Brotherhood

Brotherhood, in the Christian churches, a voluntary religious association for various purposes. In the widest sense the term includes the monastic orders [Dominican, Franciscan, etc.], the earliest of which probably were founded in the 4th century, and also guilds (q.v.). But it is applied more especially to associations less strictly bound by rule than monastic communities, but having some religious or charitable object. The "Confraternity of the Sacred Heart" is a familiar modern Roman Catholic instance. In Southern France in the Middle Ages there was a brotherhood whose object it was to build bridges and maintain ferries. The "Cowley Brotherhood" is a modern Anglican example, and the "Rauhes Haus" at Hamburg is a German Protestant brotherhood.