The GarduñaIn standard Spanish,
garduña
' is the name of the beech marten is a mythical organized,

secret Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controver ...

criminal society A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

said to have been founded in Spain in the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. It was said to have been a prison gang that grew into a more organized entity over time, involved with

robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

, and murder-for-hire. Its statutes were said to have been approved in Toledo in 1420 after being founded around 1417.Gratteri & Nicasso, ''Fratelli di sangue'', pp. 22-23. It references F. Caracciolo, ''Miseria della mafiologia'', Bologna: Monduzzi Editore, pp. 38-39. Spanish historians León Arsenal and Hipólito Sanchiz have traced all references to the Garduña back to the 19th-century book ''Misterios de la inquisición española y otras sociedades secretas de España'' by Víctor de Fereal (maybe a pseudonym for Madame de Suberwick) and Manuel de Cuendías, published in 1850. Arsenal and Sanchiz doubt the Garduña ever existed. Arsenal & Sanchiz, ''Una historia de las sociedades secretas españolas'', pp. 326-335 As a secret society, the Garduña is very attractive for conspiracism, according to the historian Sanchiz. It was supposedly active for over 400 years in Spain, and, among other things, it supposedly carried out the dirty work of the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a Catholic Inquisitorial system#History, judicial procedure where the Ecclesiastical court, ecclesiastical judges could initiate, investigate and try cases in their jurisdiction. Popularly it became the name for various med ...

. In serious Spanish studies about ''bandolerismo'' (

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them. ...

s) and social disorders (very frequent in

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

in the 19th century), there is not a single mention of the Garduña. According to historian John Dickie, the Garduña was a fictional organisation that appeared from nowhere in a very popular French pulp novel published in 1845. The author probably based the story on

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

’ short story ‘ Rinconete and Cortadillo’. An Italian translation in 1847 spread the myth in Italy.Dickie, ''Blood Brotherhoods''
p. 40
/ref> A persistent popular myth claims that the Garduña was a precursor to the Neapolitan

Camorra The Camorra (; ) is an Italian Mafia-typeMafia and Mafia-type orga ...

, a crime syndicate active to this day in southern Italy and was transplanted when Spain controlled Naples and much of its criminal element was transported (or deported) there.Behan, ''The Camorra'', p. 9 A

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

n folk song suggests a much larger legacy. It tells the story of three Garduña "brothers" or three Spanish knights, ''Osso'', ''Mastrosso'' and ''Carcagnosso'', who fled Spain in the 17th century after washing with blood the

honour Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself ...

of their seduced sister. They were shipwrecked on the island of Favignana, near Sicily. From there ''Osso'' supposedly founded the

Sicilian Mafia The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of ...

, ''Mastrosso'' the Camorra, and ''Carcagnosso'' the Calabrian

'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a mafia-type organized crime, criminal syndicate originating from the Calabria region of Italy. Gratteri & Nicaso, ''Fratelli di Sangue'', pp. 65–68 This body, also referred to as the Commission in reference to the ...

.Dickie, ''Blood Brotherhoods''
p. xxv
/ref>Gratteri & Nicasso, ''Fratelli di sangue'', pp. 27-28. It is a persisting myth told to Calabrian recruits when they prepare to adhere to the local 'Ndrangheta clan. Additionally, the circumstances surrounding the original shipwreck seem to suggest their main occupations as

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

s, and alludes to a connection with pirates throughout the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

, including the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. Similar traditions are told of three Buddhist monks founding the Chinese Triads.

References

* Arsenal, León & Hipólito Sanchiz (2006).
Una historia de las sociedades secretas españolas
', Barcelona: Planeta, (2017 edition) * Behan, Tom (1996).
The Camorra
', London: Routledge, * Dickie, John (2014).
Blood Brotherhoods: Italy and the Rise of Three Mafias
', New York: PublicAffairs, * Gratteri, Nicola & Antonio Nicaso (2006).
Fratelli di sangue
', Cosenza: Pellegrini Editore,

External links

The Garduna
in ''Secret Societies of All Ages and Countries'', by Charles William Heckethorn, Kessinger Publishing, 1992, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Garduna Secret societies related to organized crime History of the Camorra in Italy History of the 'Ndrangheta History of the Sicilian Mafia Organised crime groups in Spain

See also

References

External links