What role did operative masons play in preserving geometric knowledge?
Operative masons in the Middle Ages served as the de facto guardians of geometry, preserving and transmitting geometric knowledge through their craft and initiation practices. In a time when books were scarce and literacy was limited mostly to the privileged and the church, operative masons maintained the art and science of geometry essential for their work in designing and constructing the great Gothic cathedrals and other edifices.
According to James C. Stewart in his paper "Freemasonry and the Transmission of Geometry," the operative masons passed their geometry and philosophy from generation to generation via initiation, keeping the art of geometry a closely guarded secret that granted them economic, political, and theological influence. The importance of geometry is underscored in early Masonic manuscripts such as the Halliwell Manuscript and the Matthew Cooke Manuscript, which emphasize geometry as foundational to the craft and link it to the seven liberal sciences, suggesting all others owe their existence to geometry.
Stewart further explains that the operative masons' knowledge was critical to the building of their structures, and geometric principles like the vesica piscis were commonly used in medieval architecture. This tradition of geometric knowledge was preserved and later symbolically incorporated into speculative Freemasonry, illustrating a continuous path from operative to speculative Masonry.
In summary, operative masons preserved geometric knowledge by being its custodians during the Middle Ages, passing it down through their guilds and lodges, and embedding it in the architecture they created and the symbolic teachings they transmitted. This preservation was crucial for the diffusion of geometry into modern times and the development of Freemasonry as a philosophical and symbolic system.
Reference: James C. Stewart, "Freemasonry and the Transmission of Geometry",,.