The GarduñaIn standard Spanish,
garduña
' is the name of the

beech marten The beech marten (''Martes foina''), also known as the stone marten, house marten or white breasted marten, is a species of marten native to much of Europe and Central Asia, though it has established a feral population in North America. It is li ...

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 controvers ...

criminal society 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 late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

. It was said to have been a

prison gang A prison gang is an inmate organization that operates within a prison system. It has a corporate entity and exists into perpetuity. Its membership is restrictive, mutually exclusive, and often requires a lifetime commitment. Prison officials and ot ...

that grew into a more organized entity over time, involved with robbery, kidnapping, arson, and

murder-for-hire Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

. 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 group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

. In serious Spanish studies about ''bandolerismo'' ( outlaws) and social disorders (very frequent in

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

in the 19th century), there is not a single mention of the Garduña. Some have claimed that the Garduña was a precursor to the Neapolitan Camorra, 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 Author David Leon Chandler, in his book "The Criminal Brotherhoods," suggests that the Camorra were an offshoot of The Garduna. This, then, he asserts, means that it is the parent Brotherhood society to Sicilian Cosa Nostra, Camorra, 'Ndranghets, Sacra Corona Unita, American Cosa Nostra and even, The Unione Corse. A Calabrian folk song suggests a much larger legacy. It tells the story of three Garduña "brothers" or three Spanish knights who fled Spain in the 17th century after washing with blood the

honour Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

of their seduced sister. They were shipwrecked on the island of

Favignana Favignana ( scn, Faugnana) is a ''comune'' including three islands (Favignana, Marettimo and Levanzo) of the Aegadian Islands, southern Italy. It is situated approximately west of the coast of Sicily, between Trapani and Marsala, the coastal are ...

, near Sicily. Osso, devoted to

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

, stayed in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and founded

the Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

or ''Cosa Nostra''; Mastrosso, protected by

Saint Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

, made his way to Calabria and founded the 'Ndrangheta; and Carcagnosso, a devotee of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, made his way to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and founded the Camorra.Gratteri & Nicasso, ''Fratelli di sangue'', pp. 27-28. 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 other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

s, and alludes to a connection with pirates throughout the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...

, including the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. 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, * Behan, Tom (1996).
The Camorra
', London: Routledge, * 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