The first recorded Compagnons du Devoir, Maître Jacques and Père Soubise, are believed to have directed the stonemasons who built King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, around 950 B.C. They began a tradition of itinerant workers, who every six months or so would deliberately uproot themselves and go on a new journey of spiritual refreshment.

 

The Compagnons were at their peak in the Middle Ages, during the period of prolific construction of cathedrals and great churches. We can trace through workers’ guilds the rotation of the Compagnons, which could not be explained by the skill requirements on site: there was often many years' work on a single building.

 

The Compagnons flourished until the mid 19th century when the industrial revolution threatened the peaceful world of the artisan. Iron ships, steam and railway tracks changed the working class environment out of all recognition and most had little choice but to work together in large numbers in factories. By early in the 20th century, there were scarcely any Compagnons left. Their modern revival is due largely to Jean Bernard, who created the Working Men’s Association of Companions of Duty, pooling the resources of many skilled trades.

 

Today there are more than 25 such trades, including blacksmiths, boilermakers, electricians, plumbers and weavers. Of the 2000 apprentices, only 48 are young women. The apprenticeship helps someone leaving school at 16 to discover what the movement is about, and in due course to decide whether in the future they wish to go on a Tour of France and become itinerants. When they work in or near a town, they work for a company during the day as a salaried employee. In the evening they return to the Compagnons’ house to complete an exhausting programme of evening classes, and to sleep. The quality of work produced by the itinerants is among the highest in France.

 

Joël Terrien, who looks after the Aquitaine and Poitou-Charentes regions, defines the principle of the Compagnons as ‘questioning yourself every six months, every year’. Every time you set off for a new place you have to ‘change your life, change your employer, change your environment. You have to learn to live again with other people and master both a professional and a social relationship. It’s a demanding process of self-awareness and it’s the travelling that allows that.’

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