Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Historical Account Of Master And Free Masons.
free and accepted masons . But it is certain that such a papal rescript or document has been industriously sought for in the Vatican library , and Avithout success . If this indulgence took place in the first half of the thirteenth century , as it is said to have donethere Avere three popes before
, 1250 . Some writers on the subject have claimed for these fraternities a close connexion with the Kni ghts Templars , from the similarity which is presumed to have subsisted Avith respect to both of their
mysterious rites of initiation . Be that as it may , it is allowed that they came into England nearly at one and the same time . Nor is there decided proof of their alliance , but a great resemblance in their mysterious pretensions . Exclusion
Avas imperatively ordained by both , as the sure guardian of mystery . They adopted the anathema of Eleusis , " Procul 1 0 procid este prophani ! "
Yet , in candour , we may alloAv the assertion , that these secret meetings of the master-masons , Avithin any particular district , did not foster political objects , but Avere , in fact , confined to consultations with each other , which mainly tended to the
communication of science , and of improvement in their art . An evident result Avas seen in the general uniformity of their designs in architecture , with respect both to plan and ornament , yet not Avithout deviations .
We . may conclude that the craft or mystery of architects and operative masons Avas involved in secrecy , by which a knowledge of their practice Avas carefully excluded
from the acquirement of all Avho were not enrolled in their fraternity . Still it was absolutely necessary that Avhen they engaged in contracts with bishops , or patrons of the great ecclesiastical buildings , a specification should be made of the component
parts , and of the terms by which either contracting party should be rendered conversant with them . A certain nomenclature was then divulged by the mastermasons for such a purpose , and became in general acceptation in the middle ages .
After these preliminary observations , I will attempt an investigation of the three leading points Avhich I have had in view in this discourse : —I . The various designations of master-masons and their associates
or operatives , Avhich may be authenticated either from their epitaphs in the magnificent structures Avhere they had sepultures or from the contracts Avith their patron , and supervisors . —II . An inquiry into the true claims of ecclesiastics , with respect to
their having been the sole designers , or architects , of cathedrals and their parts , exclusively of the master-masons Avhom they employed , and Avho were required only to execute plans already alloAved them . — III . Of architects who practised in England , daring the middle ages , concerning whom documentary evidence is adduced , in a
series . I . In the course of research , I have observed so many memorials of mastermasons , Avith a certain variation in the designation of individuals in their sepulchral inscriptions , that the more remarkable only require to be noticed . * Where their effigies are engraven in inlaid brass , as in
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
An Historical Account Of Master And Free Masons.
free and accepted masons . But it is certain that such a papal rescript or document has been industriously sought for in the Vatican library , and Avithout success . If this indulgence took place in the first half of the thirteenth century , as it is said to have donethere Avere three popes before
, 1250 . Some writers on the subject have claimed for these fraternities a close connexion with the Kni ghts Templars , from the similarity which is presumed to have subsisted Avith respect to both of their
mysterious rites of initiation . Be that as it may , it is allowed that they came into England nearly at one and the same time . Nor is there decided proof of their alliance , but a great resemblance in their mysterious pretensions . Exclusion
Avas imperatively ordained by both , as the sure guardian of mystery . They adopted the anathema of Eleusis , " Procul 1 0 procid este prophani ! "
Yet , in candour , we may alloAv the assertion , that these secret meetings of the master-masons , Avithin any particular district , did not foster political objects , but Avere , in fact , confined to consultations with each other , which mainly tended to the
communication of science , and of improvement in their art . An evident result Avas seen in the general uniformity of their designs in architecture , with respect both to plan and ornament , yet not Avithout deviations .
We . may conclude that the craft or mystery of architects and operative masons Avas involved in secrecy , by which a knowledge of their practice Avas carefully excluded
from the acquirement of all Avho were not enrolled in their fraternity . Still it was absolutely necessary that Avhen they engaged in contracts with bishops , or patrons of the great ecclesiastical buildings , a specification should be made of the component
parts , and of the terms by which either contracting party should be rendered conversant with them . A certain nomenclature was then divulged by the mastermasons for such a purpose , and became in general acceptation in the middle ages .
After these preliminary observations , I will attempt an investigation of the three leading points Avhich I have had in view in this discourse : —I . The various designations of master-masons and their associates
or operatives , Avhich may be authenticated either from their epitaphs in the magnificent structures Avhere they had sepultures or from the contracts Avith their patron , and supervisors . —II . An inquiry into the true claims of ecclesiastics , with respect to
their having been the sole designers , or architects , of cathedrals and their parts , exclusively of the master-masons Avhom they employed , and Avho were required only to execute plans already alloAved them . — III . Of architects who practised in England , daring the middle ages , concerning whom documentary evidence is adduced , in a
series . I . In the course of research , I have observed so many memorials of mastermasons , Avith a certain variation in the designation of individuals in their sepulchral inscriptions , that the more remarkable only require to be noticed . * Where their effigies are engraven in inlaid brass , as in