The Manages are the Roman soldiers in the Verges Procession. Their helmets, breastplates and spears give a stage presence to the guard accompanying the Passion narrative. Their marching and coordination also help organise movement during the performance and the procession through the streets.
Why are they called ‘les Manages’ in Verges?
In Verges, the group’s own name is les Manages, a feminine form in Catalan. This name is rooted in local usage and should be respected when describing the Procession. However, we do not have sufficient documentary evidence to attribute that feminine form to a particular weapon or to present an etymological chain as the established origin of the name in Verges.
The Manages’ role in the streets of Verges
The group’s discipline is a visible part of the Procession: marching at the same pace, keeping distances and coordinating movements gives coherence to the soldiers’ presence. The sound and movement of the spears reinforce this image and help mark out the performance space among the spectators.
Testimonies also explain how this coordination was learned. Josep Font i Güell recalls rehearsing with reeds to preserve the spears until Maundy Thursday. He also remembers a period when the captain rode a horse and the animals were borrowed from farmers in the village. These memories describe a practice; on their own, they do not establish when it began or ended.
From cardboard to the equipment first worn in 1977
Aureli Serra recalls cardboard breastplates and helmets and the work of Ramon Marín, known as el Mut. Maria Ruart i Ribas describes an outing to Girona with modest equipment and the encouragement given by Carles Perpinyà. Without a sufficiently secure date, her memory should not automatically be identified with the 1975 gathering.
The chronology of the renewal is set out in Crònica d’uns vestits, published in 2007 by Llorenç Cansell and Jordi Roca: the Girona gathering of 1975 highlighted the contrast with other groups; rain that Maundy Thursday damaged the cardboard, which Ciso Mir repaired for use again in 1976. Lluís Llach’s concert on 17 June 1976 helped finance the new equipment, first worn on Maundy Thursday in 1977.
The full story appears in Renewing the Verges Manages’ equipment, 1975–1977, with dates and figures attributed to the participants’ account.
A symbol of local identity
Participation in the Manages is also passed on through families, rehearsals and contact between generations. This continuity should not be described as an automatic hereditary right: joining the group involves learning the role and contributing to a collective effort.
The Manages are part of the shared work that connects the performance in the Square with the route through the streets. Their history concerns both the soldiers’ presence and the people who have made, repaired, financed and cared for their equipment.
Sources and documentary approach
Llorenç Cansell and Jordi Roca, ‘Crònica d’uns vestits’, País Petit, July 2007, p. 33. Testimonies of Josep Font i Güell, Aureli Serra and Maria Ruart i Ribas, collected in the Memòria Viva material consulted. The renewal dates come from the written account; oral memories are included without assigning them a chronological precision they do not have.
