10 The Corporative Masonry of Great Britain
It is in Anglo-Saxon masonry where we witness the birth of mod-
ern speculative Freemasonry. While the tradition was dying out on the
continent, British masonry was up to the task of transmitting the
ancient legacy. We have now looked at the line of descent: from Roman
collegia to the Culdees to the Benedictine monks and monastic associa-
tions to brotherhoods and guilds. The last of these—the guilds—which
first appeared in the northern countries, Normandy, and England,
offered an instant legal framework for trade organizations.
The first advantage offered by the guild was that it presented both
the professional character of French trade organizations and the pious
and charitable nature of brotherhoods. Second, events in Great Britain
favored its development. Not only were British guilds spared the strict
oversight that French kings strove to impose on the trades, but also they
were spared the kinds of restrictions and interdictions that struck the
brotherhoods. To the contrary, guilds were encouraged by both royal
power and the Church of England. The climate was therefore propi-
tious for maintaining tradition within the guild. According to the law
of history, because it remained alive, this tradition was structurally
enriched over the course of centuries. Masonry, which had taken the