THE STONEMASONS OF GERMANY.
fifteen sections,
"
the
and completed the entire curriculum sanctioned by the respectaLle authority
"
Emulation
or
the
"
"
Stability
pursues his travels, on which
XLIV., XLVIIL, XLIX., 105
Having
159
Lodges of Instruction
we need not
of
Our young craftsman now
further remark, than to state that Arts. XLIII.,
to 110, all directly refer to a
completed his travels, generally fixed
at liberty to take
1
!
"fellow" on his journeyings.
by German
writers at two yeais, he
is
now
up
permanent residence where he will and it is provided he shall no
In
longer accept work for a few days or weeks, but for a year, or thereabouts (Art. XXVI.).
the Torgau Ordinances (Art. 89) this is somewhat differently expressed.
He now enters on
his preparation for the mastership but it is not to be
presumed that the majority, or even any
a
;
;
number
of the fellows, ever attained this rank.
It required an extended acquaintance
with the sciences of mathematics and construction, as understood in those days; and it is
"
"
hardly possible that many fellows were endowed with the capacity to attain this knowledge.
large
The
we may
conjecture, was only attainable by the production of a masterpiece, consisting,
in all likelihood, of plans and models for a church, or of its
component parts. "When the
rank,
institution of a masterpiece first arose in this craft is very problematical it is not directly
mentioned in the Ordinances, but may be inferred from their general wording. Heideloff
possessed some manuscripts, found in the lodge at Nuremberg, making mention of masterpieces,
the earliest entry referring to them, quoted by him, being "24th July 1585, Hans von
;
—
Ndrdlingen's masterpiece has been shown."
-
But
impossible to avoid the conclusion that
a masterpiece was requisite at a very early date and we find it in all trades, without exception.
In fact, as the number and the opulence of the masters in a town increased, efforts were conit is
;
stantly directed to keep the admissions as few as possible, and the preliminaries were rendered
more onerous.
But the
difficulty then lay less in the execution of the masterpiece than in the
expense, which often became prohibitive to the poor craftsman so that ultimately a mastership
could only be attained by excessive patience and outlay, except for a master's son, in whose
case his father's position and wealth were of material assistance.
short cut for a few
;
A
favoured craftsmen, however, was open to them, by marrying a deceased master's widow or his
To such an extent did this evil gi'ow, that in the seventeenth century the State
daughter.^
issued an edict to suppress
admission to master's rank amongst the
stonemasons was attended by some ceremony, of M-hich, however, we have not the least hint
but it is almost certain that it was followed by a pledge feast. The alacrity with which the
It is possible that the
it.*
;
Steinmetzcn of old availed themselves of any pretext for a convivial assembly, is very evident.
Some reference to the mastership will be found in the Ordinances. Art. II. recites, "those
only shall be masters
Art. IV.).
who can
Again, in Art.
erect costly edifices, for the
XXXI., we
which they are authorised"
(see also
are told that, on his admission to the mastership, he
proving that there was an admission, and
In
that his mastership did not arise from the mere fact of his receiving a building order.
Art. 3 we have still stronger confirmation of a previous proof tendered and from Art. 4 it
pay an entrance
shall
fee of
one
florin to the craft
;
;
becomes apparent that such proof must have been submitted to a board of at
masters, so that they
may
least
two
thenceforth be able to certify to his possession of the necessary
'
The
'
Heideloff, Die Bauhiitte des Mittelalters, p. 33.
'
oldest
and most famous of our metropolitan "Lodges of Instruction."
Lujo Breutano,
p. 239.
On
the History and Development of Guilds, p. S7
;
also Berlepsch,
Chronik dor Gowerho,
•*
Ii>i