THE REGIUS MANUSCRIPT

 

A Poem of Moral Duties

 

Here begin the constitutions of the art of Geometry according to Euclid.

 

Whoever will both well read and look

He may find written in old book

Of great lords and also ladies,

That had many children together, certainly;

And had no income to keep them with,

Neither in town nor field nor enclosed wood;

A council together they could them take,

To ordain for these children's sake,

How they might best lead their life

Without great disease, care and strife;

And most for the multitude that was coming

Of their children after great clerks,

To teach them then good works;

 

And pray we them, for our Lord's sake.

To our children some work to make,

That they might get their living thereby,

Both well and honestly full securely.

In that time, through good geometry,

This honest craft of good masonry

Was ordained and made in this manner,

Counterfeited of these clerks together;

At these lord's prayers they counterfeited geometry,

And gave it the name of masonry,

For the most honest craft of all.

These lords' children thereto did fall,

To learn of him the craft of geometry,

The which he made full curiously;

 

Through fathers' prayers and mothers' also,

This honest craft he put them to.

He learned best, and was of honesty,

And passed his fellows in curiosity,

If in that craft he did him pass,

He should have more worship than the less,

This great clerk's name was Euclid,

His name it spread full wonder wide.

Yet this great clerk ordained he

To him that was higher in this degree,

That he should teach the simplest of wit

In that honest craft to be perfect;

And so each one shall teach the other,

And love together as sister and brother.

 

Futhermore yet that ordained he,

Master called so should he be;

So that he were most worshipped,

Then should he be so called;

But masons should never one another call,

Within the craft amongst them all,

Neither subject nor servant, my dear brother,

Though he be not so perfect as is another;

Each shall call other fellows by friendship,

Because they come of ladies' birth.

On this manner, through good wit of geometry,

Began first the craft of masonry;

The clerk Euclid on this wise it found,

This craft of geometry in Egypt land.

 

In Egypt he taught it full wide,

In divers lands on every side;

Many years afterwards, I understand,

Ere that the craft came into this land.

This craft came into England, as I you say,

In time of good King Athelstane's day;

He made then both hall and even bower,

And high temples of great honour,

To disport him in both day and night,

And to worship his God with all his might.

This good lord loved this craft full well,

And purposed to strengthen it every part,

For divers faults that in the craft he found;

He sent about into the land

 

After all the masons of the craft,

To come to him full even straight,

For to amend these defaults all

By good counsel, if it might fall.

An assembly then could let make

Of divers lords in their state,

Dukes, earls, and barons also,

Knights, squires and many more,

And the great burgesses of that city,

They were there all in their degree;

There were there each one always,

To ordain for these masons' estate,

There they sought by their wit,

How they might govern it;

 

Fifteen articles they there sought,

And fifteen points there they wrought,

 

Timeline of Masonry

1390

oRegius Poem

	1390 – or thereabouts.  What significant event took place in Masonry?
	[wait for answer, then click]
	An unknown Brother in England wrote a beautiful and lengthy manuscript, which described in some detail a fraternal society that we today know as Freemasonry.  Even at that time, more than 600 years past, our Noble Craft was older than anyone could remember.
	Freemasonry (or rather that philosophy that is at the heart of Freemasonry) has really existed from Time Immemorial.
	[click]
	When the Regis Manuscript was written, what existed was Operative Masonry.  Our ancient Brethren worked with stone and mortar, building great buildings.  They were called "Masons", and those who were most proficient in their craft were called "Freemasons", being free to work their craft withersoever they might travel.  These "Freemasons" designed, coordinated and built the great Cathedrals and other stately edifices throughout Europe.
	These massive undertakings often required years to complete, and the Freemasons that were employed in the construction organized Lodges to facilitate the every-day business necessary to allow them to do their Great Work.  These Lodges normally met in rooms within the building.   Each Lodge was governed by a Master and his Wardens, a Secretary maintained the books and records, a Treasurer oversaw the funds, a charity fund assisted the members provided relief for Freemasons and their families when in need.  The Lodge met regularly, initiated members, and conducted its business.
	Sound familiar?
	The great artists of the Middle Ages did not work in oils, or pastels.  They worked in marble, stone, and mortar.  Their canvasses were not made of parchment, but of hillsides and valleys.  The beauty of, and in, their work stands to this day as testimony to their skill, their genius and their knowledge of the arts and sciences, particularly Architecture, Mechanics and Geometry.  They did not come by this expertise easily, or quickly.
	From as early as the age of ten, young boys were selected for their physical, mental and moral attributes, and Apprenticed to a Master of the Work.  They would begin learning the skills and philosophies of the Craft, and if they showed sufficient promise, their names were entered in the records of the Lodge, making them Entered Apprentices.  For seven years or more, the Master was Teacher, Mentor, Father, Taskmaster, Supporter, Guide and Friend to the young apprentice.  The apprentice learned, at the hands of the Master, how to select stones for form and beauty, work the stone into an Ashler and place it strategically in the edifice to become wall, arch, pillar, column, floor, roof, window, sculpture or decoration.  At the end of their apprenticeship, once the skills had been mastered, the youth would be tested.  His proficiency would be proven by presenting a "Master's piece" to other Masters.  If judged worthy, he would be accepted as a Fellow of the Craft.
	When a building was finally completed, most Masons had to find other employment, or another building to build within the community.  They were not permitted to move about.  Freemasons were free to relocate, and would set up a new Lodge to facilitate building a new building.
	This was Operative Masonry, and it existed for generations until Euclid's Geometry was rediscovered and published, thereby revealing many of the Freemasons' secret methods.  The Reformation came, the Gothic style of Architecture went, laws changed, society underwent upheaval, and the Craft dwindled in number.  During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Craft had shrunk so, that only a few, widely scattered, lightly populated, Lodges remained.
	Until the sixteenth century, in order to become a Freemason, a man had to be a worker in the building trades, an Operative Mason.   In an effort to protect the guild, these Freemasons began to accept members who had other reasons to join their Lodges - curiosity, interest in customs, symbolism, or just wanted to associate with these Freemasons.  Because these nonOperative Freemasons had never proven themselves with a Master's piece, but had just been accepted as members without actually working as a Mason, they were called Accepted Masons.  Because their work was more with the moral and symbolic teachings than the physical ones, they were alternatively called Speculative Masons.  Gradually, by the end of the eighteenth century, there were more Speculative or Accepted Masons than Operative ones in Freemasons' Lodges.