Chapter XLVIII. of Masons, Stone Cutters, Plasterers and Morterers.
In the city of Paris anyone who wishes to be a mason may be one, provided he knows his trade and works according to the practices and customs of his profession, which are defined thus:

No one may have more than one apprentice in his business, and if he has one he must keep him for six years of service. He may well keep him beyond this time if the man is available, but for pay. If he keeps him less than six years he will be fined twenty Paris sons, payable to the chapel of Saint Blaise, (2) unless the apprentices are his own sons born to him in wedlock.

The mason may lawfully take a second apprentice on the same terms as he took the first one after the first one has completed five years.

The king who now rules, to whom may God grant long life, has entrusted, for as long as he may see fit, authority over all masons to Master William de Saint-Patu. The said Master William swore in Paris in the palace lodge (3) that he would protect the guild of masons as best he could, with honesty and justice to the poor as well as to the rich, to the weak as well as to the powerful, as long as the king wished him to serve that guild. Master William then gave his oath in the presence of the provost of Paris in the Chastelet. (4)

Mortarers and plasterers come under the same conditions and organization as the masons.

The master who in the name of the king heads the guild of masons, mortarers and plasterers of Paris can have two apprentices only under the same conditions, as above stipulated. Should he have more apprentices he shall be fined as above stated.

Masons, mortarers and plasterers may have as many helpers and servants in their business as they please as long as they do not show any of them the fine points of their craft. (5)

All masons, mortarers and plasterers must swear to protect their craft by committing themselves to work loyally and well and to report to the master of the guild any case of infringement on the usage and customs of the craft which may come to their attention.

Masters with apprentices whose term of apprenticeship is fulfilled must come before the guild master and testify to the fact that their apprentice has accomplished his term faithfully and well, whereupon the guild master shall ask the apprentice to promise under oath to observe the practices and customs of the craft loyally and well.

No one may practice his craft after nones [3 p.m.] have been rung at Notre-Dame on Saturdays at any time during the year or after vespers [6 p.m.] are sung at Notre-Dame unless he is about to close an arch or a stairwell, or is about to lay the last stones of a doorway leading to the street. Should anyone work beyond these hours, with the exception of the above-indicated or similar work that cannot be postponed, he must pay a fine of four deniers [a small coin worth about one penny] to the guild master, and the guild master may take away the tools of him who repeats the offense.

Mortarers and plasterers are under the jurisdiction of the master who, in the name of the king, heads the above-mentioned guild.

If a plasterer delivers plaster for use by anyone, the mason who is employed by him to whom the plaster is sent is under oath to watch that the measure be right and honest. If he is in doubt, he must remeasure it or have it measured before his eyes. If he finds the measure to be wrong, the plasterer has to pay a fine of five sons: two sous to the above-mentioned chapel of Saint Blaise, two sous to the guild master, and twelve deniers to him who will have measured the plaster. It must, however, be proved that the same amount of plaster was missing from every donkey-load delivered for the specific job as was missing from the sack which has been measured; one sack-load by itself cannot be measured.

Nobody may be a plasterer in Paris unless he pays five Paris sous to the appointed guild master. After having paid he must promise under oath not to mix any other material with the plaster and to give good and honest measure.

If a plasterer mixes material with his plaster which should not be used, lie must pay a fine of five sous to the guild master every time he repeats the offense. If the plasterer makes a habit of cheating and does not improve or repent, the guild master may suspend him from the craft; and if the plasterer will not obey the guild master, the latter must inform the provost of Paris, who must in turn force the plasterer to abandon the craft.

Mortarers must promise under oath and in the presence of the guild master and other masters of the craft that they will not make mortar of other than good binding material and, should they make it of other material so that the mortar does not set while the stones are being placed, the structure must be undone and a fine of four deniers must be paid to the master of the guild.

Mortarers may not take on an apprentice for less than six years of service and one hundred Paris sous to teach him.

With the king's authorization the guild master has jurisdiction over minor infringements and fines of masons, plasterers and mortarers and of their helpers and their apprentices. Furthermore, he has jurisdiction over the enterprises of their trade, over unauthorized (sanz sanc?) builders and over claims, with the exception of property claims.

Should anyone from the above-mentioned crafts, when summoned before the guild master, fail to obey, the fine to be paid to the said master is set at four deniers; if he appears on the designated day and is guilty, he makes a pledge, and if he does not pay within the designated time he has to pay [an additional] fine of four deniers to the guild master. If he denies any wrongdoing but is at fault he also pays four deniers to the guild master.

The guild master may levy only one fine per quarrel. If the one who has to pay the fine is so furious and so beside himself that he refuses to obey the order of the master or to pay his fine, the master may bar him from the craft.

If anyone belonging to any of the above-mentioned crafts who has been excluded by order of the guild master continues to work beyond the date of exclusion, the master may take away his tools until he has paid the fine; and if he resists with force, the guild master should inform the provost of Paris, who should put down his violence.

Masons and plasterers must do guard duty and pay the taxes and other dues that all other citizens of Paris owe the king.

Mortarers have been exempt from guard duty since the time of Charles Martel, as wise men have heard it said from father to son.

The appointed guild master is exempt from guard duty as reward for the services he renders as master of the guild.

Exempt from guard duty are those who are over sixty years of age, and he whose wife is in bed for as long as she is there, provided they inform the overseer of the guard appointed by the king.

Notes
(1) Georges -Bernhard Depping, "Reglemens sur les arts et metiers de Paris rediges au X110 siecle et connus sons le nom du Livre des Métiers d'Etienne Boileau," Collection de documents inedits sur l'histoire de France publies par Ordre du Roi et par les soins du Ministere de l'Instruction, ser.1, "Histoire politique," Part I, Chap. xlviii (Paris, 1837), pp.107-12; the text is written in French. Boileau was provost of Paris under Louis IX. See also Hahnloser, Villard de Honnecourt, pp.13-14, and Frankl, The Gothic, App. 8, pp.848-51, p. 116. These are the oldest guild regulations we possess, though similar ones must have existed elsewhere in the thirteenth century. Frankl discusses guild regulations in Appendix 8 of his book; Knoop and Jones, Mediaeval Mason, pp. 224ff give the London Regulations for the Trade of Masons- of 1355 and 1356, together with various other English regulations. It is interesting to note that even in 1355 and 1356 no distinction was made between ranks, even though "twelve of the most skilful men of the trade," and among them, on behalf of the mason hewers, the then leading architect of London, were selected as spokesmen for the trade.

(2) Saint Blaise was the patron saint of masons and carpenters.

(3) It stands to reason that, if the palace lodge served as a place of jurisdiction for the masons of Paris, the disposers of the king's works had special authority.

(4) The Chastelet, originally one of several forts defending the large bridge across the Seine to the inner city, became the seat of the office of the provost of Paris; Depping, p.19.

(5) This regulation is incorrectly translated by Frankl, The Gothic, p. 116, as "The number of aides et vanes is unlimited provided they are all trained." In fact, however, the text specifically says "pour tant que il ne monstrent a nul de eus nul point de leur messier." These helpers are clearly not meant to be initiated into the mysteries of the craft.

*Teresa G. Frisch, Gothic Art 1140 - c. 1450: Sources and Documents, University of Toronto Press in association with the Medieval Academy of America, 1987.