S :^FRi:Miiii;8i; cJiLHoeE: Bi.-i-Wfm.P;Ww^;:v-va'vy;yftgA>,< 045894 A QfatttEll Iniuerattij 2Ithrarg FROM THE BENNO LOEWY LIBRARY COLLECTED BY BENNO LOEWY 1854-1919 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSJTY The date shows when this volume was taken. To renew this book copy the call No. and give to the librarian. ... HOME USE RULES All Books subject to recall All borrowers must regis- ter in the library to borrow books for home use. Hnl^'ii'"'i[r"' Tl*^^^ bcjpks must be re- APP ?? WM j MlL.IjCrned at end of college j|P^^ year for inspection and '^2-3^0^S:'^'^ repairs. Limited books must be — returned within the four week limit and not renewed. Students must return all ;_ books before leaving town. Officers should arrange for [ the retuni of books wanted during their absence from town. Volumes of periodicals and of pamphlets are held in the library as much as possible. For special pur- _ poses they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not use their library privileges for , the benefit of other persons. Books of special value a.nd gift books, when the , giver wishes it, are not allowed to circulate. Readers are asked to re- port all cases of books \ marked f*r uutilated. Do not deface books by marks >Jid writing. Cornell University Library HS405 .C15 3 1924 030 285 104 olin.anx HISTORIC MASONRY. Outlines of a History of Freemasonry from the Most Ancient to Modern Times. -BY— S. Frederick Calhoun, ^'' A. M., M. D. Member Correspondence Circle, Quatuor Coronati Lodge, No. 2076, Bngland. January 1899. CI' by combining the elements of Pagan mysticism witli the Jewish and Christian traditions. Many Gnostic tenets, together with its oriental and platonic philosophy, were ulti- mately absorbed by Christianity, and many Gnostiv doctrines were adopted by the builders or architects, deriving their sanc- tion from the love of mysticism so predominant in the earlier periods of the middle ages. It is also a fact that many genuine Gnostic symbols have come down to us, or reappeared in specu- lative Freemasonry — such, for instance, as the triangle within a circle, the pentacle of Solomon, and the letter G. The letter G represents Freemasonrv a.s the cross represents Christianity When it is considered that the Christian chttrch borrowed so largely the forms and ceremonies of Pagan culture t\ie inference is direct and tenab'e that civil or s^mi-seculir insti'utions exist- ing at the full development of the new faith, under the smile of imperial recognition, naturally modified their organism to con form to the example of the rising sect. And so fragmentary relics of Pagan observances have descended to Masonic ritual- ism, but the usages and customs, with necessary changes, re- mained as before. The building art was, in times of remotest antiquity, re- garded as sacred, and existed under special concession and care of the native priesthood where it 'was practiced. At what epoch the sentiment of a more thorough fraternal sentiment began to be introduced into these brotherhoods is confessedly uncertain; it is, however, in harmony with the usual develop- ment of ecclesiastical policy in this connection to assume that this modification naturally followed the reorganization of old social life on a Christian basis. The clergy seized with much eagerness the opportunity afforded by the guilds to weld the people and themselves into a closer unity. In these tmions the fraternal spirit was the predominant one. The first desii-able 50 HISTORIC MASONRY. basis of mediaeval and modern associations was evidently pre- pared and carefullv developed into the solid growth of subsequent times \^ithin cloistered walls, and finally transmitted to the out- side world, refined by the hallowed contact of Christianity. The design of such fraternization was charity combined with relig- ious usages, and the names of several bishops, abbots, and many monks appear as solemnly united brethren. It was usual during the middle ages for strangers or profane emperors an-d kings in person to be associated with such fraternities. Oftentimes individuals, an entire guildic brotherhood, and lay corporations affiliated with cloisters or other ecclesiastical orders. This was done in order that the associate members might enjoy the conventional good works, and also to have masses celebrated for the repose of souls after death. Such privilege was frequently purchased with enormous sums of money. Another example recorded of an ancient fraternity of the time of William I. attests the close compact existing among seven English al^beys. The parties to the agreement profess true faith and allegiance to the king and his queen, ^Matilda, and, in order to define wi^^h precision, they assert their object to be the advancement of mutual, temporal, and spiritual welfare. Secular guilds quickly imitated the example of charity and fra- ternal spirit exhibited by their conventual associates; they also incorporated in their unions an element of brotherly affection, harmony, and reciprocal assistance. Thus, for instance, the statute of Saint John's guild, composed mainly of goldsmiths, began with the following quotation: "The prophet David, in the Psalms, says, 'How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.' " This Scriptural quotation, in use many centuries aeo among the guild of gold-workers, has con- tinued ^o be an integral part of Masonic ritualism. Under the pressure of Christianizing fer^'or the commingling of religious thought \\ith ancient social life evolved these closely-organized bodies of the middle ages. The earliest and most practica'^.le form assumed by the mediaeval corporations was based upon a plan of mutual bene^t, or the aid which each member was obligated to render his brother member in emergent circum- stances. All initiates into these leagues partook of equal friend- HISTORIC MASONRY. St ships and enmities. On this scheme of mutual assistance guilds were created, and in a modernized form, were the prototypes of a well-defined element in the old Norse constitution. Thf ground-work of the original fraternities was certainly the benefit each member derived from the organizations, but the jinfusion of Christian tenets into them largely developed humanitarian ideas. Although united in many instances to advance the spiritual welfare under monastic discipline, after the lapse of time those associations freely cultivated temporal prosperity. To what extent ecclesiastical influence reached in molding these associa- tions into harmony with the faith that had supplanted heathen- ism may be seen in the orefatorv dedications to mediaeval written records, which, similar to the initial clause of St. Olav's guild, begin with the words, 'In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, amen.' In almost all Masonic manuscripts thus far brought to light, this Latin invocation invariably occurs. The introductory sentences of the guild just mentioned recotint, with particular emphasis, that the convivium or sodalitv is not insti- tuted for a drinking bout, but with the more laudable purpose of social benevolence. In England and on the continent the guilds enjoyed such favor that non-members were obliged to conform to established customs, and communal constitutions were devel- oped from them. Assbciations thus early were formed for mutual protection in case of robbery, conflagrations, or ship- wreck, and brethren united for such purpose contributed annual dues at a certain period, usually on a saint's day, when general consultations were held and gorgeous celebrations of divine services, joyous festivities, and a grand feast prepared for the members. In order to unite the associates more firmly among themselves, who, it seems, sought to be relieved of reciprocal duties incident to the union, the usage was carefully maintained of administering to each one an oath. Conjtxratio appears to have been the usual appellation for a guild so organized. Some- times called sworn brotherhoods, and expressly declared to be composed of clergy and laymen; Juratorum conventus; jurati enim et conjurati, diciunter civis unius oppidi. Whenever the initiate wamasonry, assumed a definite position in me- diaeval society. Architectural art, which previously had re- mained the exclusive property of the cloisters, passed from the possession of monastic workmen into the control of artists outside of conventual walls. From the closeness of their organizations, the Masonic guilds were suffered, by the terras of their charters, when actiially granted, or in accordance with im.memorial usage, to reject all who were, from ignorance or inability to learn, not duly qualified to become members. Freemasonry borrowed the outlines of its constitution from the amalgamated principles which were funda- mental in the early middle ages; the autocratic, personal inde- pendence and ecclesiastical. Freemasonry was necessarily tinc- tured with the mythological superstitions, which still retained at this period a vigorous hold on the people of northern Europe. As the Masonic guilds traced their origin back into the twilight cf time, and were co-eval with the first forms of society, consequent- ly many fragments of heathen rites and observances passed with them into succeeding mediaeval Masonic fraternities. It may, therefore, be safely alleged that the Teutonic mvthology from its earliest contact with the eastern builders in the fifth century, and through the line of centuries following, has contributed very largely to Masonic symboh'sm. The guilds of constructors, or Freemasons, appropriated the several degrees which existed in the monasteries at a very early age. viz. : Apprentice, fellow and master. As these fraternities were reorganized under church pa- tronage, they imbibed at their inception a strong relisfious senti- ment — a characteristic which has come down with Masonic lodges from past ages. During the eleventh and twelfth centuries the society of Constructors, or Freemasons, had become established on a solid basis, and began to exercise a widespread and salutary influence upon the architecture of Europe. Towards the termination of the eleventh century this Freemason brotherhood of artists exe- cuted in Alsace many prodigious works of art. In Normandy, at the commencement of the twelfth century, the same zeal and 58 HISTORIC MASONRY. same extent of artistic labor are exhibited. At this epoch the Freemasons formed a numerous and powerful corporation, and architecture, together with many other arts, at this time passed from the monasteries into the possession of lay architects, organ- ized into fraternities of Masons. These traveled from country to country, transmitting the traditional types of workmanship, and from this circumstance resulted the monuments of their skill, erected at the remotest distance from each other, offered a striking analogy and frequently a complete similitude. CHAPTER Vm. Uncertainty of Masonic history at this epoch. — John Moreau builds Melrose Abbey in the twelfth century. — A French Mason.— Great Britain depends on Gallic Craftsmen for builders. — William of Lens — Architecture changes to Lancet or Gothic style. — Cathedrals of Cologne and Strasburg. — The last begun by Greek artists. — Moreau, master of Scottish Masons. — Edwin of Steinbach, the master builder. — His daughter, Sabina, a skilled architect. — Church of St Stephen at Vienna. — Definition of the word Lodge. The external history of Freemasonry of this age is involved in gloom and uncertainty. In a few instances the master architect has engraved upon lasting walls the visible signs of his superin- tendence, and with these rare exceptions further traces have es- caped the vigilant searches of the most enthusiastic writers. The accounts, which were certainly kept by the cloisters and churches in the erection of sacred edifices, would undoubtedly furnish valuable information, but such records cannot be found. The earliest atithentic mural inscription which I have seen is still in existence at Melrose. According to the following lines on a foun- dation stone the Abbey was built in the year 1136: "Anno Milleno, conteno, ter quoque deno, Et Sexto Christi Melross fundata fuisti." The structure was ten years in process of construction, hav- ing been finished in the year 1146. Above the door, on the west side of the transept, is an inscription to which the name of John Muruo is attached. Another record is hewn on a block of stone, in raised letters, on the south side of the doorway, evidently re- ferring to the same individual, who was the architect, or master mason, of the edifice. These tablets are highly interesting, and especially important as a historical monument, showing that as far back as the year 11 36, at least, the craft was already organized, under the direction of lay masters. A few of these letters are now almost efifaced, but may still be deciphered. From an accurate copy in my possesion I quote a portion of it : 60 HISTORIC MASONRY. "John : Morow : sum : tyme : callyt : Was : I : and : born : in : Parysse : Certainly '" It is evident Irom the foiegoing that John Morow, or Muruo, the superintending architect, was a foreigner and Frenchman, born at Paris. It has hitherto received currency among archi- tectural writers that William of Sens was the first master Mason whose works are still extant in Great Britain. This artist was also a native ot France and is described as Artifex Subtilissimus a very skilfull artificer. He went to England in the year 1176, in order to reconstruct the Cathedral of Canterbnrv. Great Britain, thus early in the history of Freemasonry, seems to have depended upon foreign artisans to erect churches and abbeys. Norman and French raaster builders restored the cloisters of Croyland, Warmouth and York, already rich in Byzantine and French sculpture. Foreigners conducted the principal architectural works at this and later periods, and the first known Master of Masons there was John Morow, a Parisian, who, according to the indisputable attestation of the partially decayed inscription, which I have transcribed, had already laid the foundation of Melrose abbey in the year 11 36, and completed that building, now in melancholy ruins, in 1 146, just thirty years prior to the arrival of William of Sens, in the year 1176. Of Master John Morow we possess little additional information. From the same partially obliterated tablet it appears that he was the master, perhaps general or grand master, of all the Masonic work or lodges of St. Andrews, around the Cathedral ot Glasgow, and at the churches of Paslay, Niddis- dale and Galway. John : Morow : sum : tyme : callyt : Was : :I : and : born : in : Parysse : Certainly : and : had : in : keeping : al : Mason : work : of : Santandrays : Ye : hye : kirk : of : Glasgow : Melrose : And : Paslay : of : Nyddysdayl : And : of : Galway : I : pray : to : God : And : Mary : baith : and : sweet : st : John : keep : this : haly : kirk : fra : skaith : HISTORIC MASONRY. 61 Now it is equally clear that at these several edifices there were Masons at work, who, according to the united evidence of trustworthy historians, usually, when in great numbers, labored in lodges ; therefore the deduction is rational and direct that there were lodges of Masons employed upon the above buildings! If then, John Morow was the master of all this work, or of these lodges, he was possessed of a jurisdiction over an indefinite num- ber of subordinate bodies, and was, in a word, the general or grand master. 1 should infer that his name, correctly written, was Moreau, from the circumstance that it is once engraved Mur- uo, which is nearly an English corruption of the first ; and in ad- dition to this, he informs us that "he was sometimes called Morow," signifying that this name was merely accorded him by the people among whom he was domiciled, whose accentuation had modified Moreau into Murow or Murno. The fine arts in Kneland were much indebted to William of Sens. He first introduced the chisel at the rebuilding of the Can- terbury Cathedral. In the preparation of freestone for building purposes, up to this time, the adze had been used. His inventive talent constructed the turning m.achine and modeled planes. An accident terminated the active life of this great artist, in a most tragical manner. A scaffolding, which had been erected in the progress of the repairs to the cathedral, yielded to the pressure upon it and precipitated William of Sens to the ground, with stones and timber accompanying his fall. Although seriously injured and confined to his bed, he was enabled, by the assistance of another master of masons, to have his plans duly executed. Failingj however, to regain his former health, he returned to his home in France for better medical facilities. About the close of the twelfth century the style of architect- ure which has received the appellation of the pointed or lancet style, and which ultimately developed into the Gothic, became prominent, and every form which could recall the Syzantine was abandoned. The character of this art betrayed itself in the in- finite variety of section work elaborated upon geometrical out- lines. Of strictly floriated ornamentation but little appears. Among the churches of this style, the church at Madgeburg still 62 HISTORIC MASONRY. remains to attest the purity of art in the beginning of the thir- teenth century. This edifice was begun under the auspices of Bishop Adalbert, in the year 1208. History has preserved the name of Bausak, who was the master builder of the work. One of the most notable structures of this epoch is the cathedral at Cologne. In the 3'ear 1162 Frederick I., in order to signalize his victory over the Milanese, presente'd to this church a costly sarcophagus, containing the relics of the three holy canonized kings of the east. This sacred object attracted many noblemen and rich princes, who, together with others equally pious, greatly enriched the cathedral with large sums of money. In order that these gifts might be suitably appropriated, it was decided to erect a minster, which should correspond to the dignity and importance of such a monument. Engelbrecht, archbishop of Cologne, de- sired to undertake the construction, but his death, in the year 1225, rendered nugatory the design. A conflagration in 1228 destroyed the old cathedral, and in the same year, the archbishop. Count of Hochsteben, began a new edifice, the construction of which progressed slowly until the year 1322, when the choir was consecrated. This choir is the only finished portion of the struc- ture. At various intervals the work upon it was resumed, until the sixteenth century, when it ceased. In 1872 the work of com- pleting the minster v/as again resumed. Few names of the Masons who labored at the building of the cathedral have come down to our time — even the architect who planned the mighty labric is unknown. The name of Gebhard, who was master of the workmen, has, however, been rescued from oblivion. No structure of this age has been the subject of so many eulogistic praises as the Strasburg Cathedral. The original foun- dations of the min.ster date back to the time of Clovis I.,, who caused a small edifice of timber, in the year 504, to be erected. Through the influence of Charlemagne, in 798, the choir was con- structed of stone. But this structure was subsequently de- stroyed, and Bishop Werner was the first who summoned experi- enced operatives to draft the plans for a new building. The foundation was laid in the year 1015, no doubt by Grecian archi- tects, and the choir was erected in 1028. After the bishop's de- HISTORIC MASONRY. 63 mise, for a time, further work ceased. It subsequently pro- gressed slowly to a completion of the nave in the year 1275. The names of various masters who hitherto conducted the plans and directed the artificers upon this cathedral are not knovm, but the imag-e of one builder, who presided over the work on the nave, is still visible in the interior of the building on the transept wall. This edifice is understood to present the finest specimens of Gothic architecture, which attained its fullest perfection towards the close of the thirteenth century. At this period, in the year 1277, Erwin of Steinbach, in conjunction with other master build- ers, laid the foundation for further additions to the cathedral, and resumed the completion of unfinished portions of tbf work. Krwin beautified some parts of the other building, among others, the portal on the south side. What, however, is most singular and deeply interesting in reference to its connection with the history of Freemasonry, is the undoubted authenticity of the alle- gation that Sabina, a daughter of Erwin von Steinbach, rendered '^er father vah'.able assistance in preparing:, with her own hands, several columns, which constitute the chief ornament of the door- way referred to. Tt would seem, from this fact, that the fair architect had received instruction in the secret arts, which at this time were the most exclusive property of a fraternity of builders obligated to profound secrecv and subject to severe penalties in case of disobedience. Tf this be correct, a woman, so earlv as the thirteenth century, "had been made a Freemason." After Erwin's death, in the vear 1318, his son John proceeded with his work, and faithfullv adhered to his father's plans, as evidenced by a portion of the same still preserved on parchment in the archives of the minster. On *:he decease of this master builder, his suc- cessors abandoned the onVinal designs of Erwin, which a want of harmonv between the two sections of architecture manifestly ■^hows- Steinbach's son John was succeeded bv other mn^ters. who pushed the work with great activity, imtil John Hueltz, a master of Colop-ne Masons, about the year i4-^9 brought the south tower to completion In the year 1494 the minster received a new portal on the north side, wrought out bv John of T.^nrUhni-. which is justly celebrated on accoimt of its delicate workmanship. 64 HISTORIC MASONRY. Another masterpiece of Gothic art, the work of mediaeval Freemasons, is visible in the Church of St. Stephen, at Vienna. Originally founded in 1144, aboitt the middle of the thirteenth century it was partially destroyed by fire. In the year 1359 the foundations of the principal towers which adorn the cathedral vere laid, under the superintendence of a Master Mason by the name of Winzla. Hans Buchsbaum, as supen'ising architect, completed one of these in 1433. This Master Mason carried for- ward the construction of other portions of the edifice. At his death, in the year 1459, Anton Pilgram assumed his duties. On one of the column? to the rear of the chancel a sculptured por- traiture of Master Mason Buchsbaum is still visible. This dex- trous artist furnished the workmanship for this chancel and pre- sided over a lodge of skilled operative Freemasons, who worked out the details in accordance with his plans. The word lodge is, perhaps, immediately derived from the Norman-French, and was apparently imported into English by French artists shortly after the conquest. Loggia, Italian, is evi- dently closely allied to the French loge. The word logeum was used to signify the small enclosed space where actors stood to repeat their roles, and is identical with our modern pulpetum. It had the same meaning as aedes, habitato, domicilium, or dwel- lings, and the houses of the ancient Gauls were called logia. Fecit logias, maernae habilitatis ad aulas in capellam. And eorum logiae quando dormient seu quiescent. Merchants designated the place where their wares were exposed for sale as logia. In the mediaeval metrical romance of King Alisander the word oc- curs to describe a tent or temporary resting place, which was, no doubt, its signification among the nomadic Freemasons: "Alisander doth crye wyde. His logges set on water syde." Chaucer uses this word in Canterbury Tales : "Full sikerer was his crowing in his loge." The Anglo-Saxon loca, whence lock significes an enclosure as a guard or preser\'e. Huette, the Teutonic word for lodge, possesses nearly the same meaning as the Saxon loca, and is a derivative of hueten, to guard, to sur- HISTORIC MASONRY. # 65 round for preservation. Hat, German hut, head-gear or protec- tor, and huette, an enclosed space for protection, a building to guard or preserve against, and loca, loge, are identical in signifi- cation. CHAPTER IX. Freemasons organized in England in the thirteenth century. — Tradi- tional assembly of Masons at York not reliable. — Halliwell Manuscript; its antiquity ; copied from an older original. — Naymus Graecus and Charles Martel, also patrons of English Craftsmen. — Masonic legends indicate an Eastern origin. — Gallic builders in Britain. — German masters called to England. — Legend of the four martyrs. For many years after William of Sens, whose tragical fate has already been noticed, the Master Masons of England were usually foreigners, and incorporated by royal authority. They were not regularly organized into corporations under the law, as a society of Freemasons, until the thirteenth century. It is gen- erally believed that a grand assembly of the craft was held at the city of York, in the year 926, and that they were chartered as a corporation, with Edwin as grand master. It is said that, at this time, all the records of the fraternity, in Greek, French and Eng- lish, were collected, and from them were framed the constitution and charges for English Freemasons still in use. Perhaps the earliest historical authority that a record of the craft was preserv- ed in lodges, and that the traditions of the fraternity were re- hearsed, as now, to initiates, is Dr. Plot's Natural History. He refers to this ancient roll as of parchment ; ex-rotulo membranc- ceo penes caementariorum societatem. The statement of the existence of these origiral articles, in the Greek and French lan- guages, at that period, induces serious objections to the correct- ness of the information through which a knowledge of this mythi- cal convention has descended to us. That there were corpora- tions of Grecian builders in the tenth and eleventh centuries in Europe, we have already shown to be beyond controversy, as a close connection was maintained between the early transitional style of arcliitecture and the later Roman, by means of the unin- terrupted intercourse existing between these architects and their native land. The foundation of the tradition concerning the Ma- sonic convocation at York rests upon the assertion of Anderson, HISTORIC MASONRY. 67 that a history of this event was written in the time of Edward IV. towards the termination of the fifteenth century (1475), and also upon copies, or rather one copy, of the Gothic articles alleged to have been made in the reign of Richard II., between the years 1367 and 1399 — nearly five hundred years subsequent to the time assigned for this legendary assembly. The very general decline of literature and classical knowl- edge which ensued after the terrible devastations to which the whole of England was exposed is the subject of a letter by Alfred the Great to a friend, lamenting the almost total extinction of learning in his kingdom, and that, although at the close of the eighth century a knowledge of Greek was so universal that wo- men wrote and spoke it fluently, yet in his day, about fifty years before the alleged assembly of Masons at York, ''there were com- paratively few persons who were able to understand the church service in the English tongue, or translate a Latin epistle into their own language." This great monarch seems to have made strenuous efforts to rebuild the churches burned during the Dan- ish invasions, with the aid of foreign artists imported from abroad : ex-multis gentibus collectos et in omni terreneo aedificis edoctos. At a much earlier period an English bishop procured masons from Gaul to construct for him a stone church. Misit legatarios Galliam qui vitri factores (artifices videlicet), Britanniis eatens incognitos. From this it seems the process of erecting stone edifices was entirely unknown to the British people. It is prob- able th.Ht these foreign artificers were Greeks, and members of the Byzantine corporations, to whose hands alm.ost the whole work of such constructions was, in those remote times, commit- ted. We may at least as.'^ert it to be highly improbable that any of those who are said to have framed these ancient charges and regulations for the government of the craft in the tenth century were, at this epoch, able to comprehend Greek, when England was sunk mto a lamentable state of barbarism and intellectual darkness. So far as relates to the French language, in which a portion of these famous records are claimed to have been drawn up, it will suffice to say that, in the year 926, no French idiom existed as a written language. Although no well-founded belief 68 HISTORIC MASONRY. can be accorded to the assertion that Masonic records in the French language existed in the tenth century., the allegation will serve to indicate that at ^Yhatever epoch the manuscript under examination was first framed, it was well understood, and cur- rently accepted, that French Masons had at sometime brought into England sufficient Masonic art to entitle them to specific men- tion. Unity of traditions between the mediaeval English and French craftsmen points to France as the earliest and nearest source where Masonic knowledge was procured. The time fixed as the date of the York a<;senibly, in the year 926, is purely and entirely conjectural. No portion of the manuscript contains the slightest allusion to that or any other period, but merely states Masonry was introduced in the time of Athelstan, who, according to more recent v/ritten legends, held a grand convocation at York, and that he made proclamation at that time for all records pertaining to the craft to be produced before him. Upon what authority this assemblage of Masons has been referred to a defi- nite year is unknown, but, it is to be presumed, from the fact that Edwin, an English prince, lived about the year 926. As to the style, orthography, or lettering of the manuscript in question, nothing attests Mr. Halliwell's assumption that it was written in the year 1390. The same reasoning which ascribes it to the close of the fourteenth century will admit of assigning an origin much later, perhaps to the middle of the fifteentii cen- tury. However this may be, I am clearly of the opinion that this MS., which is lettered and numbered in the library of the British Museum as Royal 17, Ai, has been copied from an older and more ancient parchment, or transcribed from fragmentary tradi- tions. My opinion is based upon the internal evidence which certain portions of the manuscript present, having an evident ref- erence to a remote antiquity. Among other ancient charges it is ordained that no master or fellow shall set any layer, within or without the lodge, to hew or mold stone. In the eleventh article of these constitutions one ot the reciprocal duties prescribed to e Mason is : "That seeth his fellow hewen on a stone, and this, then, pointeth to spoil that stone, amend that stone and help him," etc. HISTORIC MASONRY. 69 In this connection I quote from the Cook MS., No. 23,198, that the copyi.st had before him an older parchment, which con- tained the following remarkable phraseology: "And it is said, in old books of Masonry, that Solomon confirmed the charges." Until the close of the twelfth century stones were hewn out with an adze. About this time the chisel was introduced and supctr- seded the hewing of stone. Thus we see that the words "hew a stone" had descended from the twelfth century, at least, to that period when the manuscript first quoted was copied, and, being found in the roll before the copyist, were also transcribed. More- over, the occurrence of Charles Martel's name in the MS. so early as that of Cook indicates that the tradition of his connection with the Masons or stonemasons had long obtained among the frater- nity in England. It is highly probable that this legend was car- ried there by foreign workmen from the continent, where, as we have seen, this tradition was extant as early as the year 1254. No mention is made in the French ordinances of Louis IX. of a certain Namus Graecus, who, as stated in the older manu- scripts; was a curious man, and had been at the building of King Solomon's temple. From thence he passed, in bold defiance of all chronology, after a mighty slumber, into France, and there taught the stout-hearted Charles Martel, or Marshal — the latter, no doubt, an error of the transcriber — the science of Masonry. I merely advert to this strange statement of Namus Graecus as furnishing additional but conjectural evidence that Masonic guilds recognized a Grecian origin of many things perpetuated in their lodges, and that when they were actually organized in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the same Byzantine traditions which had prevailed among the lay corporations and monastic workmen of an early age passed to the mediaeval Freemasons. The name af Namus, or, as the old York manuscripts style him, Naymus Graecus, simply signifies Naymus the Grecian. To what age his original connection with the legends of the craft should be assigned is beyond recovery. But this name, attesting thus its own derivation, seems to assume that he was a Byzantine artificer, or that he belonged to one of the Greek corporations of 70 HISTORIC MASONRY. builders whose existence was clearly maintained throughout Eu- rope from the fifth to the eleventh centuries. I have enlarged upon the traditional relations of Namus the Grecian with the earlier building associations, deeming that le- gend so far trustworthy as developing a clew to the route by which such portions of Freemasonry as can be fairly traceable to oriental influence came to be incorporated into the legendary lore of middle age fraternities, and, subsequently, constituting an es- sential part of lodge ritual. That this was the accepted view by the ancient craftsmen in early ages is probable, and that the as- sumption was a correct one is clearly proven by the vmiformity and unvarying constancy with which the ancient manuscripts assert that Namus the Grecian brought masonry, or the building art, from the east. This name has descended to our day through all the intervening changes of time. It is not to be found in the writings of secular or profane authors, nor does it appear in the eventful periods of ecclesiastical history. It is the only name mentioned in these venerable Masonic records whose significance tends towards a solution of the difficult problem, at what remote period of European history the details of art were translated from the orient by Greek builders, and also implies the original belief among mediaeval Freemasons that, through Grecian oper- atives, the secrets of architectural construction had come down to their time. In addition to this the manuscripts assert that at the mythical Masonic convocation at York there were records written in Greek, showing conclusively to what extent these early English Masons acknowledged themselves indebted to the Gre- cian or Byzantine artificers. The old chronicles of the craft further relate that Masonry was introduced into France by Namus the Grecian, who instruct- ed Charles Martel in the science. As we have already stated, the first known master Masons on British soil were foreigners and Frenchmen — John Moreau, a Parisian, and William, a native of Sens — the former of whom, early in the twelfth century, was nias- ter of Scottish Masons ; the latter, in 1276, rebuilt the cathedral of Canterbury. It is well known that William the Conqueror deluged the whole of England with foreign artificers, whom he HISTORIC MASONRY. 7J brought with him or ordered from France, and the almost utter extinction of the Anglo-Saxon social element, either by proscrip- tion or gradual merging into the Norman, rendered it necessary that public edifices, if constructed at all. should be erected by competent workmen imported from abroad. France, at this time, possessed such artisans, because, according to the admission of the quaint chronicles hitherto quoted, long prior to this epoch, Naymus, a Grecian, had carried the science of Masonry into France, and taught it to Charles Martel, according, upon the force of tradition, that Masonic art. or the rules of architecture, were also produced upon French soil by a Grecian or Byzantine operative. And it is none the less singular or significant that the Parisian stonemasons in the year 1254 asserted their independ- ence of certain civil duties, by reason of an exemption or prescrip- tive right, which they traced through all the intermediate changes of time directly to the same Charles Martel. When the demands of the Norman conquerors made it essential to have skilled labor- ers for the construction of sacred and other edifices, such work- men were procured from France in great numbers. Forty-nine years after the death of William, the Normar king, John Moreau, a Frenchman, had laid the foundation walls of that gorgeous 'fabric, Melrose Abbey, and, in a lasting record, alleged himself to be the master of all Masonic work along the river Tweed, on the south border of Scotland, and in Glasgow. Whatever traditions and usages the French stonemasons pos- sessed at this epoch, without doubt passed over with them into England, and, through them, obtained currency in that kingdom. I am inclined to place the translation of the legend of Charles Martel and a knowledge of Naymus Graecus into Great Britain at this era, together with such usages and customs of the frater- nity as were practiced by the Freemasons of France. This view of the subject under consideration has an undoubted weigFt of reason and evidence, but legendary and historical, over the vis- ionary assumption that all, or nearly all, Masonic rites an'3 cere- monies, besides the mediaeval art knowledge of the craft, are the lineal descendants of the ancient Roman building colleges ; espe- cially when it is stated that the relentless power of the early em- perors of Rome crushed out the vital forces of these associations. 72 HISTORIC MASO^fRY. and actuall} forbade them corporate existence. When, however, the emergencies involved in the construction of a new^ capital for the Roman Empire demanded organized bodies of builders, such corporations were formed at Byzantium, under permission and patronage of imperial authority. The reference to Charles Mar- tel, in Boileau's digest of laws affecting the trades, and confirmed by the English records, seems to point to the age of the Carlovin- gian dynasty as the period when Gallic stonemasons or masons recognized the concession made them, which had been perpetu- ated to the thirteenth century. Taken collectively with the tradi- tion of NaymusGraecus.this allusion to so remote a period might allow us to infer that, under the patronage of early German kings, the Byzantine stonemasons exercised a widespread and salutary influence in architectural and plastic art in Germanv, and as for- eigners, sojourning distant from the land of their birth, they were permitted, by royal mandate, to live in accordance with such lav,s as thev elected, and, in consequence, received exempTion from many duties to which the citizens of the empire were subjected. Among these privileges it is fairlv inferable that freedom from municipal watch duty would be the most natural, and as such the Grecian corporations at labor in Germany obtained this conces- sion, and transmitted the same unimpaired to their successors, the stonemasons of Paris, v/here we find it in existence as an old established custom in the year 1254. Foreign architects conducted the erection of the most im- portant cathedrals on British soil, and continued to do so until the total extinction of the knowledge involved in the Gothic arch. German Freemasons also aided in the construction of English churches and abbeys and other public edifices. That the German Masonic fraternity exercised a decided influence upon architect- ure in Great Britain at an early age is undeniable, and in addition to the fact that many elegant cathedrals were erected there i n Gothic style, as in the case of King's College chapel, of which the plans and designs were prepared by a German master, this assumption is based upon other ground than the preceding. The earliest records now extant relating to the stonemasons of Ger- many, allude to four Christian engravers, who had received the HISTORIC MASONRY. 73 crown of martyrdom under Diocletian for refusing to perform certain work to be used in the decoration of a heathen temple. They are denominated in direct allusion to the sacred cause of their death, quator coronati. CHAPTER X. Halliwell manuscript on the legend. — Building corporations eagerly joined. — Qualifications of membership. — The members are armed. — Degrees among Freemasons. — Duration of an apprenticeship. — Sick brethren assisted. — Antiquity of the word "Hail" or "Hale." — Marks a portion of Mediaeval Lodge Ritual. — Mediaeval Lodge : how entered by travelling Brother. — Especial privileges of a wandering companion. — To be helped and receive support. — The secrets of ancient Freemasons. — Moral principles and perfect mechanical skill. — Liberal arts and sciences. When the German Masons arrived in England they brought with them a thorough and practical knowledge of the secret de- tails of that art which constitutes the chief attractions of Gothic architecture. They also naturally carried over the usages, cus- toms and traditions which were current among the fraternity in their native country. The most convincing proof that this alle- gation is a correct one, is the acceptation of the tradition touching these four martyrs by the English middle age Freemasons. It is incorporated in Halliwell's manuscript as a portion of the legendary history of the craft, and is referred to in such a manner as to warrant the conclusion that the tradition had long obtained with British Masons. The following constitutes the whole of this legend, which was transcribed directly from the manuscript itself: "Pray we now to God Almight, And to his swete modr Alary bryght, Yat we mowe kepe yese articulus here. And yese poyntes well all yfere. As dede yese holy raartjrrs fowre, Yat in yys craft were of gret honoure, Yey were as god Masons as on erthe shul go. Gravers and image makers yey were also. For they were werkmen of ye beste, Ye Empe hade to them gret luste. He wylued of hem a 3'niage to make, Yt mowt be worshiped for hys sake. Such mawmet}^s he hade yu hys dawe, To turn ye pepal from Crysti's lawe. But yey were stediast yu Cstis lay. And to their craft wtouten nay." HISTORIC MASONRY. 75 The quaint chronicle further proceeds to narrate that these stonemasons, or gravers, as they are called, persisting in their refusal to carve out the emperor's image for public reverence, were first imprisoned, and subsequently by the enraged ruler's order, put to death. This establishes a more or less remote con- nection between the traditions of the German craftsmen and those of the English Freemasons. No doubt many things still prac- ticed within the tiled recesses of Masonic lodges, at all traceable to German or Teutonic sources, are evidently the contributions of both the Gallic and German Masons, who, thus early in the history of Freemasonry, had imparted their several legends to their British brethren. From the valuable privileges accorded to mediaeval guilds, it is reasonable to infer that admission to the Masonic corporation was not unattended with conditions more or less difficult for can- didates. At an early age in Masonic history these brotherhoods or craft guilds had widely extended, and each society, having its existence recognized by municipal authority, was possessed sub- stantially of identical powers of internal government. All laws, rules and regulations affecting these organic bodies, whether commercial or mechanical, v/ere very early digested, and consti- tuted a large portion of the private laws of the empire. To such extent did these corporations increase about the thirteenth cen- tury that they were sufficiently powerful to defy imperial author- ity. Not unfrequently it happened that these societies, by the terms of their charters, v.'ere allowed to arm the members 'for de- fense, and went out to battle with their masters in command. In their general scope and design, these guilds almost universally had the outline of a church brotherhood — the duty of caring for their sick and infirm being strongly impressed upon each mem- ber of the fraternity. Society funds were used to bury deceased brethren, and on such occasions the funeral procession was ter- minated by a banquet. While on this point it may not be unin- teresting to mention the fact that guilds were established whose express and only purpose was the humane treatment of those af- flicted with leprosy — a disease alleged to have been introduced into Europe from the east by crusaders. That membership in 76 HISTORIC MASONRY. organizations privileged to regulate their affairs independent of royal or ecclesiastical interposition was highly prized may be readily inferred, and that such admission was eagerly sought will admit of little doubt when it is stated that whenever a brother, in certain instances, was summoned before the civil judiciary all the members of his guild accompanied him, and none but those con- nected with the brotherhood were fully competent witnesses. In such cases the oath of the accused was valued as three to one of a stranger. What qualifications were necessary for initiation or member- ship cannot be definitely mentioned. In many guilds of the mid- dle ages an mitiation fee was required, and in others the appli- cant must exhibit satisfactory evidence of knowledge and capacity to acquire the craft. From a digest of laws which Boileau com- piled in the year 1254, it woidd seem that a property qualification for membership in these close corporations was requisite. So far as relates to the Masonic brotherhood, the old regula- tions which have descended to us sufficiently attest that the re- quirements still in vogue were substantially the same among the mediaeval Masons. To be received as an apprentice it was abso- lutely essential that the applicant should be free-born, and of a prescribed age. What was the minimum of years is uncertain. It is, at all events, very clear that the proposed apprentice need not be one and twenty ; but, on the contrary, at any reasonable time during his minority he was eligible to the degree of an en- tered apprentice. That this was a degree by itself, and the first towards advancement, can, I think, admit of but little controversy and, as such, existed in the contemplation of early Masons. The German Masons designated this class of worker as "diener," or servants; the French stonemasons called them "apprentis" (learners), or, as the English craftsmen learned it from their Gal- lic brethren, "apprentices." The young workman ceased to be an apprentice on attaining the degree of fellow, and this advance- ment carried with it higher powers, additional preferment, and greater privileges, and, in like manner, the fellow craftsman ter- minated that connection upon becoming a master. How far ap- prentices were mitiated into the mysteries of the order at that time HISTORIC MASONRY. 77 is, at the present day, involved in obscurity; that they received sufficient information to gain admittance into lodges of appren- tices is beyond question, and that such lodges were opened, to which these operatives were called, is equally true. All instruc- tion essential to the apprentice in order to become a fellow was imparted to him, together witli such grips and passwords as pre- vented imposition from the uninitiated. He must also have re- ceived a thorough drilling in the elements of geometric science, and an explanation of the symbolic appliances necessary to his degree. It was an unvarying qualification, and one not restricted to Masonic fraternities, that the candidate should be of sound body and mind and unqualifiedly of legitimate parentage. This last stipulation was insisted upon, in the thirteenth century, by the French stonemasons under penalty of a heavy fine. Halliwell's MSS., arts. 4 and 5, is explicit upon these points : Saint Canute's Guild, one of the oldest ScandinaWan fraternities, made it a con- dition precedent to initiation that the applicant should be %\'ithout reproach; "idonea sit persona et sine infamia." In England a more extended duration of sendee was demanded of an appren- tice Mason tiian in France or Germany, namely, seven years, and with this regulation the statute law of England entirely coincided. All the English Masonic manuscripts, I believe, are identical in this particular. English apprentices, upon the advancement to the degree of fellow, took the prescribed oath upon the Scriptures, or holy-dome, which were held by a senior (warden), as indicated in the Landsdownie MSS. It is uncertain how long the obligated candidate remained a fellow, but it is inferable that when initiated into the secrets of this degree he received tlie essential parts of the mystic rites of the brotherhood and the fullest details of architectural art. When- ever circumstances permitted him to assume the superintendence of Masons then the final grade of master was conferred upon him. He was also instructed in the powers and duties to that station, together with the secret synibols which constituted the ground- work of his authority. All the mystical and geometrical secrets of Freemasonry were certainly given in this degree so that when 78 HISTORICIMASONRY. the fellow craftsman was appointed or selected to direct a lodge of builders he was instructed in nothing further, with the exception, perhaps, of the emblems incident to a master's power and the legend of the builder. The apprentice, having honorably terminated; and with con- ceded proficiency, the term of years during which he was held subject to his master's control, he was entitled to be received and recognized as a fellowcraft Mason. This degree carried with it immunities and priA-ileges which belonged in no wise to the for- mer. As a fellow or companion the operative was at liberty to wander whither he pleased in search of work. This facility was denied the apprentice, unless the master were unable to furnish him with employment ; in th;*t case he could loan his apprentice a mark in order that he might travel in quest of labor. Whenever a traveling brother in search of employment or assistance ap- proach"iecl a lodge and desired to gain admission, he gave three distinct knocks upon the door. The brethren within immediately ceased their work, laid down their tools, and formed themselves in regular, probably geometrical, order, and the master or warden occupied no distinctive position. Upon entering the lodge tlie visiting craftsman advanced by three upright measured steps and gave the salute or hailing sign. After having saluted the con- gregated lodge the wandering brother, in formal manner, thus addressed them : "May God greet you, may God direct you, may God reward you, master warden, and }'ou, good fellows." There- upon the master was obliged to respond with thanks in order that the visitor might discern who was the master of the lodge. Then the stranger craftsn^an resumed the fraternal colloquy and said: "My master" — calling him by name — "sends you cordial greet- ing." After this he passed around the lodge before aU the crafts- men for the purpose of saluting them in the same friendly way as he had greeted the master, and in return for his salutation the master warden and fellows gave a courteous response. And this was the custom for traveling Masons to go around the lodge, from one to another, thanking each brother in case he received favors at his hands. In case a fellowcraft, thus wandering, arriv- ed before the lodge was convened for labor, he was entitled to HISTORIC MASONRY. 79 receive a per diem compensation. After the mutual salutes in accordance with the prescribed regulation had been finished, if it happened that the visiting oper- ative desired material assistance, he was at liberty to demand it of the master, who, by virtue of his obligation, was necessitated to aid him to the extent of his financial ability, and was also re- quired to expend his wages for the distressed brother's comfort, if it were demanded. If, perchance, the master builder had so little work as to be comparatively idle, upon demand, he was com- pelled to go with the applicant and aid him with the other breth- ren. Also, when a traveling Mason petitioned for a chisel and piece of stone, in order to carve his mark upon it, his request was immediately complied with. As a last resort, to render his urgent appeal for help effective, he exclaimed : "Help me that God may help you." Assistance was then given, and thereupon he re- moved his hat, and said very humbly : "May God thank (re- ward) you, worshipful master, wardens, and worthy fellows." Like all mediaeval guilds, whenever a member, through sickness or other circumstances was unable to support himself, he was enti- tled to relief from lodge funds, and upon the return of health or fortune, he could be compelled to refund the expenditures. By a regulation of the Garlekhith Guild, London, instituted in 1375, any brother in necessitous circumstances, by old age or poverty, who had been a member of the fraternity for seven years, was to receive I4d a week during "terme of his lyfe, but he be recouv- ered of his mischief." St. Katherine's Guild allowed i4d weekly to each member who "throw fur or water, theves or sykness, or any other happes" was unable to assist himself. Members were directed to watch at the bedside of a sick or infirm brother, and in case of death, should follow his body to the grave. Loss of goods by lire or shipwreck was indemnified. An integral ele- ment of the ancient Icelandic constitution also compensated for such loss — a guarantee in the nature of a fire or marine insurance. An association of citizens, not less than twenty, designated i Repp, upon complaint of a member that he had been injured by the foiegoing casualties, assembled and heard the proofs 80 HISTORIC MASONRY. of damage. If the allegations of loss were substantiated, an as- sessment of 6 per cent, ad valorem was made on the associate members' property to redress the damage sustained. Si quis confratorum nostromm guildae, in decrepitam aestatem aut pau- pertatem inciderti, seu in morbum incurabilem, de properio non habuerit, unde possit sustineri, seu sustinari ; relevetur secundum aestimatum, et dispositionem Aldermanni. In Masonic ritualism the word "hail" is invariably used. Hail, conceal, never reveal, form a triad. The original significa- tion of the first named word has long since passed away. With the exception, perhaps, of the master's mallet or gavel, no por- tion of regular lodge appurtenances is so clearly and satisfactor- ily traceable to a Saxon or Teutonic source. "Hail" occurs in an alliterative form in mediaeval oath=;, and meant concealment. In this sense it is now to be understood. About the ninth century a phraseology was in use: "Ich schwere das ich will verwahren, hueten and helen." A judge .swore: "Das heilige geheimisse zu heuten und su helen." The lines cited signify : "I swear the se- crets to conceal, (helen) hold, and not reveal." King Alfred's translation of Paul Orosius' history contains this word "helen" and is always adopted as a vigorous expression for secrecy. In its present application "hail," or "helan" is totally divested of signification, but taken collectively with the entire triology the meaning asserts itself to be an intensive repetition of "conceal and not reveal." Upon the termination of an apprenticeship, and upon the ap- prentice receiving the degree of a fellow, he was entitled to pos- sess a separate and individual mark which he must thenceforth in- cise upon his work. The presentation of this honorable distinc- tion was accompanied with a ceremony, and always with a ban- quet. It was rightly prohibited a fellowcraft securing such dis- tinctive token, except under the circumstances as previously nar- rated. It sometimes happened that a regular craftsman who had learned the work appeared in conclave and asked to be invested with a mark. The nia.ster, if satisfied with the justice of his de- mand, was compelled to grant his request. From the foregoing, it will, I trust, sufficiently appear that the points adverted to were, HISTORIC MASONRY. 8J so early as the years 1459 and 1462, an undisputed part of sym- bolic or Blue Lodge Masonry, and that they were the entire prop- erty of fellowcraft Masons. The secrets of a Mediaeval lodge consisted of a thorough and profound knowledge of the rudiments of those arts and sci- ences by a successful combination of which superb edifices were erected to the honor of the living God! These principles were preserved in sym.bolic form, as no written draughts were allowed. The symbols were composed principally of geometric elements ; sexagon, octagon and circle. Sometimes they were borrowed from the implements used in building, such as the gtiage, square, level, plumb, etc. The first cited symbols had a direct reference to art, and were designed to serve both as a perpetual reminder of the rules of construction and to portray, in a tangible form, various types of proportion. In their emblematic relations these figures unfolded to the brethren a more profound wisdom ; to the Master, an immutable clue ; and to the fellows and apprentices, a finger-board in the ever-lengthening route of knowledge. In nearly every instance, perhaps, the symbols contained valuable moral instructions to the humble and pious artisan, and were typified to impress the Mason's heart with the beauties of an up- right life, in all business and professional transactions — a mean- ing which lay concealed in the angle of the square, the perfect circle and reliable level. In the document which is asserted to have been written by King Henry VI., of England, is contained a valuable summary of such secrets as were claimed by mediaeval lodges. There is no reason to assume, however, that this famous treatise was the pro- duction of its alleged author, although it bears all the internal evidence of having been prepared by a Masonic writer towards the close of the fi.fteenth or beginning of the sixteenth century. Masonic mysteries are there stated to be a knowledge of natural sciences and their inherent powers, together with an ability to interpret the varied operations of nature. Especial claim is made to skill in the science of numbers; to mechanical and mathemat- ical learning; to admeasurements, and the entire understanding of molding and fashioning all things for man's use, chiefly the con- structive art involved in the erection of dwellings and edifices of 82 HISTORIC MASONRY. every description ; and also to an acquaintance with those things which make good men. Instruction was given the members in the seven liberal arts and sciences, which the monasteries con- tributed, but according to the treatise from which we are quot- ing, religion was made a prominent portion of lodge secrets. CHAPTER XI. The origin of the name Freemason.— Early use of the word Mason. — Freemason traced to Gallic sources. — Signifies Brother Craftsmen. — Initia- tory oaths and I,odge meetings. — Obligation of Secrecy. — Ceremonies in formal opening. — Dedication of Lodges. — Patron Saints. — Places of con- vening the Craft. — Crypts. — Hills and valleys.— Skilled workmen at master's command. — Called a "Nomadic Race." — Monastic Masons. — Oblati. — Masonic dress in Middle Ages. A diversity of opinion exists touching the origin of the name Freemason. The majorit)' of writers incline to the belief that this title of Freemason was bestowed upon the craft on account of unlimited exemptions, which, it is alleged, were conceded the fra- ternity at the hands of royalty, or powerful protectors. It can, we think, be easily demonstrated that this view is not well grounded, and, moreover, that the craft of Masons in their corpor- ate franchises, were not the recipients of any supposed universal political freedom which would entitle them to be designated as free, par excellence, as contrasted with the immunities of other guilds or societies of workmen. Nor does it appear that this cor- poration of operatives was possessed of unusual privileges in the internal management of their widespread lodges, because this freedom was not only shared, but frequently exceeded by con- temporaneous fraternities. The earliest approach to the use of the word Freemason is in the stattite of 24 Edward II., of the year 13SO; which, similar to all English laws of that epoch, are published in the French lan- guage, and is styled Le Statut d'Artificers et Servants. The orig- inal text contains the words "Mestre de franche peer," "et outre mason," "et leurs servants." The literal signification of mestre de franche peer is master of freestone, that is, one who works in such stone, or is evidently here used to distinguish a mason adept in preparing freestone from an ordinary rough stone mason. The earliest authentic and direct application of the word "mason," to particularize a body of artificers, of which I am aware, 84 HISTORIC MASONRY. is to be found in almost obliterated characters on the walls of Melrose Abbey, and cannot be later than the twelfth century ; and the next and undoubted use of it occurs in Boileau's Reglemens sur les Metiers, prepared in the year 1254, \\'here these artisans are denominated "macons," and meant to signify precisely the same operatives as "tailleur de pierre." The deduction from the fore- going then, perhaps, would be that towards the termination of the fourteenth century this class of builders in England was called Freemasons. The ordinance of 1254, which makes no especial reference to any but a mason and cutters of stone, so that, in the middle of the thirteenth century the French craftsmen, as then organized, were simply "macons," "tailleurs de pierre," who correspond to tlie mediaeval English lathomii, masons, and the German steinmetzen, all of which possess one signification, hewers of stone, of a higher skill than an uninitiated operative. The Norman-French frema- ceons warrants the assumption that English Freemasons were the first to be denominated Freemasons ; and, according to Boil- eau's ordinances, as hitherto cited, it would seem that in his day the craft was not known by any other name than tailleurs de pierre, macons. Precisely as the German masons continued theii; avocation as steinmetzen. until the society in Germany finally ceased as an operative body. The name Freemason thus bestowed upon early British stonemasons was evidently given on account of the universal cus- tom of the fraternity, without exception in England, and to some extent elsewhere on the continent, and in France at this epoch, to call each other brother, or in old French, frere macon, from which this nomenclature is derived. The Norman conquest introduced the French language into England, to the temporary seclusion of the native idiom, so that when the English masons were incorporated, the Normans had indelibly impressed their dialect upon the kingdom, and used it to write the laws and royal charters. Blackstone gives a succinct and comprehensive narrative of the universal application of Nor- man-French in the preparation of legal and other documents. In the reign of Edward III., an act of Parliament was passed re- quiring the records to be made up in Latin, but extending the use HISTORIC MASONRY. 85 of the English tongue to court practice. From this circumstance, apparently, the name of Frere Macon, elided by corrupt pronun- ciation, has been merged and made to reappear in the modern word Freemason. It might, indeed, be made the subject of curi- ous speculation as to how Freemasonry, in connection with the word frere, depended upon the old Saxon "Frith-borh," peace or frank pledge, for its name. Frith-bohr was the enrollment of all inhabitants of a commercial guild for maintenance of peace. Frith Macon, or Massun, might with much propriety be devolved into Freemason. That it was :x custom among English Masons, at an early date, to address each other as "brother," admits of no doubr. Such usage is carefully enjoined by the manuscript charges in the following quaint and naive form : "That ye one another call brother or fellow, and by no other foul name."' Also, "You shall call all Mason? your fellows or your brethren and noe other names," in Lansdowne MSS. Whether this custom prevailed outside of lodge precincts is uncertain ; but it seems to have ob- tained among the mediaeval Freemasons, in their mutual Masonic intercourse, wheresoever dispersed. It was u.nquestionably ad- hered to, rigidly by the operatives, when craftwork, within the lodge was being performed, because the moment a visiting brother entered the portal of the sacred conclave, he saluted the members and assembled brethren with endearing words of fellow- ship and fraternal regard. This practice has descended to the present time, among other ancient observances transmitted to speculative Masonry. The constant use, by the Masons of the middle ages, in England, and perhaps elsewhere, so late a? the closing years of the fourteenth century, of the word brother or frere, in French, in addressing their fellows, ultimately catised them to be designated as "brother or frere Masons," in order to distinguish them from ordinary la- borers, who were apparently less privileged, and not bound to- gether by such strong fraternal ties. To assume that this name originated from the unquestioned fact that, to a great degree, the mediaeval Masons v/orked in freestone, presents a^chasm which no elision can fill. For instance, in the statute quoted, a master is described as niestre de franche peer. This is the only 86 HISTORIC MASONRY. direct connection in which these words are nsed, and signify, not a freestone Mason, as sometimes asserted, but a master of free- stone, and no ingenuit)^ can torture this expression into such shape as to mean Freemason. An oath of secrecy was administered to all initiates, and their secret conclaves were held at certain times and places. After the candidate had been properly instructed in the elements of the craft, the old manuscripts inform us, then one of the seniors or wardens held the book, or holy-dome, and the initiate, placing bis hand upon it, took upon himself a solemn obligation to conceal all that he had been previously instructed in, and that he would endeavor to preserve the charges of a Mason which were recited to him. How exclusively the details of art were in keeping of these Freemasons, and how carefully these vows were kept, may be learned from the grossly inaccurate copies of architecture which have been preserved in the illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages, particularly during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Lodges originally signified a place of meeting, and perhaps lodg- ing, for masters and fellows ; but this signification soon enlarged and under the name of lodge came to be understood the associa- tion of artists and workmen who were united for the purpose of erecting churches, cathedrals and other edifices. These lodges originallj'^ were convened at sunrise, and the master, having invested himself with the insignia of office, took his station in the east, while the brethren grouped before him in the form of a semi-circle or oblong spuare. Prayer was an es- sential point in the opening of a lodge, and harmony, while as- sembled^ was especially insisted on among the members. The custom of invocation was by no means confined to the Masonic fraternity, although Freemasonry, being under the general super- vision of the church at its inception, imbibed a strong religious spirit. In obedience to the prevailing usage of the middle ages to place all organizations under the patronage of saints. Masonry also dedicated its lodges to a variety of martyrs. German Masons dedicated their fraternities to the holy crowned saints, as before HISTORIC MASONRY. 87 adverted to, andtlie Masonic brotherhood in Paris declared them- selves under the patronage of Saint Blase. At a very early age, St. John was invoked as the patron of British Masons, Mon- seigneur Saint Blesue or Blase, Boileau says, the patronage of tins saint was still recognized by the French Masons in 1746. No custom appears to have been better established than that of plac- ing guilds under the protection of patron saints. Tonlman Smith, in his English Guilds, says in this connection : "Among the rec- ords of at least six hundred early English guilds that have come under my careful review, I have very rarely found this absence save in some of the guild merchants." In Italy the fFaternity of nainters held the patronage and protection of the invisible Saint Luke in the highest esteem. This incorporation of artists incor- porated in their laws that no work should be commenced without first appealing to God for His aid — a practice which, as we have previously noted, was in vogue among the operative Masons of past ages, and is still adhered to in modern Freemasonry. So firmly did the foregoing association of artists adhere to this regu- lation that the distinguished painter-architect, Fra Angelica, never began any great or important work of art without first in- voking the assistance and inspiration of Deity. Many guilds had chaplains 'who conducted religious services and prayer. In the return made b} a guild in 1389, the following appears : "Divinique xultus augmentum ac dicte ecclesie cathedralis et sustentationis duorum capellanorum." After prayer at the opening of a mediaeval lodge was finished, each workman had his daily labor assigned him, and received the necessary instruction to complete the work in detail. The craft again assembled at close of day, or at sunset, and the same formal arrangement of the operatives, with prayer, was repeated. The craft then received their wages. Places where lodges were opened seemed to have varied with circumstances, and apparent- ly there were two classes of lodges, one of which was the ordinary lodge of stonemasons, where the usual lodge work and daily labor were performed under the scrutinizing eye of the master or his warden ; and the other where initiatory rites were practiced upon the candidates. 88 HISTORIC MASONRY. The meetings of the fir.et mentioned lodges were generally held at any convenient place where the building hut of the crafts- men was erected, and to this enclosure the brethren were called both for labor and refreshment. Without going into details touching the exterior and internal appointments of a mediaeval lodge, it will suffice in this connection to say that the lodges were regularly furnished with all the appliances of a mechanical trade, such, for instance, as benches, working tools, etc., and the win- dows of the lodge were provided with shutters, which it was the operatives' duty to see properly closed and securely fastened. Here it was that labor was performed and technical work done during the day, and even the builders' huts do not seem to have been always so completely guarded as to prevent surprise. .\ painting in the Louvre, representing Saint Barbara as patron saint of a cathedral in process of construction, painted by Jean Van Eyck about the year 1437, contains a builders' lodge roofed over, with unenclosed sides; within the masons are actively en- gaged with hammer, compass and square preparing material to be worked up in the edifice to which the lodge is attached. Around the building the craft are systematically at work. The question now arises, where were the rites and ceremonies of initiation celebrated? To this the an.swer can be made with tolerable historical certainty. An investiture with Masonic se- crets, was perhaps, originally conferred in one of the abbey rooms, near which the cathedral or other sacred edifice was being erected, until the superstructure had so far advanced as to cover the church crypt, and afforded a safe asylum for the craft to congregate in, for the purpose of working the rites appurtenant to the several Masonic degrees. It has long been traditional among the ec- clesiastics of York Minster that the Freemasons during the mid- dle ages convened the craft for secret meetings in the crypt of that grand old edifice. To this day the astute vergers reiterate the legends of centuries, and designate Masons' marks on tiles leading to subterranean chambers. Recent and indefatigable research has brought to light an ancient lodge minute book, dat- ing far back in the past century. A record is made up in tins manuscript, jioting the last convocation called by a York lodge, and described as a sacred recess opened in the cathedral crypt. HISTORIC MASONRY. 89 Among other treasures still preserved with jealous vigilance by the lodge in York is a venerable painting of this spacious hall, formerlv used by the fraternity, which is represented as decorated with Masonic symbols. These somber vaults, too gloomy for ordinary mechanical lodge work, were peculiarly adapted for the display of lights, and to render initiatory rites solemn and impres- sive. It was indeed a sacred place, with the vast enclosure of confined space, and massive supporting columns encompas.sing the mystic gloom of side aisles and heavy arches above ! Fos- broke, in British Monachism, says these crypts were frequently used for "clandestine drinking and things of that kind." For which candid admission the clerical antiquary has been most un- mercifully berated by Poole, in Ecclesiastical Architecture. An eminence or high hill of itself afforded no sufficient secur- iy for secret ceremonies against the approach of the uninitiated, nor were the lowest valleys, for the same reason, satisfactory places to confer degrees. The notion that ancient Freemasons usually held their lodges on the highest hills and in the deep valleys is no doubt traditionally correct, because, among the northern nations, hills and valleys were invested with especial re- ligious veneration, and for this reason churches were erected on lofty eminences bv early Christian evangelists as a substitute for those dedicated there to the worship of heathen divinities. Wher- ever churches were being constructed, lodges naturally met and performed their regular work, and from this fact the tradition touching such gatherings on elevated places has descended to modern Masonry. These Masonic societies which held their existence — and in no other way could they have preserved it — by the process of erecting vast edifices, lasting through centuries, constituted, like the mediaeval universities of learning, small states within regular- ly organized governments. Their meetings, as before remarked, were secret and wert held in lodges where the busy craftsman plied his technical vocation, and practiced the mystic ceremonies of a symbolical ritualism. When any large building was in con- templation the Masons removed in large numbers to the spot, and hence they have been described as a "nomadic race." Blunt in his History of the Reformation, in adverting to the universality 90 HISTORIC MASONRY. of the Latin language during the middle ages, and particulary as a medium of intercourse between distinct nationalities, says : "And Freemasons, a kind of nomadic race, pitched their tents wherever they found occupation, and having reared the cathedral or church with admirable art, journeyed on in search of other employers." Every master had at his command the services of workmen well acquainted with and accustomed to the working of his plans. These operatives denominated confreres (frercs- Masons), or associated brother Masons, no doubt accompanied their master from place to place, as occasion demanded, and cer- tainly they must have devoted their lives to such work ; for the exquisite chiseling? and floriated capitals, with which many of the chapels of Eurooe abound, were never produced without in- tense and zealous application, aided by great taste, artistic feel- ing and long practice Th?t such workmen did anciently exist in great numbers is sufficiently proven by the works of art which which thev have left behind them as monuments of their skill. It is probable that the masters wrought out the designs in conjunc- tion with powerful and munificent ecclesiastics, and, as previous- ly shown, the churchment of those ages materially aided in suc- cessfully prosecuting the plans. When the society of Freemasons passed from monastic con- trol, great numbers of the monks continued their membership with the lodges, and many of them, as Gundelaudus. Abbot of Lawresheim wielded the compass and gavel with almo.st as much utility as the cross, and, unquestionably, a good deal of actual handiwork was done by the monastic brethren themselves. This will, in a measure, satisfactorily explain many of those touches of satire, in the way of droll and ludicrous portraiture, visible in European churches, and .seem to be directly pointed out against rival clerical sects. While in the employ of these religious bodies the Masons frequently made journeys from one monastery to another, and these detachments were usually under the guidance of a monk architect. Like other guilds, they traveled well armed. In the center of the convoy was a pack horse or mule, which carried the tools or implements of the workmen, together with their piovisions. The particular class of laborers who seem to have assisted the Masons at their work were called oblati, or HISTORIC MASONRY. 9J those consecrated to religious service among the Benedictines, after having undergone the usual preliminary proofs. The duty asigned these youths was, principally, to bring water, carry mor- tar, stone, and sand, and to attend invalid workmen in the con- ventual infirmary. A Masonic dress for the mediaeval operative was carefully prescribed, and consisted of a short tunic, which, in winter, was made of woolen stuffs, and in summer of linen. This garment was fastend around the waist by a girdle, from which sometimes hung a small satchel, and whpn traveling perhaps a sword. This tunic seems to have preserved an existence from the eleventh century down at least to the time of Van Eyck, in the year 1437. Crafts- men at large covered their heads with a tight-fitting skull cap without a visor ; close-cut breeches completed the Masonic attire. Uniformity of dress was by no means restricted to Freemasons. Nearly every class of civil society was distinguished by peculiar- ity of attire. All guilds prescribed certain suits or livery to be worn bj' members when present at the meetings. A curious regulation of St. Edmund's guild, Bishops Lynn, enacts: "No- man ne come m time of drinke before ye alderman and ye gilde brethren in tabbard, in cloke, ne barlege, ne barfoote," under a penalty of yd. This ordinance was strenuously insisted on by all guilds or sworn brotherhoods, in order to distinguish the mem- bers. In the year 1326 an edict was issued by an ecclesiastical council against these conjurations or societies united by oaths; and, among other charges, it was alleged that the members of these organizations were uniformly attired: et interdum se omnes A'^esti consimile inducentes. Mediaeval minstrels were also distin- tinguished by a peculiar costume. It will be seen from the fore- going references that guilds and professions assumed a certain style or characteristic of dress, and in this respect were closely followed by the Freemasons, who adopted one best suited to the necessities of their vocation, a portion of which — the apron — is still worn. In the painting of the year noted, by Jean Van Eyck, pre- served in the Louvre, delineating the erection of a Gothic tower by the Masons^ and from which the descriptions above were taken mainly, these peculiarities of dress prominently appear. 92 HISTORIC MASONRY. Two of the operatives, who are evidently directing the laborers of the craft stand forth as notable exceptions in style of cos- tume. Each of the fisrures is clothed with a long gown, reach- ing to the knees, tightly bound about the middle, with a heavy turban on his head. These are either a master or a warden, in charge of the work. No unchangeable usage touching the cap or hat for the fraternity, it is believed, prevailed exclusively. An engraving, copied from an ancient painting, prefaces Stieglitz's edition of the Torgau ordinance, in which the three crowned martyrs are ilhistrated as clothed in tunics opening in front. Two of the saints have covering for the head ; one is a close-fitting, unvisored cap, loosely tied with straps in front, which is evidently designed to adjust it to a proper size. I be- lieve this to have been, so to speak, the regulation cap. The other figure has merely a hat, with a long, sloping visor in front, and the back portion turned up from the base of the eye. CHAPTER XII. Italian Craftsmen at this Epoch. — Ecclesiastic or Dominican Masons. — Teutonic masters in Italy. — Bridge builders. — Guilds of Freemasons or Stonecutters in Florence. — Masonic Lodge at Santa Croce. — Lodge ol Masons at Orvieto in the thirteenth century. — Italian Magistri Lapidum — General or Grand Master of Florentine Campanile. — Italy imitates German architecture. — Spanish Masons. — The Netherlands early receive the impetus of Masonic art. — Builders from Cologne and Strasburg employed there. — German Masters in Scandinavia. At the close of the tenth century Italy was so far behind the nations of the north that when, in the year 976, Venice, or rather Pierre Orseola, conceived the project of rebuilding St. Marck's, Grecian artists were imported to lay the foundations. Scarcely had Venice finished its cathedral when Pisa desired to have one also. Several Tuscan vessels launched upon the sea for other conquests than those of war, brought from Greece an infinite number of monuments, statuettes, bas-reliefs, chapters, columns, and diver fragments of oriental workmanship. The enthusiasm became general. In the year 1016, or 1063, according to David, Buschetto, who had accompanied this precious cargo, superin- tended the construction of the cathedral. This artist, nobly en- couraged, formed, it is alleged, an institution or lodge of sculp- ture, which was perpetuated during one hundred and fifty years, and which ultimately produced the distinguished artisan, Nich- olas Pisano, who had the honor, by his influence, to re-establish in Italy the more essential rules of art. The disciples of Buschetto, accepting the commanding im- pulses of their master, transfused his ideas into building art, which rapidly spread throughout the peninsula. Under their ac- tive zeal the cathedrals of Pistoja, Sienna and Lucca were con- structed in a style which betrays a Byzantine influence totally op- posed to the semi-Gothic minster of Milan. Nicholas Pisano, toward the close of the Iwelfth century, had, by an assiduous study of the remnant of antique sculpture, opened the surest way to a full development of eoiind principles and the perfecting of 94 HISTORIC MASONRY. an accurate taste. Marchione, who was his rival, has left his name hewn upon the portal of the church at Arezzo, erected in the year 1216. Giovanni., a son of Xicholas Pisano, was also dis- tinguished as a nia^ter builder, and in abandoning the stilted types whicii had prevailed for many ages, elevated architectural art above a dry, mechanical execution, and, by importing that ii.dividuality and ideaUstic expression which, already obtained among the German stonemasons, indicated the way to subhrne conception-.; in accordance with natural rules. Among the more distinguished ptipils who worked under the instruction of this celebrated master, are enumerated Agostino of Sienna, and Giot- to, the latter of surpassing dexterity, both as architect and sculp- tor, whose name and works Dante has consigned to undying im- mortality. Florence, as a city of fine arts, became one of the cen- tral points of architecture and statuary. 1 he earliest cultivators of the fine arts, of whom the history of the preacher monks makes mention, were two religious bretli- ren, Fra Sisto and Fra Ristora, members of the convent of Santa iiaria Xovclla, the former was a native of Florence, the latter V. as born several nules distant from that city. According to the conjecture of Marchese, founded upon the necrologium of the cloister, they were bom between the years 1220 and 1225, fifteen or twenty years prior to Cimabue. From whom they obtained their instruction in architectural art is uncertain. It is supposed, however, that Xicholas Pisano contributed, in some degree, to their artistic knowledge. The two most celebrated architects, who divided the highest attainments in this art at that period were Nicholas of Pisa and a master builder named Jacopo. The The latter of these was a German, and early in the thirteenth cen- tury constructed the church and convent of San Francisco, at Assisi, and erected, according to his own diagrams, the Church of San Salvadore. If we may give credence to the assertion of Mar- chese, Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro profited by the example and counsels of the German stonemason, Jacopo. The earliest essay of these young master architects was in the rebuilding of certain bridges, which had been destroyed in consequence of heavy inun- dations caused by the Arno overflowing its banks. It is stated that the stone columns used in the construction ot these bridges HISTORIC MASONRY. 95 were placed into position with such mathematical skill that they resisted the deluging rainstorms of 1282-4-8. In the year 1256, Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro, with whom a third monk was asso- ciated, Fra Domenico bv name, in connection, it is said, with oth- er operative masons or stonemasons, assisted in erecting the Ca- thedral of Santa Novella. In the construction of this second edi- fice, Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro were selected as master of the work. Under the supervision of these brethren, other excellent masons aided in the building who, as assistant supervisors of the work and directots of the details of labor, exhibited great profi- ciency in architecture. These belonged to the same convent, and were ecclesiastics. We are informed by the writer, whom we have closely .followed, that the building was so exclusively the handicraft of ecclesiastical operntives that but one other instance is on record, viz : the church and monastery of Dunes, which the Cistercian fathers constructed entirely with their own hands. This will serve to show how thoroughly skilled the monastic brethren became, and how completely the building art was known to the clerics, even so late as the opening of the thirteenth century, at a period when builders were organized into lay corporations and had left the monasteries. The church of Santa Novella, in a striking degree, is the embodiment of perspective art. The build- ing is in the form of a Latin cross — a favorite plan in those ages — and by the successful com.bination of diminishing and contract- ing arches, which support the roof, tapering to the ends, presents a deceptive vista. These monks were regarded, by their Italian contemporaries, among the most proficient artists of that era. The religious fervor which swept through Italy early in the Thirteenth century, under the dextrous manipulation of the Do- minican m.onks, assumed the form of a pious frenzy :^or building and consecratin.cf s?cred fdifices. Men and women were inspired by a zeal to promote this object to such extent that they trans- ported with their own hands much material for the construction of a church and convent at Bologna, in the year 1233. Of the work itself, Fra Jacopina, a Dominican by profession, was selected asmaster builder. The enthusiasm displayed for the erection of houses of divine v/orship at this tim.e in Perugia drew together a vast number of master architects, stonemasons, and others, who »6 HISTORIC MASONRY. were thoroughly qualified to preside over the operatives. It would appear, however, that the great mass of labor was perform- ed by the Dominicans themselves. Three lay architects are des- ignated by Marchese as remarkably skilled in masonic labors at this period in Tuscany, viz: Mazzetto, Borghese and Albertino Mazzanto, the second of whom was an apprentice under the mas- tership of Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro. Borghese, who was bom in Florence in the year 1250, also received instruction in the mys- teries of masonic art under the direction of a master architect named Ugolino. And when, in the year 1284, or thereabouts, the master builders at the Church of Santa Maria Novella were or- dered to Rome to labor in the constraction of the Vatican, Master Borghese was found competent to assume the direction of the workmen, in conjunction with Albertino. another master mason. Numerous guilds of masons were assmbled at Florence towards the close of the thirteenth century, and were employed in the con- struction of churches and other public edifices. At this period Fra Guilelmo, who had received the rudiments of artistic knowl- edge from his distinguished master, Nicholas Pisano, was not only renowned as an architect, but attained to an exalted celebrity by reason of the exquisite workmanship which he displayed as a stone mason on the arch of San Dominico, at Bologna. In addi- tion to his masonic excellence, he distinguished himself by the secret theft of one of St. Dominic's ribs, which, by mediaeval re- ligious superstitution, was invested with supernatural powers. On the 13th of November, in the year 1290, the foundation stone of the cathedral at Orvieto wa,s laid, amid imposing and solemn rites, conducted by his Holiness the Pope, Nicholas IV. Lorenzo Maitani, a native of Sienna, drafted the designs, and wasjdeclarcd master architect of the work. It being desired that this temple should shine with all the resplendent effulgence of art, from all parts of Italy the most effi- cient artists were invited to assist in its construction. In obedi- ence to the mandate, skilled artificers to the number of forty assembled in Orvieto ; among those whose names are mentioned as unusually expert are Arnolfo and Fra Guilemo; the name of the latter stands registered in tlie cathedral memorial of the year 1293. Arnolfo, early in the year 1294, abandoned Orvieto in HISTORIC MASONRY. 97 order to assist in laying the cornerstone of the Santa Croce Church in Florence, the plans and design of which he had prepared. Guil- elmo, according to the record of the operatives quoted by Mar- chese, worked in a lodge designed for sculptors and stonemasons. Among the artificers employed in other lodges of workmen who labored in the erection of the temple at Orvieto, were a German and a Flemish artist, Fazio, an apprentice of Guilelmo, named in the conventual roll of Santa Caterina, of Pisa, is referred to as a layman and magister sculpture. By the assiduous labors of the Dominican artisans and master architects, the church of Saints John and Paul, at Venice, which was commenced in 1246, ad- vanced rapidly to completion during a few years; but the neces- sary contributions failing, labor ceased until the year 1395, when, moved bv an extraordinary zeal, twenty thousand florins were donated by an enthusiastic people, and this structure, one of the most elegant in Venice, was finished. Late in the thirteenth cen- tury the foundations were laid for a Dominican church in Milan, the construction of which was superintended by masters of that order. It was completed in 1309. As a noteworthy fact, it is stated that the first clock for public use in Italy was placed in the bell-tower of Saint Eustorgis, in the city (Milan) in the year 1306. There is every reason to assume that guilds of Masons were already established in Italy, on a solid basis, during the thirteenth century. The first modern building fraternities in Italy of which history has preserved a notice, were in existence at Sienna and Orvieto. I use the word "modern" in the above connection in order to distinguish between tlie mediaeval builders and the By- zantine corporations. .:\t Orvieto, as we have already shown, a builders' lodge was held, while work was in progress on the cathe- dral there, in the year 1290, It is asserted that a lodge of Masons existed in his place while at labor on the minster, and that they were under the jurisdiction of a German master" named Peter Johannes, and moreover that there were other Germans in this lodge. Upon what authority this is asserted I know not. Mar- chese, who, so far as the history of architecture in Italy in the middle ages is concerned, is incontestably entitled to greater weight, informs us that the foundation of the Orvieto Cathedral was laid in the year 1290. He mentions the name of a Giovanni 98 HISTORIC MASONRY. (Johannes) Pisano, who worked there, but asserts that Lorenzo Maitani was the master who had jurisdiction, and the only foreign artificers employed were of German and Flemish nativity — one of each. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the work on the Santa Maria Novella Church, in Florence, which had steadily progressed up to that time, was pushed on with great rapidity by two lay architects, Giovanni da Campo and Jacopo Talenti, the first of whom was educated in the fine arts by Arnolfo, one of the masters, as we have seen, working with Fra Guilelmo in Orvieto. Jacopo Talenti appears to have labored at the building of the Orvieto Temple, as mention is made of a certain Francesco Tal- enti, a Florentine, who, in the rear 1327, was enrolled among the recorded lists of stonemasons and sculptors, with the pay of a master mason, and who ■\\as in fact demoninated as one of the masters of the architects employed in the lodges. The usual alteration made in assuming monastic vows will account for such change of names. In the convent necrologue of the Dominicans, Jacopo is designated as m.agister lapidum, master mason, a title which was generally assigned to sculptors and stonemasons of that age. A brother or nephew of Jacopo. who worked in the construction of the library of Santa ]\Taria Novella, is also called master mason. The floriated and exquisitely chiseled chapters of the columns, together with the ornamentation on the antique por- tals and windows of this church, are the undoubted handiwork of Jacopo. On the death of Albertino, Giovanni da Campo assumed the active mastership of the work, with the aid and counsel of Jacopo. Under their united direction this edifice was completed in 1357. Master Giovanni superintended the Dominican masons and stone- masons at Florence in the erection of public buildings in that city. Perhaps the finest eflfort of this celebrated architect was the stone bridge over the river Amo, which he constructed with consum- mate skill. While Giovanni directed the work on the structures of the republic, Jacopo Talenti and other Dominican artists were intently engaged on the churches and convents. In accordance with the designs of Fra Sisto and Fra Ristoro, they finished in the year 1330 the great campanile or bell tower of Florence. HISTORIC MASONRY. 99 These artists the year following brought to a termination the erec- tion of the marvelous chapel of Saint Nicholas and its classical sacristan, which was elaborately frescoed with scenes by Spinello di Arezza, representative of the life of Christ. Ottaviano Rustici, who was the chief or general master architect of the work, is espe- cially mentioned as deeply versed in architectural art. Under the direction of Talenti two operatives, members of the same convent, labored as master masons, viz : L,aopo Bruschi and Fran- cesco da Carmignano. By an unexpected inundation of the river Arno on the I2th of April, 1334, the foundation walls of the old Dominican convent were rendered unsafe, and the building, in consequence, became uninhabitable. Among those who materially assisted to erect a larger and more elegant cloister for the unfortunate monks, Gio- vanni Infangati signalized himself, both by voluntary contribu- tions toward the expenses involved in its construction and by the inestimable service afforded by a fraternity of builders, who, un- der his supervision, built the south wing. Amid the fervent zeal which distinguished the progress of the erection of this monas- tery, the renowned master builder, Giovanni da Campi, full of years and honors, in the year 1339 ceased to exist. A pui)il, or rather apprentice, of Giovanni, is referred to in the conventual roll of the dead brethren as skilled in architectural workmanship : "Nam cum esset optimus lignorum faber et carpentarius perutilis multa et magna edificiorum oerfecit in diversis conventibus." He labored as a builder with the craftsmen in the construction of Santa Maria Novella, under tlie management of Talenti, and, like this illustrious artist, he fell a victim before the great pestilence which, according to Boccaccio, made its appearance and raged with great violence in 1340. The introduzione to Boccaccio's novels contains a vivid account of this epidemic. It was during the height ot the terrible pestilence that the tales which compose the Decameron were supposed to be related by a party of ladies and gentlemen, who fled the city to avoid the plague. This work is said to be the earliest of modern novels, This terrible disorder, which destroyed so manv lives in Tuscany, also ravaged the Do- minican cloister. Among the number, amounting to eighty, who succumbed to the disease in this convent, a large proportion were JOO HISTORIC MASONRY, already noted as skilled builders. Of these. Master Philip had attained to a high degree of liexterity as a mason ; Matteo Guidu- ceils praised for his ability and industry in architectural handicraft and Giacoma di Andrea had already made himself illustrious by his skill in the finer details of stone cutting; wood carving and galss work. "Fra Giacoma di Andrea florentino, converso, ha lode di perito nei kivori in pietra, in legno e in vetro. Fra Laopo Bruschi operato nella fabbrica del Cappelone di San Niccolo." Gothic architecture in the thirteenth century had extended throughout nearly all the countries of Europe, with tTie exception of Italy, and even there a mixed style, involving the Teutonic, seems to have largely prevailed. This admixture of Gothic and Byzantine is clearly visible in the church of San Francisco, at Assisi ; the exchange building at Bologna, in the domes of Sienna, Orvieto and Spoleto, and also in the Fontanie Branda, of Sienna. As we have previously seen, in a majority of the places mentioned, German artificers were employed in the lodges engaged upon tiie several edifices. The most striking example of this strange in- termingling of the lofty and sublime with the humble and diminu- tive is to be seen in the Cathedral of Milan, in which, however, the Gothic style generally prevails. Although there is a redun- dancy of painted arches, tapering pilasters, and sloping turrets, yet the Italian form.s everywhere obtrude themselves upon the notice. Italy has servilely imitated the delicate elaboration of details of German architecture, without catching an inspiration from the genuine spirit wh.ich produced it. Everywhere through- out this country the entire category of sacred edifices displays but the simple horizontal principle of building science. Towards the close of the fourteenth century, in the year 1386, Duke Galeazzo Visconti laid the foundation of the Milan cathedral. The original diagrams, which are said to be still preserved in Milan, are uni- formly ascribed to a German artist, Heinrich Arler, of Germuen- den, to whom the Italians give the nomenclature of Gamodeo, was, it is alleged, the master builder who drafted the plans. Other German artists were called by Visconti to Milan to assist in build- ing the dome and its arches. The first who came were Johannes Fernach, of Frieburg, and Ulrich, of Friesingen. In the year HISTORIC MASONRY. JOI i486 the duke stipulated with a master workman named Ham- merer, of Strassburg, to construct the cupola crowning the tower, in Rome there are some tabernacles in Gothic style., particularly in the basilika of Saint Paul, Saint Clemens, the churches of Saint Nereus and Saint Achilles. The first of these is the most distin- gushed for its excellent workmanship. The master builder super- intending it is claimed to have been a German, Jacob by name, whom the Italians designate as Arnolpho Lope, who, it is claimed, was a son of the German builder, Jacopo. Naples, also, appears to have been indebted to master builders conversant with the Gothic art, as some edifices in this city possess the pointed Ger- manic arch. Spain, in the beginning of the thirteenth century, received the impetus of German art. It appears, however, that at the close of the elevnth century (1090-9) French artists were called to Spain to assist in rebuilding church edifices It is probable that the Spanish archbishops were brought in contact with the fraternities of Freemasons through their attendance upon the great church convocations in foreign lands. The cathedrals at Segovia, To- ledo and Burgos are the principal structures of this style — ^the last is especially distinguished as a masterpiece. The foundations of this church were laid in the thirteenth century, and at a later period it was finished bv German masons in the Gothic style. These artists were Master Johannes and his son. Simon, of Co- logne, whom the bishop of Burgos, Alphons, on his return from the ecclesiastical council at Basel, convened in the yaer 1442, in- vited to follow him, in order that they might complete the cathe- dral. This edifice presents a striking similarity with the Cologne minster, and, in many of its details and plans, is identical with the cathedral of Strassburg. These master builders are said to have drafted the diagrams in accordance with which the Carthusian cloister was constructed in the city of Burgos, and, from the simil- itude of the execution, attests a close unity existing between the Freemasons of Germany and other countries at this epoch. Por- tugal also possesses a notable specimen of Gothic art in the church of Batalka. It is alleged that this building was founded towards the close of the fourteenth century by King John L, who sum- moned thither a great number of builders to aid in its construe- 102 HISTORIC MASONRY. tion, together with a cloister united to it. Hope, speaking of the unity of plans existing among the middle age craftsmen, says: "The designs discovered in the archives of German monasteries show the deep science and the long foresight and the complicated calculations employed at their execution." Among the architects employed upon this building about the year 1378, the records show the name of one Hacket, a native of Ireland, who was un- doubtedly a member of a traveling fraternity of Freemasons, and certainly had not, at that epoch, derived his designs from the land of his birth. Notwithstanding this church, in its details, has an entire Germanic architectural type, there is a singular paucity of ornament. About the middle of the thirteenth century Portugal seems to have possessed a few religious artificers who have been handed down to posterity as notably skilled in the fine arts, whose chief works of merit, hov/ever, are limited to the construction of stone bridges. Pietro Gonzales, according to whose models a bridge was erected, labored and assisted himself at the work, fur- nishing much elaborate handiwork. Among the structures in Holland and in the Netherlands which betray their Gothic origin and -the work of ancient master builders, the city halls at Antwerp, Brussels, Leuven and \1issin- gen may be mentioned as the most distinguished. Other cities besides these enumerated in the low countries possess Gothic edi- fices. The cathedral at Antwerp, which has been frequently high- ly eulogized for its rich and elaborate architecture, was founded in the year 1422, by Master Johann Aurelius, and completed in 1518. Another important work carried forward with much zeal by the people of the low countries, is the Mechlin cathedral, dedi- cated to St. Rumoldus. This edifice was begun about the close of the twelfth century ; the choir was built during the earlier part of the ensuing century, and the entire church was completed about two hundred years afterwards. A bell tower was added to this cathedral in the year 1453, but not finished. Gothic churches were also erected in Holland, one of which, at Brussels, of an ear- lier date than above mentioned, deserves especial reference on account of its elegance. It was commenced in 1226 by the Duke of Brabant, and brought to a conclusion in 1273. Even as far north as the Scandinavian provinces and in HISTORIC MASONRY. 103 northern Europe, German rp.aster builders seem to have traveled, creating with their mystical diagrams and models, obtained with- in closely tiled lodges of the craft, the airy and elegant fabrics of Gothic architecture. At an earlier age, however, Byzantine work- manship was invoked there to rear sober temples to the living God, as in other portions of the northern countries. The finest edifice in the Gothic type is at Upsala, in Sweden, which was begun in 1258, and ended in the year 1453, by Erich, of Pomer- ania, master architect. France yielded to the influence of German art early in the thirteenth century. At the commencement of this epoch the Roman style, which had gradually merged into the Gothic or Ger- manic, being liberated from the restraints of primitive types, un- der the zeal of master builders, approximated to a definitive Christian art. The grand relics of the florid Roman, austere in their greatness and elaborate in their fantastic ornamentation, attest the approaching dawn of individualism in modern architec- ture. From the twelfth to the thirteenth century — denominated the transitional era — the Roman style, which is distinguished by the fullness of the circular arch, gradually merges into the Gothic or German, the most striking evidence of which is the ogive form, and is its original characteristic. A mixed style of architecture seems, however, to have prevailed in France at this period, in which the Gothic predominates. The churches of Saint Remy, at Rheims; the abbey of Saint Denis, Saint Nicholas, at Blois; the abbey of Jumieges, and the cathedral of Chalons-sur- Marne, are the principal models of this style. It is noteworthy that, for a long period, the ogend triumphed over the circular arch in northern FVance, while in the Meridional, Roman traditional types, allied to the Byzantine, still continued to inspire the con- struction of sacred edifices. There remains but little doubt that Germany, with its earliest corps of building fraternities, was the country whose vital forces produced that style of architectural art which we call pointed. Germany, at the epoch under notice, com- prehended such portions as Alsace and Lorraine captured by the French in the Franco-German war of 1871, while Francke- Compte, as much appurtenant to Germany as France, formed an J04 HISTORIC MASONRY. independent dukedom in the low countries. As we have pre- viously remarked, at this period the arts and sciences had almost entirely passed from the control of the monastic institutions, and were in the possession of builders or freemasons, regularly organ- ized into oath-bound guilds. To this fact can be ascribed the tapid transmission throughout France of the ogive or pointed arch, which now had become the prevailing style of architecture. A. century sufificed to bring the og^ve to its highest perfection. Of the Gallic structures which betray their Gothic origin, the most noticeable ire the cathedrals of Rheims, dedicated about I2IS, of Bourges, and Amiens. As a specimen cathedral, con- structed in the fuller details of German style, that of Notre Danie, of Rouen, affords, perhaps, the finest example. The Church of Saint Owen, also of Rouen, was completed in 1388, and may be cited as an edifice erected upon a model of art which, at this era, had permeated Europe. The foundations of the cathedral at Amiens were originally laid in the seventh century, hut having been frequently destroyed by fire, it was commenced anew in the year 1220, and finally completed in 1288. Notre Dame, of Paris, finished in 1275, by Jean de Chelles as master builder, and Sainte Chapelle, built under Louis IX., by Pierre de Montereau, in the year 1248, as master of the masons, are of peculiar significance in their historical connection with the Parisian Freemasons, whose associations, as we shall presently see, were recognized by law in 1254, and evidently furnished the work upon the foregoing build- ings. CHAPTER XIII. Early history of French Masons. — Rules of Saint Eloi preserved in the fifteenth century. — Boileau, by royal authority, digests ancient Masonic laws. — Candidates must conform to usages and customs of the Craft. — Grand Master recognized in 1254. — Master Masons must swear before him. ...Nature of Mediaeval obligation. — Grand Master's power to forbid the trade to a delinquent Craftsman. — Tools should be seized. — Concessions alleged to be granted by Charles Martel. France unqualifiedly possesses the earliest authentic record touching the fraternity of Masons. I have previously stated, upon the authority of Lacrcix, that Saint Eloi, whose efforts in Dehalf of the mechanical trades procured for him the honor of patronage to the guild of smiths in the fifteenth century, had, in the eighth century, organized the monks of his abbey into a so- ciety of tradesmen. According to the same author, it would appear that this celebrated bishop established two distinct corpor- ations — one for clerical workmen, the other in which laymen were admitted to membership. When the laws relating to trades were revised, under Louis IX., the statutes promulgated by Saint Eloi during his lifetime were merely transcribed and re-enacted, "Lorsque Etienne Boileau, Prevot de Paris, redigea son fameux Livre des metiers., il n'eut guere qu'a transcrire les statuts des orfevres a peu pres tels que les avait institutes Saint Eloi." So * far as the luies affected the admission of members into the guild of jewelers or goldsmiths, we learn from these laws that an ap- prentice could not be advanced to the degree of master until hf had duly quaHfied by an apprenticeship of ten years. At that dis- tant period the fraternitv of goldsmiths was possessed of a seal, m order to attest its authorized works of charity. In the yeat 1254 Etienne Boileau, who was provost of Pai'is under the direc- tion of Louis IX., King of France, collected the rules and regula- tions affecting the various trades of that city, and digested them into manuscript form, entitled, "Reglemens sur les arts et Metiers de Paris"; by royal authority they were ordained to be the law, to which all guilds or mechanical occupations in Paris should be 106 HISTORIC MASONRY. henceforth subjected. These ordinances, in reference to many trades, presuppose an were proclaimed by the king as binding upon the citizens of Paris. The forty-eighth chapter of the Boileau manuscript contains tbi? relation to masons, stonecutters, plasterers and mortar-mixers, and is in the highest degree important as the oldest unquestioned and earliest written record touching the mediaeval operative ma- sons and stonecutters. All tb.ese were governed by identical reg- ulations, with some exceptions in favor of the stonemasons, and 'o which relerence will be hereafter made. Among other things referring to these artificers, it is conceded that anyone can exer- cise the occupation of an operative mason in the French capital, provided he may be skilled in the trade, and will unqualifiedly conform to the ancient tisages and customs of the fraternity. Then follows the explanation as to the elements involved in such customs, ^^ nich are narratea to be that no master mason shall have in his employ more than one apprentice at the same time, and that such apprentice.=:hip in no rase can endure longer than six years: "Nns ne puet avoir en leur mestier que j apprentis, et se il a apprentis il ne le puet prendre a moins de vi, ans de service." An exception, however, is reserved in favor of the master's legiti- mate children ; in that case he was permitted to have all of them entered as apprentices: "Les fils tout seulement de loial m.ar- nage." Thus early, it would be seen, no illegitimate son could become a mason. On the other hand, he was allowed, at the expiration of the fifth year's service of his pupil, to engage an- other in order that he m_ight have the benefit of a more or less skilled workman when a full apprenticeship ended. If he vio- lated these rules, or, to speak more in harmony with this digest, Boileau asserts that it was in strict accordance with established us- age for French kings, at this period, to confer patronage or general mastership of Parisian guilds upon the nobility, and as a natural consequence ot such privileges these gentlemen were entitled t* all taxes levied upon the associations. Moreover, i^ is stated. In the most explicit terms bv the compiler of these ordinances, Boil- eau, that his Maje.-ity, Louis IX., had given the mastership of the Masons to Master William de Sainte Patre, so long as such ap- pointment should please the royal grantor. It was furthermore HISTORIC MASONRY. 107 enacted that Master William should exercise the mastership of the Masons within a lodge to be opened inside the palace enclos- ure, where all matters pertaining to Masonic jurisdiction should be considered and determined by this nobleman. By these regu- lations each grand or general master was obliged to make oath before the provost of the city, that well and truly, to the best of his ability, both as regarded the rich and poor, the weak and strong, he would preserve the ordinances thus promulgated as long as the king should be satisfied to retain him in the above- mentioned general mastership. This obligation, Boileau says, William de Sainte Patre took before the provost of Paris, and within the enclosed space around the palace. I should infer, from the tenor of the ordinance regulating the number of apprentices to be allowed a grand master, that a nobleman was not invariably inducted in this responsible position ; but, on the contrary, such ofificer may have been equally skilled in the science of architect- lure with other mastei- builders. According to this authority, every grand master who had jurisdiction of the Parisian operative Ma- sons, by virtue of the royal concession, was allowed two appren- tices, upon exactly the same terms and conditions as a master stonecutter, and in case of transgression of any rules or regula- tions affecting such apprenticeship, he was subjected to similar penalties. At this point of my work I mention a remarkable fact, al- though it properly belongs to the internal history of the subject. It was permitted by the ordinance of 1254 that each mason should have as many assistants and aids in their work as suited them, but it was rigidly forbidden to communicate to such laborers or others any of the secret arts of the trade, however slight the disclosure might be. "Tuit H Macon, tuit h mortelier, doivent jurer seur sains que il le miestier devant dit garderent at feront bien et loiau- ment, chascum, endroit soi, et que se il scevent que nul il mes- prenge en aucuire chose del mestier devant dit." Each master of Masons was obliged to swear that he would, with loyalty and in good faith, guard his trade from breaches and innovations, and would faithfully perform all its requirem.ents so far as he might be concerned as an individual Mason; and also, if he should at any time become cognizant of the infringement upon a rule, or 108 HISTORIC MASONRY. that the usages and customs of the fraternity were violated, he would reveal such infraction to the master whenever it occurred, by the binding force of his obligation. This feature incident to the middle-age Freemasons was also well recognized at a later period. It is recorded that the craftsmen of that day were sworn to acquaint the master with the "goodness or badness of the ma- terials — ^that Masoni-y be not dishonored." When apprentices had completed the term of apprenticeship, their masters were obliged to produce them before the general or grand master of the craft, and to testify that they had truly and lawfully served the required term ; thereupon the grand officer caused the apprentices to swear that they would for all time, and on every occasion, yield obedience to the established usages and customs of the trade. No mason was at liberty to labor on any work when the hour of nine sounded from Notre Dame, during certain religious observances, or when vespers were chanted in the same cathedral, imless it might be necessary to stay an arch or to securely fasten a stone step in a stairway. In case any oper- ative pursued his avocation after the hours designated, except for the foregoing purposes, he should pay a money penalty to the grand master of the trade, and this officer was also empowered to seize the working tools of a recalcitrant artificer until satisfac- tion was rendered. "Et en puet prendre li mestre les ostieuz ct cetui que seroit reprins par ! 'amende." Here is an explicit ac- knowledging of the right to "ratten" a workman's tools for diso- bedience. It was, moreover, the duty of the French mason, un- der his obligation, whenever, in the exercise of his trade, he was brought into contact with plasterers, to inspect their work and to see that the measure of material to be used was in accordance with the proper standard, and if at all suspicious as to requisite quan- tity, the plasterer was forced to measure it in his presence. For any deficiency in the amount a fine was exacted. The English Freemasons of the time of Edward III. were also amenable to the law of the land ; the officer who executed the necessary decrees against these craftsmen was the sheriff, answer- ing, perhaps, to the provost of Paris. The hours of labor seemed to have been regularly fixed for these craftsmen, and it was provided that no operative should HISTORIC MASONRY. 109 aBandon his work before the master who directed the same. It was also ordained that any workman failing to present himself at the morning hour should be fined the sum of four denari. In case of failure to pay the amercement before the time of recom- mencing work, or if he returned to his labor without having liqui- dated his fine, he was compelled to pay four denari additional for the master. Although legislation, as to the hours of commenc- ing work and of its duration, had been regularly digested by Boil- eau, in his compilation of so remote a date as 1254, there is a still earlier record that other guilds were also required to pay proper attention to the opening and closing of their daily labors. In a charter conceded by Philip Augustus, in the year 1204, to the corporation of weavers at Etampes, it was ordered, among other things, that all laborers should begin and cease work at a certain time. This association was permitted by law to elect prudhommes, who were invested with the power of petty justice over the weav- ers. Prior to entering upon the duties of office, an obligation of fairness and fidelity was exacted of them. At Paris the general master of the masons was empowered, by virtue of his office, to compel a compensation to be paid for each and every quarrel which arose between the members of the guild, and in case the operative, by whom such payment was ad- judged to be made, proved rebellious and resisted the due execu- tion of the award, the master could forbid him the future exercise of his trade. If he, nevertheless, persisted in his contumacy, the master of the work was privileged to seize his tools, and, as a final resort, other punishment being unavailable, complaint was made to the provost of the city. Material force was then used to sub- jugate the rebel and compel submission to legal authority. In so far as the plasterers were concerned, they were require