# Freemasonry: the craft and its history From the medieval stonemasons and the legendary descent from Solomon and the Templars through the first Grand Lodge of 1717 to the revolutions, the scandals, and the persecutions. *This story part of: State, law, and coercion* *The Rotary Club: service, fraternity, and suspicion parallel this story* *Service clubs and fraternal orders parallel this story* *Courts, Masonic ritual, and the strawman pseudolaw myth parallel this story* ## c. 967 BCE — Legendary descent from the Temple of Solomon Masonic ritual tells an allegorical story tracing the craft to the building of Solomon's Temple and the master builder Hiram Abiff. This is legendary tradition used to teach moral lessons, not documented history. ## 1118 — Founding of the Knights Templar Nine Knights Crusaders including Geoffroi de Saint-Omer and Hugues de Payens consecrate themselves and take oath before Patriarch of Constantinople to protect Christians visiting Holy Places and secretly rebuild Temple of Solomon > "In 1118, nine Knights Crusaders in the East, among whom were Geoffroi de Saint-Omer and Hugues de Payens, consecrated themselves to religion, and took an oath between the hands of the Patriarch of Constantinople" > — Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, p. 1051-1056 ## 1119 — Founding of the Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon were founded around 1119 to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. They are relevant to Freemasonry only through a later legend, not through any real historical link. ## c. 1200 — Medieval stonemasons' guilds Skilled stonemasons who built cathedrals and castles organized into guilds and working lodges that set standards and guarded trade secrets. These operative craft groups are the documented root from which later Freemasonry grew. ## 22 March 1312 — Suppression of the Knights Templar Pope Clement V dissolves the Templar order under pressure from King Philip IV of France, who owed the order large sums and had arrested its members in 1307. The suppression destroys medieval Europe's leading financial institution. ## 18 March 1314 — Execution of Jacques de Molay Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, was burned at the stake in Paris in 1314. The Templars had no organizational continuity into later Freemasonry. ## c. 1390 — The Regius Manuscript The Regius Poem, also called the Halliwell Manuscript, is the oldest known document of the masonic craft, written in verse around 1390. It sets out legendary history and rules of conduct for stonemasons. ## c. 1410 — The Cooke Manuscript The Cooke Manuscript is the second oldest of the Old Charges, dating to about 1410. It later served as a source for the constitutions of organized Freemasonry. ## 28 December 1598 — The Schaw Statutes in Scotland William Schaw, Master of Works to the Scottish Crown, issued statutes in 1598 and 1599 regulating masons' lodges and their organization. They mark an early documented step toward formal lodge structure. ## 31 July 1599 — Earliest lodge minutes at Edinburgh The Lodge of Edinburgh, known as Mary's Chapel, keeps minutes dating from 1599, the oldest surviving records of any masonic lodge. They show operative lodges functioning with formal membership. ## 16 October 1646 — Initiation of Elias Ashmole The antiquarian Elias Ashmole recorded his initiation as a Freemason in 1646, one of the earliest documented cases of a non-mason gentleman joining a lodge in England. It signals the shift toward accepted, or speculative, membership. ## c. 1650 to c. 1717 — Shift from operative to speculative Masonry Over the 17th century, lodges increasingly admitted men who were not working stonemasons and turned the craft's tools into moral symbols. This move from operative trade body to speculative fraternity set the stage for modern Freemasonry. ## 24 June 1717 — Founding of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Four London lodges met at the Goose and Gridiron alehouse and formed the first Grand Lodge, traditionally dated to 24 June 1717. This is usually taken as the birth of organized Freemasonry, though some scholars argue for 1721. ## c. 24 June 1717 — Premier Grand Lodge of England founded Four London lodges met and formed the first Grand Lodge, traditionally dated to Saint John the Baptist's Day 1717. This body, later called the Moderns, marks the beginning of organized speculative Freemasonry. ## c. 1717 — The Masonic apron The lambskin apron, derived from the working stonemason's protective apron, is presented to every Mason as a badge of innocence and membership. Its decoration and color mark rank and degree within the lodge. ## 1723 — Anderson's Constitutions James Anderson compiled The Constitutions of the Free-Masons, printed in 1723, giving the new Grand Lodge its history, charges, and regulations. It became the foundational rulebook of the movement. ## c. 1723 — Entered Apprentice, the first Craft degree The first degree of Craft Freemasonry initiates a candidate as an Entered Apprentice and teaches basic symbols and moral lessons. It was codified as part of the speculative Craft system in the decades after the founding of organized Grand Lodge Masonry. ## 26 June 1725 — Grand Lodge of Ireland formed The Grand Lodge of Ireland is recorded from 1725 and is the second oldest Grand Lodge in the world. It helped spread the craft through Irish military lodges. ## c. 1725 — Fellow Craft, the second Craft degree The second degree advances the Mason to Fellow Craft and centers on the symbolism of study, the liberal arts, and the middle chamber of King Solomon's Temple. It became a distinct step as the two-degree operative pattern expanded into three speculative degrees. ## c. 1725 — Grand Lodge of Ireland and Grand Lodge of Scotland The Grand Lodge of Ireland took shape by 1725 and the Grand Lodge of Scotland was constituted in 1736, completing the three home Grand Lodges of the British Isles. They spread Freemasonry through their own networks of military and colonial lodges. ## c. 1725 — Master Mason, the third Craft degree The third degree raises the candidate to Master Mason and dramatizes the legend of Hiram Abiff. Records of its conferral appear by the mid 1720s as the third degree separated out from the earlier two-degree system. ## c. 1726 — Freemasonry spreads to France English and Jacobite exiles established the first lodges in Paris in the mid 1720s, and a French Grand Lodge followed. Freemasonry became fashionable among the French elite. ## c. 1728 — Freemasonry spreads across Asia English, Scottish, and Irish Grand Lodges chartered lodges across India, Southeast Asia, and the Far East from the 18th century onward, beginning with early lodges in Bengal. Local and national Grand Lodges later formed in countries such as India and the Philippines. ## c. 1730 — The Hiramic legend The central allegory of the third degree tells of Hiram Abiff, the chief builder of Solomon's Temple, who is killed for refusing to reveal a Masonic secret. The story is a symbolic drama with no basis in the biblical or historical record, and it teaches lessons on fidelity and immortality. ## c. 1730 — The letter G The letter G placed within the square and compasses is generally read as standing for God and for Geometry, the science central to the mason's craft. Its use in the center of the emblem spread through the 18th century. ## c. 1730 — The square and compasses The interlaced square and compasses are the most recognized emblem of Freemasonry, drawn from stonemasons' tools and used to teach lessons of virtue and restraint. The joined symbol became standard on lodge furniture and jewels during the 18th century. ## c. 1730 — The three-degree Craft system takes shape Samuel Prichard's expose Masonry Dissected, printed in 1730, is the first published account describing all three Craft degrees in detail. Its appearance shows the three-degree structure was established in lodge practice by that date. ## 30 July 1733 — First organized Freemasonry in the American colonies Henry Price received authority to organize a Provincial Grand Lodge in Boston in 1733, formalizing the craft in the American colonies. A lodge in Philadelphia, linked to Benjamin Franklin, was already active by about 1731. ## 30 November 1736 — Grand Lodge of Scotland formed Scottish lodges united to form the Grand Lodge of Scotland on St Andrew's Day in 1736. It became a major exporter of the craft across the British Empire. ## c. 1737 — The Templar descent legend In the 18th century, figures such as Andrew Michael Ramsay and the Rite of Strict Observance promoted the idea that Freemasonry descended from the Knights Templar. Historians regard this as invented legend with no factual basis. ## 28 April 1738 — Papal condemnation In Eminenti Pope Clement XII issued the bull In Eminenti in 1738, the first papal condemnation of Freemasonry, and forbade Catholics from joining on pain of excommunication. Secrecy and oaths were the main stated objections. ## c. 1743 — The Royal Arch degree The Holy Royal Arch is a further degree that continues the Temple narrative and is regarded by many Masons as the completion of the Master Mason degree. The earliest known references to it date from the 1740s in Ireland and England. ## 1751 — The Antient Grand Lodge founded A rival Grand Lodge was established in 1751 by mainly Irish Masons who felt the older body had altered the ritual, and under Laurence Dermott they called themselves the Antients. They accused the senior body, the Moderns, of dropping older practices such as the Royal Arch. ## 17 July 1751 — The Antients and Moderns schism A rival Grand Lodge, the Antients, formed in 1751 and accused the original body, nicknamed the Moderns, of straying from tradition. The two competed for more than sixty years. ## c. 1760 — Masonic ritual catechisms and lodge lectures Craft instruction was transmitted through memorized question-and-answer catechisms and lectures explaining the symbols of each degree. Printed exposures and monitors from the 18th century preserve early versions of this oral teaching. ## c. 1762 — The pillars Jachin and Boaz The two bronze pillars named Jachin and Boaz, described in the Bible as standing at the porch of Solomon's Temple, appear in Craft symbolism and in early exposures such as the 1762 pamphlet Jachin and Boaz. They stand at the entrance of the symbolic lodge and carry lessons of establishment and strength. ## c. 1769 — The Mark degree The Mark degree develops the theme of the individual craftsman's mark and the rejected stone that becomes the headstone of the corner. A documented conferral took place at Portsmouth in 1769, and the degree was later organized under its own governing bodies. ## c. 1770 — The esoteric and exoteric layers of Masonic teaching Masonic writers have long distinguished a plain moral surface meaning of the ritual from deeper esoteric readings drawn from alchemy, Kabbalah, and mythology. This layering is a genuine feature of Masonic literature and reflects varied interpretation, not a single hidden doctrine or conspiracy. ## c. 1772 — Freemasonry spreads across Africa The first lodge in southern Africa, Lodge de Goede Hoop, opened at the Cape in 1772, and District Grand Lodges later spread under English, Scottish, and Irish authority across the continent. Lodges took root in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and East Africa. ## 1773 — Grand Orient de France established French lodges reorganized in 1773 into the Grand Orient de France, which became continental Europe's most influential masonic body. It later took a more liberal and secular direction than English Freemasonry. ## 1773 — Grand Orient de France founded The Grand Orient de France was organized in 1773 as the central Masonic authority for France. It became the largest body of Continental Freemasonry and a center of the liberal, socially engaged tradition. ## 16 December 1773 — Boston Tea Party and St. Andrew's Lodge Some participants in the Boston Tea Party belonged to St. Andrew's Lodge, which met at the Green Dragon Tavern. The lodge did not organize the protest as a body, though its members were active patriots. ## 6 March 1775 — Prince Hall initiated into Freemasonry Prince Hall and fourteen other free Black men were initiated in a British army lodge in Boston in March 1775. This began the tradition of African American Freemasonry. ## c. 1775 to c. 1783 — Freemasons in the American Revolution Many leaders of the American Revolution, including George Washington and several signers of the Declaration of Independence, were documented Freemasons. Historians see this as reflecting shared Enlightenment networks rather than a masonic plot. ## c. 1778 — The Rectified Scottish Rite and the high-degree ferment The 18th century produced many competing systems of higher degrees, including the chivalric Rite of Strict Observance and its reform as the Rectified Scottish Rite in 1778. This ferment of rites fed material into the later Scottish Rite and York Rite. ## 1784 — Prince Hall and African Lodge founded Prince Hall and fourteen other free Black men, initiated in a British military lodge in 1775, received a charter from the Grand Lodge of England in 1784 for African Lodge in Boston. This began Prince Hall Freemasonry, the enduring tradition of Black American lodges. ## 29 September 1784 — Charter of African Lodge No. 459 The Grand Lodge of England issued a warrant in 1784 for African Lodge No. 459, led by Prince Hall, giving Black Freemasons formal standing. The charter arrived in Boston in 1787. ## 30 April 1789 — Washington's Masonic inauguration George Washington took the first presidential oath of office in 1789 on a Bible borrowed from a New York masonic lodge. He was a member of a Virginia lodge and later laid the Capitol cornerstone in a masonic ceremony. ## c. 1789 to c. 1799 — Freemasons in the French Revolution A number of revolutionary figures were Freemasons, and lodges such as the Nine Sisters gathered Enlightenment thinkers. Historians reject the later conspiracy claim that Freemasonry planned or caused the Revolution. > "The Coming of the French Revolution, 1789." > — Political Order and Political Decay > "The Coming of the French Revolution, 1789." > — Political Order and Political Decay ## c. 1797 — Consolidation of the York Rite in America American Freemasons grouped several degree systems, including the Royal Arch, Cryptic Masonry, and Knights Templar, into what became the York Rite. The General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons was organized in 1797. ## c. 1797 — The York Rite grouping of Masonic bodies The York Rite is an American collection of further degrees organized under three bodies: the Royal Arch Chapter, the Cryptic Council, and the Knights Templar commandery. It offers a Christian and Temple-centered path parallel to the Scottish Rite. ## c. 1797 — The all-seeing eye The all-seeing eye, or Eye of Providence, represents the watchful attention of the Great Architect of the Universe and appears in Thomas Smith Webb's 1797 monitor. It is a general religious emblem that Masonry adopted. ## c. 1800 — The tracing boards Tracing boards are painted illustrations that display the symbols of each degree for teaching during lodge meetings. John Harris designed an influential standard set in the 1840s that shaped later English boards. ## 31 May 1801 — Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite founded The first Supreme Council of the thirty-third degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite was established at Charleston in 1801. It became the mother council from which most other Scottish Rite bodies derive their authority. ## 31 May 1801 — Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite founded The first Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, with its system of higher degrees, was organized in Charleston, South Carolina in 1801. The Scottish Rite grew into one of Freemasonry's largest bodies. ## c. 1801 — The thirty-three degrees of the Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite organizes a sequence of degrees from the fourth through the thirty-third that build on the three Craft degrees. The system drew on earlier French high-degree rites and was consolidated into thirty-three grades around 1801. ## c. 1804 — Grand Orients spread across Latin America Grand Orients and Grand Lodges were established across Spanish and Portuguese America in the early 19th century, often linked to independence movements. Figures such as Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin were associated with Masonic and patriotic lodges. ## c. 1808 — Prince Hall Freemasonry grows and seeks recognition After African Lodge declared itself an independent Grand Lodge, Prince Hall Masonry spread into a national network of Black Grand Lodges. Mainstream American Grand Lodges long withheld formal recognition, and mutual recognition advanced slowly through the 20th century. ## c. 1812 — Masonic lodges and Latin American independence Leaders of Spanish American independence, including Simon Bolivar, Jose de San Martin, and Bernardo O'Higgins, were linked to the Lautaro Lodge network that coordinated revolutionary aims. Masonic ties provided a channel for organizing across borders. ## 1813 — Scottish Rite Northern and Southern Jurisdictions A second Supreme Council for the northern states was recognized in 1813, dividing the United States into the Southern Jurisdiction based at Charleston and later Washington and the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction. The two councils govern the Scottish Rite in their own regions. ## 27 December 1813 — Formation of the United Grand Lodge of England The rival Antients and Moderns Grand Lodges united in 1813 to form the United Grand Lodge of England. It remains the governing body of English Freemasonry and a global standard for regularity. ## 27 December 1813 — The United Grand Lodge of England formed The Antients and the Moderns settled their long rivalry and merged into the United Grand Lodge of England in December 1813. The union fixed standard ritual and governance that shaped regular Freemasonry across the British Empire. ## 1823 — The Emulation Ritual standardized The Emulation Lodge of Improvement, formed in 1823, fixed a widely used and carefully preserved form of English Craft ritual. Emulation working became one of the most influential ritual styles in England and the wider English-speaking Masonic world. ## 11 September 1826 — The Morgan affair William Morgan, a New York man who threatened to publish masonic secrets, was abducted in 1826 and never seen again. The scandal and suspicion of a cover-up triggered a wave of anti-masonic feeling. ## c. 1828 to c. 1838 — The Anti-Masonic Party Public anger after the Morgan affair fueled the Anti-Masonic Party, the first significant third party in United States history. It held the first national nominating convention in 1831 and ran William Wirt for president in 1832. ## c. 1850 — Order of the Eastern Star founded Rob Morris developed the ritual of the Order of the Eastern Star around 1850 as an adoptive order for female relatives of Master Masons and for Masons themselves. A General Grand Chapter was organized in 1876, making it one of the largest Masonic-related bodies open to women. ## c. 1855 to c. 1861 — Albert Pike revises the Scottish Rite rituals Albert Pike, a leader of the Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction, rewrote and expanded the rite's degree rituals into their modern elaborate form. His revisions drew heavily on comparative mythology and world religions. ## 1864 — Garibaldi and Italian Freemasonry Giuseppe Garibaldi, hero of Italian unification, served as a leading figure of the Grand Orient of Italy and was named its Grand Master in 1864. Italian Freemasonry was closely tied to the liberal nationalist cause. ## 1870 — The Shriners founded The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine was founded in 1870 by Walter Fleming and William Florence as a fraternal group for Master Masons, with a playful Near Eastern theme. It later became widely known for its network of children's hospitals. ## 1871 — Albert Pike publishes Morals and Dogma Albert Pike reorganized the Scottish Rite in the American South and published Morals and Dogma in 1871, a lengthy commentary on its degrees. His writings shaped the rite for generations. ## c. 1871 — The fabricated Pike to Mazzini Lucifer letter A supposed 1871 letter from Albert Pike to Giuseppe Mazzini outlining a plan for three world wars, and a quotation calling Lucifer the Masonic god, are fabrications with no basis in any authentic document. The Lucifer quote originated in the Leo Taxil hoax, and the war-plan letter was popularized by William Guy Carr in the 1950s. ## 1874 — Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry published Albert Mackey published his Encyclopedia of Freemasonry in 1874, gathering Masonic history, symbolism, and jurisprudence into a standard reference. It became one of the most cited works of Masonic scholarship. ## 1877 — Grand Orient de France drops the Supreme Being requirement In 1877 the Grand Orient de France removed the obligation to profess belief in a Supreme Being and the presence of the Volume of the Sacred Law from its constitution. This opened membership to non-believers and marked a decisive turn toward a secular, liberal Freemasonry. ## September 1877 — Grand Orient de France drops belief in God requirement In 1877 the Grand Orient de France removed the requirement that members profess belief in a supreme being. The United Grand Lodge of England responded by withdrawing recognition, a split that still divides world Freemasonry. ## c. 1878 — The Anglo-American and Continental split After the Grand Orient de France abandoned the Supreme Being requirement, the United Grand Lodge of England withdrew recognition and drew a lasting line between regular and irregular Masonry. This produced two broad families, the theistic Anglo-American tradition and the more liberal Continental tradition. ## 20 April 1884 — Later papal condemnations of Freemasonry The Church repeated its ban in bulls such as Providas in 1751 and Leo XIII's Humanum Genus in 1884, which cast Freemasonry as a threat to religion and society. The Catholic prohibition on membership remains in force. ## 1885 to 1897 — The Leo Taxil hoax exposed as a fabrication From 1885 the French writer Gabriel Jogand-Pages, using the name Leo Taxil, published sensational fake revelations of Satanic Masonic rites, including an invented cult and a fictional priestess named Diana Vaughan. In April 1897 he publicly confessed the whole affair was a deliberate hoax mocking anti-Masonic credulity. ## 1885 to 1897 — The Taxil hoax Leo Taxil spent years spreading lurid fabrications about satanic masonic rituals, which anti-masonic and church audiences believed. In 1897 he publicly confessed the whole affair was a hoax invented to mock his critics. ## 1889 — The Grotto fraternal order founded The Mystic Order of Veiled Prophets of the Enchanted Realm, known as the Grotto, was founded in 1889 as a social side order for Master Masons. It emphasized fellowship and later took up charitable work. ## 1893 — Founding of mixed-gender Le Droit Humain The order Le Droit Humain was founded in France in 1893 as an international mixed obedience admitting both women and men. It followed the 1882 initiation of Maria Deraismes and opened Freemasonry to women. ## 1893 — Le Droit Humain co-Masonic order founded The International Order of Freemasonry Le Droit Humain was founded in 1893 by Maria Deraismes and Georges Martin as the first order to admit men and women on equal terms. It grew into an international body of mixed-gender lodges. ## c. 1908 — Women's Freemasonry in Britain Co-Masonry reached Britain around 1902, and a women-only order that became the Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons emerged from it by 1908. These bodies work Masonic ritual for women but are not recognized by the male-only United Grand Lodge of England. ## 1919 — DeMolay youth order founded The Order of DeMolay was founded in 1919 by Frank S. Land as a character-building organization for young men, sponsored by Freemasons. It is named after Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the medieval Knights Templar. ## c. 1920 — Job's Daughters and Rainbow Girls Masonic-sponsored youth groups for girls emerged in the early 20th century, with the International Order of the Rainbow for Girls founded in 1922 and Job's Daughters in 1920. They parallel DeMolay in offering youth activities tied to Masonic families. ## November 1925 — Fascist Italy bans Freemasonry Mussolini's government outlawed Freemasonry in 1925, viewing the lodges as rival centers of loyalty. Members were purged and lodge property seized. *Source: 1925. L'anno in cui la Massoneria venne messa al bando per legge dal fascismo* ## 1928 — Manly P. Hall publishes The Secret Teachings of All Ages Manly P. Hall released his large illustrated survey of Western esoteric traditions, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, in 1928. It presents Masonic symbolism alongside alchemy, Kabbalah, and mystery religions, and became a popular esoteric reference. > "And, truthfully, although I can trace out some of the forensics, there was no evident ability to gain ready mastery of the vast reference material that appears in the book." > — The Seeker's Guide to The Secret Teachings of All Ages, p. 19-22 ## c. 1933 to c. 1945 — Nazi persecution of Freemasons After 1933 the Nazi regime banned German lodges, seized their property, and treated Freemasons as enemies of the state. Thousands of Freemasons across occupied Europe were imprisoned or killed in the camps. *Source: Freemasonry under the Nazi Regime* ## 1 March 1940 — Franco's Spain represses Freemasonry Franco's regime passed the Law for the Repression of Freemasonry and Communism in 1940, making membership a crime. Many Spanish Freemasons were imprisoned, exiled, or executed. ## c. 1960 — Modern decline of Freemasonry American Freemasonry peaked at about four million members in the late 1950s and has fallen steadily since, a pattern echoed in Britain and Europe. Aging membership and falling interest in fraternal groups drove the drop. ## c. 1961 — Grand Lodge of Southern Africa established Freemasonry in southern Africa moved toward local self-government, with a Grand Lodge of Southern Africa formed in the 1960s from lodges once run from Europe. It reflected the wider spread of the craft beyond its British base. ## 17 March 1981 — The Propaganda Due (P2) scandal Italian investigators discovered that the secret lodge Propaganda Due, led by Licio Gelli, had enrolled hundreds of powerful figures and operated outside masonic rules. The scandal brought down a government and led regular Freemasonry to expel the lodge. ## 31 October 2017 — Tercentenary of the United Grand Lodge of England English Freemasonry marked 300 years since the 1717 founding with a large celebration at the Royal Albert Hall in 2017. The event drew thousands of members from around the world.