The Regius Poem

Summary of the Fifteen Articles

1. The master mason must be worthy of the confidence of the lords ; he must pay the fellows a fair wage with the lord's money.
2. Every master mason must attend a general assembly, unless he can give a good excuse.
3. The master mason shall not take on an apprentice for less than seven years and must lodge him during his apprenticeship.
4. The master mason must not take any serfs as apprentice.
5. The master mason shall take on neither bastards nor cripples (today's civil rights groups would have a field day with this one) .
6. The apprentice shall be paid less than the fellows, but his salary shall increase as he progresses.
7. The master mason shall employ neither thieves nor murderers - a sensible precaution.
8. The master mason may discharge an incompetent worker and replace him with another.
9. The master mason must make sure that the foundation of the building is well-laid.
10. The master mason must never take over, or meddle with, the work of another master mason, or be fined a penalty of ten pounds (that was a lot of money back then) .
11. A mason shall not work at night, except to study.
12. One shall not disparage the work of one's fellows.
13. The master mason must give his apprentice a complete education.
14. The master mason shall not take on an apprentice unless he has enough work for him.
15. The master mason must not leave his fellows astray, because he must care about their souls.

Summary of the Fifteen Points

1. A man of the craft must love God and the holy church as well as his fellows.
2. Masons must be paid for holidays.
3. The apprentice must keep secret all that his master tells him and all that he hears or sees in chamber.
4. The apprentice shall not be false to his craft, nor to his master or fellows, since the same law as theirs applies to him.
5. Masons must receive their salary from their master humbly. The master must discharge a mason before noon if he has no more work for him.
6. Quarrels between masons must be settled amicably, after the day's work is done or on a holiday.
7. A mason shall not sleep with the wife of a master nor a fellow's wife or concubine.
8. A master can allow a fellow to mediate between himself and other fellows.
9. Fellows must take turns serving at table, buying the food and accounting for what they spent.
10. A mason shall not support anyone who persists in wrongdoing; they shall be called before an assembly and excluded from the craft.
11. A mason must teach another, whose work is imperfect, in a friendly manner.
12. Masters, fellows, lords and local authorities shall agree in assembly to promulgate laws for the craft, and punish those who do not respect them.
13. A mason shall swear never to steal, nor be accomplice to a thief.
14. A mason must swear to be true to his master, his fellows and his king.
15. He who disobeys the laws of the assembly shall be called before it to make amends. If he persists in his fault he shall be excluded from the craft and imprisoned, and his goods confiscated.