A cultural experience at The Companionship Museum in France

Discover the Musée du Compagnonnage with our Small Business member MullumJoinery Wood & Metal.

With over 800 years of heritage and tradition, take a walk through this museum that has close ties with our Small Business member, MullumJoinery Wood & Metal.  

The Museum of the Companionship, Tours is home to exhibits made by alumnus to Thomas’ and Laurent’s trade university, The Companions of Duty.

An incredibly brief history of Compagnonnage

Compagnonnage was formed in the Middle Ages (c.1200) but their origins have been dated back to the reign of King Solomon of Jerusalem (c. 970 to 931 BCE). Yes, this is the same time when pharaohs still ruled Egypt and Solomon is a direct descendent to them!

King Solomon had plans to construct Solomon’s Temple. He needed the assistance of a skilled French mason by the name of Master Jack (“Maitre Jacques”) and an architect named Father Soubise (“Le Pere Soubise”) to travel to Jerusalem to construct the masterpiece. Master Jack and Father Soubise returned to France once construction was complete with teams of loyal workers keen to continue learning and growing with new skills. Such is the importance of this story; many of museum’s exhibits pay homage to these three men.

Flash forward to the Middle Ages, when there was a significant number of ornate Cathedrals under construction, there were many skilled workers travelling France from site to site. They needed mutual aid on their journeys and associations started forming to support them with: travel, board and lodgings, and a funding pool for when workers needed financial assistance when injured or ill. These are the origins of what we now know as trade unions and pension funds.

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Source: MullumJoinery Wood & Metal