3

Ecclesiastical and

Monastic Associations

Ecclesiastical associations, primarily monastic organizations,
are of twofold interest in the study of the origins of professional build-
ing organizations. First, they contributed—and this is critical—to the
preservation and transmission of the traditions and secrets of the colle-
gia that had been more or less overwhelmed by the barbarian invasions,
then legally dissolved by the formation of feudal society. Second, the
monastery schools trained the lay masters, who, starting in the twelfth
century, took over the brotherhoods of builders jointly with the ecclesi-
astical masters. These brotherhoods were precursors to later trade
guilds and corporations; they were able to be transformed into these
new structures when social evolution offered a legal framework that
supported this change.
The history of monastic associations is primarily linked to that of
two religious orders: the Benedictine Order and its various persuasions
(Cluny and Citeaux), and the Templar Order. The role of the
Benedictines was especially prominent up to the twelfth century. They
can be credited with not only the propagation of Romanesque art but
also the birth of Gothic art. As for the Templars, initially students of the
Benedictines, with whom they always maintained a connection, their