The Brotherhoods, according to Font Rius, were the unions or federations of municipalities in the Iberian Middle Ages, sometimes together with the nobility, sometimes without it, to achieve goals of general interest, fundamentally the maintenance of public order and security, and also the common defense against the harassment of the lords and even against the pretensions of public power.The brotherhoods of councils or municipalities appeared in the territories of León and Castile at the end of the 12th century. Initially, the brotherhoods were created at the initiative of the councils and approved by the monarchs. However, the latter maintained a certain suspicion of them due to their disruptive actions in certain cases, even placing themselves against royalty. In 1370, a royal ordinance generally approved and regulated these police brotherhoods. And it was the monarchs themselves, already in the 15th century, who promoted the inclusion of the councils in the great brotherhoods of their kingdom.The first medieval brotherhoods were temporary and formed to address a specific need; they were joined by a small group of councils (Escalona and Segovia, Escalona and Ávila, Toledo and Talavera, in the 12th century; Segovia and Ávila, Plasencia and Escalona, in the early 13th century); or by all the councils of one or more towns, sometimes even by the nobility (councils and nobility of Galicia, León and Castile, in 1282; councils of León and Galicia, on the one hand, and Castile, on the other, in 1295, etc.).The difficult circumstances experienced by the Kingdom of Castile during the 13th to 15th centuries, due to the minority of the monarchs and the civil wars, led to a weakness in public power and favored the development of brotherhoods. Among these, the most famous are those of Toledo and Segovia. The first, made up of Toledo, Talavera, and Villarreal, originated as a group of beekeepers from those territories who pursued golfines or bandits. Initially, it was temporary, and in 1312 it became permanent. This Brotherhood was governed by three mayors of the Brotherhood—one for each council—and under their command were the mozos de escuadra. The procedure followed by these mayors was summary. The Toledo Brotherhood lasted until the 18th century. As for the Brotherhood of Segovia, it emerged during the reign of Henry IV, and it was this monarch who encouraged some councils to join. Its purpose was to suppress the growing banditry. In 1473, Ordinances were issued, which listed the cases of brotherhood, which were blasphemy, counterfeiting, theft in populated and unpopulated areas, deliberate burning, rape, homicide in unpopulated areas, and other related crimes.Font Rius had a much greater reach and importance than the Castilian brotherhoods, the Brotherhood of the Cantabrian Marshes. This was established at the end of the 13th century and included Castro-Urdiales, Santander, Laredo, Bermeo, Getaria, San Sebastián, Hondarribia and Vitoria. The guardians of Ferdinand IV wanted to impose a tribute on these towns from which they were exempt, which led, in 1296, to the gathering of the aforementioned towns in Castro, forming the Brotherhood of the Navy of Castile with Vitoria. The rebellious attitude of this Brotherhood towards Castile, in defense of its rights and privileges, was accentuated in subsequent years, adopting a position of independence from the kingdom, reflected in the direct relations maintained with France and England, countries to which this Brotherhood sent messengers, arranged peace agreements, etc. From the 15th century onwards, a crisis in the solidity of the Brotherhood of Cantabrico was noted, which suffered a definitive blow under the RR.CC., who subjected it to their authority.In the Basque Country and Gascony, brotherhoods also appear as unions of municipalities. Each territory tended to form a single Brotherhood... But this is what we will analyze next.