A fraternity is an association of people who unite to promote their common interest, business or pleasure. In this wide sense it includes all secret and benevolent societies, the monastic and sacerdotal congregations, the orders of knighthood, and also guilds, trades-unions, and the like. In a limited sense it is applied to religious societies for pious practices and benevolent objects.
Fraternities were often formed during the middle ages, from a desire of imitating the holy orders. Many of these societies, which did not obtain or did not seek the acknowledgment of the church, had the appearance of separatists, which subjected them to the charge of heresy. The pious fraternities which were formed under the direction of the church, or were acknowledged by it, were either required by their rules to afford assistance to travellers, to the unfortunate, the distressed, the sick, and the deserted, on account of the inefficiency of the police, and the want of institutions for the poor, or to perform certain acts of penitence and devotion. Of this description were the Fratres Pontifices, a brotherhood that originated in Tuscany in the 12th century, where they maintained establishments on the banks of the Arno, to enable travellers to cross the river, and to succour them in case of distress. A similar society was afterwards formed in France, where they built bridges and hospitals, maintained ferries, kept the roads in repair, and provided for the security of the highways. Similar to these were the Knights and Companions of the Santa Hermandad (or Holy Brotherhood) in Spain; the Familiars and Cross-bearers in the service of the Spanish Inquisition; the Calendar Brothers in Germany; the Alexiaus in Germany, Poland, and the Netherlands, etc.
The professed object of the Alexians, so called from Alexius, their patron saint, was to visit the sick and imprisoned; to collect alms for distribution; to console criminals, and accompany them to the place of execution; to bury the dead, and to cause masses to be said for those who had been executed, or for persons found dead. There were also Gray Penitents (an old fraternity of an order existing as early as 1264 in Rome, and introduced into France under Henry III), the black fraternities of Mercy and of Death; the Red, the Blue, the Green, and the Violet Penitents, so called from the colour of their cowl; the divisions of each were known by the colours of the girdle or mantle. The fraternity of the Holy Trinity was founded at Rome in 1548 by Philip de' Neri for the relief of pilgrims and the cured dismissed from the hospitals. The Brothers of Charity were another fraternity whose hospitals were found in all the principal cities of Catholic Christendom. Research Fraternity
Aniliidae is the 'Cylinder Snakes' family of reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (snakes). Roughly ten species in three genera comprise the family Aniliidae, almost all of which have a vestigial pelvic girdle. All the members are ovovivipatous and possess cloacal spurs. They feed mainly on small amphibians and reptiles. Research Aniliidae
The Ctenophora are a Phylum, sub-Phylum, order or class of animals represented by a number of marine forms (the sea gooseberries) which somewhat resemble jelly-fish. They are solitary, transparent, globular animals moving by means of ctenophores, or parallel rows of cilia disposed in comb-like plates. They develop no coral. Pleurotrachia (or Cydippe) may be taken as the type of the order, which includes the Beroidae, the Cestum or Venus' girdle, etc. Research Ctenophora
The ophidia are a suborder of Squamata. These are the snakes. They are long and slender due to an elongation of the body. Limbs are absent, and limb girdle traces are usually absent. The mouth is very extensible. Research Ophidia
Pieridae is the whites and sulphurs or yellows family of butterflies, containing some 1500 species mostly white or yellow in colour. They are mostly medium sized butterflies with convex-shaped inner borders to the hind wings. The different sexes usually differ in colour and the caterpillars are often thickly covered with short hair, and their body narrowed at both ends. The pupae, similar to the Swallowtails, are suspended head upwards and secured with a silkgirdle. Research Pieridae
The cordeliers were originally a branch of the order of Franciscan monks who wore as part of their dress a girdle of knotted cords. Afterwards the name was given to a club or society of Jacobins, including Marat, George Danton, and Camille Des-moulins. The club lasted from 1792 to 1794, and took its name from the place of meeting. Research Cordeliers
The Franciscans are the members of the religious order established by St Francis of Assisi about 1210. They are also called Minorites, or Fratres Minores ('lesser friars'), which was the name given them by their founder in token of humility, and sometimes Gray Friars, from the colour of their garment. The order was distinguished by vows of absolute poverty and a renunciation of the pleasures of the world, and was intended to serve the church by its care of the religious state of the people. The rule of the order destined them to beg and to preach. The popes granted them extensive privileges, and they had an evil repute as spies, frequenting the courts of princes and the houses of noblemen, gentry, etc. Early in the 15th century they split up into two branches, the Conventuals and the Observants or Sabotiers. The former went barefooted, wore a long gray cassock and cloak and hood of large dimensions, covering the breast and back, and a knotted girdle. The Observants wore wooden sandals, a cassock, a narrow hood, a short cloak with a wooden clasp, and a brown robe. In France the members of the order not belonging to any particular sect are called Cordeliers, from the cord which they tie about them. The Capuchins, so called from the peculiar kind of hood or cowl (capuce) which they wear, originated in a reform introduced among the Observantists by Matthew of Baschi in the early part of the 16th century, and although it received the approbation of different popes within a short time after its foundation, it did not receive the right of electing a particular general and become an independent order until 1619.
St Francis himself collected nuns in 1209. St Clara was their prioress; hence they were called the nuns of St Clara. The nuns were also divided into branches, according to the severity of their rules. The Urbanists were a branch founded by PopeUrban IV; they revered St Isabelle, daughter of Louis VIII of France, as their mother. St Francis also founded in 1221 a third order, of both sexes, for persons who did not wish to take the monastic vows, and yet desired to adopt a few of the easier observances. They are called Tertiarians or Tertiaries, and were very numerous in the 13th century. From them proceeded several heretical fraternities, as the Fraticelli and Beghards. The whole number of Franciscans and Capuchins in the 18th century amounted to 115,000 monks, in 7000 convents. At the dissolution of the monasteries in England there were sixty-five houses of the Franciscans. The order has given five popes and more than fifty cardinals to the church. Research Franciscan
In Greek mythology, the Cestus was a girdle worn by Aphrodite and which was endowered with the power of exciting love towards the wearer. Research Cestus
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Fraternity
