Africans, Creoles and people of mixed race who congregated in brotherhoods could also build, guard and administer their churches and chapels. In the first half of the eighteenth century, the Rosary brotherhoods of Olinda (Pernambuco), Baixa dos Sapateiros (in the city of Bahia) and Rio de Janeiro suffered attempts (both successful and unsuccessful) to usurp their temples (Bacelar, 1974, p. 44; Quintão, 2002, pp. 105-07). These events would appear to attest to the solidity and commodity of these coveted temples and, at the same time, to the difficulties faced by their administrators in preserving and maintaining the autonomous space.  
The black brotherhoods also had their own particularities as regards the presence and participation of women. The majority were mixed, allowing both sexes to participate. An interesting phenomenon specific to the black brotherhoods comes to light when we turn to male and female membership patterns, namely the presence of a large number of women and the attribution of prominent female positions, such as queens and judges (Mulvey, 1980, pp. 258-59; Russel-Wood, 1974, p. 584). These positions were not merely symbolic. Among other obligations, they played an important role in collecting resources and organizing parties for the patron saints, with great responsibility for the success or failure of such festive events.