Compagnonnage and History
Compagnons are also given secret words - the secrecy and the Compagnon name comes from late Medieval Times, when the strengthening group of Compagnons (Compagnonnage). They were building the churches and chateaux of France and were persecuted by the King and the Catholic Church because they refused to live under the rules of either.
As a craftsman's guild Compagnonnage was banned by the National Assembly under the Le Chapelier Law in 1791. The law was not annulled until 1864.
During the Nazi Occupation of France in World War II, the Compagnons split into different factions; those supporting the collaborationist Vichy regime and those in the French Resistance. Many sièges burnt all their records in order that their details never be uncovered by the Nazis or the Vichy. The splits within the Compagnonnage remain bitterly held to this day.
Read more about this topic: Compagnons Du Tour De France
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“A man acquainted with history may, in some respect, be said to have lived from the beginning of the world, and to have been making continual additions to his stock of knowledge in every century.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)