112 THE ORIGINS OF FREEMASONRY FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO THE MIDDLE AGES
The Temple and the Organization of Parisian
Masons and CarpentersSeveral facts demonstrate quite clearly that it was under the aegis of the
Temple and under its sovereign jurisdiction that the organization of
Parisian masons and carpenters formed.
At the time the Livre des Metiers was written in 1268, a Templar
known as Master Fouques held the office of the king's master carpen-
ter and, by virtue of this title, had jurisdiction over the carpenters of the
royal provostship.
At the same time Master Fouques was the master carpenter of the
Temple. In fact, the preamble to the rules for carpenters (tit. XLVII
from the Livre des Metiers) states: "These are the ordinances of the
crafts that belong to carpentry in the suburbs of Paris, in accordance
with how Master Fouques of the Temple and his predecessors have used
and maintained them from times past." The jurisdiction of Master
Fouques, then, as for his "predecessors," was outside the provostship
of Paris. In this regard, the rule was not exercised by virtue of the king's
master carpenter, but by virtue of similar but earlier powers conferred
within a sovereign censive district that could only be that of the Temple.
The mention of predecessors shows that their origin—and consequently
that of a Templar carpenter association—was already old history.
Master Fouques's dual role is again confirmed by the first article of
the rule: "Firstly, Master Fouques of the Temple says, when the crafts-
men and the masters of the said carpenter trade of the king was given
him, he was sworn to all the masters of said crafts ..." There is quite
a distinction between the "trades (of the carpenter of the Temple)" on
the one hand, and the trades of the "king's carpenters" on the other. It
also appears that the custom of Temple carpenters, which became the
rule of the organization of carpenters of the provostship when Master
Fouques was placed at its head, went back to an already remote past.
This underscores the importance of the Temple in the construction
craft—and it is not foolhardy to venture that the carpenter's association
of Paris originated with the Templars.
The Templars remained at the head of this carpenters association
known as the king's carpenters until the dissolution of their order. At
that time, in fact, the position of the royal carpenter was abolished