Chapter 35 · Study

The Old Charges

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Vocabulary · 6

Old Charges: A family of more than a hundred surviving medieval and early-modern manuscripts that set out the duties of an operative Mason and recite the legendary history of the craft. They were typically read aloud to candidates at admission.
Regius Manuscript: The oldest known of the Old Charges, dated to ca. 1390. Preserved among the royal manuscripts in the British Museum (hence "Regius"). It is in verse: seventy-nine articles and points concerning a Mason's duty.
Cooke Manuscript: Second-oldest known, dated ca. 1410. In prose rather than verse. Combines a longer legendary history of geometry and Masonry with a shorter set of articles and points.
Articles and points: The two standard sections of an Old Charges manuscript. Articles govern conduct between masters and the rest of the trade; points govern conduct between fellow workers.
Legendary history: Most Old Charges open with a mythic history tracing the craft from Adam, through Euclid, to King Solomon, to the operative guilds of the present. It blends biblical and classical material; it is symbolic, not factual.
Anderson's debt: Rev. James Anderson drew explicitly on the Old Charges when composing the 1723 Constitutions, opening his Constitutions with a History section that condenses and extends the legendary history found across the manuscript tradition.

Practice questions · 4

Which is the oldest known of the Old Charges?
- a. The Cooke Manuscript
- b. The Regius Manuscript ✓
- c. The Schaw Statutes
- d. The Inigo Jones Manuscript
Approximately when was the Regius Manuscript composed?
- a. ca. 1180
- b. ca. 1390 ✓
- c. ca. 1540
- d. ca. 1717
What two sections appear in a standard Old Charges manuscript?
- a. Lectures and catechisms
- b. Articles and points ✓
- c. Charges and prayers
- d. History and degrees
How should the legendary history found in the Old Charges be understood?
- a. As verified historical record
- b. As symbolic and traditional, blending biblical and classical material ✓
- c. As ritual to be recited verbatim
- d. As confidential material, never read aloud