The History of Freemansonry
Freemasonry is more than just a fraternity, to talk about the history of modern of freemasonry and not mention the period in time where it came to be is unfair to the people that helped shape Freemasonry and the world that it is in today.
The 1600’s where a period of enlightenment, a time where men felt the need to go outside their social, religions, professional or political groups in a global effort to enlighten them. It was on this period that freemasonry was catapulted to the modern times.
Many other fraternities where born around that time, Royal Society were an example of one, with special focus in science. Freemasonry had no main focus but to make better men, regardless of religion, as long as one puts his faith in a supreme being. Besides Freemasonry was an established fraternity, given the choice between a fraternity that started a thousand years ago and another fraternity that started yesterday you would pick the first.
But where did Freemasonry come from? In its ritual context, Freemasonry employs an allegorical foundation of the fraternity by the builders of King Solomon’s Temple.
Due to the a distinct absence of documentation as to Freemasonry’s origins, which has been the cause of a great deal of speculation amongst historians and pseudo-historians alike, both within and from outside the fraternity. This history will focus on modern Freemasonry, or speculative freemasonry, giving an account of the documented History of Freemasonry.
When we talk about the history of Freemasonry, it is important to separate operative freemasonry from speculative freemasonry. Even thought there is several documented indications to the connection of Stone Masons of the medieval times (operative masons), there is no document that dates back that far in time. As a matter of fact there is no documentation in reference to the true origins of speculative freemasonry, the most known documents are the creation of the first Grand Lodge in England in June 24th, 1717 by testament of James Anderson texts and the Schaw Statutes, issued by William Schaw in Scotland, while he was the Master of Works and General Warden of master masons in December, 28th 1598.
The Schaw Statutes where an attempt to uniform the lodges of Freemasonry, create written records and avoid the introduction of speculations of time. The Schaw Statutes can be found in the minutes of Atchison’s Haven (New battle) and Edinburgh Lodges like Mary Chapel Lodge no.1 in Scotland.
The Grand Lodge of England (GLE) was the first attempt to unite lodges under a hierarchal Grand Lodge. Even though the Schaw Statutes proves that Freemasonry existed far before the GLE was first created, the GLE marks the formation of organized Freemasonry in its modern sense. On June 24th at the Goose and Gridiron in England four groups of masons (lodges) created the Grand Lodge.
Other documents exist including an undated manuscript from the mid-15th century, and several others in reference to the words Freemason, frank mason and ffre masons, dating as far back as 1376.
In its origins, members of freemasonry were of modest status, but in 1719 with the election of John Theophilus Desaguliers, as the Grand Master of GLE, Freemasonry had for the first time a nobleman in our fraternity. In Freemasonry every member meets on the same level, where everyone is equal and there is no distinction of financial or social class. But with Desaguliers vision and leadership, Freemasonry expanded into a more organized and solid organization.
Desaguliers asked Reverend Dr. James Anderson, possibly the first scholar to study and research Freemasonry, to write the first constitution for Free and Accepted Masons, The Constitutions of the Free-Masons containing the History, Charges, Regulations, and of that most Ancient and Right Worshipful Fraternity: For the use of the Lodges, was published in 1723. A reworked version of the Constitutions was published in 1738 (by Anderson) and again in 1818 after the union of Ancients’ Grand Lodge and the Moderns Grand Lodge.
In 1813, with the existing now of several grand lodges in England, the Premier Grand Lodge of England and the Ancient Grand Lodge of England where integrated into the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE), more precisely on December 27th (day of Saint John the Evangelist).
Over time freemasonry has shed its light of knowledge all over the world, in the 1700’s amongst the colonists in the American continent, were masons coming from all corners of the world, meeting in all the thirteen colonies. The Massachusetts Grand Lodge is the oldest Grand Lodge in United States and the 3rd oldest Grande Lodge under UGLE, dating back to 1733.
Threw time several masons helped shape the world, in American we also find masons in our history, starting from the creation of our nation; our revolution; men like, Paul Revere, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, Joseph Warren, George Washington, James Madison, and many more.
But the American Revolution was not the only movement that forged the history of the world, between the 1700 and the early 1900; seven known great and true revolutions took place. And by, great and true, we mean that they were not aimed at taking power, but aimed at given power back to the people, of course North American Revolution by George Washington, the French Revolution by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Italian second Revolution by Giuseppe Garibaldi, South American Revolution by Simon Bolivar, Hungarian Revolution by Lajos “Louis” Kossuth, Mexican Revolution by Benito Pablo Juarez Garcia and the Portuguese Revolution by Teofilo Braga. All these men had a great role in the freedom of its people. Would it be surprising to know that some of these men where freemasons? Well they were ALL known freemasons, men that believed in ideals and principals, that favored humanity, freedom and condemned oppression.