«Hermanas 24 y mayordomas»: The Participation of Women in the Prestigious Confraternities in the Eighteenth Century Lima

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to investigate the participation of elite Spanish women in the prestigious confraternities of the city of the Lima in the 18th century because traditionally it has been assumed that they fulfilled an auxiliary purpose during the festivities. In this article, many women entered the brotherhoods as hermanas 24 and others hold positions of power as mayordomas. This was possible because of the wealth, status and contacts that these women had, also these elements were the criteria that made it possible for women to enter prestigious confraternities.