The Templars, the Francs Metiers, and Freemasonry 87such as it appeared in the Livre des Metiers. In the cases in which the
craft was exercised freely, the exemptions from which the craft bene-
fited remained relative. The term franc metier implies in fact much
more extensive franchises. For the provost of Paris, as Lespinasse and
Bonnardot indicate, it concerns freely exercised trades that exempted
these craftspeople from the watch and special fees.^6 The Livre des
Metiers expressly cites only two cases of this nature: crafts that are
attached to the service of either the Church or the nobility, such as crys-
tal engravers and hatters working with flowers.
Title XXX. On Crystal Engravers. I. Whosoever desires can be a
crystal engraver in Paris ... he can establish a trade and has what
is necessary, as such he will open in accordance with the customs
of the craft.... XIV. The crystal engraver owes to the King the tal-
lage and others owed by his fellow bourgeois. But the watch he
will pay never, nor sally forth when the King is overseas; neither
will he pay or owe tax, as they deem fit, for their craft is free,* as
such he owes nothing from buying nor selling. Neither toll nor
home tax owes he in any land of the things of his trade, as their
craft belongs forwith to the honoring of the Holy Church and the
high homes. Title XC. Flower Hatters. I. Who so desireth to be a
Hatter of flowers can be so freely so far as he knows the craft and
he has the wherewithal. VII. No hatters of flowers are compelled
to fulfill watch service, because their craft is free and was estab-
lished to serve the gentlefolk.In Paris, with respect to the royal provostship, the mortarers and
stonecutters were regarded as free in the sense that they were exempt
from various compulsory duties, mainly the watch. But masons, plas-
terers, and carpenters did not enjoy this exemption; therefore they were
not francs metiers.
In their most extensive acceptance, the free crafts appear to have
had their origin in the jurisdiction of abbeys and religious orders, a fact
* It should be noted that in such cases the franchise does not provide complete exemp-
tion, for the craftsman must still pay the tallage.