The Blacks

The black slaves taken from Africa by force, since the 14th Century on, live at the suburban slums of Seville, many of them fighting for survival. Gonzalo de Mena not only creates a hospital and a chapel for them, but also a brotherhood to integrate them into the religious and social life of Seville. They become the first religious congregation, a title that they have to defend before other white brotherhoods. Also, they have to avoid being suspended and banned by religious authorities. As time goes by, the popularly-called "Brotherhood of the Negroes" becomes "the Negritos", a paternalism that shows how a fraternity of slaves and freedmen becomes a brotherhood of poor white Sevillians.