The Secret History of Freemasonry

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

so happens that it is precisely at this same time that the laws of Ine, king
of Wessex (688-725), mention guilds for the first time.
An important fact to note before we begin an overview of the three
different categories into which guilds fell (religious or social, merchant,
and craftsman) is that with the advent of these associations came the
ability of women to gain membership in them.^3

Religious or Social Guilds

The first guilds to appear were associations founded for the purpose of
either mutual defense or religious association. This is the case for those
cited in the laws of Ine from the end of the seventh century. The oldest
mention on the Continent of the institution of the guild (which, as it so
happens, forbade their organization) is in a capitulary issued by
Charlemagne in the year 779. Despite this, there are sufficient grounds
to deduce that guilds may have appeared initially on British soil.
The judicia civitatis Londonioe, redrafted under the reign of King
Athelstan (895-940) make reference to this institution:

Every month the members of the guild shall assemble for a feast in

which their common interests, the observation of statutes and

other similar matters shall be discussed. On the death of a mem-

ber, each associate must offer a piece of good bread for the salva-

tion of his soul and sing fifty psalms within a month's time. All

participants in this league shall not give allegiance to any other;

they are expected to make common cause of their affections and

their hates and to avenge an insult given to one of their brothers as

if it had been addressed to all.

It is interesting to find these indications concerning the guilds in a
text dating from the time of King Athelstan, given that according to leg-
end it is to the era ruled by this king that Freemasons attribute their old-
est charter. It was in 926 in York that Edwin, adopted son of Athelstan,
gave a charter to the masons. The oldest text attesting to the existence
of this document, however, the Cooke Manuscript* dates back only to

• This manuscript takes the name of its first publisher, Matthew Cooke.