History of Freemasonry
Encyclopedia
The history of Freemasonry studies the development, evolution and events of the fraternal organization known as Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

. This history is generally separated into two time periods: before and after the formation of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717. Before this time, the facts and origins of Freemasonry are not absolutely known and are therefore frequently explained by theories or legends. After the formation of the Grand Lodge of England, the history of Freemasonry is extremely well documented and can be traced through the creation of hundreds of Grand Lodges that spread rapidly worldwide.

In recent years professional historians have added an entirely new dimension by studying the impact of Freemasonry on the history of Europe and America in the 18th century

Origin theories of speculative freemasonry

In its ritual context, Freemasonry employs an allegorical foundation myth: the foundation of the fraternity by the builders of King Solomon’s Temple
Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....

.

Beyond myth, there is a distinct absence of documentation as to Freemasonry’s origins, which has led to a great deal of speculation among historians and pseudo-historians
Pseudohistory
Pseudohistory is a pejorative term applied to a type of historical revisionism, often involving sensational claims whose acceptance would require rewriting a significant amount of commonly accepted history, and based on methods that depart from standard historiographical conventions.Cryptohistory...

 alike, both from within and from outside the fraternity. Hundreds of books have been written on the subject. Much of the content of these books is highly speculative, and the precise origins of Freemasonry may very well be permanently lost to history. Some believe the scant evidence that is available points to the origins of Freemasonry as a fraternity that simply evolved out of the lodges of operative stonemasons of the Middle Ages. Others have disputed whether stonemasons were ever organized formally into guilds, and have criticized the suggestion that Freemasonry evolved out of such organizations as a trite myth, stemming merely from the fact that the fraternity uses stonemasonry as the core allegory for the organization of its symbolism. In any event, the matter of the origins of Freemasonry continues to puzzle and mystify historians.

The origin of Freemasonry has variously been attributed to: King Solomon and the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem, Euclid
Euclid
Euclid , fl. 300 BC, also known as Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician, often referred to as the "Father of Geometry". He was active in Alexandria during the reign of Ptolemy I...

 or Pythagoras
Pythagoras
Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...

, Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

, the Essenes, the Culdee
Culdee
Céli Dé or Culdees were originally members of ascetic Christian monastic and eremitical communities of Ireland, Scotland and England in the Middle Ages. The term is used of St. John the Apostle, of a missioner from abroad recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters at the year 806, and of Óengus...

s, the Druid
Druid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....

s, the Gypsies, or the Rosicrucians, not to mention the intellectual descendants of Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...

. Some of the more popular theories include Freemasonry being an offshoot of the ancient mystery schools
Greco-Roman mysteries
Mystery religions, sacred Mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious cults of the Greco-Roman world, participation in which was reserved to initiates....

, or that it is an institutional outgrowth of the medieval guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...

s of stonemasons, or that it is a direct descendant of the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...

.

There are other lesser-known theories, such as:
  • The construction of the Rosslyn Chapel
    Rosslyn Chapel
    Rosslyn Chapel, properly named the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew, was founded on a small hill above Roslin Glen as a Roman Catholic collegiate church in the mid-15th century...

     in Scotland (1440–1490) provided the interface between the Knights Templar
    Knights Templar
    The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...

     and Freemasonry. Accordingly, the First Degree and Mark Masonry was introduced by William Sinclair
    William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness
    William Sinclair , 1st Earl of Caithness , 3rd Earl of Orkney , Baron of Roslin was a Scottish nobleman and the builder of Rosslyn Chapel, in Midlothian....

    , the alleged first Grand Master
    Grand Master (order)
    Grand Master is the typical title of the supreme head of various orders of knighthood, including various military orders, religious orders and civil orders such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Orange Order...

     and founder of Freemasonry.
  • Freemasonry is the intellectual descendant of the Roman Collegia
    Collegium (ancient Rome)
    In Ancient Rome, a collegium was any association with a legal personality. Such associations had various functions.-Functioning:...

    .
  • Freemasonry is the intellectual descendant of the Comacine masters
    Comacine masters
    The early medieval Lombard Comacine masters were stonemasons working in a region of excellent building stone who gave to Lombardy its preeminence in the stone architecture that preceded Romanesque style.-Comacini:...

    .
  • Freemasonry had its beginnings particularly in the German Steinmetzen, or the French Compagnonage.
  • Freemasonry was created by Francis Bacon
    Francis Bacon
    Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...

    , Oliver Cromwell
    Oliver Cromwell
    Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

    , or the Stuart
    House of Stuart
    The House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...

     pretenders to the British Crown.
  • Freemasonry was a result of Sir Christopher Wren
    Christopher Wren
    Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...

     and the rebuilding of St. Paul's Cathedral.

Name origins

The medieval stonemasons were sometimes known as "freemasons." Historians have suggested several origins of the term:
  • From the French term franc Maçon, a mason working in a Lodge that has been granted a franchise
    Exclusive right
    In Anglo-Saxon law, an exclusive right is a de facto, non-tangible prerogative existing in law to perform an action or acquire a benefit and to permit or deny others the right to perform the same action or to acquire the same benefit. A "prerogative" is in effect an exclusive right...

     by the Church to work on Church property and free from taxation or regulation by the King or the local Municipality.
  • From the French frère Maçon literally meaning "brother Mason"
  • From Free Men, that is they were not serfs or indentured, and free to travel from one work location to another.
  • From working in "freestone," a type of quarry stone, and they were therefore Freestone Masons.

From historical foundation to 1717

The early development of Freemasonry has two distinct growth periods:
  • Stage 1. Operative Freemasonry — associated with the craft guilds. Ritual elements are simple and there is no evidence beyond a rudimentary philosophical outlook.

  • Stage 2. Freemasonry of the late 16th century and into the 17th century. Surviving Scottish Lodge records, as early as the 1630s
    1630s
    -Deaths:* November 6, 1632 – King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden...

    , show a gentrification process — a transition from Operative to Speculative Freemasonry — evidenced by increasing non-operative notable gentleman within the membership. Virtually no records of English lodges survive prior to the speculative, Grand Lodge period of 1717 onwards. The purely speculative ritual and lectures of William Preston
    William Preston
    William Preston may refer to:*William Preston , Scottish author of Illustrations of Masonry*William Preston , Irish-born frontier Virginia leader, signer of the Fincastle Resolutions...

     (1742–1818) demonstrate an increasing use of a ritual infusion of Enlightenment
    Age of Enlightenment
    The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

     philosophy.


A credible historical source asserting the antiquity of Freemasonry is The Halliwell Manuscript, or Regius Poem — believed to date from ca. 1390. This makes reference to several concepts and phrases similar to those found in Freemasonry. The manuscript itself seems to be an elaboration on an earlier document, to which it refers.

There is also the Cooke Manuscript, an undated manuscript constitution from the mid-15th century, the oldest of the Gothic Constitutions. The first statutory use of the word 'Freemason' in England appears in the Statutes of the Realm enacted in 1495 under Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...

, although the archaic term "frank mason" had been used fifty years earlier. Prior to that, the earliest use of the term "ffre Masons" was in a 1376 reference to the "Company of ffre Masons," one of the numerous craft guilds of London.

By 1583, the date of the Grand Lodge manuscript, the documentary evidence begins to grow. The Schaw Statutes
William Schaw
William Schaw was Master of Works to James VI of Scotland, and is claimed to have been an important figure in the development of freemasonry.-Biography:...

 of 1598–99 are the source used to declare the precedence of Lodge Mother Kilwinning
Lodge Mother Kilwinning
Lodge Mother Kilwinning is a Masonic Lodge in Kilwinning, Scotland under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. It is number 0 on the Roll, and is reputed to be the oldest Lodge not only in Scotland, but the world...

 in Kilwinning
Kilwinning
Kilwinning is a historic town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is known as The Crossroads of Ayrshire. The 2001 Census recorded it as having a population of 15,908.-History:...

, Ayrshire, Scotland over Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel) in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. These are described as Head and Principal respectively. As a side note, following a dispute over numbering at the formation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland
Grand Lodge of Scotland
The Grand Lodge of Antient, Free and Accepted Masons of Scotland was founded in 1736 – although only a third of all lodges were represented at the foundation meeting of the Grand Lodge....

 (GLS) — Kilwinning is numbered as Lodge Mother Kilwinning
Lodge Mother Kilwinning
Lodge Mother Kilwinning is a Masonic Lodge in Kilwinning, Scotland under the auspices of the Grand Lodge of Scotland. It is number 0 on the Roll, and is reputed to be the oldest Lodge not only in Scotland, but the world...

 Number 0 , GLS. Quite soon thereafter, a charter was granted to Sir William St. Clair (later Sinclair) of Roslin (Rosslyn), allowing him to purchase jurisdiction over a number of lodges in Edinburgh and environs. This may be the basis of the Templar myth surrounding Rosslyn Chapel
Rosslyn Chapel
Rosslyn Chapel, properly named the Collegiate Chapel of St Matthew, was founded on a small hill above Roslin Glen as a Roman Catholic collegiate church in the mid-15th century...

.

The Regius Poem and Cooke manuscript, about 1390 and 1410 respectively, are written in the dialects of the west and southwest of England, and may have been written for the school of masonry associated with Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England, considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture....

.

Early operative Freemasons, unlike virtually all Europeans except the Clergy, were Free — not bound to the land on which they were born. The various skills required in building complex stone structures, especially churches and cathedrals, allowed skilled masons to travel and find work at will. They were lodged in a temporary structure — either attached to, or near, the main stone building. In this lodge, they ate, slept and received their work assignments from the master of the work. To maintain the freedom they enjoyed required exclusivity of skills, and thus, as an apprentice was trained, his instructor attached moral values to the tools of the trade, binding him to his fellows of the craft.

Freemasonry's transition from a craft guild of operative, working stonemasons into a fraternity of speculative, accepted, gentleman Freemasons began in Scottish lodges during the early 17th century. The earliest record of a person who was not an operative Mason attending a lodge meeting occurs in the records of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel), 8 June 1600, where it is shown that John Boswell
John Boswell (freemason)
John Boswell, 3rd Laird of Auchinleck, , was a Scottish gentleman and generally considered the first recorded non-operative Freemason.-Biographical details:Boswell was the son of David Boswell and Janet Hamilton...

, Laird of Aucheinleck, was present. However there is no record of Boswell's initiation into the lodge. The meeting of 8 June was not a normal meeting of the lodge (it was a masonic trial of a member), and Boswell may have been present in a capacity other than as a member. The first record of the initiation of a non-operative mason in a lodge is contained in the minutes of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel) for 3 July 1634, when the Right Honourable Lord Alexander was admitted a Fellowcraft. The first record of the Initiation of a non-operative on English soil, was in 1641 when Sir Robert Moray was admitted to the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel) at Newcastle.

From the early 17th century references are found to Freemasonry in personal diaries and journals. Elias Ashmole
Elias Ashmole
Elias Ashmole was a celebrated English antiquary, politician, officer of arms, astrologer and student of alchemy. Ashmole supported the royalist side during the English Civil War, and at the restoration of Charles II he was rewarded with several lucrative offices.Ashmole was an antiquary with a...

 (1617–1692) was made a Mason in 1646 and notes attending several Masonic meetings. There appears to be a general spread of the Craft, between Ashmole's account and 1717, when four English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 Lodges meeting in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 Taverns joined together and founded the Grand Lodge of London (now known as the United Grand Lodge of England). They had held meetings, respectively, at the Cheshire Cheese Tavern, the Apple-Tree Tavern, the Crown Ale-House near Drury Lane, the Goose and Gridiron in St. Paul's Churchyard, and the Rummer and Grapes Tavern in Westminster.

With the foundation of this first Grand Lodge, Freemasonry shifted from being an obscure, relatively private, institution into the public eye. The years following saw new Grand Lodges open throughout Europe. How much of this growth was the spreading of Freemasonry itself, and how much was due to the public organization of pre-existing private Lodges, is uncertain.

Creation of the First Grand Lodge in London

English Masonic historians place great importance on 24 June 1717 (St. John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...

's day) when four London lodges came together at the Goose and Gridiron Ale House in St Paul’s churchyard and formed what they called The Grand Lodge of England
Premier Grand Lodge of England
The Premier Grand Lodge of England was founded on 24 June 1717 as the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster and it existed until 1813 when it united with the Ancient Grand Lodge of England to create the United Grand Lodge of England. It was the first Masonic Grand Lodge to be created...

. Although Freemasonry had existed in England since at least the mid-17th century and in Scotland since The Schaw Statutes were enacted in 1598 and 1599, the establishment of a permanent Grand Lodge in London in 1717 is traditionally considered the formation of organized Freemasonry in its modern sense.

Anderson's Constitutions

In 1723, James Anderson
James Anderson (minister, author, Mason)
James Anderson was a Scottish minister and miscellaneous writer born and educated in Aberdeen, Scotland. He was ordained a minister in the Church of Scotland in 1707 and moved to London, where he ministered to the Glass House Street congregation until 1710, to the Presbyterian church in Swallow...

 wrote and published The Constitutions of the Free-Masons, For the Use of the Lodges in London and Westminster. This work was reprinted in Philadelphia in 1734 by Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

, who was that year elected Grand Master of the Masons of Pennsylvania.

In addition to clarifying the rules by which the fraternity was to be governed, Anderson's Constitution contained a History of Freemasonry which claimed that the Craft was very ancient. He traced the fraternity's history from the Medieval guilds of operative stonemasons through various Roman and Greek builders and mathematicians, all the way back to biblical roots. Almost as soon as it was published, more knowledgeable historians began to pick apart Anderson's tale, noting its glaring errors. For example: Anderson states that there was an assembly of Masons at York in A.D. 926, where the English King Athelstan
Athelstan of England
Athelstan , called the Glorious, was the King of England from 924 or 925 to 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder, grandson of Alfred the Great and nephew of Æthelflæd of Mercia...

 granted them a charter — yet York was under Danish control at that time. Anderson also has Pythagoras living in Egypt at the time of the building of King Solomon's Temple, hundreds of years before he was born.

It is now recognised that Dr. Anderson's Story of the Craft is based on mythical tales and legendary traditions, and is quite untrustworthy. However, Anderson's claim that Freemasonry dates back to ancient times continues to be repeated to this day.

Creation of the Third Degree

Sometime after 1725, a third degree, the Master Mason's degree, began to be worked in London lodges. Its origins are unknown. While it may be older than its recorded appearance indicates, it does not appear in the records of any lodge until April 1727 (its actual conferral does not appear in the records of any lodge until March 1729). Exposures of Masonic ritual, which began to appear in 1723, refer to only two degrees until the publication of Samuel Pritchard's "Masonry Dissected" in 1730, which contained the work for all three degrees. The Master Mason's degree was not official until the Grand Lodge adopted Anderson's revised Constitutions of 1738.

The "Antients" and "Moderns" Grand Lodges

Throughout the early years of the new Grand Lodge there were many lodges that never affiliated with the new Grand Lodge. These unaffiliated Masons and their Lodges were referred to as "Old Masons," or "St. John Masons, and "St. John Lodges".

In 1725 a lodge in York founded the rival "Grand Lodge of All England" as a protest against the growing influence of the Grand Lodge of England in London. During the 1730s and 1740s
1740s
- In Fiction :* The Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy is set in the late 1740s....

 antipathy
Antipathy
Antipathy is dislike for something or somebody, the opposite of sympathy. While antipathy may be induced by previous experience, it sometimes exists without a rational cause-and-effect explanation being present to the individuals involved....

 increased between the London based Grand Lodge of England (hereafter referred to as the Premier Grand Lodge) and the Grand Lodges of Ireland and Scotland. Irish and Scots Masons visiting and living in London considered the Premier Grand Lodge to have considerably deviated from the ancient practices of the Craft. As a result, these Masons felt a stronger kinship with the unaffiliated London Lodges. The aristocratic nature of the Premier Grand Lodge and its members alienated
Social alienation
The term social alienation has many discipline-specific uses; Roberts notes how even within the social sciences, it “is used to refer both to a personal psychological state and to a type of social relationship”...

 other Masons of the City causing them also to identify with the unaffiliated Lodges.

On 17 July 1751, representatives of five Lodges gathered at the Turk's Head Tavern, in Greek Street
Greek Street
Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature.-History:...

, Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...

, London — forming a rival Grand Lodge — The Most Antient and Honourable Society of Free and Accepted Masons
Antient Grand Lodge of England
The Ancient Grand Lodge of England or Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England, according to the Old Constitutions was a rival Grand Lodge to the Premier Grand Lodge of England. It existed from 1751 until 1813 when the United Grand Lodge of England was created. They called themselves the...

. They believed that they practiced a more ancient and therefore purer form of Masonry, and called their Grand Lodge The Antients' Grand Lodge. They called those affiliated to the Premier Grand Lodge, by the pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...

 epithet
Epithet
An epithet or byname is a descriptive term accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, divinities, objects, and binomial nomenclature. It is also a descriptive title...

 The Moderns. These two unofficial names stuck. Laurence Dermott
Laurence Dermott
Laurence Dermott was born in Ireland and became a Freemason in 1740. He held various offices before being installed as Worshipful Master of Lodge No. 26 in Dublin on the 24th of June 1746. He emigrated to London some time after this, possibly in the company of fellow journeymen painters for he is...

 wrote a new constitution for the Ancients, the Ahiman Rezon
Ahiman Rezon
The Book of Constitutions of this Grand Lodge or Ahiman Rezon was a constitution written by Laurence Dermott for the Antient Grand Lodge of England which was formed in 1751...

 as an alternative for the Constitution of the Moderns.

An illustration of how deep the division was between the two factions is the case of Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

 who was a member of a Moderns' Lodge in Philadelphia. During his stay in France, he became Master of the Lodge Les Neuf Sœurs
Les Neuf Sœurs
Loge Les Neuf Sœurs , established in Paris in 1776, was a prominent French Masonic Lodge of the Grand Orient de France that was influential in organising French support for the American Revolution. A "Société des Neuf Sœurs," a charitable society that surveyed academic curricula, had been active at...

 in 1779, and was re-elected in 1780. Upon returning from France it transpired that his Lodge had changed to (and had received a new warrant from) the Antients Grand Lodge; no longer recognizing him and declining to give him "Masonic Honours" at his funeral.

For many years, "The Great Masonic Schism" was a name applied to the sixty-two year division of English Freemasonry into two separate Grand Lodges. Some even attempted to attribute the division to the changes in passwords made in 1738–39 by the Premier Grand Lodge. Masonic historian Robert F. Gould in his "History of Freemasonry (1885) referred to the Antients Grand Lodge as "schismatics". However, Henry Sadler, Librarian of the UGLE, demonstrated in his 1887 book "Masonic Facts and Fictions" that the Antients Grand Lodge was formed in 1751 primarily by Irish Masons living and working in London, never affiliated with the older Grand Lodge. 72 of the first 100 names on the roll of the new Antients' Grand Lodge were Irish. In 1776, the Grand Secretary of the Moderns' Grand Lodge referred to them as "the Irish Faction (Ye Antient Masons, as they call themselves)". And so the myth of a "Great Masonic Schism" in English Masonry was laid to rest.

Early Freemasonry in the United States (1733–1799)

In 1733, Henry Price, the Provincial Grand Master over all of North America for the London Grand Lodge, granted a charter to a group of Boston Freemasons. This lodge was later named St. John's Lodge and was the first duly constituted lodge in America.

Role of Freemasonry in 18th century Enlightenment

There is some debate among scholars as to the role of Freemasonry in the 18th century Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

. Some see Freemasonry as playing a significant role, influencing enlightenment thinking, promoting the ideals of the Enlightenment, and helping to diffuse these values across Britain and France and other places. Others disagree, arguing that Freemasonry played little if any role in the Enlightenment.

The Union of 1813

The Premier Grand Lodge of England
Premier Grand Lodge of England
The Premier Grand Lodge of England was founded on 24 June 1717 as the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster and it existed until 1813 when it united with the Ancient Grand Lodge of England to create the United Grand Lodge of England. It was the first Masonic Grand Lodge to be created...

 and the Antient Grand Lodge of England
Antient Grand Lodge of England
The Ancient Grand Lodge of England or Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England, according to the Old Constitutions was a rival Grand Lodge to the Premier Grand Lodge of England. It existed from 1751 until 1813 when the United Grand Lodge of England was created. They called themselves the...

 were amalgamated into the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) on 27 December 1813 (day of Saint John the Evangelist), by twenty-one articles of "The Articles of Union" — specifying the agreements made regarding the various points of contention. A special lodge, The Lodge of Promulgation, was established by the Moderns in 1809 to promulgate
Promulgation
Promulgation is the act of formally proclaiming or declaring a new statutory or administrative law after its enactment. In some jurisdictions this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect....

 the ancient landmarks of the Order, as well as instructing and negotiating with the members of the two factions to include the discontinuation of any innovations or changes introduced by the Moderns. The Union largely confirmed the Ancients' forms and ceremonies, and therefore considerably revised the Moderns' rituals. One of the most important changes was the reference in Article Two to the Royal Arch Degree as included in the, third, Master Masons' Degree — a practice that had always been peculiar to the Ancients lodges. Following the union in 1813, a Lodge of Reconciliation (1813–1816) was established to complete the rationalisation of the ritual into a form acceptable to both parties forming the newly constituted United Grand Lodge. In 1823 a Emulation Lodge of Improvement
Emulation Lodge of Improvement
Emulation Lodge of Improvement is a Lodge of Instruction which first met on 2 October 1823, and is held under the sanction of Lodge of Unions No. 256 in the English Constitution. It restricts admission to Master Masons in good standing...

 was established.

Upon the union of Antients
Antient Grand Lodge of England
The Ancient Grand Lodge of England or Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of England, according to the Old Constitutions was a rival Grand Lodge to the Premier Grand Lodge of England. It existed from 1751 until 1813 when the United Grand Lodge of England was created. They called themselves the...

 and Moderns
Premier Grand Lodge of England
The Premier Grand Lodge of England was founded on 24 June 1717 as the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster and it existed until 1813 when it united with the Ancient Grand Lodge of England to create the United Grand Lodge of England. It was the first Masonic Grand Lodge to be created...

, the UGLE also created a new Constitution, based on the Constitution of Anderson
Masonic manuscripts
There are a number of masonic manuscripts that are historically important in the development of Freemasonry.-The Halliwell Manuscript, or Regius Poem:...

 of the Moderns and the Ahiman Rezon
Ahiman Rezon
The Book of Constitutions of this Grand Lodge or Ahiman Rezon was a constitution written by Laurence Dermott for the Antient Grand Lodge of England which was formed in 1751...

 of the Antients.

Both the Ancients and the Moderns had daughter Lodges throughout the world, and because many of those Lodges still exist, there is a great deal of variety in the ritual used today, even between UGLE-recognized jurisdictions in amity. Most Private Lodges conduct themselves in accordance with a single Rite.

The Morgan Affair and Decline in American Freemasonry (1826–c.1850)

In 1826, William Morgan
William Morgan (anti-Mason)
William Morgan was a resident of Batavia, New York, whose disappearance and presumed murder in 1826 ignited a powerful movement against the Freemasons, a secret fraternal society that had become influential in the United States...

 disappeared from Batavia, New York, after threatening to expose Freemasonry's secrets, causing some to claim that he had been murdered by Masons. What exactly occurred has never been conclusively proven. However, Morgan's disappearance — and the minimal punishment received by his kidnappers — sparked a series of protests against Freemasons throughout the United States, especially in New York and neighboring states.

Under the leadership of Thurlow Weed
Thurlow Weed
Thurlow Weed was a New York newspaper publisher, politician, and party boss. He was the principal political advisor to the prominent New York politician William H...

, an anti-Masonic and anti-Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...

 (Jackson was a Mason) movement grew to become the political party
Anti-Masonic Party
The Anti-Masonic Party was the first "third party" in the United States. It strongly opposed Freemasonry and was founded as a single-issue party aspiring to become a major party....

 and made the ballot for the presidency in 1828, while gaining the support of such notable politicians as William H. Seward
William H. Seward
William Henry Seward, Sr. was the 12th Governor of New York, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson...

. Its influence was such that other Jackson rivals, including John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...

, denounced the Masons. In 1847, Adams wrote a widely distributed book titled "Letters on the Masonic Institution" that was highly critical of the Masons. In 1832, the party fielded William Wirt
William Wirt (Attorney General)
William Wirt was an American author and statesman who is credited with turning the position of United States Attorney General into one of influence.-History:...

 as its presidential candidate. This was rather ironic because he was, in fact, a Freemason, and even gave a speech at the Anti-Masonic convention defending the organization. The party only received seven electoral votes. Three years later, the party had disbanded in every state save Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, as other issues such as slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

 had become the focus of national attention.

American Freemasons during the Civil War

The fortunes of American Freemasonry declined sharply following the Morgan Affair, only to rebound as the force of the Anti-Masonic movement sputtered out in the mid 1830s. By the late 1850s, masonry in America was the subject of renewed popular interest and lodge membership, which had bottomed out during the anti-Masonic period began to rise. By the time of the American Civil War, U.S. freemasonry tripled its membership from 66,000 to 200,000 members in over 5000 lodges nationwide. This surge in membership helps explain, at least in part, the many stories of Masonic fraternization during the American Civil War, which include accounts of Masonic soldiers and sailors rescuing enemy combatants who identified themselves as members of the fraternity. Masonic incidents are also recorded involving Freemasons burying their own with Masonic formalities during battle, as well as aid and special treatment given to Masonic POWs.

Freemasons and the Paris Commune

During the 19th Century, French Freemasonry became increasingly involved in politics. According to Ernest Belfort Bax
Ernest Belfort Bax
Ernest Belfort Bax was a British socialist journalist and philosopher, associated with the Social Democratic Federation ....

, Freemasons were responsible for the last serious attempt at conciliation between Versailles and the Commune on April 21, 1870. They were received coldly by Adolphe Thiers
Adolphe Thiers
Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers was a French politician and historian. was a prime minister under King Louis-Philippe of France. Following the overthrow of the Second Empire he again came to prominence as the French leader who suppressed the revolutionary Paris Commune of 1871...

, who assured them that, though Paris was given over to destruction and slaughter, the law should be enforced, and he kept his word. A few days after they decided, in a public meeting, to plant their banner on the ramparts and throw in their lot with the Commune. On the 29th, accordingly, 10,000 of the brethren met (55 lodges being represented), and marched to the Hôtel de Ville, headed by the Grand Masters in full insignia and the banners of the lodges. Amongst them the new banner of Vincennes was conspicuous, bearing the inscription in red letters on a white ground, “Love one another.” A balloon was then sent up, which let fall at intervals, outside Paris, a manifesto of the Freemasons. The procession then wended its way through the boulevards and the Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe, where the banners were planted at various points along the ramparts. On seeing the white flag on the Porte Maillot the Versaillese ceased firing, and the commander, himself a Freemason, received a deputation of brethren, and suggested a final appeal to Versailles, which was agreed to. The “chief of the executive,” of course, hardly listened to the envoys, and declined to further discuss the question of peace with anyone. This last formal challenge having been made and rejected, the Freemasons definitely took their stand as combatants for the Commune.

The great schism of 1877

A great schism in Freemasonry occurred in the years following 1877, when the Grand Orient de France (GOdF) started unreservedly accepting atheists, and recognized Women's Masonry and Co-Masonry. The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) deemed this to be irregular and a violation of the ancient landmarks of the Fraternity. UGLE withdrew its recognition of GOdF. The majority of Grand Lodges around the world, especially those in the English speaking world, followed UGLE's lead. However, a minority, mostly in Europe and South America chose to follow GOdF's example. Thus Freemasonry was split between the Anglo-American concept of Freemasonry and the Continental concept of Freemasonry.

Adding to the tensions between these to systems, French Masons tended to be more willing to discuss religion and politics in their Lodges; unlike the English who banned such discussions outright.

The schism between the two branches was occasionally, (unofficially or partially) breached, especially during the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 when American Masons overseas wished to visit French Lodges.

Background to the schism

As to religious requirements, the oldest constitution found in Freemasonry — Anderson's Constitutions of the Free-Masons, 1723 — says that a Mason "will never be a stupid Atheist nor an irreligious Libertine" if he "rightly understands the Art". The only religious requirement was "that Religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

 in which all Men agree, leaving their particular Opinions to themselves"
.

In 1815, the newly amalgamated UGLE modified Anderson's constitutions to include: "Let a man's religion or mode of worship be what it may, he is not excluded from the Order, provided he believes in the glorious Architect of Heaven and Earth, and practices the sacred duties of morality."

In 1849, France (GOdF) followed the English (UGLE) lead by adopting the "Supreme Being" requirement, but pressure from Latin countries produced by 1875, the alternative phrase "Creative Principle". This was ultimately not enough for the GOdF, and in 1877 it re-adopted the original Anderson document of 1723. They also created an alternative ritual that made no direct reference to any deity, with the attribute of the Great Architect of the Universe
Great Architect of the Universe
The Great Architect of the Universe is a conception of God discussed by many Christian theologians and apologists. As a designation it is used within Freemasonry to neutrally represent whatever Supreme Being to which each member individually holds in adherence...

. This new Rite did not replace the older ones, but was added as an alternative, as Continental European jurisdictions, generally, tend not to restrict themselves to a single Rite — offering a menu of Rites, from which their lodges may choose.

Taxil hoax

Between the years 1885 and 1897, Léo Taxil
Léo Taxil
Léo Taxil, originally Marie Joseph Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pagès , was a French writer and journalist who became known for his strong anti-Catholic and anti-clerical views....

 maintained a hoax against both Freemasonry and the Roman Catholic Church, by making increasingly outlandish claims regarding Freemasonry. On 19 April 1897, Taxil called a press conference at which he claimed he would introduce the "author" of his books to the press. He instead announced that his revelations about the Freemasons were fictitious. Nevertheless, the material is still used on some anti-Masonic websites today.

Freemasonry under Totalitarian Regimes (1900– current)

Many twentieth century totalitarian regimes, both Fascist and Communist have treated Freemasonry as a potential source of opposition due to its secret nature and international connections (not to mention its promotion of religious and political tolerance through its symbolism). It has been alleged by Masonic scholars that the language used by the totalitarian regimes is similar to that used by some modern critics of Freemasonry.

See also

  • List of Freemasons
  • Masonic Appendant Bodies
    Masonic appendant bodies
    The fraternity of Freemasonry, also known as "Free and Accepted Masons," is organized by private groups of members variously known in English as lodges, chapters, councils, commanderies, consistories, etc., which can be collectively referred to as Masonic bodies.The basic unit to which an...

  • Scottish Rite
    Scottish Rite
    The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry , commonly known as simply the Scottish Rite, is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry...

  • stonemason
  • York Rite
    York Rite
    The York Rite or American Rite is one of several Rites of the worldwide fraternity known as Freemasonry. A Rite is a series of progressive degrees that are conferred by various Masonic organizations or bodies, each of which operates under the control of its own central authority...


External links

  • The Constitutions of the Free-Masons written by James Anderson and published "For the Use of the Lodges" in 1723 in London
    London
    London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

    , and in 1734 by Benjamin Franklin
    Benjamin Franklin
    Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...

     in Philadelphia. Contains a mythical-biblical-historical account of the order, as well as "charges" and general regulations for members and lodges.
  • The Web of Hiram at Bradford University, an electronic database of the Masonic material held in many of the University's Special Collections
  • Freemasons history of Freemasonry found on the Pietre-Stones Review of Freemasonry website
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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