The cultural and commercial institutionalisation of Spanish theatre came about inthe sixteenth century. The first patios (yards) date to around1565; more such spaces, modelled after Madrid's successfulcorrales (courtyard playhouses), including the Corral de laCruz (1579) and the Corral del Príncipe (1582), would eventually be builtin order to satisfy the demand of a heterogeneous urban public, largely made upof the middle and popular classes, whose appetite for entertainment would giverise to the first theatre companies and professional playwrights. The processwas part of the particular socioeconomic circumstances linking theatricalentertainment with religious–philanthropic enterprise; thecofradías (religious brotherhoods) and hospitalsthat administered establishments of public charity were also responsible formanaging the theatre. The moral justification behind this commercialisationwould make Spanish Golden Age theatre less vulnerable to the types of attackssuffered by contemporary English theatre under the Puritans. Thecofradías gradually transferred the economicadministration of the theatres to an individual (thearrendador) in charge of maintaining business relationshipswith those responsible for the production (the playwright, theautor or actor-manager of the company, the actors, doormen,carpenters – who were essential for maintaining the physical structure ofthe stage and its diverse machinery – the fruit sellers andalojeros [or sellers of the popular drink made from water,honey and spices known as aloja], and others). After 1638, theeconomic administration of the theatres was ceded to local authorities, who inturn yielded part of the profits back to the cofradíasand hospitals. Spain's stable, commercial theatre, born under moral pretences,would eventually become politically controlled, falling under the supervision ofan advisory body presided over by the Protector de los Teatros, whose authoritywas granted directly by the king.