The “Statutes and Regulations of the Society of the Masters of Masonry and Carpentry” was originally written in Latin by a notary of Bologna by order of the “Podestà” of Bologna, Bonifacio De Cario, and is dated: August 8, 1248. This manuscript is currently preserved in the State Archives of Bologna. According to historian specialist in Masonry, father Ferrer Benimeli, in his commentary on the “Carta di Bologna” says: “As much for the legal, as for the symbolic and representative aspects, the Statutes of Bologna of 1248, with the documents attached to it, connects us with an Operative Masonry that was thus far unknown, and that is of interest to the modern international historiography, particularly of Masonry, because it is placed, by its chronology and importance hitherto unknown, at the height of the British manuscript “Regius Poem” which is much newer, and that until now was considered the oldest and most important work.”
Contents
Statutes and Regulations of the Masters of Masonry and of Carpentry 11 Oath of the aforesaid Masters 12 About insulting words against the Officers or the Steward 14 Sanctions to those who do not appear having been summoned to the appointed place 15 Election of Officers and Steward and Meetings of the Society 16 That no one can elect someone who is his Son or Brother 17 That the Masters do obey the Officers and the Steward 18 How and in what manner the Masters enter the Society and how much they must pay for their admission 19 No Master shall harm another Master in his Work 21 The Accounts that the Steward must render and the Duties of his Office 22 Election of the Financial Auditors 24 Transcription of the Reforms by the Council 25 That the Steward and the Officers shall render Account for their Charge only once and no more 26 Orders to be given by the Officers and by the Steward 27 If a Master hires Another in his Work 28 How much the Officers and the Steward are to be paid 29 Candles that need to be place next to the deceased [at funerals or wakes] on account of the Society of Masters 30 That all Masters are obliged to go together to a Deceased Member when they were summoned 31 The Officers are required to assist the sick members and give them advice 32 Nuncios shall travel at the expense of those who were sanctioned, and who refuse to give a bond 33 Of those who undertake contracts 34 No one shall go to be blessed more than once 35 No one shall receive the Benediction by his own authority 36 No one shall go beyond the corner of the altar 37 The equal sharing of Communal Tasks among Masters 38 No one shall rise in an assembly of Masters to give his opinion on matters other than that which is proposed by the Officers or the Steward 39 No one shall make noise nor shout when someone is speaking or makes a proposal in an assembly of the Society of the above said Masters 40 The remuneration of the Nuncio 41 How and in what manner the members of the Society shall gather for a deceased member and in which places 42 Each member of the Society shall pay annually four Denari for the masses 43 No one can take an apprentice for a period less than four years 44 Everyone shall show to the Officers the contract of his Apprentice within a year from the time he took him on 45 No one shall employ someone who is not of the city or county of Bologna or who is someone’s servant 46 The Masters shall be obliged to make the Apprentices enter into the Society after two years 47 No member of the Society shall work for someone who owes something to a Master 48 The Society shall last for ten years 49 No one shall complain about the Officers before the Podestà or his tribunal 50 Publication of the Statutes 51 The Steward and the Officers shall collect the Levies 52 The Nuncio of the Society shall stay in office for one year 53 The Notary of the Society 54 There shall be two books with the names of the Masters of Carpentry 55 Accounts to be given by the Officers and Steward 56 The making of a Roster 57 No one shall say slander the Society 58 The Officers shall lapse 59 The Societies shall meet separately 61 Remuneration of the Redactors of the Statutes 62 The making of a Candle 63 Candles to be given each year to the church of Saint Peter 64 A Master who dismisses an apprentice before the prescribed term cannot assume another one 65 The purchase of a funereal Pall for the Society 66 Remuneration to the Councilor for the Elderly 67 The Steward and the Officers shall give Accounts 68 No noise shall be made in an Assembly 69 The Society shall meet at the church of Saint Peter 70 There shall be several Nuncios when someone of the Society dies 71 Those who do not give the money for the masses 72 Copies of the Statutes of the Society 73 The Security to be given to the Nuncio of the Society 74 The remuneration of the Notary of the Society 75 The remuneration of the Financial Auditors 76
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