ORIGIN AND ANTIQUITY OF THE FREE MASONRY.
CHAPTER VIII.
MASONRY IN NORMAN ENGLAND.

WE made mention in our last Chapter of a series of Masonic legends which are, in some measure, historically opposed to the old Saxon Constitutions. These first appear in written documents of about 1450 A.D., but as these are copies of still older MSS., may well date into the 12th century in this country. There are two old MSS. the laws of which differ in essential points: in the elder or "Cooke MS." those legends which imply a Semitic origin and actually represent our present Craft Rites, form the Preface, or Commentary, to an actual Saxon Charge; whilst the later, or "Wm. Watson MS," is a copy of a much older document, and itself over two centuries old, is complete in itself, with a modified series of charges: the second part might belong to a "Guild" which had a traditional preference to a Saxon Constitution, and the first to a later compiler, one who had accepted the Norman system, and its Rites. We will endeavour in this Chapter to supply such reliable information, as can be gathered, to account for the legends superimposed upon the older.

It is in Norman times, adding French details, that this matter shews itself, and as there is yet no established view on the subject, it may be examined in various aspects. In the first place these legends may have been fixed in France by the conquests which the Saracens made in that country; or 2ndly, they may have reached that country through the Moorish conquests in Spain; or 3rdly, and a probable view, they might have been brought {295} from the East, by those Masons who returned in the train of the Crusaders; lastly, but upon this we place small credence, some of our able critics have held that the Oriental legends are collected from books of general history by the first compiler of this version of the Charges, though admitting that the author had old Masonic Charges to guide him.

A very elaborate paper, which may be classed with the first of these views, has been written by Brother C. C. Howard, of Picton, New Zealand, and he relies upon the fact that this new Charge draws its inspiration from Roman Verulam and the erection of St. Albans by Offa, King of Mercia, circa 793, and that one Namas Graecus, under various spellings, is given as the teacher of Masonry in France. Offa is supposed, by Brother Howard, to have brought Masons from Nismes, or Nimes, in Southern France, for the purpose in view, hence the derivation of Namas Graecus.

A theory such as that of Brother Howard would well account for all that is peculiar in this Constitution. The present Nimes is a very ancient Greco-Roman town, and has perfect remains of the work of their architects; moreover it was for two centuries in the hands of the Saracens, until Charles Martel, who was the traditional patron of French Masons and the Hammer of the Saracens, drove them out of that town, and may then have appointed a Duke or prince to rule it. The "Cooke MS" like the Strasburg Statutes speak of Charles II., but this is an error, and it is noteworthy that the "Charges of David and Solomon," are invariably united with the French patronage, proving that we derive these Masonic views from French sources. At whatever date these Constitutions first appeared in this country they eventually superseded the English version.

The Saracens were large builders in the East, and even the Mausoleum of Theodric of Ravenna, erected in the 6th century, is considered by de Vogue to be the work of Syrian Masons brought forward by Byzantines. It is {296} said that about the year 693 they assembled 12,000 stonecutters to build the great Alamya at Damascus.1 The Tulun Mosque at Cairo which was built in the 9th century, has all the main features of Gothic styles, and the same race erected numerous magnificent works in Spain. Gibbon informs us that between 813-33 the Moors brought into Spain all the literature which they could obtain in Constantinople, and that between 912-61 the most celebrated architects were invited from thence. We learn from a catalogue of the Escuriel library that they possessed 70 public libraries, and that the MSS. handed down includes translations from Greek and Latin and Arabic writers on philosophy, philology, jurisprudence, theology, mysticism, talismans, divination, agriculture, and other arts. They gave us astronomy, alchemy, arithmetic, algebra, Greek philosophy, paper-making, the pendulum, the mariners' compass, and our first notions of chivalry, and armed-fraternities. Whether they gave us Gothic architecture may be doubtful but the durability of their own buildings is astounding, and Cordova, the seat of empire, covered a space 24 miles by 6 miles, even in the 8th and 9th centuries, and was filled with magnificent palaces and public edifices. Roger Bacon probably derived gunpowder through their intermediary.

It is possible that Syrian fraternities of Masons continued to exist until its invasion by the Saracens, and they themselves, as we have seen, had secret fraternities analogous to Freemasonry, and as the Koran accepts the history of the Jewish Patriarchs such a system as we now possess is in accord with their feelings, and might possibly be acceptable to a French fraternity who were Christians and had derived building instructions from a Moslem race. If the Saracenic theory in regard to Nismes is inadmissable, or the derivation of the French Charges under Norman introduction, when the system had consolidated under the "Sons of Solomon;" there are two other views we may notice. The possibility of a derivation from the {297} Spanish Moors; or through the Crusaders who returned from Palestine after erecting endless works with the assistance of the native Masons. Neither of these two views will account fully for the fact that the "Constitutions" of the period of this Chapter connect the Charges of David and Solomon with the Namas Graecus "who had been at the building of Solomon's temple," with Charles Martel, or even Charles II. But this is not a great difficulty, for Namas does not appear until circa 1525, and was always a trouble to the Copyists, sometimes he is Namas, at others he is Aymon, or the man with a Greek name, and on one occasion he is Grenaeus. Again building, in Europe, was a clerical art down to the 12th century and laymen were subject to them; but the religion of the Saracens was of a different cast, and admitted from the very first, of the continuance of independent schools of Architecture attached to no Sheik-ul-Islam, Mollah, or Dervish. On the whole we seem to be led by these considerations to the Norman-French introduction into this country of a species of Masonic rules, rites, and legends which existed in Southern France, and which were still further influenced in the 13th century by Masons from the East; but the reader can judge of this upon reading all the facts.

When Abdur-Rahman built the great Mosque of Cordova in the short space of ten years, he said, -- "Let us raise to Allah a Jamma Musjid which shall surpass the temple raised by Sulieman himself at Jerusalem." This is the oldest comparison which we have of Solomon's erection as compared with mediaeval erections, and coming from a Moslem is eminently suggestive. Some 30 years ago Bro. Viner Bedolphe brought forward some cogent arguments to prove that though our Craft Masonry had been derived from the Roman Colleges the 3rd Degree of Modern Masonry had been added, in its second half, by Moslems. But as a matter of fact the existing Jewish Guilds have a ceremony from which our Modern 3rd Degree is derived through the ancient Guilds, and it is quite possible that the work {298} men of Abdur-Rahman found it of old date in Spain, as we shall see later; and that a Guild of them was employed at Cordova. Mecca has had for ages a semi-Masonic Society which claims its derivation from the Koreish who were Guardians of the Kaaba; namely, the Benai Ibraham. For some hundreds of years our Constitutions have asserted that Nimrod was a Grand Master and gave the Masons a Charge which we still follow. Its first degree is the "Builders of Babylon," and is directed against Nimrod and his idols, and against idolatry in general. Its second degree is the "Brothers of the Pyramids," and teaches, as do our own Constitutions, that Abraham taught the Egyptians geometry, and the mode of building the pyramids. The third degree is "Builders of the Kaaba," in which the three Grand Master Masons Ibrahim, Ishmael, and Isaque, erect the first Kaaba, on the foundations of the temple erected by Seth on the plans of his father Adam. At the completion of the Kaaba, the twelve chiefs or Assistants of the "three" Grand Masters are created Princes of Arabia. The Society was clearly ancient in A.D. 600 as al Koran alludes to the legendary basis on which it is formed.

There is a very interesting French romance of the 12th century by Huon de Villeneuve which seems to have a bearing upon the names of our old Masonic MSS., or at least on a corrupt version of them; and which moreover commemorates the Masonic death of a person who is supposed to have battled with the Saracens in France and Palestine. Either the work may veil legends of the Compagnonage, or, with less probability, these latter may have drawn something from it. This romance is entitled "Les Qualre Fils Aymon." Charlemagne returns victorious from a long and bloody war against the Saracens in Easter, 768, and has to listen to accusations against Prince Aymon of the Ardennes, for failing to perform his fealty in not warring against the Saracens. Charlemagne has as colleagues Solomon of Bretagne, and his trusty friend the Duke of Naismes. Renaud, Allard, Guichard, and {299} Richard, the "four sons of Aymon," depart from the Court in quest of adventure. They defeat Bourgons the Saracen chief before Bordeaux, cause him to become a Christian, and after that restore Yon, King of Aquitaine, to his throne; Renaud marries his daughter Laura and erects the Castle of Montauban. Yon fears the anger of Charlemagne, persuades the four Aymons to solicit his grace, and they set out "with olive branches in their hands," but are treacherously waylaid by their enemies, and would have been slain but for the arrival of their cousin Maugis, and the "cyprus was changed for the palm." Richard is taken prisoner, and condemned to death, but Maugis disguises himself as a Pilgrim, hangs the executioner, carries off Richard, and also the golden crown and sceptre of Charlemagne, who thereupon resolves to attack Montauban. After a due amount of battles, peace is restored on condition that Renaud departs on a pilgrimage to Palestine. On arrival there he is surprised to meet Maugis, and between them they restore the old Christian King of Jerusalem to the throne. After an interval Renaud is recalled to France and on his arrival finds his wife dead of grief, as well as his aged father Aymon and his mother. His old antagonists -- Naismes, Oger, and Roland have been slain at Ronciveux. Five years later Charlemagne visits Aix-la-Chapel, with the three brothers Aymon and their two nephews, and the following is a literal translation of what occurred: "'Hollo! says the Emperor, to a good woman, what means this crowd?' The peasant answered, -- 'I come from the village of Crosne, where died two days ago a holy hermit who was tall and strong as a giant. He proposed to assist the Masons to construct at Cologne the Church of St. Peter; he manoeuvred so well that the others who were jealous of his ability, killed him in the night time whilst he slept, and threw his body into the Rhine, but it floated, covered with light. On the arrival of the bishop the body was exposed in the Nave, with uncovered face that it might be recognised. Behold what it is that draws the {300} crowd.'" The Emperor approached and beheld Renaud of Montauban, and the three Aymons, and two sons of Renaud, mingled their tears over the corpse. Then the bishop said: -- Console yourselves! He for whom you grieve has conquered the immortal palm." The Emperor ordered "a magnificent funeral and a rich tomb." In the translation of Caxton it is the bishop who does this and also Canonises him as "St. Renaude the Marter." In the time of Charlemagne, and even much later, there existed a great number of pre-Christian and Gnostic rites, and the Emperor is credited with reforming, or establishing, in Saxony, the country of Aymon, whose memory was held in great veneration even down to the 19th century, a secret fraternity for the suppression of Paganism, which has most of the forms of Modern Freemasonry. Hargrave Jennings holds that the fleur-de-lis may be traced through the bees of Charlemagne to the Scarab of Egypt, and is again found on the Tiaras of the gods of Egypt and Chaldea. After the Culdee Alcuin had assisted in building the Church of St. Peter at York, he went over to France, and became a great favourite at Court, having the instruction of the Emperor himself whom he terms a builder "by the Art of the Most Wise Solomon," who made him an Abbot. Apart from the significance of this romance in a Masonic sense, which appears to have drawn on existing Masonry, there are some peculiar correspondences. The body of Osiris was thrown into the Nile, that of Renaud into the Rhine. The address of the bishop to the mourners is almost identical with that of the old Hierophants to the mourners for the slain sun-god. As before stated the "branch" varied in the Mysteries, as the erica, the ivy, the palm, the laurel, the golden-bough. As in the case of the substituted victim for Richard the Moslems held that a substitute was made for Jesus. The romance confuses the time of Charlemagne, if we accept it literally, with that of a Christian King of Jerusalem, as the Masonic MSS. confuse the date of Charles of France with an apocryphal Aymon who was at the building {301} of Solomon's temple. Possibly the Masons confused the Temple of Solomon with that existing one which Cardinal Vitry and Maundeville inform us was "called the Temple of Solomon to distinguish the temple of the Chivalry from that of Christ;" they allude of course to the house of the Knights Templars. These legends may well represent some ancient tradition, and we know not what MSS. have perished during the centuries. A curiously veiled pagan Mythology may be traced in Paris; comparing St. Denis to Dionysos. The death of St. Denis takes place on Montmartre, that of Dionysos on Mount Parnassus; the remains of Denis are collected by holy women who consign them with lamentations to a tomb over which the beautiful Abbey was erected; but he rises from his tomb like Dionysos, and replacing his severed head walks away. Over the southern gate of the Abbey is also sculptured a sprig of the vine laden with grapes which was a Dionysian symbol, and at the feet of the Saint, in other parts, the panther is represented, whose skin was in use in the Rites of the Mysteries.

Other attempts to identify Namas Graecus may be given. Brother Robert H. Murdock, Major R.A., considers that this person is the Marcus Graecus from whose MS. Bacon admits in "De Nullitate Magiae," 1216, that he derived the composition of gunpowder. There is one old MS. in the early days of the Grand Lodge that has adopted this view. Here again we run against the Saracens, for Duten shews that the Brahmins were acquainted with powder from whom it passed to the Lulli or Gypsies of Babylon, the Greeks and Saracens, and it is thought to have been used by the Arabs at the siege of Mecca in 690; again Peter Mexia shews that in 1343 the Moors used explosive shells against Alphonso XII. of Castile, and a little later the Gypsies were expert in making the heavy guns. Very little is known of Marcus Graecus but early in the 9th century his writings are, erroneously, supposed to be mentioned by the Arabian physician Mesue.2 {302} The acceptance of Marcus of gunpowder notoriety as identical with Namas or Marcus of Masonic notoriety, necessitates one of two suppositions: (1) either he was the instructor, or believed to be so, of Charles Martel in Military erections; or (2) the fraternity of Masons had a branch devoted to the study of Alchemy and the hidden things of nature and science: much might he said in its favor, but unless there was some MS. of a much earlier date that mentions Namas or Marcus, and is missing, the introduction is probably only of the 16th century when Masons were actually Students of Masonry and the secret sciences. Another theory has been propounded by Brother Klein, F.R.S., the eminent P.M. of the Quatuor Coronati Lodge, namely that Haroun al Raschid's son the Caliph al Mamun is "the man with a Greek name." He shews that in the time of this Caliph the books of Euclid were translated into Arabic for the Colleges of Cordova, and it was not until the 12th century that Abelard of Bath rendered them into Latin. The original Greek MS. was lost for 700 years when it was found by Simon Grynaeus, a Suabian and co-labourer of Melancthon and Luther. In 1530 he gave the MS. to the world, and we actually find that in some of our MSS. Graecus is transformed into Green, Grenenois, Grenus, Graneus. Caxton printed the "Four Sons of Aymon" in the 15th century, and we find some scribes transforming Namas into Aymon. Here we have a later attempt to identify the personality mentioned; he was a man of whom nobody knew anything, and each scribe sought to develop his own idea, if he had any.

Charlemagne was a contemporary of the Haroun al Raschid here mentioned who sent him a sapphire ornament and chain by his ambassador.

Green in his "Short History of the English People" (London, 1876) says: -- "A Jewish medical school seems to have existed at Oxford; Abelard of Bath brought back a knowledge of Mathematics from Cordova; Roger Bacon himself studied under the English Rabbis" (page {303} 83). Bacon himself writes: "I have caused youths to be instructed in languages, geometry, arithmetic, the construction of tables and instruments, and many needful things besides." The great work of this mendicant Friar of the Order of St. Francis, the "Opus Majus," is a reform of the methods of philosophy: "But from grammar he passes to mathematics, from mathematics to experimental philosophy. Under the name of Mathematics was enclosed all the physical science of the time."

It is beyond doubt that after the Norman conquest in 1066 the predominant genius of Masonry was French; the oversight and the design were French, the labour Anglo-Saxon; but the latter were strong enough as shewn, by an eminent architect, to transmit their own style in combination with that of the French. It must also be borne in mind that if the English towns have some claims to Roman succession, that feature is doubly strong in France, even to the language. Long after the conquest of the country by the Franks, and even until modern times, the people were allowed to continue Roman laws, privileges, colleges, and Guilds; pure Roman architecture exists to this day, and notably at Nimes. Lodges, though not perhaps under that name, must have existed from the earliest times, for we find that in the 12th century, the Craft was divided into three divisions; we may even say four, for besides the Passed Masters Associations, there were Apprentices, Companions or Journeymen, and perpetual Companions, or a class who were neither allowed to take an Apprentice, or to begin business as Masters; that is they could employ themselves only on inferior work. The eminent historian of Masonry, Brother R. F. Gould, shews this, and also that the so-called "Fraternities" of France were the Masters' Associations, but that the Companions and Apprentices had to contribute to the funds that were necessary for their maintenance. The qualification necessary to obtain Membership of this Association was the execution of a Master-piece, which was made as expensive as possible, {304} in order to keep down the number of Masters. It will be seen at once that this is a very different organisation to the Constitution of the Assemblies of our last Chapter, and the reader must keep this distinction in mind, as well as the fact that there came over to this country a class of men impressed with these discordant views.

It would extend far beyond the scope of this book to give more than a very slight account of the numerous Abbeys, Monasteries, Churches and Castles which were erected after the Norman conquest; it is, however, necessary, in our inquiry after the Speculative element, to say something of these, and of the persons who erected them. Doctor James Anderson states that King William the Bastard employed Gundulf, bishop of Rochester, and Earl Roger de Montgomery in building, or extending, the Tower of London, Castles of Dover, Exeter, Winchester, Warwick, Hereford, Stafford, York, Durham, Newcastle, also Battle Abbey, St. Saviour's in Southwark, and ninety other pious houses; whilst others built forty two such, and five cathedrals. Battle Abbey was in building 1067-90, the architect being a Norman Monk who was a noted arrow-head maker and therefore named William the Faber, or Smith. Between 1070-1130 Canterbury Cathedral was in course of erection. In 1076 Archbishop Thomas began the re-erection of the Cathedral of York, which had previously been burnt in contest with the Normans. Between 1079-93, Winchester Cathedral was in progress. The White or Square tower on the Thames is of this period and Jennings mentions one of the main pillars which has a valute on one side, and a horn on the other, which he considers to have the same significance as the two pillars of Solomon's temple, that is symbolising male and female. It is evident that Masons must have now been in great demand and that whether Saxon or Norman were sure of employment; the following are of interest, and as we meet with any particulars, which have a distinct bearing upon the Masonic organisation, we will give them. {305}

The New Castle, whence the name of that town is taken, was built by a son of the Bastard, and thenceforth became, as in Roman times, a place of great strength, and also the chief home of the Monastic Orders, for Benedictines, Augustinians, Carmelites, Franciscans, Hospitallers of St. John, and Nuns all built houses here, and their conventual buildings within its walls, and many an Hospitium for wayfarers, many Guilds, and many a chapel of black, white and grey Friars were founded. The Percys had a town residence here in the narrow street called the Close.

In 1074 Lincoln Cathedral was begun by Remgius Foschamp, the Norman Bishop, who had it ready for consecration in 8 years. It was destroyed by fire in 1141, but Bishop Alexander restored it to more than its former beauty. Where the Castle now stands existed an ancient fortress which the Bastard converted into a Norman stronghold.

In 1077 Robert the Cementarius, or Mason, had a grant of lands in reward for his skill in restoring St. Albans; and we may find in this circumstance the origin of the St. Alban Charge combined with that of Charles Martel and David and Solomon; including the Norman fiction that St. Alban had for his Masonic instructor St. Amphabel out of France. We say fiction because Britain at that day sent Masons to Gaul.

In Yorkshire a Godifried the Master-builder witnesses the Whitby Charter of Uchtred, the son of Gospatric. These are Danish names and the Marks of Yorkshire Masons, in this and the following century, are strong in the use of letters of the Runic or Scandinavian alphabet.

Baldwin, Abbot of St. Edmund's began a church in 1066 which was consecrated in 1095. Hermannus the Monk, compares it in magnificence to Solomon's temple, which is the first Masonic reference we have to that structure, and in Norman times.

Paine Peverell, a bastard son of the King, built a small round church at Cambridge which was consecrated in {306} 1101, this form being a model of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. He also began a castle in Derbyshire, on a peak inaccessible on three sides one of which overlooks the Peak Cavern, which Faber supposes was used in the Druidical Mysteries.

A round church was erected at this period in Northampton, probably by Simon de St. Luz. An ancient sun-dial is built into its walls; the tooling of the building is Saxon chevron style, in contradistinction from the Norman diagonal axe work.

There is a curiously mystic monument at Brent Pelham to Piers Shonke, who died in 1086. Weever calls it "a stone whereon is figured a man, and about him an eagle, a lion, and a bull, having all wings, and an angell as if they would represent the four evangelists; under the feet of the man is a cross fleuree." We must not hastily confound these emblems with the present quartering in the Arms of Freemasons.

During the reign of Rufus the great palace of Westminster was built, and thirty pious houses. In 1089 the King laid the foundation of St. Mary's Abbey at York. In the same year the Bishop of Hereford laid the foundation of the Gothic cathedral at Gloucester, and it was consecrated in 1100. In 1093 William of Karilipho, Bishop of Durham, laid the foundation of his cathedral, in the presence of Malcolm King of Scots and Prior Turgot. Surtees says that it "was on a plan which he had brought with him from France." In the same year the church of the old Culdee settlement of Lindisfarne was erected, and Edward, a monk of Durham, acted as architect.

In 1093 Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, sent for Anselme, Abbot of Bec, "by his conseile to build the Abbey of St. Werberg at Chester." It contains an old pulpit of black oak which is full of heraldic carving which has been mistaken for Masonic emblems.3 It was in this Monastery {307} that Ralph Higden compiled the Polychronicon, a history often referred to in the "Cooke MS."

The work of Durham Cathedral was continued by Bishop Ranulf de Flambard from 1104 and completed before the year 1129. Under Bishop William de Carilofe the grant which Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland, had made to the See of Durham was confirmed, of the Priory of Teignmouth to the Church of Jarrow, which was built by Benedict Biscop in 689 and of Wearmouth 8 years later. Also Robert de Mowbray brought monks from St. Albans to rebuild the Priory Church, which was completed in 1110. Anything connected with these Northern provinces is Masonically important, for Northumberland and Durham had many Operative Lodges long prior to the G.L. of 1717, and any legitimacy which that body can have it owes to those Northern Lodges, which eventually joined its ranks.

Northumberland is studded with fortified piles or towers and fortified vicarages which must have given much employment to Masons. Elsden possessed one of these and also two folc-mote hills, where in old time, justice was administered in the open air, as in the Vehm of Westphalia, dating back one thousand years.

Oswold the good Bishop of Salisbury built the Church of St. Nicholas at Newcastle about the year 1004. In 1115 Henry I. made grants to the Canons regular of Carlisle. Many parts of the Church of St. Andrew are earlier than St. Nicholas, but its erection is of later date.

The Church of St. Mary, Beverley, is supposed to have had upon its site, a Chapel of Ease dedicated to St. Martin by Archbishop Thurston, of York, between 1114-42; it is certain, however, that it was constituted a Vicarage of St. Mary in 1325. The Nave was built about 1450, and consists of six bays and seven clerestory windows, but in 1530 the upper part of the central tower fell upon the Nave with much loss of life. Its pillar was erected by the Guild of Minstrels, which like that of the Masons, claimed to date from Saxon times; it has upon the fluted {308} cornishes five figures of the Minstrels with their instruments, of which only two respectively with guitar and pipe are intact; and stands on the north side facing the pulpit. The "Misere" stalls in the chancel are of the 15th century, with carved bas reliefs under the seats; one of these represents a "fox" shot through the body with a woodman's arrow, and a "monkey" approaching with a bottle of physic.

In regard to symbolism Brother George Oliver, D.D., mentions an old church at Chester, which he does not name, containing the double equilateral triangles; also the same in the window of Lichfield Cathedral. Mr. Goodwin states that the triple triangles interlaced may be seen in the tower of a church in Sussex. We are now approaching the period of the Crusades, and it may be noticed that Cluny and other great French Abbeys are usually considered the centres of action whence proceeded the builders that accompanied the armies of the cross to Palestine. Here an enormous number of buildings were erected, between 1148-89, in which Europeans directed native workmen, and in which the former learned a lighter style of architecture which resulted in pointed Gothic; a style which had early existence in the East, for Professor T. Hayter Lewis points out that the 9th century Mosque at Tulun in Cairo has every arch pointed, every pier squared, and every capital enriched with leaf ornament; this style the returned Masons began to construct and superintend in the West.

Mr. Wyatt Papworth mentions that a Bishop of Utrecht in 1199 obtained the "Arcanum Magisterium" in laying the foundation of a church, and that he was slain by a Master Mason whose son had betrayed the secret to the Bishop. About this time was begun the old church at Brownsover, near Rugby; when it was restored in 1876 two skeletons were found under the north and south walls, in spaces cut out of the solid clay, and covered over with the oakblocks of two carpenters' benches. A similar discovery was made in Holsworthy parish church in 1885; {309} in this case the skeleton had a mass of mortar over the mouth, and the stones were huddled about the corpse as if to hastily cover it over. There is no doubt that in this and many other cases the victims were buried alive as a sacrifice.4 They are instances in proof of a widespread and ancient belief of a living sacrifice being necessary.

King Henry I., 1100-35, built the palaces of Woodstock and Oxford, and fourteen pious houses, whilst others built one hundred such, besides castles and mansions. The Bishop of Durham confirmed and granted privileges to the Hali-werk-folc who would be Saxon artificers.

In 1113 Joffred, Abbot of Croyland, laid the foundation of that Abbey; about 22 stones were laid by Patrons, who gave money or lands. Arnold is described as "a lay brother, of the art of Masonry a most scientific Master." About this time, or a little earlier, the seven Liberal Arts and Sciences are designated the "Trivium" and "Quadrivium," and the Chronicler gives us the following illustration of the first division: -- "During this time Odo read lessons in "Grammar" to the younger sort, Terrick Logic to the elder students at noon; and William "Rhetoric" in the afternoon; whilst Gilbert preached every Sunday, in different churches, in French and Latin against the Jews, and on holiday evenings explained the Scriptures to the learned and clergy." In Essex's Bibliotheca Topographia, 1783 (vol. iv.) we find it stated that the builders of this portion cut rudely at the west end of the south aisle, a pair of compasses, a lewis, and two circular figures, which, he supposes, are intended for sun and moon; in 1427, however, there were repairs in progress, not of this part, but in the west and north aisles. This Abbey possessed a library of 900 books, and save that Joffrid, or Gilbert, exhibited so much animosity against the Jews, is so consonant with the first part of the "Cooke MS." that we might have taken it as a proof that the Semitic Rites existed in 1113. They probably did in France and parts of Spain. The bronze candelabrum of {310} Gloucester was made in 1115, and has the double triangles and much other Masonic symbolism; it is of Byzantine design and approximates to old Egyptian work and symbolism.

King Stephen, 1135-54, employed Gilbert de Clare to build four Abbeys, two Nunneries, and the Church of St. Stephen at Westminster, whilst others built about ninety pious houses. Jesus College at Cambridge was founded in this reign, and a very remarkable church was erected at Adel near Leeds. It is recorded of a soldier of King Stephen, named Owen or Tyndal, that he received a species of religious Initiation at the Culdee Monastery in Donegal, placed in a "pastos" of the cell; he then went on a pilgrimage to the Holy-land, and on his return, as has been recorded of Renaud of Montauban, assisted in building the Abbey of Bosmagovsich. The Marks of Birkenhead Priory of this date have been collected and printed by Brother W. H. Rylands, also those of St. John's Church in Chester, the Cathedral, Chester, and the walls, some of which are Roman work.5

In 1147 Henry de Lacy laid the foundation of Kirkstall Abbey in Yorkshire; it is of pointed Gothic. Roche Abbey was built between this date and 1186, and these two are believed to be by the same architect. Rivaulx and Fountains Abbey were begun in 1199 and 1200. At this time Adam, a Monk of Fountains Abbey, and previously of Whitby, was celebrated for his knowledge of Gothic architecture, and officiated at the building of the Abbeys of Meux, Woburn, and Kirkstede; it is not said whether he was lay or cleric. York Cathedral was again destroyed by fire in 1137, and Archbishop Roger began to re-erect it in 1154.

In Normandy the Guilds were travelling about like those of England and were of importance in 1145, and had a Guild union when they went to Chartres. At this time Huges, Archbishop of Rouen, wrote to Theodric of Amiens informing him that numerous organised companies {311} of Masons resorted thither under the headship of a Chief designated Prince, and that the same companies on their return are reported by Haimon, Abbe of St. Pierre sur Dive, to have restored a great number of churches in Rouen.

The Priory of St. Mary in Furness was commenced by Benedictines from Savigney. In 1179 the Priory of Lannercost was founded by Robert de Vallibus, Baron of Gillesland. Bishop Hugh de Pudsey rebuilt the Norman Castle of Durham, dating from 1092 to 1174. Between 1153-94 this Prelate was the great Transitional Builder of the north, and he began the erection of a new church at Darlington in 1180 on the site of an old Saxon one. The great Hall of the Castle of Durham was the work of Bishop Hadfield in the reign of Richard III. on an older Norman one.

Henry II. between 1154-89 built ten pious houses, whilst others built one hundred such. It is the era of the advent of the "transitional Gothic." In the first year of this King's reign, 1155, the "Poor Fellow Soldiers of Jesus Christ, and of the Temple of Solomon," began to build their Temple in Fleet Street, London, and continued at work till 1190. It is a round church in pointed Gothic to which a rectangular one was added later. By Papal Bull of 1162 these Knights were declared free of all tithes and imposts in respect of their movables and immovables, and their serving brethren had like favours, indulgences, and Apostolic blessings. James of Vitry says that they had a very spacious house in Jerusalem, which was known as the Temple of Solomon to distinguish the Temple of the Chivalry from the Temple of the Lord. In the Rule which Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, drew up for them, he speaks of the poverty of the Knights, and says of their house that it could not rival the "world renowned temple of Solomon"; in chapter xxx., he again speaks of the poverty of the house of God, and of the temple of Solomon." As a fraternity he designates them "valiant Maccabees." Sir John Maundeville visited the house, and {312} speaks of it in 1356 thus: "Near the temple [of Christ] on the south is the Temple of Solomon, which is very fair and well polished, and in that temple dwell the Knights of the Temple, called Templars, and that was the foundation of their order, so that Knights dwelt there, and Canons Regular in the temple of our Lord." As Masonic symbolism is found in their Preceptories, this would be a channel from which to deduce both our Solomonic legends, and the alleged Papal bulls, which Sir William Dugdale asserted were granted to travelling Freemasons; but this view has never met with favour from Masonic historians, who aim chiefly at writing things agreeable to their patrons and rulers. Brother Oliver states that the high altar has the double triangles, at any rate these appear on the modern embroidered cover; there is the anchor of the Virgin, also the Beauseant of black and white, which Vitry interprets that they are fair to their friends but black to their enemies, but Jennings says: "This grandly mystic banner is Gnostic, and refers to the mystic Egyptian apothegm that light proceeded from darkness." He further mentions these symbols in the spandrels of the arches of the long church -- the Beauseant; paschal lamb on a red cross; the lamb with the red cross standard triple cloven; a prolonged cross issuing out of a crescent moon, having a star on each side. The arches abound with stars, from which issue wavy or crooked flames; the winged horse, white, on a red field, is one of their badges. He adds that there is a wealth of meaning in every curve of the tombs, which appear in the circular portion.

Ireland has many works erected during this period, and Mr. Street says of them: "I find in these buildings the most unmistakable traces of their having been erected by the same men, who were engaged at the same time, in England and Wales." The same remark will apply to Scotland.

The ancient Preceptory of the Temple at Paris contained (says "Atlanta" xi. p. 337) "24 columns of silver {313} which supported the audience chamber of the Grand Master, and the Chapel hall paved in Mosaic and enriched by woodwork of cedar of Lebanon, contained sixty huge vauses of gold." The fortress was partially destroyed in 1779.

Batissier in his Elements of Archaeology (Paris, 1843), says that the name "Magister de Lapidibus vivis" was given in the middle ages to the Chief artist of a confraternity -- Master of living stones. Or the person was simply termed "Magister Lapidum," and he refers on both these points to some statutes of the Corporation of Sculptors quoted by Father de la Valle. For the origin of the first of these terms consult the Apocryphal books of Hermas, but the term has more in it than appears on the surface, for in Guild ceremonial the candidate had to undergo the same treatment as the stone, wrought from the rough to the perfect. Amateurs were received, for the 1260 "Charte Octroyie" is quoted by the Bishop of Bale thus: "The same conditions apply to those who do not belong the "Metier," and who desire to enter the Fraternity."

A Priory of the Clunic order of Monks was founded in 1161 at Dudley by Gervase Pagnel, and they had others at Lewes, Castleacre, and Bermondsey.

A fire having occurred at Canterbury, Gervasius, a Benedictine Monk, in 1174, consulted "French and English Artificers," who disagreed in regard to the repair of the structure. The account which Gervaise gives is highly interesting and instructing. The work was given to William of Sens, "a man active, ready, and skillfull both in 'wood and stone.'" "He delivered models for shaping the stones, to the sculptors"; he reconstructed the choir and made two rows, of five pillars on each side; but in the fifth year he was so injured by the fall of his scaffold that he had to appoint as deputy a young Monk "as Overseer of the Masons." When he found it necessary to return to France the Masons were left to the oversight of William the Englishman, a man "small in body, but in workmanship of many kinds acute and {314} honest." The Nave was completed in 1180, and Gervaise informs us that in the old structure everything was plain and wrought "with an axe," but in the new exquisitely "sculptured with a chisel."

We gather two points of information from this account of 1160; first we have the information that William of Sens issued "Models" to the workmen, which explains a law of the Masonic MSS. that no Master should give "mould" or rule to one not a member of the Society; we see, in the second place, that the chisel was superseding the axe. We will also mention here that there is Charter evidence of this century, that Christian the Mason, and Lambert the Marble Mason had lands from the Bishop of Durham for services rendered. The fall of Jerusalem in 1187 brought back from the East many artisans to the West, whose influence is traceable in the early pointed style, or as it is termed the "Lancet," or "Early English."

A noteworthy movement, which extended to other countries had place in France at this period. A shepherd of the name of Benezet conceived the idea of building a bridge over the Rhone at Avignon; the bishop supported his scheme and superintended its erection between 1171-88. Upon Benezet's death, in 1184, Pope Clement III. canonised him, and sanctioned a new Fraternity of Freres Pontives -- bridge builders.

In 1189, Fitz Alwine, Mayor of London, held his first assize, from which we learn that the Master Carpenters and Masons of the City were to be sworn not to prejudice the ancient rights ordained of the estates of the City.

Between 1189-1204 Bishop Lacey was engaged in adding to Winchester Cathedral.

There are references worthy of note in Scotland at this time. In 1190 Bishop Jocelyne obtained a Charter from William the Lion to establish a "Fraternity" to assist in raising funds wherewith to erect the Cathedral of Glasgow; it is supposed to imply the existence of a band of travelling Masons. The same bishop undertook the erection of the Abbey of Kilwinning. The Templar {315} Preceptory of Redd-Abbey Stead was erected at the same time, and an ancient Lodge of Masons existed here last century.

In the reign of John, 1200-16, about forty pious houses were erected. Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln, about 1200, wrought with his own hands at the choir and transept of the Cathedral, the designs being by Gaufrids de Noires, "constructor ecclesiae." The Masons' Marks are numerous; and it is asserted by Brother Emra Holmes that, from the central tower, may be seen three large figures of a monk, a nun, and an angel, each displaying one of the signs of the three degrees of Masonry. The Cathedral has also an ancient stained glass window, which has the double triangles in four out of six spaces, an engraving of which appears in the "Historical Landmarks" of Brother George Oliver. Brother Fort asserts that the Masons of the middle ages must have received their technical education from the Priories, and that a tendency continually reveals itself to use the abstruse problems of Geometry as the basis of philosophical speculations, thus blending the visible theorems with unseen operations of the spirit. He considers that the building operations of the Masons were canvassed in the Lodge and worked out mathematically, the plan of the building serving as the basis of instruction. These views mean in two words that Masonry in all times was Operative and Speculative, but the identical system prevails to-day in some still existing Stone Masons' Guilds.

In 1202 Godfrey de Lucy, Bishop of Winchester, formed a "Fraternity" for repairing his church during the five years ensuing. There is nothing to disclose the nature of these Fraternities; it may mean no more than a committee for collecting the means, possibly the Masters' Fraternities of the French may have given the idea. At this period Gilbert de Eversolde was labouring at St. Albans' Abbey, as the architect, and Hugh de Goldcliffe is called a deceitful workman. In 1204 the Abbey of Beaulieu in Hants was founded by King John, and {316} Durandus, a Master employed on the Cathedral of Rouen, came over to it by request. In 1209 London Bridge, which was begun by Peter de Colchurch, was completed. There is a slab, of this period, in the transept of Marton Church, W.R. Yorkshire, which has upon it a Calvary cross, a cross-hilted sword, and a Mason's square and level, pointing to the union of arms, religion, and art.

In 1212 a. second Assize was held in London by Mayor Fitz Alwyne, when owing to a great fire it was thought necessary to fix the wages. At this time a horse or cow could be bought for four shillings. Masons were granted 3d. per day with food, or 4 1/2d. without; Labourers had 1 1/2d. or 3d.; cutters of free-stone 2 1/2d. or 4d.; the terms used are "Cementarii," and "Sculptores lapidam Liberorum." John died in 1216, and Matthew of Paris, and others, write his epitaph: "Who mourns, or shall ever mourn, the death of King John "; "Hell, with all its pollutions, is polluted by the soul of John." (i. 288)

In the reign of Henry III., 1216-72, thirty-two pious houses were erected, and the Templars built their Domus Dei at Dover. The beginning of this King's reign is the period when Laymen, emancipating themselves from the Monasteries, come to the front as builders, and leaders of working Masons. It is also the commencement of a more highly finished style of pointed Gothic introduced by the Masons who returned from Palestine. During this reign flourished the celebrated Friar Roger Bacon, who, as member of a sworn fraternity, gave himself to the investigation of the hidden things of nature and science.

In the reign of Henry III. the Monks of Teignmouth raised a masterpiece of architecture in their new conventual church, which they completed by 1220, and were engaged in constant contention with the claims to jurisdiction of the Bishops of Durham; and then followed disputes with the burgesses of Newcastle, owing to the Monks fostering the trade of North Shields. The Prior's officers were in the habit of meeting those of the common {317} law on the hill of Gateshead, or beneath a spreading oak in Northumberland, when they came to hold assizes in Newcastle.

In 1220 the foundation of Salisbury Cathedral was laid by Bishop Poore; Robert was Master Mason, and Helias de Berham, one of the Canons, employed himself on the structure. Its base is the Patriarchal cross, its erection occupied 38 years, and it is the only Gothic cathedral in England built in one style of architecture. The five-pointed star is found in the tracery of the arcades, and heads of 32 windows, and the equilateral triangle is the basic design of the parapet. In 1220 Peter, Bishop of Winchester, levelled the footstone of Solomon's porch in Westminster Abbey. He is the same person as Peter de Rupibus, a native of Poictiers, who served with Coeur de Lion in Palestine, and was knighted by him, created Bishop of Winchester in 1204, Chief Justice in 1214, went on a Pilgrimage to Palestine and returned in 1231. Amongst his architectural labours is a Dominican convent in Winchester; the Abbey of Pitchfield; part of Netley Abbey; a pious house at Joppa; and the Domus Dei in Portsmouth. He died in 1238, and his effigy, which is a recumbent figure in Winchester Cathedral, has the right hand on the left breast, and his left hand clasping a book.6

From 1233-57 the "Close Rolls" give numerous details of the King's Masons who were employed at Guildford, Woodstock, and Westminster. In 1253 the King had consultations with Masons, "Franci et Angli." It is also the period of origin of the "Geometrical" style.

There is a document of 1258 which, though French, has an important bearing on English Masonic legends, referring amongst other things to Charles Martel, and which, though traditional, was accepted as sufficient to secure important freedoms. In this year Stephen Boileau, Provost of the Corporation of Paris, compiled a code of "Regulations concerning the arts and trades of Paris, {318} based upon the Statements of the Masters of Guilds," and amongst these we find the following in regard to the Masons, which gives them a double title to the term "Free," for they were free-stone cutters and free of certain duties: xxi. The Masons ("Macons") and plasterers are obliged to do guard duty, and pay taxes, and render such other services as the other citizens of Paris owe to their King. xxii. The Mortar-Makers are free of guard duty, as also every stone-cutter since the time of Charles Martel, as the ancients ("Prudolmes" or wise men) have heard, from father to son." The question arises here whether Masons and setters, who, were not free of duty, though cutters and sculptors were, use the term Carolus Secundus in England as a claim for the Masons and Setters. The Prudomes were the Wardens under the "Master who rules the Craft," and we are further told that this Master had taken his oath of service at the Palace, and afterwards before the Provost of Paris. It is also said that, after six years' service the Apprentice appeared before "the Master who keeps the Craft," in order to swear "by the Saints," to conform to Craft usage. He thus became a Journeyman, or Companion, but could not become a Master, and undertake the entire erection of a building, until he had completed such a "Master-Piece" as was appointed him, and which entailed much outlay; but if this was Passed he became a member of the "Masters' Fraternity." The difference between the Saxon and the French custom appears to be this: that whilst in the former case the acceptance of a Master rested with the same Assembly as that to which the Journeyman belonged, in the latter case the Masters' Fraternity was now a separate body, with independent laws. The custom of Montpelier, according to documents printed by Brother R. F. Gould, would seem to have developed somewhat differently. Here, after an Apprentice had served three years, he was placed for another four years to serve as a Journeyman, under a Master. At the end of this period he might present his Master-piece, and if it was approved he took the oath to {319} the Provosts and only such sworn Master was permitted to erect a building from the basement; but it was allowable for a Journeyman to undertake small repairs. Thus as city customs varied confusion must at times have arisen in journeying abroad. There is mention in 1287, when the Cathedral of Upsala in Sweden was begun, that Etienne de Bonneuill took with him from Paris "ten Master Masons and ten Apprentices"; possibly some of the Masters or some of the Apprentices, were what we call Fellows, but there is nothing to warrant any classification. It is important to shew the secret nature and the import of the French organisation, and Fraternities, and we quote the following from Brother J. G. Findel's "History of Freemasonry": -- "The "Fraternities" existing as early as the year 1189 were prohibited by the Council of Rouen ("cap." 25); and the same was most clearly expressed at the Council of Avignon in the year 1326, where ("cap." 37) it is said that the members of the Fraternity met annually, bound themselves by oath mutually to love and assist each other, wore a costume, had certain well known and characteristic signs and countersigns, and chose a president ("Majorem") whom they promised to obey." Nothing very vile in this.

In 1242 Prior Melsonby made additions to Durham Cathedral, and others were made by Bishop Farnham before 1247, and by Prior Hoghton about 1290. At Newcastle the church of All Saints was founded before 1296, and that of St. John in the same century. The church of St. Nicholas was rebuilt in the 14th century, but the present tower only dates from the time of Henry VI. Clavel says that the seal of Erwin de Steinbach, Chief Master of Cologne, 1275, bears the square and compasses with the letter G.

Turning to the North of England we find that at York in 1171, 1127, 1241, and 1291, the choir, south transept, and nave of the Minster were either completed or in course of erection, and the workmanship is infinitely superior to later portions of the building. In 1270 the new church of {320} the Abbey of St. Mary in York was begun by the Abbot Simon de Warwick, who was seated in a chair with a trowel in his hand and the whole convent standing around him. There is also a Deed of 1277 with the seal of Walter Dixi, Cementarius, de Bernewelle, which conveys lands to his son Lawrence; the legend is "S. Walter le Masun," surrounding a hammer between a half-moon and a five-pointed star. In this same year, 1277, Pope Nicholas II. is credited with letters patent to the Masons confirming the freedoms and privileges, said to have been granted by Boniface IV. in 614; if such a Bull was issued, it has escaped discovery in recent times.

In these somewhat dry building details it will have been noticed that references are made to French designers, and to consultation with French and English Masons, and with this enormous amount of building there must necessarily have been a constant importation of French Masons, with the introduction of French customs.

On the symbolism of this period there are some interesting particulars in the "Rationale" of Bishop Durandus, who died in 1296. The "tiles" signify the protectors of the church; the "winding-staircase" "imitated from Solomon's temple" the hidden knowledge; the "stones" are the faithful, those at the corners being most holy; the "cement" is charity; the "squared stones" holy and pure have unequal burdens to bear; the "foundation" is faith; the "roof" charity; the "door" obedience; the "pavement" humility; the four "side walls" justice, fortitude, temperance, prudence; hence the Apocalypse saith "the city lieth four square."7 The custom is Hindu, French, British.

In a paper recently read before one of the learned Societies Professor T. Hayter Lewis has shewn that the builders of the early "Pointed Gothic "of the 13th century were of a different school to those who preceded them in the 12th century; he shews that the Masons' marks, the style, and the methods of tooling the stones, differ from the older work, and whilst the older was wrought with diagonal tooling, the later was upright {321} with a claw adze. He traces these changes in methods and marks through Palestine to Phoenicia. This new style, he considers, was brought into this country by Masons who had learned it amongst the Saracens, and though Masons' marks were in use in this country long before they were now further developed on the Eastern system.8 There is as well tangible evidence of the presence of Oriental Masons in this country; two wooden effigies, said to be of the time of the Crusades, were formerly in the Manor house of Wooburn in Buckinghamshire, of which drawings were shewn to the Society of Antiquaries in 1814, and have recently been engraved in "Ars Quatuor Coronatorum."9 These effigies are life size, one represents an old man with quadrant and staff, the other a young man with square and compasses, and "the attire, headdress, and even features, indicate Asiatic originals." It has been thought that the Moorish Alhambra at Grenada indicates the presence of Persian Masons, and we find the translator of Tasso's "Jerusalem Delivered" in every case substitutes the word Macon for Mohammed, but this is only a provincial abbreviation for Maometto.

Though supported in a superior manner, the theory of Professor Hayter Lewis is not new to Freemasonry, as in the 17th century Sir Wm. Dugdale, Sir Chris. Wren, and others fix upon the reign of King Henry III. as the period when the Society of Freemasons was introduced into England by Travelling Masons, protected by Papal Bulls, and Wren is said to have added his belief that pointed Gothic was of Saracenic origin, and that the bands resided in Huts near the erection upon which they were working, and had a Warden over every ten men. But Elias Ashmole held that whilst such a reorganisation actually took place, it was upon a Roman foundation. Dugdale probably derived his views from some monastic document, or tradition, whilst Ashmole as a Mason, with better information followed the old MS. Constitutions, as we {322} have done in these chapters. Brother Gould is of opinion that the alleged Bulls were given to the Benedictines and other monkish fraternities who were builders, and that they only apply to Masons as members, or lay brothers of the Monasteries; and, we may add, Templars.

It must be clear to all who have eyes to see, that with this importation into England of the foreign element a new series of legends were engrafted upon.the original simple account of the old English Masons. Such are the Charges of Nimrod, of David and Solomon, and of Charles Martel, and though we have no MSS. of this period to confirm us, there is no doubt that they are of this period; equally we have no contemporary text of the Charges by which the newly imported Masons were ruled. The information already given enables us to see that there was a difference both in legends and laws between the two elements and that it was a sectarian difference.

English MSS., of more modern date, refer to "Books of Charges," where those of Nimrod, of Solomon, of St. Alban, and of Athelstan are included, and if they actually existed, as we see no reason to doubt, they were of this century. Moreover the references to Carolus Secundus, or to Charles Martel, must be of this period (though there can be no doubt that this refers to Carolus Magnus or Charlemagne) as small importations of French Masons in Saxon times would not have influenced the older legends, nor stood a chance of adoption by the English. In regard to the laws by which the French Masons were governed, we are, however, informed in the more modem MSS. that they differed but little, or "were found all one" with the Roman, British, and Saxon Charges. It is very evident that the early foreign element had a Charge of their own referring to Nimrod, David, Solomon, and Charles of France, applicable to their own ceremonies, and that in England, they united therewith the "Charges" of Euclid, St. Alban, and Athelstan in a heterogeneous manner; and these are found in two, or more, MSS. to which we refer {323} later, as having been approved by King Henry VI., and afterwards made the general law.

There is one piece of evidence which might enable us to settle certain difficult points if we could rely upon it. Professor Marks, a learned Jew, has stated that he saw in one of the public libraries of this country a Commentary upon the Koran of the 14th century, written in the Arabic language, with Hebrew characters, referring according to his view, to Free Masonry, and which contained an anagrammatical sentence of which each line has one of the letters M. O. C. H., and which he reads: "We have found our Lord Hiram" (Chiram); but the Dervish Sects have a similar phrase, which would read: "We have found in our Lord rest" (Kerim, or Cherim). We must therefore hold our minds in reserve until the book has been re-found and examined. In any case it seems to add a link to the chain of evidence as to the Oriental origin of "our present Rites." We may feel assured that the Masons who returned from the Holy-land were of a class calculated to make a marked impression on the Society. The word to which the foregoing alludes, in modern Arabic, might be translated "Child of the Strong one." Several modern writers, both Masons and non-Masons, hold to the opinion that there were two Artists at the building of Solomon's temple: Huram the Abiv, who began the work, and Hiram the son, who completed what his father had to leave undone. Succoth, where the brass ornaments for the Temple were cast, signifies Booths or Lodges, and Isaradatha means sorrow or trouble.10 Josephus says that Hiram was son of a woman of the tribe of Napthali, and that his father was Ur of the Israelites. The account that we have of him, in the Bible, is that he was expert in dyeing, and in working in gold, and in brass; which makes him a chemist and metallurgist, rather than a Mason. There were many Arts in which the ancients were our superiors. A very important {324} lecture on this point has recently appeared from the pen of the Rev. Bro. M. Rosenbaum.

After this long digression we will return to architecture in general. Mr. Wyatt Papworth points out the use of the term Ingeniator, in various documents, between 1160-1300 referring to castles repaired or constructed. Some of these were undoubtedly Architects and not Engineers, whose duties were the construction of warlike machines; and though gunpowder had not yet come into use in this country, the connection with Masoning might, at a later period, lead to the introduction of Marcus Graecus into our MSS.

In the reign of Edward I., 1272-1307, Merton College in Oxford, the cathedral of Norwich and twenty pious houses were founded; the noble Gothic style had reached its climax. Between 1291-4 several crosses were erected; and there are mentions of Masons who were employed by the King, some items of expense refer to timber, "to make a Lodge for Master Michael and his Masons." Peter de Cavalini designed the "Eleanor Crosses;" the one in Cheapside was begun by Richard de Crumble, and completed by Roger de Crumble; it was of three stories, decorated with Niches having Statues executed by Alexander le Imaginator. A still more beautiful one was the Charing Cross. From 1290-1300 West Kirkby Church was building, and the Marks are recorded by Brother Rylands, as well as those of Eastham, and Sefton Churches.11 In 1300 Henry the Monk, surnamed Lathom, Latomus, -- Mason or Stone-cutter, rebuilt part of the Abbey of Evesham. In 1303 the Mayor and 24 Aldermen of London, made ordinances for the regulation of the Carpenters, Masons and labourers; the Mayor was Gregory de Rokeslie, and the Mazounes Mestres, or Master Masons, and Master Carpenters are mentioned, in conjunction with their servants. From 1308-26 William Boyden was employed in erecting The Chapel of the Virgin at the Abbey of St. Albans. {325}

In the reign of Edward II., 1307-27, Exeter and Oriel Colleges in Oxford, Clare Hall in Cambridge, and eight pious houses were built. During this King's reign we have the advent of the "Curvilinear," or "Decorated" style, which held its ground for near a century. In 1313 the Knights Templars were suppressed with great brutality in France; in England their property was confiscated to the Knights of St. John, their leading Preceptories being at London, Warwick, Walsden, Lincoln, Lindsey, Bollingbroke, Widine, Agerstone, York, Temple-Sowerby, Cambridge, etc.; they were distributed throughout the Monasteries, or joined the Knights of St. John; those of York had lenient treatment by Archbishop Greenfield, and were relegated to St. Mary's adjacent to the Culdee hospital of St. Leonard. Their Lay brethren, amongst whom would be a numerous body of Masons, were liberated; a circumstance from which might spring more than a traditional connection. Some of the Knights returned to Lay occupations, and even married to the great annoyance of the Pope. In Scotland the Knights, aided in their aims by the wars between that country and England, retained their Preceptories and though they seem to have united with the Order of St. John in 1465 they were as often distinguished by one name as the other. The Burg-laws of Stirling have the following in 1405, -- "Na Templar sall intromet with any merchandise or gudes pertaining to the gilde, be buying and selling, within or without their awn lands, but giff he be ane gilde brother."12 Thus implying that the Knights had actual membership with the Guilds. The Templars, at the like date (1460) are mentioned in Hungary.13 In Portugal their innocence of the charges brought against them was accepted, but to please the Pope their name was changed to Knights of Christ. In an old Hungarian town, where the Templars once were, the Arms are a wheel on which is the Baptist's head on a charger. {326}