THE Old Charges


Couv Charges


The Old Charges of the Craft


Édition en anglais  2016

Publié aux Éditions Segnat

368 pages pages

Sur Amazon.fr


00,00 euros.

Despite all the efforts of research and analysis which have long been made in the past, ​​by a variety of learned historians and Masonic specialists, no one can, even today, attempt to draw up a complete and unden­iable history of universal Freemasonry. No one can yet say, categorically, that the word Freemason is derived from the stonecutters, masons and builders of gothic cathedrals, castles and various buildings because they were once freestone Masons (carvers of soft stone) rather than because they were Masons free of birth, body and serfdom.

What is possible to state is that the medieval era, so conducive to the construction of great religious and seigniorial buildings, saw the birth and development of various and numerous companies, guilds, associations or brotherhoods; all motivated by social or corporate obligations, which brought together lords, masters, fellows and apprentices on whom they imposed the principles of virtue, integrity and ethical behavior, both secular and religious.

There is apparently no historical and societal connection between the Masters of the Wall, living in Bologna during the thirteenth century; the Scottish operative masons working, under the authority of William Schaw, in the late sixteenth; and the early members of the Ancient and Right Wors­hipful Fraternity of Free-Masons, who celebrated St. John the Baptist’s Day in London, in the year 1717. 

It seems, however, that all these men – devoted to the material or moral construction of human Society – were animated by the same determination, the same faith and the same desire to achieve the same spiritual Truth. This is why a Brotherhood of Masons, living in different parts of the World, have decided to gather, translate and transcribe what they consider as being the Founding Texts of Modern Freemasonry.

©  Guy  Chassagnard  2023