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Brotherhoods
Enslaved and freed Africans formed a brotherhood of their own
Slaves and freedmen organized themselves into brotherhoods known as irmandades. They worshiped at a side altar of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception from the early seventeenth century.
The charter
The brotherhood received its charter in 1685
The Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Rosary of Salvador first received the consent of the Jesuit provincial João Pereira and the confirmation of the archbishop in 1685. By 1704 it had raised enough funds to build a church.
Slow work
Members built the church in their free hours over a hundred years
The members were poor, and they built the church in their free hours. The nave came first. The elaborate façade and towers followed in 1780 under Caetano José da Costa.
Membership
Membership was limited to Africans of Bantu background
Membership was limited to Africans born south of the Equator, generally from Congo and Mozambique. This led to the Brotherhood of Quinze Mistérios, which accepted only people of Yoruba background. The distinction became obsolete with abolition in 1888.
A petition
A request to use masks and dances at mass was refused in 1786
In 1786 the Brotherhood petitioned the crown in Lisbon to celebrate mass with masks, dances in the Angolan language, songs and praises. The petition was rejected. Members of the Brotherhood were also slaveholders.
Day 2, midday
It comes after Afro-Brazilian Museum. Then Capoeira in the old town.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Church of Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos, Salvador, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.