The Secret History of Freemasonry

46 THE ORIGINS OF FREEMASONRY FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO THE MIDDLE AGES

Though we are discussing cross-ribbed architecture in terms of two
different schools, we should take care not to oppose or even separate
them. Their relation is much like that of the Romanesque and Gothic
styles. Here we must acknowledge again that the initiative for realizing
and executing works was not connected solely to the imagination and
talent of artists. The Benedictines and Cistercians were generally the
master builders and overseers of all work in religious buildings. It was
on their orders and directives and through their coordination that dif-
ferent kinds of expertise were utilized as determined by place and cir-
cumstance. It is thus both an exaggeration and a limitation to classify
architectural art simply according to geographical locale and time
period.

The Fratres Pontifices

During the Middle Ages the erection of civic structures—bridges, in
particular—for public use was considered a work equal in piety to the
building of churches. Religious institutions were formed with this pur-
pose in mind, some of which have remained famous, like the
Hospitaller congregations of the Fratres Pontifices.^8 These monks of
the Benedictine Order were involved particularly with the construction
of bridges and roadways, as well as with the defense of travelers
against the assaults of criminals, noble or common, who infested the
roads at this time. The Hospitallers were established in Avignon in

1177. Saint Benezet, who left his name on the bridge made famous by
      song,* was one of the most renowned of these pontiff friars. The con-
      struction of regional bridges such as those of Bompas (which earned a
      congratulatory bull from Pope Clement III in 1189 and franchises
      from the counts of Toulouse in 1203 and 1237), Lourmarin, Malemort
      (the name of which brings to mind the dangers faced by travelers cross-
      ing the Durance), Mirabeau, and Pont Saint Esprit is attributed to
      them.
      "In 1277 the community of Bompas, whose prior was one

• [This refers to the bridge of Avignon. —Trans.]