| Sumario: | This article analyses how Maltese confraternities were set up, their composition and their internal organization. Most were inclusive and comprised the adult population of the parish, both males and females though a few companies were restricted to the elite or to particular craftsmen. "They cooperated with each other and could even allow their members to join other companies, but they could also be great rivals. The Council of Trent had put parish priests at their head, but the brothers contested their leadership and were frequently in dispute with them. At the end of the eighteenth century the confraternal movement was in decline in Europe, but in Malta the brotherhoods remained active.
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