Sardinia probably had its first confraternities at the beginning of the fourteenth century, but the scarcity of sources precludes study of their medieval origins. The later widespread presence of confraternities in cities and small towns in the early modern period, however, has left significant traces not only in the archives but above all in local devotional practices, many of which have been handed down to this day. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, marked by the significant development of religious associations, are characterized in Sardinia by a strong influence of Hispanic, and especially Catalan, traditions that affected all social classes, religious practices, the language, and the economy. Toward the end of the seventeenth century economic pressure on the confraternities’ charitable and devotional activities led to a period of crisis. Nevertheless, the presence of the confraternities on the island remained more or less constant through the following centuries. The tradition of the Sardinian confraternities has generated numerous studies, mainly monographs or local histories. Essays that provide an overview are mainly summaries within general works on Sardinia or introductions to monographs. The lack of medieval sources and the inability to reconstruct the origins of the first confraternities has led scholars to develop two opposing historiographical theories: one emphasizing the Italian influence and the other the Catalan-Aragonese impact on confraternal development. The Italian influence was allegedly formed through relations with the cities of Pisa and Genoa and by the presence of important Pisan and Genoese communities between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, before the island’s conquest in 1323 by Alfonso IV of Aragon (1299–1366) and the beginning of Catalan-Aragonese influence.A recurring question among Sardinian scholars, still mostly unresolved, concerns the relationship between religious confraternities and professional guilds. Many researchers agree that the boundaries between the confraternities (cofradías, confrarie de habit) and the Sardinian guilds (gremios, confrarie de cap) were somewhat blurred. Francesco Loddo Canepa was the first to point out that the confraternities that had arisen in Sardinia in the fifteenth century had borrowed the statutory model and the internal organization of the gremi (guilds) of Barcelona, combining religious duties, mutual assistance, and professional obligations according to an already-established statutory system. Among the regional studies of Sardinian religious associations are those by Antonio Virdis, published between 1990 and 2005. In 1990, Virdis stressed the need to analyze the local confraternities both individually and collectively, and his overview of Sardinian confraternities influences this study. According to Virdis, Sardinian cities had confraternities born of “various charismatic derivations,” while the regions saw the prevalence of Rosarianti (Rosarians) in the south and Disciplinati (Flagellants) in the north. Nine years later, the scholar underscored the complexity of the Sardinian confraternal phenomenon and its novelty in the world of historiography. Virdis also affirmed that sociohistorical research in the field of Sardinian religious associations represented an almost wholly unexplored field. Even twenty years later, he affirmed that a general and overall picture was still lacking. T his essay, therefore, will present a general overview of the Sardinian religious confraternities (de habit) that arose between the late Middle Ages and 1700, examining the state of current studies and the local archives in the hope of contributing to the overall analysis of Sardinian confraternities while developing a few specific themes. In this fragmented field of study, we have chosen a chronological-geographical approach focused on the major cities, with references to their respective dioceses. We will start with the oldest evidence of confraternities in Cagliari, proceed towards the north of the island, and conclude with the city that is symbolic of the Sardinian hinterland: Nuoro. We have tried to emphasize the confraternities’ role in the local context of charity and welfare, while for the purely devotional or guild aspects we refer to the most recent bibliography. The last paragraph is dedicated to the sources and the state of the local confraternity archives, as surveyed by the Archival Superintendency of Sardinia.
Medieval and Early Modern Confraternities in Sardinia
RAPETTI MariangelaPrimo
2022-01-01
Abstract
Sardinia probably had its first confraternities at the beginning of the fourteenth century, but the scarcity of sources precludes study of their medieval origins. The later widespread presence of confraternities in cities and small towns in the early modern period, however, has left significant traces not only in the archives but above all in local devotional practices, many of which have been handed down to this day. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, marked by the significant development of religious associations, are characterized in Sardinia by a strong influence of Hispanic, and especially Catalan, traditions that affected all social classes, religious practices, the language, and the economy. Toward the end of the seventeenth century economic pressure on the confraternities’ charitable and devotional activities led to a period of crisis. Nevertheless, the presence of the confraternities on the island remained more or less constant through the following centuries. The tradition of the Sardinian confraternities has generated numerous studies, mainly monographs or local histories. Essays that provide an overview are mainly summaries within general works on Sardinia or introductions to monographs. The lack of medieval sources and the inability to reconstruct the origins of the first confraternities has led scholars to develop two opposing historiographical theories: one emphasizing the Italian influence and the other the Catalan-Aragonese impact on confraternal development. The Italian influence was allegedly formed through relations with the cities of Pisa and Genoa and by the presence of important Pisan and Genoese communities between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, before the island’s conquest in 1323 by Alfonso IV of Aragon (1299–1366) and the beginning of Catalan-Aragonese influence.A recurring question among Sardinian scholars, still mostly unresolved, concerns the relationship between religious confraternities and professional guilds. Many researchers agree that the boundaries between the confraternities (cofradías, confrarie de habit) and the Sardinian guilds (gremios, confrarie de cap) were somewhat blurred. Francesco Loddo Canepa was the first to point out that the confraternities that had arisen in Sardinia in the fifteenth century had borrowed the statutory model and the internal organization of the gremi (guilds) of Barcelona, combining religious duties, mutual assistance, and professional obligations according to an already-established statutory system. Among the regional studies of Sardinian religious associations are those by Antonio Virdis, published between 1990 and 2005. In 1990, Virdis stressed the need to analyze the local confraternities both individually and collectively, and his overview of Sardinian confraternities influences this study. According to Virdis, Sardinian cities had confraternities born of “various charismatic derivations,” while the regions saw the prevalence of Rosarianti (Rosarians) in the south and Disciplinati (Flagellants) in the north. Nine years later, the scholar underscored the complexity of the Sardinian confraternal phenomenon and its novelty in the world of historiography. Virdis also affirmed that sociohistorical research in the field of Sardinian religious associations represented an almost wholly unexplored field. Even twenty years later, he affirmed that a general and overall picture was still lacking. T his essay, therefore, will present a general overview of the Sardinian religious confraternities (de habit) that arose between the late Middle Ages and 1700, examining the state of current studies and the local archives in the hope of contributing to the overall analysis of Sardinian confraternities while developing a few specific themes. In this fragmented field of study, we have chosen a chronological-geographical approach focused on the major cities, with references to their respective dioceses. We will start with the oldest evidence of confraternities in Cagliari, proceed towards the north of the island, and conclude with the city that is symbolic of the Sardinian hinterland: Nuoro. We have tried to emphasize the confraternities’ role in the local context of charity and welfare, while for the purely devotional or guild aspects we refer to the most recent bibliography. The last paragraph is dedicated to the sources and the state of the local confraternity archives, as surveyed by the Archival Superintendency of Sardinia.
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