From the booklet – “PENETRATING THE VEIL”
– by David C. Bradley–Grand Master–1989-1990
This month’s issue is titled –
“PENETRATING THE VEIL:
GOTHIC CONSTITUTIONS.”
(As the presentations in this website are available to all readers, items involving the Second and Third Degrees will be excluded.)
GOTHIC CONSTITUTIONS
A result of this building growth was the formation of associations of freemasons in the late fourteenth century (1), by which trade secrets were protected and the business of each apprentice was the responsibility of the Master Craftsman to whom he was indentured. There is no evidence of a degree as it is known today, but there is evidence of a ceremony in operative days (2). Much of today’s knowledge is derived from documents called Gothic Constitutions, of which the Regius MS, c. 1390, is the oldest. These documents are similar to each other in content and form the basis of a simple ceremony designed to provide the apprentice with the administration of his trade (3). In general, these constitutions begin with an invocation, a reference to the seven liberal arts, followed by a legendary history, then an instruction on the manner of taking an oath, a reading of the regulations governing behaviour in and outside the trade and, finally, an oath was sworn to observe the regulations (4). The main objective appeared to be not only to preserve the operative craft, but also to reassure members that they belonged to an ancient and honourable trade.
1 The Genesis of Freemasonry, Knoop, Jones. P. 42
2 The Pocket History of Freemasonry, Pick and Knight, p. 52
3 The Genesis of Freemasonry, p. 62
4 Idem, p. 206
R.W. Bro. Robert South