Foundation
We don't know when he founded the Brotherhood of Andújar, called the matrix, being the first of all that after they were created, called subsidiaries.
With such a history, it has been considered to the Guild Array as the same as Hijosdalgos founded in 1245, relying on a number of considerations; as that admitted to different classes of members: “men Hijosdalgos, brothers and sisters of her”, according to the renewal constitutional made in 1499.
We think that both guilds were different, not having anything to do with one another; because of Hijosdalgos were created, both for the defence of the frontiers christian, anti-arab, as to ensure the purity of the constituency noble. Once finished the Reconquista went on to play other missions. In the SEVENTEENTH century in Andújar were engaged in the fight against the bandits.
You might think that in the primitive foundation of both guilds were and with the time divided; a thing that seems impossible to us, being of Hijosdalgos diminished by the loss of brothers.
On the other hand, the brotherhood array welcomed all the social classes of the town. Then she couldn't be the one that understands only members of the nobility. The statutes of the brotherhood of Hijosdalgos of the XIII century, say nothing of that were admitted to persons of ordinary people, on the contrary.
Some historian says that the charges of Prioste and Deputies have always played people of all lineages, therefore, could not be of the class noble.
In the statutes of the brotherhood of Andújar, confirmed in 1505, we can see how there is no reference to the Hijosdalgos; in such a way that when I enter she had to deliver a sheep, goat or hive; what can make us think of their relationship to pastors and beekeepers.
The who governing bodies, some of this guild, over the centuries, at times, were occupied by the local aristocracy, you should not force us to accept their origin beyond the aforementioned brotherhood.
The ordinances of 1505 have a sharp end of care, with the aim of meeting the needs of its members; such as the care of each other in case of illness, rescatarles of the arabs, to attend to burials and burying him freely to the poor of the hospital Ntra. Lady of the Head, the brotherhood held in the city of Andújar and do the same on Saturday, the eve of the feast romera, with whom they were buried in the sierra, two leagues and a half from the sanctuary, taking her to this place and giving him land next to the Virgin.
The hospital referred to, it must be understood as an element inherited from the Middle Ages, when it was common for each brotherhood maintained a health care activity, charitable, not only for its members, but also for the rest of the society. This was located across the street from the Hospital, today Earthenware, in the place where now stands a chapel dedicated to the Virgin of the Head, built between 1918 and 1921 at the expense of the flow of the countess of Real Grace and the marquise of Santa Rita, Agustina Pérez de Vargas y Pérez de Vargas, being serviced currently by the PP. Trinitarians, whose religious community depends on the shrine of Our lady. Lady of the Head.
The chapel was built by Jose Corbella Penis. The altarpiece, of gothic style, was made in the house Gerique of Valencia. It is noteworthy, in addition to the image of the blessed Virgin mary, Jesus Rescued, of great devotion, another of the Blessed Frames Servant, Trinitarian, and a big Crucified.
The hospital had its own bull of indulgences. Sometimes met him in the guild in the town hall, as well as commemorated in the chapel the eighth of the Virgin of the Head, the Sunday after the festival, attending the City Council, to exercise patronage of the city on the association matrix.
Returning to the statutes, shall we say, that the same forecast economic sanctions to those who do not comply, being prohibited insults between the brothers, which they could not leave to attend the funerals of others, failure to comply with the attention to those who were sick or not to go, which would have been designated, to the pilgrimage. Speaking of standing in the town hall was punished; as it is forced to be seated at all present, in order to avoid a disruption of the established order; although if they wanted to intervene with any proposal or respond to something about it, they should take in their hands the book of statutes or ordinances.
In general, the statutes are quite disciplinary to the brethren, especially economically, as I said before, due to the formula's possible to force them to comply with them; which shows that those who came to the guild were not very willing to assume the rules of the voluntary and personal commitment, without having to be penalized. All this must be understood in the society of that time, the SIXTEENTH century, used to work as we see. We don't know if it was applied this policy with some degree of rigor. Possibly not, but it was there if it was necessary to do so.
The charges governing the brotherhood were twelve deputies or more, two mayors –a mode-judges, a butler –administrator of the chapel and a hospital, a prioste –charge similar to the current one older brother, a scribe, to lift act agreements of the meeting, an attorney –in charge of collecting the outstanding debts with the brotherhood - and a muñidor –who she called the brotherhood gangs or groups each time it is required the presence of it in an act of kind assistance, etc-.If any brother would not accept a charge, causing low and if there was paid a fine. The statutes do not indicate how they chose the aforementioned charges.
The mayors, prioste, steward and scribe received at the end of the year a living wage for all of 1,500 coins, which should be distributed in equal parts, as a salary for the services rendered. The muñidor also had wage.
The woman was participating in the life of the brotherhood as any man if he paid the entrance fee in full. Also could pay half, 50 coins, then gave him a half serving of meat day pilgrims and their children could not inherit his title friars. They could attend the festival without being brothers, if the husband that he was not to, so he had a right to half a portion and if the were forced to participate in religious ceremonies.
The character of care of which we have been speaking, some people came into it looking to profit, in particular if he was already sick and died, or had a family member in the same circumstances. In such cases, be regarded as cheating, it had to pay a certain amount of money. In this way they tried to avoid that the brotherhood was the solution of many people in the trance end of their lives, taking into account the society of the early SIXTEENTH century, so concerned about his last earthly abode and the lack almost general of economic resources to further a worthy place of burial.
The statutes or ordinances were confirmed by the bishops of Jaén, Diego de Tavira, in 1557, and Diego de los Cobos, the year 1565.
The badges that the staff used, to distinguish among the rest of the brothers, were: red bands to the shoulder and the handstaves golden, and the butler roquette, hat white, staff and band of the same color.
In the present, both the older brother of the corresponding year as the vicehermanos higher previous, carry wide bands to the shoulder white, on which were embroidered the marian symbol and bear scepters silver; the older brother's is a work of goldsmithing, madrid, silver-finished off with the scene of the occurrence. The other two are topped with the symbol of Mary. Made in 1941, being older brothers, Adolfo Rodriguez and Clara Garrido. This date data for the medal that all bear hanging on his chest.
In more recent times it appears the figure of the president. The first was Michael Corpas Gomez (1996-2004), this was followed Immaculate Maldonado Tenorio (2004-2007), José María González Jiménez (2007 to 2013, January 10, by death), Alfredo Fernández Villar (10 January 2013 to 12 January 2014), José Carlos Millan Thaler (2014-2015), Ramón Colodrero Saperas, appointed as Commissioner of the Manager by Juan Francisco Martínez Rojas, Vicar General of the Diocese of Jaén, who held the presidency of the same, (December 2015 to February 2018) and Manuel Angel Vazquez Prieto (2018-2021), (re-elected for the period 2021-2024) .
The president leads the band of sky-blue and prosecutors –in-charge of organizing the parade of the brotherhood, processions, etc - white, carrying in his hand a scepter. Other badges are: flags of different colours and of great size, and a standard corporate designed by Peter Palenciano olive Groves and made in the workshop of the sisters Branch, Brenes (Sevilla). The brotherhood, in turn, has its own coat of arms or heraldic designed equally by Peter Palenciano Olivares, used in many print publications made the guild, as well as in official documents, communications and other acts.
There is a dash of the way, the color crimson red, with embroidered and hanging 12 small silver bells, used on a pilgrimage, being led by a brother to a horse. It was donated by the older brothers of 1966, Antonio Gea Cobo and Maria Teresa Puig Serrano.
The brothers originally wore roquetes white, covering his head with a headdress canvas with pointed ends, which are collected with a towel tied with a silk ribbon; that encircle and squeeze the vanity to the head, and tend the ends of the towel for the back to the waist. This costume was the same for all the fraternities. The custom disappeared in the EIGHTEENTH century and today is not used none that will distinguish it from the rest of the pilgrims. Is typically used, to the neck, a medal with a long cord, with various colours according to the brotherhood. The matrix is dark blue for the elder brothers, while in the cofrades includes the white.
In 1772, Fernando López de Cárdenas, the parish priest of the village of Montoro (Córdoba), filed a complaint before the Royal Council of Castile, saying the various abuses of religious, economic and social, his trial took place in the procession of April: Offenses to God and to the Virgin, scams, abuse of a sexual nature, and sale of mules galician, a fact that was considered usury.
The subject has flourished, reaching to the Chancery of Granada; that opened file, performing a number of investigations, which were different reports, which concluded with an Order of the Royal Council of Castile, dated march 16, 1773, in which were sent to pick up the Statutes of all the Fraternities and forbidding their presence on the pilgrimage.
The result of the official suspension of the party was the reduction of the number of brotherhoods affiliates and, consequently, the loss of the worship of and devotion to the Virgin of the Head, although unofficially the last Sunday of April, followed by concentrating a good number of people in the Sanctuary, due to the popular nature of the pilgrimage, so that the municipal authorities they had no choice but to send bailiffs to maintain the public order, such as occurs in 1778, were the mayor, two aldermen and a jury.
In the year 1782, that he was the Older Brother at the time of the dissolution of the guild matrix, marquis of Bilanos, and asked for it to reconsider the situation in which he was, to which the king Carlos III agreed, giving a Real Pragmatic approving the statutes in the month of July.
Prior to the brotherhood of Andújar, was the Santa Fe (Granada) first obtain the approval of the new statutes by the Royal Council. This was followed by the of Colomera, Martos, Alcalá la Real, etc
New Statutes.
The new constitutions or statutes of the brotherhood andujareña was comprised of 27 chapters in which they say that all charges should be chosen annually, disappearing from the previous deputies: who then only had the function of chaplains of the brotherhood.
With these statutes are organized back to the brotherhood, to which it is realized, upon subpoena, to all the brothers; however, most of these have not attended the call and caused low; so that in 1782 there were 72 people. In 1807, we find the guild with 264 brothers.
In these new ordinances provided for in the seventh chapter of the “purity of blood” was to have no ancestor moro, a jewish heretic, or penitenciado by the Inquisition, so that those who want to be brothers had to demonstrate that it was “old christians”, which was equal to: a descendant of christians, without a mixture of jewish, moorish, or not to be baptized.
As of march 1, 1879, the bishop of Jaén, Manuel María León González and Sánchez (1877-1896), signed the “supplemental Rules” of the statutes of the EIGHTEENTH century, which remained in force, being repealed only previous regulations. The drafting was done in 1870 by the bishop, Antolín Monescillo and Viso (1865-1877). The regulations included a new figure of directors, the council, with new members: Archpriest local priors of the parishes, brothers who have been older brothers and people of the brotherhood, which, by their labour and delivery, or potential future services, should be elected by a majority of votes on Sunday called for charges. Positions that are elected by all the brothers, including the older brother, gathered in the chapel of the Virgin of the Head in the street Earthenware.
As we have seen, the provincial council was composed of many people, unlike today, that is reserved exclusively for those who have been older brothers.
Logically, the changes in the statutes, since then, in successive years have been various; but the most significant of the TWENTIETH century there were in 1996, granted by the bishop Santiago García Aracil, which replaced the 1978 signed by his predecessor, Miguel Hairstyle Hairstyle. In 1999 he wrote a new, approved in the year 2000. What is novel about these is that they include a president and a vice-president, who, together with the administrator or treasurer, are elected every three years, democratically, by the brothers, while the older brother what it designated the provincial council until 2011 amended section of the statutes 25.1; for that were since then the brothers who chose to.
These charges mentioned there that add vowels, and a secretary, the first being Luis Felipe Moreno del Castillo, who replaced Immaculate Maldonado Tenorio (2000-2003), the first woman who served the same in the guild. In these are included the representatives clergy: Archpriest of Andújar and the chaplain role played usually for the upper or rector of the Basilica, and Real Santuario de Ntra. Lady of the Head.
Privileges.
Over the centuries the brotherhood array has obtained various privileges aimed at maintaining and strengthening its authority in all matters relating to the Virgin mary and her sanctuary.
Pope Leo X issued a bull on 10 December 1518 by which he confirmed the possession of the sanctuary. The Pontiff will give you another in 1552 repealing any law that would have the lords bishops of Jaen is on the Board of trustees of the Brotherhood. This won one of Sixtus V referred to indulgences.
For no one could say mass or to ask for alms in the house of Ntra. Lady of the Head in the Sierra Morena, and their surroundings, pope Julius III gave him a bull. Even got one that allowed him to do moderate expense in the procession.
An exclusive privilege of the brotherhood is the move to the image of the Virgin from his dressing room until the litter and vice versa, in the procession on Sunday.
On 13 April 1845, signed an agreement with the rector of the sanctuary, which only the eldest brother, the vice-chancellor and the mayor of Andújar, or your representative, who can down the image of the Virgin from his dressing room until it is in the litter.
February 22, 2001, the regional government of Andalusia was awarded the Medal of Andalusia to the Real Brotherhood Womb of the Virgin of the Head, being delivered by the president of the Andalusian Parliament, Javier Torres Sailing, the 28th day of February, in the palace of San Thermos of Seville, its president, Miguel Corpas Gomez.