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HERMANDAD (from hermano, Lat. germanu...

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 365 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HERMANDAD (from hermano, See also:Lat. germanus, a See also:brother) , a Castilian word meaning, strictly speaking, a brotherhood. In the See also:Romance See also:language spoken on the See also:east See also:coast of See also:Spain in See also:Catalonia it is written germandat or germania. In the See also:form germania it has acquired the significance of " thieves' Latin " or " thieves' cant," and is applied to any See also:jargon supposed to be understood only by the initiated. But the typical "germania" is a mixture of See also:slang and of the gipsy language. The hermandades have played a conspicuous See also:part in the See also:history of Spain. The first recorded See also:case of the formation of an hermandad occurred in the 12th See also:century when the towns and the peasantry of the See also:north See also:united to See also:police the See also:pilgrim road to See also:Santiago in See also:Galicia, and protect the pilgrims against robber knights. Throughout the See also:middle ages such alliances were frequently formed by combinations of towns to protect the roads connecting them, and were occasionally extended to See also:political purposes. They acted to some extent like the Fehmic courts of See also:Germany. The See also:Catholic sovereigns, See also:Ferdinand and See also:Isabella, adapted an existing hermandad to the purpose of a See also:general police acting under officials appointed by themselves, and endowed with large See also:powers of See also:summary See also:jurisdiction even in See also:capital cases. The hermandad became, in fact, a constabulary, which, however, See also:fell gradually into neglect. In Catalonia and See also:Valencia the " germanias " were combinations of the peasantry to resist the exactions of the feudal lords.

End of Article: HERMANDAD (from hermano, Lat. germanus, a brother)

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