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The Bridge-Building Brotherhood (''Fratres Pontifices'' in Latin, ''Frères Pontifes'' in French), is said to have been a religious association active during the 12th and 13th centuries and whose purpose was building bridges. == Legend == Building bridges greatly helped travelers and in particular pilgrims. It was customary for a bishop to grant indulgences to those who, by money or labor, contributed to the construction of a bridge, even when no brotherhood or religious organization was involved. The register of the Archbishop of York, Walter de Gray, shows examples of indulgences granted in the 13th century for the building of bridges. The brotherhood ''Fratres Pontifices'' ("Bridgebuilding Brotherhood" in English), or ''Frères Pontifes'', is said to have been founded in the latter part of the 12th century by St. Bénézet (a Provençal variant of the name Benedict). Bénézet was a youth who, according to legend, was divinely inspired to build the Pont Saint-Bénézet across the Rhône at Avignon. The old bridge at Avignon, some arches of which still remain, dates from the end of the 12th century. Up to the present days, St. Bénézet is venerated in Avignon as the builder of the bridge and founder of the Frères Pontifes. The Fratres Pontifices are believed to have been very active, and to have built other bridges at Bonpas, Lourmarin, Mallemort and Mirabeau. They also are said to have maintained hospices at the chief fords of the principal rivers, besides building bridges and looking after ferries. The bridge over the Rhône at Pont-Saint-Esprit has been attributed to the Frères Pontifes, too. The Brotherhood is supposed to have consisted of three branches-- knights, clergy and artisans, where the knights usually had contributed most of the funds and were sometimes called ''donati'', the clergy were usually monks who represented the church, and the artisans were the workers who actually built the bridges. Sisters are sometimes mentioned as belonging to the same association. In addition to the construction of bridges, the brotherhood allegedly often attended to the lodging and entertainment of travelers and the collection of alms or ''quête''. There are conflicting reports regarding the recognizance of the Fratres Pontifices by Pope Clement III. One source states that the brotherhood was recognized by Clement III in 1189, and other sources report that Clement III addressed a Papal Bull to the Fratres Pontifices in 1191, but the authenticity of that Papal Bull is questioned. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bridge-Building Brotherhood」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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