Mason Corporations in France 167issued a sentence on September 11, 1651, refusing the right of asylum
to the compagnonnages condemned by the Sorbonne, which did not
include that of the masons.
To conclude our look at French professional organizations, we
must note that starting from the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries, neither
the trade communities nor brotherhoods could be considered the keep-
ers of the traditions of the ancient collegia. The collegia's regulations
were meticulous and their role was limited strictly to matters of the pro-
fession. The brotherhoods, for their part, had lost sight of their reli-
gious, spiritual, and charitable purposes. They allowed themselves to
become too often preoccupied by profane concerns, which served to
justify the many interdictions levied against them by royal or ecclesias-
tical authority. Finally, communities and brotherhoods had become
individualistic and more or less local in scope. They no longer held that
character of universaiism that denoted the Roman collegia or the
brotherhoods of the High Middle Ages. Only the compagnonnages
remained partially faithful to traditions, ideals, and ancient rites, as
well as to this quality of universalism. Their spread, however, was pro-
hibited by the interdictions levied against them and by their activity,
which was restricted to the defense of the interests of journeymen. The
role they might have played in the transmission of initiatory values
would go on to become the prerogative of Scotch and English corpora-
tive masonry. These forms not only preserved the ancient legacy but
also revitalized and enriched it with contributions from other initiatory
sources. Also, by removing masonry from its operative contingencies, it
became possible for it to benefit not just masons but everyone whose
ambition was to build the ideal temple of Wisdom and Beauty.