In the early 1600s, commoner Andeans moved back to their former hamlets, but refounded them as annexes of their reducciones, with grid-pattern design, and incipient cabildo and cofradías. Annexes furthered the fragmentation of pre-Conquest ethnic groups begun with reducción, as only some ayllus were included in each annex. To create their new annex towns, Indios Ladinos (those literate in Spanish) got permission from Spanish political and religious authorities, but they met resistance from local priests who accused them of fleeing Christianity to return to idolatry. Andeans persevered because the towns, with their cabildos, and saints and cofradías had become central to defining community and legitimate membership in it, making it easier for forasteros (“foreigners”) to join. This self-government by commoners was a colonial innovation, but Andeans adapted town institutions, organizing them through their ayllus, making them thoroughly Andean. These Andean commoner-led repúblicas laid the groundwork for political solidarity and sovereignty.