Find out more in our recent story about the Knights Templar. For all of the tradesmen, having some sort of organisation was a way not only to make contacts, but also to pass on tricks of the trade — and to keep outsiders out.
But there was a significant difference between the tradesmen. Those who fished or gardened, for example, would usually stay put, working in the same community day in, day out. Not so with stonemasons. Particularly with the rush to build more and more massive, intricate churches throughout Britain in the Middle Ages, they would be called to specific — often huge — projects, often far from home.
They might labour there for months, even years. Thrown into that kind of situation, where you depended on strangers to have the same skills and to get along, how could you be sure everyone knew the trade and could be trusted? By forming an organisation. How could you prove that you were a member of that organisation when you turned up? By creating a code known by insiders only — like a handshake.
Edinburgh's Lodge of Journeyman Masons No. Even if lodges existed earlier, though, the effort to organise the Freemason movement dates back to the late s.
In , he sent these statutes out to every Scottish lodge in existence. One of his rules? Shortly after, lodges began to keep their first minutes. Anyone believing in a single deity may be admitted.
Rudyard Kipling, who was a member of a masonic lodge in Lahore, wrote a number of poems about his fellow masons who were Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Jews. In theory, all discussion of religion and politics is prohibited within lodges.
No, individual masons can declare themselves if they wish , and the names of senior officers of the brotherhood in England and Wales can be found in a masonic year book. The grand master is the Duke of Kent. Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, is a member of a navy lodge. However, a great many masons do not disclose their membership outside the brotherhood. Since no records were taken until , the early history of the Grand Lodge is uncertain.
However, in Payne took it upon himself to write the General Regulations of a Free Mason , which were later incorporated into Revd. Whilst it is generally accepted that much of this is based on myth and legend and therefore unreliable, the work remains a milestone in masonic history and the claim that Freemasonry dates back to ancient times continues to be repeated to this day. The first Grand Lodge of Ireland was also established that year.
The history of Freemasonry is generally separated into two time periods: before and after the formation of the Grand Lodge of England in The facts and origins of Freemasonry before the Grand Lodge existed are not absolutely known and are still subject to intense speculation. Other popular theories as to the origins of Freemasonry include: it is a direct descendant of the Knights Templar; the construction of the Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland being the interface between the Knights Templar and Freemasonry; it was created by Francis Bacon, Oliver Cromwell or Stuart pretenders to the British Crown; it was a result of Sir Christopher Wren and the rebuilding of St.
Throughout the early years of the new Grand Lodge many Lodges never affiliated with it. In a lodge in York founded the rival Grand Lodge of All England in protest against the growing influence of the Grand Lodge of England and in the s and s antipathy between the two Grand Lodges, and those of Scotland and Ireland, increased when some Masons considered the Grand Lodge of England to have deviated considerably from the ancient practices of the Craft. Freemasonry: The first Masonic Grand Lodge. What is Freemasonry?
A masonic initiation, based on an engraving by Gabanon dated The Constitutions of the Free-Masons Since no records were taken until , the early history of the Grand Lodge is uncertain.
History of Freemasonry The history of Freemasonry is generally separated into two time periods: before and after the formation of the Grand Lodge of England in
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