Las Hermandades Brotherhoods of Seville started from the seventeenth century who founded the Santo Entierro “Entombment”, after the reconquest of Seville by King Fernando III “The Saint”. From this moment for four centuries founded brotherhoods begin to coincide with a large school of carvers during the Baroque such as Martinez Montanes, Juan de Mesa and others … Most of them belong to professional sectors during the sixteenth and seventeenth century were forbidden to meet and taking advantage of the foundation of brotherhoods, these had freedom of assembly in the different churches; so they have its own brotherhood Museum, founded by the guild of silversmiths, the Brotherhood of the Negritos that bound black slaves in 1500 whom lived in large numbers in Seville, La Carretería founded by Coopers, La Macarena by gardeners , La Esperanza de Triana by fishermen and sailors, Los Panaderos by bakers, etc…
The first brotherhood that has its own chapel is the Museum of Brotherhoods. The mercenaries whose convent was the current Museum of Fine Arts of Seville, sold a small plot in the form of “shopping”, in whose place the current chapel was built. During the century past, most of them have built their own chapels, as they constantly arose friction between the parish priests and the proprietary church congregations.
The season of penance during Easter formerly was not governed by time and headed around their neighborhoods and some of them marched to “Cruz del Campo” whose monument now still exists at Avenida Luis Montoto next to the brewery that bears his name. It is from the late sixteenth century when all the brotherhoods of penance agree to walk to the Holy Cathedral Church without timetables or official career, as today is unified; thereafter a strict order of seniority is established, exp.: the oldest brotherhood is the last in the procession order on its way to the cathedral and the newly created brotherhoods come to occupy first place in the order assigned to the procession.
The first Brotherhood of Triana walking in procession to the cathedral of Seville is the “O”, crossing a pontoon bridge linking Triana with the area near Plaza de Armas where the brotherhoods made penance to the Church of Santa Ana, known as the Trianera Cathedral.
Current brotherhoods have gone through many vicissitudes, lack of economic means, fires, destruction of all its heritage, the civil war… getting from the eighteenth and nineteenth century the union of two or more of them and then set the current Brotherhood.
There has been a huge explosion in neighborhoods formed after the civil war, where large population lives in the city and have joined a lot of Sevillanos to these brotherhoods, enjoying today an important heritage.
The Brotherhoods of the center of Seville’s old town, survive thanks to the family tradition of parents, whom sign up their children at birth, the family members can share different brotherhoods: with parents and with friends, depending as well on the neighborhood where they live.
Cardinal of Seville is who grant to the brotherhoods the title of Brotherhood of Penance, but this does not mean they can go out in procession during Holy Week, is the general counsel of brotherhoods who has the last word in this matter. There are cases that take more than 30 years being brotherhoods of penance and general counsel of brotherhoods are not supported on the procession of Easter.
