Early Formation
The hermandades initially began to form in Andalusia in 1265, in towns seeking to “defend their interests” from Islamic rebels who had been taking land and proclaiming their leader king. The groups may have been inspired by a previously-existing Islamic police force called the Shurta. The hermandades worked as local militias to protect the towns they came from. Hermandades also curbed the actions of bandits and other criminals, becoming a kind of police force. As the hermandad gained more legitimacy, they also gained more powers and responsibilities. Along with working as a police force and militia, they also collected taxes, acted as judges, and worked with the Cortes and corregidores on these and similar administrative problems. The hermandad judges relied on the backing of the corregidores for legitimacy. The hermandad were given jurisdiction over a wide range of crimes including: "crimes on roads or in unpopulated areas; rape of honest women; blasphemy; and the passing of false money."
Read more about this topic: Hermandad
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or formation:
“...to many a mother’s heart has come the disappointment of a loss of power, a limitation of influence when early manhood takes the boy from the home, or when even before that time, in school, or where he touches the great world and begins to be bewildered with its controversies, trade and economics and politics make their imprint even while his lips are dewy with his mother’s kiss.”
—J. Ellen Foster (1840–1910)
“The moral virtues, then, are produced in us neither by nature nor against nature. Nature, indeed, prepares in us the ground for their reception, but their complete formation is the product of habit.”
—Aristotle (384–322 B.C.)