The Boys of the Archangel Raphael: A Youth Confraternity in Florence, 1411-1785

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

Youth confraternities (lay religious associations catering to boys aged
13–24) have not really made their way into standard histories. It has
been Konrad Eisenbichler’s mission to change that. Currently, he is
the Director of the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies at
Victoria University, as well as a founding member of the Society for
Confraternity Studies and the editor of its biannual bulletin.

What he has given us is very likely the definitive study of the most
important youth confraternity in Florence, important not just because it
was the first, or for many years enjoyed the patronage of both the
ecclesiastical and secular elite, but because for many years the
organization played an important role in the cultural development of
Italy. As early as 1584–85, its members were the first ever to stage a
“sung play,” and later the most talented went on to change the
course of European musical history by developing early operas.

The organization was also involved in the theatrical, artistic, and
literary life of its time, and prominently so—at least until the death
of Grand Duke Cosimo II in 1621. Sadly, during the years after that
event, the texture and focus of the confraternity changed as its members
became, on average, older, as its purposes shifted, and as its
membership dropped. It was no wonder that in 1785 the organization was
suppressed and its assets sold.

This accessible and jargon-free book is based on an exhaustive reading
of available sources, mostly in Italian. Eisenbichler has likely
succeeded in placing youth confraternities on the agenda of future
historians of society, religion, childhood, art, literature, and music.