On the accession of Edward I. A. D. 1272, the care of the masons
was entrusted to Walter Giffard, archbishop of York; Gibert de Clare, earl of
Gloucester; and Ralph, lord of Mount Hermer, the progenitor of the family of the
Mantagues. These architects superintended the finishing of Westminster Abbey,
which had been begun in 1220, during the minority of Henry III. In the reign of
Edward II. the fraternity were employed in building Exeter and Oriel colleges,
Oxford; Clare-hall, Cambridge; and many other structures; under the auspices of
Walter Stapleton, bishop of Exeter, who had been appointed Grand Master in 1307.
Masonry flourished in England during the reign of Edward III. who became the
patron of science, and the encourager of learning. He applied with indefatigable
assiduity to the constitutions of the Order; revised and meliorated the ancient
charges, and added several useful regulations to the original code of laws. He
patronized the lodges, and appointed five deputies under him to inspect the
proceedings of the fraternity; viz. I. John de Spoulee, who rebuilt St. George's
chapel at Windsor, where the order of the garter was first instituted, A. D
.1350; 2. William a Wykeham, afterwards bishop of Winchester, who rebuilt the
castle of Windsor at the head of 400 free-masons A. D. 1357; 3. Robert a
Barnham, who finished St. George's hall at the head of 250 free-masons, with
other works in the castle, A. D. 1375; 4. Henry Yeuele, (called in the old
records, the King's free-mason,) who built the Charter-house in London; King's
hall, Cambridge; Queensborough castle; and rebuilt St. Stephen's chapel,
Westminster: and 5. Simon Langham, abbot of Westminster, who rebuilt the body of
that cathedral as it now stands. At this period, lodges were numerous, and
communications of the fraternity held under the protection of the civil
magistrate *.
Richard II. succeeded his grandfather Edward III. in 1377, and William a Wykeham
was continued Grand Master. He rebuilt Westminster-hall as it now stands; and
employed the fraternity in building New College, Oxford, and Winchester college,
both of which he founded at his own expense.
Henry, duke of Lancaster, taking advantage of Richard's absence in Ireland, got
the parliament to depose him, and next year caused him to be murdered. Having
supplanted his cousin, he mounted the throne by the name of Henry IV. and
appointed Thomas Fitz Allen, earl of Surrey, Grand Master. After the famous
victory of Shrewsbury, he founded Battle-abbey and Fotheringay; and in this
reign the Guildhall of London was built. The king die in 1413, and Henry V.
succeeded to the crown; when Henry Chicheley, archbishop of Canterbury, obtained
the direction of the fraternity, under whose auspices lodges and communications
were frequent.
Henry VI. a minor, succeeding to the throne in 1422, the parliament endeavoured
to disturb the masons, by passing the following act to prohibit their chapters
and conventions:
3 Hen. VI. cap. 1. A. D. 1425.
Masons shall not confederate in Chapters or Congregations
'Whereas, by the yearly congregations and confederacies made by the masons in their general assemblies, the good course and effect of the statutes of labourers be openly violated and broken, in subversion of the law, and to the great damage of all the commons; our sovereign Lord the King, willing in this case to provide a remedy, by the advice and consent aforesaid, and at the special request of the commons, hath ordained and established that such chapters and congregations shall not be hereafter holden; and if any such be made, they that cause such chapters and congregations to be assembled and holden, if they thereof be convict, shall be judged for felons: and that the other masons, that come to such chapters or congregations, be punished by imprisonment of their bodies, and make find and ransom at the king's will *.'
This act was never put in force, nor the fraternity deterred
from assembling, as usual, under archbishop Chicheley, who still continued to
preside over them *. Notwithstanding this rigorous edict, the effect of
prejudice and malevolence in an arbitrary set of men, lodges were formed in
different parts of the kingdom; and tranquillity and felicity reigned among the
fraternity.
As the attempt of parliament to suppress the lodges and communications of masons
renders the transactions of this period worthy attention, it may not be improper
to state the circumstances which are supposed to have given rise to this harsh
edict.
The duke of Bedford, at that time regent of the kingdom, being in France, the
regal power was vested in his brother Humphrey, duke of Gloucester *, who was
styled protector and guardian of the kingdom. The care of the young king's
person and education was entrusted to Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, the
capacity and experience, but of an intriguing and dangerous character. As he
aspired to the sole government of affairs, he had continual disputes with his
nephew the protector, and gained frequent advantages over the vehement and
impolitic temper of that prince. Invested with power, he soon began to shew his
pride and haughtiness, and wanted not followers and agents to augment his
influence *.
The animosity between the uncle and nephew daily increased, and the authority of
parliament was obliged to interpose. On the last day of April 1425, the
parliament met at Westminster. The servants and followers of the peers coming
thither, armed with clubs and staves, occasioned its being named THE BATT
PARLIAMENT. Several laws were made, and, among the rest, the act for abolishing
the society of masons *; at least, for preventing their assemblies and
congregations. Their meetings being secret, attracted the attention of the
aspiring prelate, who determined to suppress them *.
The sovereign authority being vested in the duke of Gloucester, as protector of
the realm, the execution of the laws, and all that related to the civil
magistrate, centered in him: a fortunate circumstance for the masons at this
critical juncture. The duke, knowing them to be innocent of the accusations
which the bishop of Winchester had laid against them, took them under his
protection, and transferred the charge of rebellion, sedition, and treason, from
them, to the bishop and his followers; who, he asserted, were the first
violators of the public peace, and the most rigorous promoters of a civil
discord.
The bishop, sensible that his conduct could not be justified by the laws of the
land, prevailed on the king, through the intercession of the parliament, whose
favour his riches had obtained, to grant letters of pardon for all offences
committed by him, contrary to the statute of provisors, and other acts of
prĉmunire; and five years afterward, procured another pardon, under the great
seal, for all crimes whatever from the creation of the world to the 26th of July
1437.
Notwithstanding these precautions of the cardinal, the duke of Gloucester drew
up, in 1442, fresh articles of impeachment against him, and presented them in
person to the king; earnestly intreating that judgment might be passed upon him,
according to his crimes. The king referred the matter to his council, at that
time composed principally of ecclesiastics, who extended their favour to the
cardinal, and made such a slow progress in the business, that the duke, wearied
out with their tedious delays and fraudulent evasions, dropt the prosecution,
and the cardinal escaped.
Nothing could now remove the inveteracy of the cardinal against the duke; he
resolved to destroy a man whose popularity might become dangerous, and whose
resentment he had reason to dread. The duke having always proved a strenuous
friend to the public, and, by the authority of his birth and station, having
hitherto prevented absolute power from being vested in the king's person,
Winchester was enabled to gain many partisans, who were easily brought to concur
in the ruin of the prince *.
To accomplish this purpose, the bishop and his party concerted a plan to murder
the duke. A parliament was summoned to meet at St. Edmondsbury in 1447, where
they expected he would lie entirely at their mercy. Having appeared on the
second day of the session, he was accused of treason, and thrown into prison;
where he was found, the next day, cruelly murdered. It was pretended that his
death was natural; but though his body, which was exposed to public view, bore
no marks of outward injury, there was little doubt of his having fallen a
sacrifice to the vengeance of his enemies. After this dreadful catastrophe, five
of his servants were tried for aiding him in his treasons, and condemned to be
hanged, drawn, and quartered. They were hanged accordingly, cut down alive,
stripped naked, and marked with a knife to be quartered; when the marquis of
Suffolk, through a mean and pitiful affectation of popularity, produced their
pardon, and saved their lives; the most barbarous kind of mercy that can
possibly be imagined !
The duke of Gloucester's death was universally lamented throughout the kingdom.
He had long obtained, and deserved, the sirname of GOOD. He was a lover of his
country, the friend of good men, the protector of masons, the patron of the
learned, and the encourager of every useful art. His inveterate persecutor, the
hypocritical bishop, stung with remorse, scarcely survived him two months; when,
after a long life spent in falsehood and politics, he sunk into oblivion, and
ended his days in misery *.
After the death of the cardinal, the masons continued to hold their lodges
without danger of interruption. Henry established various seats of erudition,
which he enriched with ample endowments, and distinguished by peculiar
immunities; thus inviting his subjects to rise above ignorance and barbarism,
and reform their turbulent and licentious manners. In 1442, he was initiated
into masonry, and, from that time, spared no pains to obtain a complete
knowledge of the Art. He perused the ancient charges, revised the constitutions,
and, with the consent of his council, honoured them with his sanction *.
Encouraged by the example of the sovereign, and allured by an ambition to excel,
many lords and gentlemen of the court were initiated into masonry, and pursued
the Art with diligence and assiduity *. The king in person presided over the
lodges, and nominated William Wanefleet, bishop of Winchester, Grand Master; who
built at his own expence Magdalene college, Oxford, and several pious houses.
Eton college, near Windsor, and King's college, Cambridge, were founded in this
reign, and finished under the direction of Wanefleet. Henry also founded
Christ's college, Cambridge' and his queen, Margaret of Anjou, Queen's college,
in the same university. In short, during the life of this prince, the arts
flourished, and many sagacious statesmen, consummate orators, and admired
writers, were supported by royal munificence.