The Bridge-Building Brotherhood (Latin: Fratres Pontifices; French: Frères Pontifes) is said to have been a religious association active during the 12th and 13th centuries and whose purpose was building bridges.
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.
In that era, when neither banks nor banknotes nor demand deposits existed, the financial means for such a large project could be put up only by collecting coins or later on, indulgences.
During the Romantic era, other writers have had the brotherhood executing bridges throughout Europe and even in countries as far away as Britain and Sweden (although there was never any historical report of such extensive activities).