60 THE ORIGINS OF FREEMASONRY FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO THE MIDDLE AGES
which never missed an opportunity to clamp down on guilds, brother-
hoods, and other associations whose purposes appeared to conflict with
canonical laws. The interdictions that were promulgated for this reason
(and which could target only specific cases) provide us with valuable
information on certain kinds of associations. On January 30, 1189, the
Council of Rouen banned the societies and brotherhoods of clergy and
laypeople that swore an all-encompassing oath of aid and protection to
each other that could lead them to take actions that ran counter to
canonical law and that might even lead to perjury. A century and a half
later, on June 18, 1326, the Council of Avignon condemned certain fra-
ternities and brotherhoods. From this action we have learned that these
societies possessed particular insignia and a special language and writ-
ing with which members could recognize one another. The tenets of
these groups obliged members to render to each other aid and protec-
tion in all matters and suggested that those who broke this oath would
incur punishment. With regard to leadership, they elected a master as
well as associate leaders who took the titles of abbots and priors. These
societies, composed of nobles, laypeople, and ecclesiastics, were con-
demned by the council as having committed all manner of depredations
against the life and property of their fellow citizens.^6
There are no traces of guilds like these having existed in Great
Britain during the Saxon period. Their history begins with the Norman
Conquest, which was ensured by the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Merchant Guilds and Artisan Guilds.
The merchant guild is mentioned for the first time in England in a char-
ter granted to the bourgeois of Burford (1087-1107) and in Flanders in
both a charter given by Count Baudoin and Countess Rachilde to the
Guild of Valenciennes in 1167 and one from the twelfth century
approving the statutes of the Guild of Saint Omer.* The primary pur-
pose of these merchant guilds was to guarantee the protection of their
members and their property.
- In his Description des Pays-Bas (Anvers: 1582) Guichardin claims to have seen docu-
ments attesting that Flemish corporations were established as early as 865 by Baudoin,
son of Arnould the Great. There are solid grounds for doubting this assertion.