Burguesía y religiosidad popular en la España meridional del siglo XIX

Abstract

Burguesía y religiosidad popular en la España meridional del siglo XIX

In the XIXth Century popular religiousness as performed by the penitential brotherhoods evolved following the society’s socio-economical changes, and thus in the first third of the century they kept the ideology and mores inherited from the Baroque. During the stormy reign of Fernando VII the brotherhoods were faithful defenders of the old order, identifying themselves with the most reactionary stan- ces of the Church. But during Isabel II’s reign there was a radical change, as in this period the bourgeoisie began entering into the government of the brotherhoods, and started moulding a popular religiousness akin to their social interests. In the revolutionary Sexenio the brotherhoods fought against anticlericalism increasing the luxury of their outdoor rituals. And lastly, during the Restoration, the conservative bourgeois Catholicism will discover in popular religiousness a capital way for defending in Southern Spain the existing political régime.