The following article discusses the history of the brotherhoods that brought together slaves and free Africans as well as their descendants in Portugal during the 18th century. In this way, the article considers a more general panorama of the history and the historiography of slavery and the African presence in Portugal. It tries to understand the contextual appearance and the singularities of the black brotherhoods within the setting of the Portuguese lay fraternities. In conclusion it highlights the importance of these organizations in the constitution of community life and in defense of the interests of the black slave and free population in the kingdom of Portugal.
Slavery; Brotherhoods; Religion; Portugal