Mackey – Encyclopedia Of Freemasonry Vol. 1

J158 SECRET SOCIETIESmet their partisans, and mutually communicated their differentplans. They recognised each other by signs, by touch,and by words, and as there were no habitations in the forest,they constructed huts of an oblong form, with branches oftrees . Their lodges (vendite) were subdivided into a numberof baracche, each erected by a Good Cousin of some distinction. There dwelt in the forest a hermit of the name ofTheobald ; he joined them, and favoured their enterprise .He was proclaimed protector of the Carbonari. Now ithappened that Francis I ., King of France, hunting on thefrontiers of his kingdom next to Scotland (sic), or followinga wild beast, was parted from his courtiers . He lost himselfin the forest, but stumbling on one of the baracche, he washospitably entertained, and eventually made acquainted withtheir secret and initiated into the Order . On his return toFrance he declared himself its protector . The origin of thisstory is probably to be found in the protection granted byLouis XII . and continued by Francis I . to the Waldenses,who had taken refuge in Dauphine . But neither the Hewersnor the Carbonari ever rose to any importance, or acted anyconspicuous part among the secret societies of Europe tillthe period of the Revolution . As to their influence in andafter that event, we shall return to it anon .The Theobald alluded to in the foregoing tradition, is saidto have been descended from the first Counts of Brie andChampagne . Possessed of rank and wealth', -his fondnessfor solitude led him to leave his father's house, and retirewith his friend Gautier to a forest in Suabia, where theylived as hermits, working at any chance occupation by whichthey could maintain themselves, but chiefly by preparing'charcoal for the forges . They afterwards made several pilgrimagesto holy shrines, and finally settled near Vicenza,where Gautier died . Theobald died in io66, and was canonisedby Pope Alexander III . From his occupation, St .Theobald was adopted as the patron saint of the Carbonari,and is invoked by the Good Cousins in their hymns ; and,apicture, representing him seated in front of his hut, is usuallyhung up in the lodge .544 . Real Origin of the Carboneria .-The first traces of aleague of charcoal-burners with political objects appear in thetwelfth century, probably caused by the severe forest lawsthen in existence . About that period also the Fendeurs(hewers), large corporations with rites similar to those of theCarbonari, existed in the French department of the Jura,where the association was called le bon cousinage (the good