Rosários dos Pretos, Saint Benedict of Quissama: Black Confraternities and Devotions in the Atlantic World (Portugal and Angola, 1700s)

Abstract

In the eighteenth century, confraternities such as that of Our Lady of the Rosary and those dedicated to the black saints Benedict, Iphigenia and Elesban – to mention only the most popular devotions – were common in different areas of the Atlantic World. They were especially popular among people of color, both enslaved and free. In this paper I argue that the popularity of these sodalities should not be understood solely as the result of Catholic expansion. Rather, Africans and their descendents assumed an active role in this process, as important agents in propagating and popularizing the devotions and black confraternities. In order to understand this process I examine the history of black confraternities and devotions in two parts of the Portuguese Atlantic world: the kingdom of Portugal and the territories it conquered in Angola.

Keywords

• hermandades negras
• devociones negras
• portugal siglo xviii
• angola siglo xviii