Doncaster Squares
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The Doncaster Squares is a sort of magic "which is performed upon a board like a chessboard" [68] and makes use of stones [54]. It may or may not be connected with the Master of Doncaster.
NOTES AND QUERIES:
(Further to the subject of the magic of "Doncaster Squares").
As my readers are well aware, old churches, cathedrals, abbeys and other Christian buildings are often found to contain carved symbols - notably chequered stones.
The most commonly accepted explanation is that these marks were the work of choirboys and members of the minor clergy who, suffering some ennui during the lengthier services, entertained themselves with boardgames.
Others however have advanced the opinion that these are magical or alchemical marks, whose origins lie in the remotest recesses of antiquity.- Editor
NOTES AND QUERIES:
(Further to the subject of the magic of "Doncaster Squares").
As my readers are well aware, old churches, cathedrals, abbeys and other Christian buildings are often found to contain carved symbols - notably chequered stones.
The most commonly accepted explanation is that these marks were the work of choirboys and members of the minor clergy who, suffering some ennui during the lengthier services, entertained themselves with boardgames.
Others however have advanced the opinion that these are magical or alchemical marks, whose origins lie in the remotest recesses of antiquity.- Editor
To the Editor:
Sir,
Regarding your comments on the Doncaster Squares, permit me to observe that chessboards, figures, patterns and indeed chess rooks can be found all over Europe, inscribed in the stones of medieval Christian buildings, but that checkerboard patterns themselves can be traced back the Ancient Egyptians. Thus the argument that the Doncaster Squares predate the events in Penlaw may indeed be a valid one.
Oftentimes these checkerboards can be seen in the masonry in Northern England buildings of the era. Often the pattern is concealed and only visible to the trained magicians' eye.
Yours, etc.
Amicus Veritatis
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| This unique and lovely ivory carving (around 1100), depicts the Magister Magius (on the left) showing the use of Doncaster Squares to the Novitate Magius (on the right). |
