Les Confreries de Bratislava a la Fin du Moyen Age d'Apres les Sources Testamentaires MARIE-MADELEINE DE CEVINS Few records of confraternities survive in Hungary. By examining testamentary records in Bratislava, one of medieval Hungary's major cities, we can investigate the question of whether this dearth results from the loss of sources, or whether there were simply far fewer confraternities in Hungary than in western Europe. Only two sources related directly to particular confraternities survive from the city, but evidence from wills reveals a total of two dozen active in Bratislava, mainly in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. These confraternities were about equally divided between those organized around a saint or devotion (10), and those organized by trade (14). The most frequently cited and probably the largest were the confraternities of Our Lady and Saint Sebastian, followed by the Mother of Mercy, Corpus Christi (by far the oldest and best documented), and Saint Nicholas. These large confraternities probably averaged about a hundred members at the end of the fifteenth century, a fairly modest number by comparison to those in western European cities. The Confraternity of Corpus Christi is the only association whose statutes survive, along with some membership lists. This evidence provides some insight into its organiza- tion, finances, religious and charitable activities. Its membership included many members of the civic elite, while the other confraternities appear to have been more heterogenous. About a third of the wills studied included a donation to a confraternity, suggesting that even non-members made donations. These donations appeared along- side other religious donations, and were primarily directed towards the devotional rather than the trade associations, suggesting that the confraternities were seen to provide spiritual benefits. In general, Bratislava' s confraternities were similar to those of other European cities. While the evidence from wills still leaves many gaps in our knowledge of Bratislava's confraternities, it does demonstrate that there is still much that can be discovered about confraternities in Hungary. Parmi les nombreuses questions que posent les confreries du royaume de Hongrie au Moyen Age (recrutement, gestion materielle, activites cultuelles et caritatives), la plus preoccupante est certainement celle de leur nombre meme. Alors que dans les villes occidentales on a pu mettre en evidence le fait que les confreries, par leur foisonnement et leur implantation dans l'espace urbain, fonctionnaient en veritable reseau, a l'instar des paroisses ou des couvents mendiants qui les abritaient, cela ne semble pas avoir ete le cas en Hongrie. La ville de Sopron (en Transdanubie), concentrait suffisamment d' associations de laics a caractere reli- C. Vincent, Les confreries medievales dans le royaume de France (Paris, 1994), pp. \2-M>. Faute de place, je ne mentionnerai ici qu'une seule monographic recente, dont les cartes illustrent particulierement bien comment les confreries se repartissaient dans l'espace urbain : J.-M. Matz, "Les confreries dans le diocese d' Angers (v. 1350-v. 1 560)" Annates de Bretagne et des Pays de I 'Quest 98:4 ( 1 99 1 ), pp. 347-372.