Today, when mason craft is little more than a specialist side-line of construction, making little or no impact on the main thrust of architectural development, it is not always easy to recapture its erstwhile importance.
For in the Middle Ages stone was the pre-eminent building material for most major works of architecture, and consequently masons were usually the senior partners in the alliance of craftsmanship that existed during an important building project.
The master mason encompassed the functions of both architect and Builder, two occupations that have long since been separated. A modern student of the subject may therefore see a dichotomy at the heart of medieval mason craft in that it contains both intellectual and pragmatic dimensions.
Predictably, perhaps, scholarship has tended to concern itself with the intellectual rather than with the pragmatic. The principal concern has been with the master mason in his artistic capacity, as the progenitor of an individual style, and less emphasis has been placed on the structural aspects of his work.
However, the key to understanding the practice of architecture in the Middle Ages is to recognise that, although aesthetics were undoubtedly part of the master mason’s brief, he was first and foremost an engineer, concerned with the practicalities of construction.
The freemasons were the elite: they cut and dressed the good-quality freestone that was used for carved work, quoins and ashlar blocks, and were regarded as the most skilful amongst the various categories of masons, a status that is reflected in their higher wages.
It is generally assumed that the masons who functioned as architects were drawn from the freemasons' ranks. Some undoubtedly were, but it is worth remembering that, although the freemason had to understand the significance of the sometimes elaborately shaped stones that he worked on, he was generally confined to his lodge and divorced from the main construction process. It is therefore arguable that the mason layers, who placed the stones into position, and the rough masons, who built rubble walling, were in a better position to comprehend the structural implications of building.
The mason's craft encompassed a range of skills and specialities and, whatever the background of the architect. he was able to draw upon the expertise of others. Leadership and organisational abilities were more important attributes than particular craft skills.
Much of our knowledge about the medieval mason and his craft is owed to the fortunate survival in England of a substantial body of documentary evidence. These written records have formed the backbone of attempts to elucidate the nature of building during the Middle Ages. Whilst they provide some fascinating insights into the subject, a study based wholly on the written evidence has its drawbacks because medieval terminology can be ambiguous, and the documents themselves are limited in what they can tell us about the essentials of design and construction.
From the Introduction to, Medieval Masons,by Malcom Hislop, Shire Publications Ltd, Oxford, United Kingdom.ISBN 978 0 74780 461 1. Printed 2000, 2009 and 2010.A medieval Master Mason would be required to undergo what passed for a liberal education in those days. In England, he would leave home at nine or ten years of age already literate in English and French, educated at home or at the petty (junior) school. From then until the age of fourteen, he would attend monastery or grammar school to learn Latin, or as a page in a knightly household would learn deportment in addition to his studies.
Between the ages of fourteen and seventeen he would learn the basic skills of choosing, shaping, and combining stone and then between the ages of 17 and 21, be required to learn by rote a large number of formal problems in geometry.
Three years as a journeyman would often finish with the submission of a masterwork dealing with a set problem in construction or design.
At this point, he was considered qualified, but still had a career ladder to climb before attaining the status of Master Mason on a large project.
In his function as architect, the Master Mason probably made his plans for each successive stage of a build in silverpoint on a prepared parchment or board. These would be realised on the ground by using a larger compass than the one used for drafting. Medieval architects are depicted with much larger compasses and squares where they are shown on a building site. Fine detail was transferred from the drawing board by means of wooden templates supplied to the masons.
The Master Masons who appear in record as presiding over major works, such as York Minster, became wealthy and respected. Visiting Master Masons and Master Carpenters sat at high table of monasteries, dining with the abbot.
Revd Neville Barker Cryer, York Mysteries Revealed, Ian Allan Publishing, 2006, pp 71-74