Old Charges FAQ

The Old Charges were meant, in light of their content, to regulate the Craft. Indeed, the craftsmen, who had these texts as their regulations, swore to abide by the obligations contained within them, as stipulated in these writings. By taking an oath, an obligation made before God, they committed themselves to the Craft, which exercised its own justice over its members.

H. Poole, following W. Begemann, proposed that the Old Charges were probably used within a ceremonial framework, where the legendary history and obligations – the two parts that make up an Old Charge – were to be read to the artisans before their swearing-in ceremony.

The Old Charges, in the form of scrolls or booklets, are most often structured, to put it simply, into three main parts: 1) an introductory prayer or grace with an address to the fellows and brethren; 2) a legendary history of Masonry; 3) the obligations, charges, or duties of the Mason in general, and those “singular” for masters and fellows.

If we opt for a more detailed view, we observe that the more elaborate manuscripts follow the following detailed plan: 1) introductory prayer or grace; 2) purpose of the text or address to the fellows and brethren; 3) the seven liberal sciences; 4) geometry as the foundation of sciences; 5) Lamech and the two antediluvian columns; 6) after the flood, Nimrod and Babylon, the obligation of Nimrod; 7) Abraham, Euclid, and Egypt; 8) the charges of Euclid; 9) King David; 10) King Solomon, Hiram, and the Temple; 11) Charles Martel and France; 12) Saint Alban; 13) Athelstan and Prince Edwin; 14) the York assembly; 15) the manner of taking the oath; 16) the exhortation before the charges; 17) charges in general; 18) charges singuler; 19) the oath.

In addition, for around fifteen texts, there are specific obligations for apprentices, and for only two known texts catechisms or series of questions and answers. However, not all texts strictly follow such a plan, as certain parts may be absent or not contain exactly the same information.

The Old Charges are currently organized into Families, with certain Branches grouped together, a classification introduced a hundred and thirty years ago by W. Begemann. Small groups of texts were formed based on their similarities in content, referred to as Branches, and were then grouped into larger sets known as Families. A Family takes the name of the Branch considered the oldest within the group, which explains why we have a Grand Lodge branch within a family of the same name, as in the case of the Sloane branch. The manuscripts gathered within the same group are believed to have a common ancestral origin.

The grouping of the texts is done through a line-by-line, word-by-word comparison of the manuscripts. According to W. Begemann, who rejected R. F. Gould’s classification, this laborious work was the only way to establish a degree of relationship between the contents of the manuscripts and to draw conclusions based on internal evidence.

The Old Charges were predominantly handwritten manuscripts passed down through generations, with numerous copies being produced over time. Scholars and researchers in the field have employed diverse approaches to ascertain the age of these documents.

Typically, the emphasis has been on the physical attributes of the manuscripts, their structure, and the distinctive features of the handwriting. Only a limited number of scholars have considered the linguistic characteristics, and a scant few have taken into account the presence of specific historical details within the legends and narratives mentioned in the Old Charges, or the obligations contained within, as a means of approximating their dating. But their work has been forgotten over time…

The names assigned to the Old Charges refer to various factors:

• the current owner of the manuscript, such as a lodge (Antiquity);
• a former owner (Fisher, Wood, Colonel Clerke…);
• the scribe or copist (Crane, Foxcroft…);
• the place of its discovery (Wakefield, York);
• the printer (Briscoe, Roberts);
• the first person to publish a transcription (Halliwell, Cooke, Dowland);
• a friend or benefactor of the owner (Cama, Strachan);
• a Freemason or notable figure at the time of discovery (Devonshire, King George VI);
• another similar text (Harris No. 2, York No. 2);
• a combination of two or more of these reasons (Bolt-Coleraine, Levander-York).

Therefore, there is no general logic in their designation.

The oldest document reffering to Masonry is the Regius Poem. The booklet dates from around 1425 (and not around 1390 as is often written). It is a compilation of copies of earlier writings. HOWEVER, the oldest content is that of the Cooke MS. If the booklet dates from around 1425-50 (and NOT 1400-10), the document is a copy of a lost manuscript, older than the original of the Regius.

So, when making a chronology, it is a big mistake to put Regius first. Unfortunately, that’s the way it’s always been done and that’s what makes the history of Freemasonry so difficult to trace…