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Annual meeting of the Otzerinmendi fraternity, 11-09-2022. Courtesy of the author.
The parish has historically been of fundamental importance in the administrative and political organization of the Lordship of Bizkaia; there is, moreover, another institution, of a more reduced scope, which in certain rural areas, for instance in Durango, Arratia Valley and environs, has likewise played a basic role: namely, the confraternity, or kofradia.
These confraternities are not devoted to a religious or professional purpose, but they are rather associations of households or families, organized administratively at the neighbourhood level, with a view to provide an adequate response to communal needs. They operate independently of the municipal administration, although some decisions ought to necessarily be made at that higher level. Confraternities are, however, institutions which probably predate the parish.
Hearth, stove and butane gas cooker in a Muxika (Bizkaia) farmhouse. Segundo Oar-Arteta. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
The structural components of the traditional house, roof, walls, doors and windows, served to protect the fire of the hearth. The fireplace was an integral part of the home, its central and most important feature. The idea of a house without a hearth, where the household sought shelter, was simply out of the question. The wind was nature’s most feared element. Strong winds were a great threat, for a spark from the hearth could spread to the wooden structure of the house and consume it. (more…)
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