. While governments maintained programs to handle these needs, they were better managed by lay organizations or the "neighbor helping neighbor" theory.^[9]

The term may have other meanings:TheConfraternity of the Immaculate Conception is a renowned lay Marian apostolate in thePhilippines known for administering the Grand Marian Procession parade on theFeast of the Immaculate Conception.

TheConfraternity of the Blessed Sacrament is an example of anAnglo-Catholic confraternity established in theChurch of England which has spread to many places within the Anglican Communion of churches.^[10]

Members of The Augustana Confraternity, which is in theLutheran tradition, "devote themselves to the teachings of Holy Scripture and to the elucidation of those teachings in the Confessional writings of the Lutheran Church, particularly theSmall Catechism."^[11]

• Orthodox Christian Laity
• Brotherhoods (confraternities)
• Confraternities of the Cord
• Confraternity of the Divine Infant of Prague

• Black, Christopher F. "The Development of Confraternity Studies over the Past 30 Years", InThe Politics of Ritual Kinship: Confraternities and Social Order in Early Modern Italy. Edited by Nicholas Terpstra. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2000, 9-29.
• Cobo Betancourt, Juan F. (2024).The Coming of the Kingdom: The Muisca, Catholic Reform, and Spanish Colonialism in the New Kingdom of Granada. Open access. Cambridge University Press. Chapter 6, "Indigenous Confraternities and the Stakeholder Church", 262-304.
• Dierksmeier, Laura.Charity for and by the Poor: Franciscan and Indigenous Confraternities in Mexico, 1527-1700. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, American Academy of Franciscan History 2020.
• Germeten, Nicole von.Black Blood Brothers: Confraternities and Social Mobility for Afro-Mexicans. Gainesville: University of Florida Press 2006.
• Jaque Hidalgo, Javiera and Miguel A. Valeiro, eds.Indigenous and Black Confraternities in Colonial Latin America. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press 2014.

• Confraternities

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