Origins of Lodges in Europe
Grand Lodges in France: Tradition has it that the first lodge was founded at Paris in 1725 by the Earl of Derwentwater and his fellow Jacobites, who had fled from England upon the fall of the Stuart dynasty, but there is no evidence to support this. It is most probable that Freemasonry was introduced into France and Germany from England. Though Perdiguier fixes the introduction of Freemasonry into France at 1715, there is no record of a Freemasons Lodge in France prior to 1728, though there are several unconfirmed accounts. In the 18th century, the Pope banned Freemasonry, for political reasons.
The first lodge whose existence is historically certain was founded by some Irishmen in Paris around the year 1725 and met "in the manner of English societies". In 1728, the Freemasons decided to recognize the 1st Duke of Wharton (Philip Wharton), Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of London, as "grand-master of the Freemasons in France". In 1732 the Lodge received official patents from the Grand Lodge of London under the name "Saint Thomas". But it was only in 1738 that an assembly of representatives from all the "English" and "Scottish" lodges formed the first Grande Loge de France, which gave birth to the French Masonic jurisdictions which exists today.
In 1743 the Grand Lodge of England is said to have warranted the “Grande Loge Anglaise De France” (Grand English Lodge of France), which in 1756 was changed to the National Grand Lodge of France. However, disputes and poor management led to its demise and the formation of the “Grand Orient”, which held its first meeting on March 5, 1773.
In 1871 the Grand Orient abolished the office of Grand Master, since which time the duties of that office have been performed by the President of the Council. A new Grand Body, known as The National Grand Lodge, was organized in 1914 to erect lodges practicing Ancient Craft Masonry on the same principles as those adhered to by the Ancient Grand Lodge of England, but to date it remains small in size and influence.
Grand Lodges in Germany: There is no record of a Freemasons Lodge in Germany prior to 1737 when a Lodge was possibly formed in Hamburg. It is believed that Freemasonry was introduced into Germany from England. Freemasonry in Germany has been fragmented and undergone many transformations with differing Rites and degrees. In 1740 the Provincial Grand Lodge of Hamburg was warranted, based on Schroeder’s Rite which is closest to the English Rite, and a Provincial Grand Master was appointed. To date there exist eight Grand Lodges in Germany.
Grand Lodges in Italy: In 1733 the English Freemason Charles Sackville, formed a Lodge in Florence that accepted Italian members. In 1736 the Lodge was investigated by the Inquisition, and condemned in 1737 leading to the first Papal ban in 1738.
“Now it has come to Our ears, and common gossip has made clear, that certain Societies, Companies, Assemblies, Meetings, Congregations or Conventicles called in the popular tongue Liberi Muratori or Francs Massons or by other names according to the various languages, are spreading far and
The Grand Orient, France
wide and daily growing in strength; and men of any Religion or sect, satisfied with the appearance of natural probity, are joined together, according to their laws and the statutes laid down for them, by a strict and unbreakable bond which obliges them, both by an oath upon the Holy Bible and by a host of grievous punishment, to an inviolable silence about all that they do in secret together.”
However there were constant changes in Italian ecclesiastical and political affairs and therefore in the enforcement of this ban. Italian Freemasonry therefore developed a variety of confusing forms. In 1859 a movement was developed culminating in 1861 when twenty-two lodges assembled at Turin and formed the Grand Orient of Italy which united most Lodges in 1873. The 1917 Code of Canon Law explicitly declared that joining Freemasonry entailed automatic excommunication. In 1919 a breakaway faction from the Grand Orient, formed themselves into the Most Serene National Italian Grand Lodge. Today there are two Supreme Councils in Italy, one connected with the Grand Orient, the other that works with the Serene National Grand Lodge, and the Grand Lodge of Florence.
Summary
The craft of Stone Masonry originated in the ancient civilizations of Peru and Egypt. It proliferated from Egypt in 4000 BC to Minoan Crete and from there to Greece, whence it was imbibed by the Romans and dissipated throughout the Roman Empire.
The earliest recorded association of Stonemasons was the Greek Eranoi, and the Roman Collegia. With the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, all Collegia became extinct except for the Colegium of Stonemasons, whose members migrated to France where the Meringovians were building Basilicas.
In France the Stonemasons were organized into the Corps de Metiers with their social associations the Confraire. With the banning of the Confraires by the French Parliament in the 15th century, their members joined the Compagnons de Tour de France, an organization of roving journeymen, who took refuge after the interdiction of assemblies in the 17th century.
Meanwhile, Christian religious fervor led to the building of Cathedrals throughout Western Europe with the stonemasons forming themselves into an official organization called Freemasons, who ranged freely from one nation to another, selling their skills wherever required. Benedict Biscop reintroduced the craft of stone buildings into England by employing these Freemasons in the 7th century AD, and it proliferated throughout Britain.
From the 9th to the 12th century the Christians from Britain undertook missions into Germany where they built many churches and taught the craft to the Germans.
The stonemasons in Germany organized themselves into societies called the Steinmetzen, in order to safeguard their skills. Gilds were also formed in England along similar lines. The gilds were considered a threat to the economy and banned. The wars in France and England, the Plague, and the Great London Fire resulted in depopulation and decrease in building. In order to survive, the guilds began to admit members who were not stonemasons, and speculative freemasonry was born in England.
Grand Lodges were formed in York, Ireland, and Scotland which followed the Gothic Constitutions said to have been promulgated by Prince Edwin in 926. The Grand Lodge of London and Westminster was formed in 1717 and renamed the Grand Lodge of England in 1738. The Gothic Constitution was found defective by the Grand Lodge of London which commissioned the Book of Constitutions which forms the governing Code of modern speculative Freemasonry.
In 1809, the Ancient Grand Lodges united with the modern Grand Lodge of England forming the United Grand Lodge of England, with the Emulation Ritual that reconciled the ancient rituals with the modern, and which forms the basis of the ritual adopted by the Grand Lodge of India. Freemasonry was introduced into the other European countries by Freemasons from Britain.
Conclusion
While the practices of the Roman Collegia, the French Compagnons, and the German Steinmetzen have a lot in common with the existing practices and rituals of the Free and
United Grand Lodge of England
Accepted Masons today, there is no recorded evidence to prove the link.
However, it is possible that the practices of Freemasonry as we know of it today may have originated from practices of these associations. Operative Freemasonry appears to have originated with the resurgence of stone work in Europe in the 6th to 10th centuries and the formation of roving stone masons into a formally chartered society of Freemasons.
Speculative Freemasonry probably originated in England following the Great Wars in Europe, the Reformation in Britain, and the banning of gilds, when men other than masons began to be admitted into the Lodges. Modern Freemasonry originated with the formation of the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster in 1717, renamed as the Grand Lodge of England in 1738, and was established by the union of the Grand Lodges of England, Scotland, and Ireland into the United Grand Lodge of England in 1813.
The combined Emulation Ritual has been adopted as a standard ritual by the United Grand Lodge of England and thence the Grand Lodge of India