Honoring God and the City. Music at the Venetian Confraternities, 1260-1807

Abstract

Bergamo."Using the records from Bergamo's Misericordia Maggiore (MIA), the largest of Bergamo's six confraternities, Brolis finds a number of indicators that suggest women were more than peripheral to the confraternal movement and its survival.Founded in 1264, the MIA admitted over 1,000 women between 1265 and 1274, consisting of 58% of the total admissions.Not only were these women from diverse social classes, but also from rival families.The promised peace appealed to women as did the active role in charity.Taking on the question of valour, Brolis asserts that the high number of women at the confraternity's beginning indicates that the collaboration of women was necessary.Similarly, the rules of the confraternity were clear that men and women enjoyed the same spiritual fruits.As they did in the domestic sphere, some women held administrative roles in the MIA.They also contributed to the continued existence of the organization with their bequeathals.The archive has preserved testaments of some female members, again attesting to the female proclivity for donating to hospitals and other charitable groups.But more than just women, all members of the family appear to play a role, at least in the beginning of the confraternity.The matriculation register shows that a number of families entered en masse-grandparents, parents, children, and other relatives including in-laws, thus highlighting the importance of the family in shaping and providing the model for confraternities.

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