Mason Corporations in France 151emancipation. They then entered the house, where a place had been
reserved for them at hearth and table. A group meal was served to
which all masters contributed one denier, even if they were not attending.
It is probable that similar ceremonies took place in other trades,
although Etienne Boileau's book remains mute on this subject. In addi-
tion, while this is what could be seen from the outside regarding initia-
tion, it is likely that esoteric rites were also included but were not
revealed in public, falling instead under the heading of trade secrets.
The practice of these rites eventually alarmed both civil authorities and
the Church, which considered them sacrilegious. An interesting allusion
to this subject appears in the 1548 arret of the parliament of Paris con-
cerning the Brotherhood of the Passion of Paris. It forbids any staging
of sacred texts, mainly the Mysteries, which consisted of episodes from
the Passion of Christ. The Officiality of Paris eventually confirmed this
condemnation. We will see that this ban was not at all the case in
England, where the Mysteries became standardized and where the word
mystery eventually acquired the meaning of the word craft.^9
A responsibility that the masters had to support in the royal
provostship of Paris was also one they found highly irritating: that of
the watch. Several trades had obtained an exemption from this duty,
notably the stonecutters and mortar makers.
The nominal heads of the trades, as we said earlier, were the craft
masters, great officers, or private citizens to whom these trades were
pledged. Their role was chiefly honorific while the actual leaders were
wardens and sworn members who held and exercised authority in the
name of the group. It should be mentioned that trade assemblies were
also held, sometimes on a regular basis, and sometimes as an extraor-
dinary event.
The Communities of Masons and BuildersAccording to the Livre des Metiers of Paris, exercise of the trades of
carpenter and mason was free in the jurisdiction of the king's provost.
Craftsmen were expected to pay a fee only to the monarch. We can
understand this point through its application to those professions with
francs metiers regulations in the jurisdiction of the Temple.