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Reproduction of part or totality of this article free with reference to the author for Masonic Bodies; only by written permission of the author for all others. Copyright © 2004 Phil Grau.
An abbreviated history of Freemasonry
by , P.M.
In the following lines, I will try to bring you some insights at the history of Freemasonry and we will be talking about The Legend of the Craft as well as of what is known of the Freemasons from a pure historical point of view. We will go back to the ancient times with their legends and facts and also to the creation, in the XVIII (18th) century, of "modern" Freemasonry, which resulted in the speculative Masonry, as we know it today. Along the way I will give some bibliographical references so that one who is interested can go deeper into the subject. I tried to keep it as simple as possible ... Feel free to contact me if you have any question !
Clicking on a title below will take you directly to it.
Ancient Times : Babylon, Egypt and Judea.
Expansion to Europe : England, France and York.
Emergence of Modern Masonry.
Scottish Development.
English Revival.
The Actors.
Family feuds.
Ancient Times : Babylon, Egypt and Judea :
The origins of Masonry are lost in the antiquity and some authors (Anderson and Preston among others) even trace its foundation to the commencement of the world ...
Historical facts about Freemasonry before the XVII century are rarely easy to establish and difficult to differentiate from legend. Many historians have done a lot of research with more or less luck and variable results. So I will just try to report and synthesize what is the most generally admitted.
Considering that Operative Masonry is at the origin of its speculative form as we know it today, it will be necessary to go back to Antiquity to find the first organized group of operative masons.
Nimrod, king of Shinar, grandson of Ham and great-grandson of Noah is the first monarch known to have organized the craft and given masons a charge, this according not only to the Legend of the Craft, but also to cuneiform scriptures found on clay tablets in the valley of the Euphrates in the XIX (19th) century by George Smith and Canon Rawlinson (British archeologists). From Babylon, Nimrod united many of the petty kingdoms of Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates, today's Iraq, creating the first Asian nation and became the hero of the ancient Babylonians. He contributed to the building of several cities and particularly Nineveh in Assyria.
According to the Legend, he was king of Babylonia and Assyria and organized the first fraternity of craftsmen by giving them a charge : he framed for the workers a constitution or body of laws, and appears as such as the first Grand Master and also founder of Architecture, preceding King Solomon by many centuries ...
From Babylon, the Legend of the Craft takes us to Egypt, and Euclid.
Euclid was a Greek mathematician, known for his treaty of Geometry, "The Elements", which emphasize the application of logic to mathematics. He lived around the third century BC and little is known about his life. Egypt at the time was ruled by Ptolemy I, a former Macedonian general of Alexander the Great. After the death of Alexander, his generals split his empire and Egypt, part of the Empire, became thus ruled by a Macedonian. Macedonia was a province of Northern Greece. Ptolemy I favored the exchanges and blending of Greek and Egyptian populations, and was also the founder of a library and museum in Alexandria. These are the historical facts.
The Legend of the Craft takes some liberty with History by making Euclid a scholar of Abraham who lived more than twenty centuries before ... Only its symbolic value should be considered.
Thru it we learn that in ancient Egypt, Geometry was taught by the religious system, and as all scientific instruction was provided by the priests. It was a secret instruction communicated after an initiation, analog to the way used later by medieval masons. The esoteric method of teaching geometric and architectural secrets adopted by operative masons in the Middle Ages constituted the "Mystery of the Craft". We also learn that Euclid was "the most distinguished of all geometricians", that "Geometry is the groundwork of Masonry" and that Euclid gave to Masonry the name of Geometry (A.G. Mackey) ...
From Egypt and Euclid, the Legend of the Craft now takes us to Judea, King Solomon and the Legend of the Temple.
King Solomon made great use of geometry in the building of the temple at Jerusalem and received help from the king of Tyre, Hiram. This is confirmed by historical facts.
Thanks to the Crusades and the communications that resulted from them with the Middle East, King Solomon became very popular in medieval Europe, and reflected the image of wisdom and knowledge, a philosopher and an astrologer, which suggests the origin of his integration in the Masonic Legend.
As for Hiram Abif and the organization of the Craft which led to the creation of Freemasonry, this is not History but the results of the Legend of the Craft.
The origin of the name Hiram Abif is controversial and will be addressed here only briefly because of its complexity. Let us simply note that in the Book of Kings appears Adonhiram, one of the principal officers of King Solomon and superintendent of the thirty thousand workers of the Temple. Adon in Hebrew denotes a lord, a prince or a master, and could lead to the interpretation : "Master Hiram", but Adonhiram is a different person than the master architect that Hiram, King of Tyre, sent to King Solomon.
Also in the Book of Kings (1 Kings 7:13-14), we learn that King Solomon brought from Tyre the master-craftsman and specialist in the casting of bronze, Hiram Abi (and not Abif, which is a different inflection of the same word), the son of a widow and a Tyrian father. Father, here is more likely to be taken in its derivative Hebrew meaning as a term of honor, to stigmatize a preeminent position, and not in the usual parental sense.
In the Middle Ages, Hiram Abi had already seen his importance accrued and was invested with the role of master architect of the Temple and made responsible for all aspects of its design and construction. His legend would then be passed from the medieval guilds of masons to the lodges of speculative masons and Freemasonry in general.
The only thing that seems to be sure is that the name Hiram Abif appears for the first time under this form in the first Book of Constitutions by Dr. James Anderson.
From Judea and King Solomon, we will see how Masonry expanded to other countries and more specifically to Europe.
Expansion to Europe : England, France and York :
It has to be remembered that the Greeks had established colonies around the Mediterranean Sea several centuries B.C. and particularly Massilia, better known today as Marseille(s), that was founded by the Phoceans some five centuries B.C. Thru Marseille(s), connections (they were not French at the time yet ...) were established between Gaul (former France) and all the Mediterranean areas. Marseille(s) is still today the first commerce harbor in France as it has been all along the centuries.
Then came the Romans whose empire covered all the surroundings of the Mediterranean, Gaul and Germany and extended beyond the Channel to the British Isles. The Romans brought their share of administration, organizers and of course, builders, who not only built camps and fortifications but also other edifices after peace was restored.
Religious history tells us that, in the third century, was born in Hertfordshire, England, a man who was to become known as Saint Alban and one of the first martyrs. He had served in Rome as a soldier under the Emperor Diocletian before returning to England where he was later executed when the first persecutions of the Christians began in Great Britain.
According to the Legend of the Craft, Saint Alban was the steward of the household of Carausius who had revolted from the Emperor Maximilian and usurped the sovereignty of England. Saint Alban was employed to build the town walls and received the superintendence of the craft. He organized them, assisted them in making Masons and gave them a charge. And this is how Masonry was first introduced to England by Roman colonization.
However with the decline of the Roman Empire and the invasions by barbarians, "the arts of civilization suffered a depression in the tumult of war" (A.G. Mackey) which brought also a decline in the progress of Masonry and even a regression which lasted until the X (10) century.
From a brief, early and temporary introduction into England by the Romans, we will proceed to the arrival of Masonry in Southern Europe and France..
Except for that brief Roman third century episode in England, the Legend of the Craft is silent about the periods from King Solomon to the VIII (8) century and by an interesting leap in time takes us to the Legend of Charles Martel.
Charles Martel was not King of France, as often believed, but Mayor of the Palace. At the time, the King was more of a spiritual authority and had the administration taken care of by the "Mayor of the Palace" who was effectively conducting the earthly affairs of the State.
Charles Martel remained famous in history by his victory against the Moors at the battle of Poitiers (west of France, 200 miles southwest of Paris towards Bordeaux) in 732, which put a halt to the invasion of Western Europe by Islam. The Moors were later pushed back by Charlemagne (Charles the Great, grandson of Charles Martel) south of the Pyrenees Mountains, between France and Spain. The Moors remained in Spain until the end of the "Reconquista", marked by the conquest of the last Muslim bastion, Granada in 1492, a year that should remind something to people of this Continent ...
In the 8th century Byzantine Emperors were giving a hard time to Greek architects and artificers, which resulted in an emigration of some of them to Western Europe. With them were introduced the principles of Byzantine architecture into France, via Marseille among other ways.
According to the Legend of the Craft, Charles Martel learned about architecture before he became "King" (in fact Mayor of the Palace) of France, and was knowledgeable about the craft. He helped make men Masons, and "gave them both the charge and the manners". He then "sent over several expert craftsmen and learned architects into England at the desire of the Saxon kings" (Constitutions, 1723 edition). He is considered as the founder of Masonry in France.
After Charles Martel and the foundation of Masonry in France in the VIII (8th) century, we will proceed to the X (10th) century and the revival of Masonry in England in the old city of York.
In the year 926 a General Assembly of the Masons took place at York under Athelstan, King of England. This is a fact traditionally admitted by Masons. Historians are silent about it, which does not mean there is doubt about its existence, the only point of argument might be the date. Athelstan ascended the throne in 925 and in 926 was involved in a war with his brother in law, Sigtryg, who abandoned Christianity after a recent conversion. He died as Athelstan was getting ready to invade his kingdom of Northumbria. Athelstan ended up annexing Northumbria and its capital city of York. 926 was not exactly a calm and peaceful year for King Athelstan, hence the doubt about the organization of the general Assembly of Masons that year. A fact remains : during his reign, Athelstan gave charters to many guilds and operative companies and historical records show that free guilds were then incorporated by law, leading to the associations for the establishment of fraternal relations and mutual aid still present in the trade companies of England.
King Athelstan is considered by historians as the first king of all England, having achieved the consolidation of the several small kingdoms of which the country was composed. He was a just and wise sovereign and a sagacious state man and encouraged the arts, especially architecture and the art of building. Under his reign, abbeys, towns and other edifices were built.
According to the Legend of the Craft, "King Athelstan was a great patron of the arts of civilization and brought the land into rest and peace." Also"he gave to the Masons or Architects a charter as a guild, and called an assembly of the Craft at York."(A.G. Mackey).
From all this, it results that the first formal meeting of Masons took place in York in 926 and this is an important event for the Craft and their evolution.
We will now move to more modern times, better documented history and the development of Masonry in England after the General Assembly of York in 926.
Emergence of Modern Masonry :
There is a long period during which we don't have much significant information, then we learn that :
In 1567, due to the extension of the Fraternity, two Grand Masters are elected : one for the Northern Jurisdiction, in York, and one for the Southern Jurisdiction, in London. However, general assemblies ("Grand Lodges") are held in York where all the archives of the Fraternity are kept. The GM in York takes the name of Grand Master of All England ("Totius Angliae"), while the one in London is called "Grand Master of England".
Sir Thomas Gresham, first GM of the Southern Jurisdiction in London, has amongst his successors, three kings, all of them Stuarts and Catholics : James I (son of Mary Stuart) in 1603, Charles I in 1625 (who ended up having some lethal encounter with Cromwell in 1649) and Charles II in 1660.
In those times, and especially after the English Restoration, Charles II was very protective of English Masonry. After the death of Charles I in 1649, the Lodges, mostly catholic as their workers were cathedral builders, were involved in secretly helping return the Stuarts to the throne. Once it was done, English Masonry lost its political involvement and oriented itself more towards charity and fraternity. Masons worked at moderating religious hatreds that were so terrible, destructive and useless in England at the time.
In 1666, the great fire in London required to rebuild or repair many monuments. Also, in 1673, the reconstruction of Saint-Paul's Cathedral started and was to be finished in 1710. Many Masons were called upon from all over the country and gathered in different Lodges, the principal of which being the Lodge of Saint Paul.
In 1703, facing a decline in the number of its members, the Lodge of Saint Paul decided amongst other things to open the Lodge to non-operative Masons. Some see in this move the origin of speculative masonry, but in fact many lodges used to receive non-operative ("Accepted") masons long before that.
After the end of the construction of the cathedral in 1710, masons stopped their General Assemblies and English Masonry came to an idling period in the south of England. In 1715, there were only four lodges left in London. This is when Jean Theophile Desaguliers decided, with the help of other brothers, to give a new impulse to the Fraternity ... But this will be another story !
Scottish Development :
Next, we will take a look at the development of Masonry in Scotland.
While the Fraternity expanded in England, it also expanded in Scotland and several important events took place there.
In the middle of the 12th century, wars all over Europe made masons and architects look for a quiet place and Scotland became their shelter. Amongst them, came a group from Lombardy (Northern Italy), holding a charter stating that its rules had been set according to those that Hiram, King of Tyre, had established when he sent workers to King Solomon for the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem. In Scotland these masons built the Abbey and Tower of Kilwinning in 1140, where a lodge already existed since 1128 and where Scottish masons held their general assemblies. In 1150, this lodge was constituted as the "Mother-Lodge of Kilwinning" and still exists today.
Towards the end of that same century, three knights back to Scotland from the Crusades, after the epidemic of plague in Palestine, founded "The Order of the Masons of Orient". This order is supposed to have been initially founded in 46 AD by a wise man from Egypt, called Ormesius who had been converted to Christianity ...
At the end of the 13th century, some Scottish knights who participated in the last Crusade, had contacts with an order situated on Mount Moriah. After their return to Scotland, they founded a chapter of this Order called "The Order of Herodom" (different spellings are found for this name), initially in the island of Iona, then they moved it to Kilwinning. However their undertaking was not very prosperous until an important historic event took place : some knight Templars fleeing the persecutions of Philippe the Fair, King of France and the pope Clement V, took refuge in Scotland in 1312, and particularly within the Masonic Lodges. On June 24, 1314, they helped Robert Bruce, king of Scotland under the name of Robert the First, to win the battle of Bannock-Burn. To show his gratefulness to the Masons and the Knight Templars who had helped him win the battle, King Robert created in their favor "The Order of the Thistle", in which admissions were based on those of the Temple. Later on, the Order of Herodom and the Order of the Thistle merged and the lodge in Kilwinning became "Royal Lodge" and "The Royal Order of H.R.M.of Kilwinning and Knights of the R.S.Y.C.S. (Rosy-Cross) was created under the protection of Robert the First who took the title of Grand Master and Protector.
In the 15th century Masonry was protected in Scotland by kings James the First and James the Second. In 1437, under the reign of James II, Scottish Masons gave to their Grand Master William St-Clair, count of Oakley and of Caithness and baron of Rosslyn, the title of "Patron and Protector", title which will be hereditary to the barons of Rosslyn. This title, of which the charter was lost in a fire of the castle of Rosslyn, was renewed in 1601 and 1628 and remained in the St-Clair family until the foundation of the Great Lodge of St John in Edinburgh in 1736.
English Revival :
In 1717, Freemasonry in London and more generally England was idling. There were lodges not only in London, but also in York and other places. This is when four lodges in London decided on their own to unite and create a "Grand Lodge" that would be the "Mother" of all other lodges in England.
In February of 1717 the Goose and Gridiron, the Crown, the Apple Tree and the Rummer and Grapes lodges met at the Apple Tree tavern in Charles Street, Covent Garden and decided to form a Grand Lodge. Each of these lodges had approximately 15 members, except for the Rummer and Grapes that had around 70. Most of the members of the first three lodges were operative masons related to the building trade with only a few gentlemen. The Rummer and Grapes had mostly gentlemen, with a few noblemen. These lodges became respectively number 1, 2, 3 and 4 of England.
They met again on June 24th, 1717, Saint John The Baptist day, at the Goose and Gridiron alehouse in Saint Paul's churchyard and elected Anthony Sayer, gentleman of the Crown lodge, as their first Grand Master.
The following Grand Master, Payne was elected on June 24th, 1718, then Jean Theophilus Deasaguliers in 1719, Payne again in 1720. After that the Grand Master elected was not a commoner any more : in 1721, the Duke of Montague was elected and until today, all the Grand Masters have been either members of the royal family or noblemen.
What lead to the creation of the first Grand Lodge of England ?
This is certainly not the result of an isolated event ... And multiple factors were involved.
In the middle of the turmoil of the English revolution of the 17th century and the religious wars that surrounded it, some eminent intellectuals remained above the events and started meeting to discuss the "new philosophy" around mid-century. Then in 1660, twelve of them founded a "College for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning" that would become "The Royal Society of London for improving Natural Knowledge" in its second Royal Charter of 1663. To this date The Royal Society still exists and is now devoted to the promotion and development of Science.
Amongst the members of the Royal Society, were many Freemasons, like Sir Robert Moray, Elias Ashmole or Sir Christopher Wren, architect of Saint Paul's Cathedral, who was initiated in 1691 and became later Master of the Goose and Gridiron Lodge. He died in 1716, before the reunion of the four initial Lodges into the Grand Lodge. Later, under the presidency of Sir Isaac Newton (who was not a Freemason), Jean Theophilus Desaguliers was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1714 and later curator.
So appears one important contributing factor : several members of a society of philosophers and scientists who gathered regularly to discuss different topics, were Freemasons. Several of them will be found as participants in the beginning of the Grand Lodge of England.
The Actors :
Although there is not much written record about it, three men seem to have been instrumental in the initial development of the English Grand Lodge and the evolution of English Freemasonry : James Anderson, Jean Desaguliers and George Payne, the second Grand Master.
James Anderson occupies an important place in the revival of Freemasonry at the beginning of the eighteenth century.
It is surprising to see that little is known about the man who wrote the "Book of Constitutions of the Antient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons", masterpiece of the Fraternity.
The authors don't even agree on his date and place of birth : for Robert Macoy, he would be born at Edinburgh, Scotland on August 5, 1662; for Arthur Waite, "he may have been born in 1680, and he may have not : nobody knows, ... Anderson was a son of Aberdeen ..." And finally for Jasper Ridley, James Anderson was "from Aberdeen, where he was born and educated, and became a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1702, when he was aged 23.", which could make us think he was born in 1679 ...
When Anderson became a Mason is not known either ... Some speculate he was received in Scotland and then became a member of an English Lodge in 1721 (A. Waite), but most authors agree on the total uncertainty of the fact. Which is certain is that he moved to London around 1709 where he became the minister of Nonconformists Chapels.
At the September 29, 1721 meeting of the Grand Lodge in London "he was ordered to arrange and more fully digest the old Gothic Constitutions into a new and better method than had before existed" (Macoy). His work, under the title of :"The Constitutions of the Freemasons, containing the History, Charges, Regulations, etc. of that most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity", was published in 1723, date at which he was Master of Lodge #17 and was awarded the office of Grand Warden. He later joined the historical Lodge #4, the Old Horn.
In 1738, an enlarged and corrected edition was published under his supervision. He also wrote different other books of no interest to Freemasonry.
The date of his death is also uncertain, but most authors agree it was around 1738-39.
Although less known than James Anderson, John Theophilus Desaguliers is an important figure of the revival of Freemasonry.
Born in La Rochelle, France, in 1683, son of a Huguenot (Protestant) pastor, he was smuggled by his parents out of the country at the age of two after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes by King Louis XIV in 1685. The pastors were allowed to leave the country, but their children were to stay to be educated as Roman Catholics, hence the smuggling. After a few years in Guernsey, the Desaguliers moved to London where the father was ordained into the Church of England and became a minister.
His son, John T. completed his education and went to Corpus Christi College in Oxford where he studied Theology, and was also interested in some scientific subjects.
He was ordained into the Church of England where he held several positions and became chaplain of the Duke of Chandos. By age 30, he had moved to London and was lecturing in philosophy and on the works of Isaac Newton who knew him well and respected him. In 1714, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society and became later Curator of that same Society.
In 1719, he was elected Grand master of the G. L. of England, in 1722 and again twice at later dates he was appointed Deputy G.M.. He has been highly instrumental in keeping the cohesion of the Fraternity in the beginning of the revival and has been credited in the grafting of Speculative Masonry on the Old Operative system.
In 1723, Anderson published the Constitutions. Before he did so, his draft was discussed and amended by a committee of fourteen of the leading members of G.L., including Desaguliers (J. Ridley). There is a general opinion that Desaguliers prepared the General Regulations for Anderson's Constitutions. He is said to have been a zealous collector of old records (A. Waite).
He died on November 29, 1743.
George Payne is the third important figure of the revival of Freemasonry. He belonged to the Westminster lodge of «The Rummer and Grapes».
Elected second Grand Master in 1718, he was a knowledgeable antiquary and as such started gathering documents (charters, old charges and regulations, old rituals) from different lodges to build up archives and publish the most interesting of them. However some «scrupulous and alarmed brothers» (Preston) set fire to part of the most important old documents ...
Elected again as Grand Master in 1720 and taking over from John Desaguliers, G. Payne had what had escaped the fire gathered together. He then put in order all the regulations and edicts that the Grand Lodge had created since 1717. Following the request of the four original lodges, he prepared «General Regulations» that were approved by G.L. on June 24, 1721. On September 2d, 1721, the 39 articles of the «General Regulations» and other old documents were communicated to Br. James Anderson, John Desaguliers and George Payne by the Duke of Montague, first noble G. M., who had been elected in June 1721. The mission of these three Brothers was to compare the documents, consult the old Gothic Constitutions and create a body of laws and doctrines that would be used by the lodges of England.
Their work done, a commission of the 14 most knowledgeable members was selected to go thru the results. Following the approval of the commission, Grand Lodge adopted the project of Constitutions on March 25, 1722 and ordered its printing.
«The Constitutions of the free-masons, containing the History, Charges, Regulations &c. of that most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity. -For the use of the lodges» were thus published and again approved by the Grand Lodge of England on January 17, 1723. A revised edition, with minor modifications, was authorized in 1735 and published and approved on January 25, 1738.
Family feuds :
By adopting the Constitutions, the Grand Lodge of England gave a solid foundation to Freemasonry, but also declared itself the unique and legitimate Masonic authority in England, which triggered adverse reactions in older lodges that had been previously in existence outside London.
These Constitutions, amongst other things, impaired the old freedom of Freemasons to establish new lodges without the approval of the Grand Lodge of England and thus ignored the imprescriptible right of any mason to practice and perpetuate Freemasonry.
In those times (seventeenth century), it was not necessary for a lodge to be created to receive a charter from Grand Lodge. The only requirement was for the lodge to be created by true masons, in conformity with old traditions. The Ancient Charges applied and Masons could assemble (in a minimum number, usually ten with at least one master and two wardens) whenever they wanted and wherever they wanted. Under the authority of the master of the works, they could receive brothers and practice the rites of Freemasonry. Belonging to a Grand Lodge only meant that a lodge was admitted to the reunions of the lodges composing this Grand Lodge, but did not imply any character of regularity or legitimacy. The authority of the Grand Master was limited to the duration of general assemblies («General Lodges») and did not extend beyond. Any private assembly or «Lodge» was set under the authority of a «Master» named for the circumstance and whose authority ceased with the meeting. If such assembly happened for some time in the same place, the report in the minutes of the assembly was enough to establish its regular existence.
By impairing these old liberties, the newly created Grand Lodge of England raised protests from the ancient lodges of York and Scotland with the consequences that we will see next.
While, the Grand Lodge of England had adopted the Constitutions and given a solid foundation to Freemasonry in London, Masonry remained active in the north of England and in Scotland and Ireland.
The General Lodges assembled with the same regularity in York and the revival in London appeared as an independent movement. At first both groups lived in peace and harmony and the masons of the kingdom praised the lodge of York to which they were proud to be linked by their origin : the first charter recorded in history had been given to brothers assembled in York.
However, soon the old Lodge of York started to have some concerns about the behavior of the Grand Lodge of London which began to show higher claims and some encroachments on the York prerogatives and territory. And to avoid any confusion, the York Lodge adopted again its old title of «Grand Lodge of All England» (Totius Angliae). In 1725, the Grand Lodge of York cut off its relations with the Grand Lodge of England in London, after this last one brought unapproved modifications to the rituals and authorized the constitution of two new lodges in the York district to brothers who had split from the northern Masonry.
This did not impair the development of the Grand Lodge in London which attracted more and more important people. And thus in 1729, the Grand Lodge of Ireland was created with James King, P.G.M. of the Grand Lodge of England, as first Grand Master in 1731.
In 1736, the lodges of Scotland constituted the Grand Lodge of Saint John of Scotland.
Also, while the Grand Lodge expanded in London, some brothers claimed high grades, above the three symbolic ones. Those high grades were those created during Charles II reign and those adopted since by the Saint Andrew lodge in Edinburgh.
Even after the creation of the new Grand Lodge of England in London, the ancient lodges in London, the country, York, Scotland or Ireland kept their rituals and usual formalities without changing anything. Some brothers became unhappy with the modifications introduced by the new Grand Lodge.
After the rupture with the Grand Lodge of York, some brothers dropped from the Grand Lodge of England and gathered with brothers from York to create new lodges in London. They called themselves «Ancient York Masons» and called the Grand Lodge of England brothers, «Modern Masons». Following this, some lodges of London dropped from the Grand Lodge of England and joined the «Ancient Masons» to create an independent body in 1739. They called it «Grand Lodge of Freemasons of England, according to the Old Constitutions» by opposition to the «Grand Lodge of the society of Freemasons under the Constitution of England». Now if you think it is complicated so far, hold on tight, as there is more to come !
On July 20th, 1741, the Grand Lodge of Scotland decided to stop corresponding with the Grand Lodge of Modern Masons and to recognize only the Grand Lodge of Ancient Masons.
In 1777, another major event started when the Grand Lodge of England tried to remove the ancient privileges that one of its four original lodges, the old lodge of Saint Paul, now named «Antiquity» had granted in 1717 and confirmed again in 1721 and written in the chapter 39 of the Constitutions of 1723. This lead in 1778 the lodge «Antiquity» to receive the authorization from the Grand Lodge in York to establish a new Grand Lodge : «The Grand Lodge of England, South of the Trent»(river).
So now, in 1778, there were four Grand Lodges in England : The Grand Lodge of All England in York, and three in London : the Grand Lodge of England (Modern Masons), The Grand Lodge of England (Ancient Masons), the Grand Lodge of England, South of Trent ...
On May 2, 1790, after a little more than ten years of existence, this last Grand Lodge (South of Trent) merged back with the Grand Lodge of England (Modern Masons).
And we will have to wait until December 27, 1813 to see the two Grand Lodges in London, (Ancient and Modern) merge and become the «United Grand Lodge of Ancient Freemasons of England» ...
To be continued ...
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