Few societies are shrouded in such a dense cloud of myths and prejudices as the Freemasons. Many of the people who changed the picture of the world, in one way or another, belonged to this secret society.
It is not known exactly where and when Freemasonry originated. Some of the representatives of this secret society are sure that the first Freemason was the biblical progenitor of the human race, Adam. Others believe that this happened during the construction of the Temple of Solomon - the first Jerusalem temple (950-586 BC). The ancestors of the Freemasons are often called the Pythagoreans, Essenes and the first Christians, as well as the Templars. But serious historians believe that the first Freemasons appeared much later than their followers would like.
Cathedral time
In the Middle Ages in Western Europe, many kings, bishops and lords of cities sought to immortalize their names by building magnificent temples. Their construction required not only finances, but also the availability of highly qualified craftsmen - masons, finishers, architects.
The construction of a stone structure of many meters in height often went on for many decades and even centuries. In such conditions, a certain community arose between the participants in the construction, starting with the transfer of professional secrets and technologies, ending with a common place for storing working tools (in English ~ lodge). Over time, this community was transformed into a shop organization, but the name "lodge" stuck. The English word for a medieval stonemason architect sounded like freemason or free-stonemason - "free mason." Thus, the Freemasons' lodge was originally something like a building trade union. There was a special ritual for accepting a new member, a code of conduct, a mechanism for resolving internal disputes, and so on. Also, in many lodges, a ceremony was developed for different occasions.
The earliest documentary source describing such a guild of builders dates back to 643: the Masonic lodge is mentioned in the records of the edicts of the Lombard king of Rotary.
Representatives of modern Masons insist on their antiquity and believe that the builders of medieval Christian temples were the heirs of the Roman colleges of artisans. These were groups of skilled craftsmen who were in the Roman legions. After the conquest of an area, members of the collegia erected temples, monuments and other structures. Later, these professional builders reoriented themselves to Christian churches and were favored by monarchs and popes. The latter granted the colleges special privileges and protection, which they enjoyed until the first half of the 14th century. Until Pope Benedict XII ascended the Holy See. He deprived artisans of the papal protection, accusing them of creating a secret society.
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Speculative masons
The masons of Misty Albion played a major role in the emergence of Freemasonry. It is generally accepted that the emergence of English lodges dates back to 926, when King thelstan bestowed a charter on the Freemasons of York. Although many historians find this document dubious. More reliable are considered 20 manuscripts with specific Masonic texts. The oldest of them dates back to the XIV century. This is the poem Regius, found in the Old Royal Library in the British Museum in the 1830s.
Both in medieval Europe and in island Britain, bricklayers were a privileged class, having freedom of movement. Due to their occupation, they often had to move from city to city, responding to invitations from customers. At the same time, most other artisans, due to the need to pay taxes, were forced to comply with strict laws on settlement. The privilege of members of the lodges of free masons soon wanted to take advantage of those who had nothing to do with the construction trade. But he had a need for unhindered movement and a sufficient amount of finance.
By the end of the 16th century, a decent number of members appeared in the lodges of freemasons, who had no idea what the masonry should look like or how to design buttresses for a Gothic cathedral. Such Masons began to be called "speculative masons", from the Latin word "speculari" - "to observe, to spy."
The earliest written source about the presence of a speculative bricklayer at a meeting of the lodge dates back to June 8, 1600, when the lodge of Edinburgh accepted into its ranks the landowner John Boswell, the owner of the Scottish village of Auchinleck. Also preserved is a document on the entry into the Lankshire lodge of the London antiquary Elias Ashmole on October 16, 1646.
Probably, the privileges of free masons also attracted the surviving representatives of the Templar order into their ranks. This monastic order was defeated by order of the French king Philip the Fair in October 1307. And on the night of March 18, 1314, the master of the order, Jacques de Molay, was burned alive at the stake. Some of the Templars, along with the treasures of the order (among which, as some believe, was the Grail), managed to escape arrest. It is possible that, under the cover of the free masons society, they continued their activities.
It was the infusion of new members, no longer associated with actual construction, but with a philosophical understanding of the universe, that allowed the lodges to survive difficult times - the end of the 17th - 18th centuries. It was then that the fashion for the construction of magnificent cathedrals began to disappear, and the true masters were out of work. Their places in the boxes were filled with "speculative masons". Among whom there were already quite a few very high-ranking persons.
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At the end of the 17th century, William III of Orange, the king of England, became a "speculative mason". It was under him that the Bill of Rights of English Citizens, the Act of Tolerance and a number of other fundamental documents were adopted that determined the development of the constitutional and legal system not only in England, but throughout Europe. It is assumed that all these progressive documents for their time were not adopted without the participation of the Freemasons. Due to membership in the king's lodge, the craft of free masons was called "royal art".
From the first half of the 18th century, enlightened, influential and wealthy "speculative masons" decided to use the system of Masonic lodges to solve transnational and interstate issues.
So, on June 24, 1717, representatives of four English lodges gathered in the London tavern "Goose and Rasper" at St. Paul's Church and announced the creation of the First Grand Lodge of England. From now on, it was not a secret society, but conducted a completely open activity. The United Lodge was created primarily to support the ruling Hanoverian dynasty, whose representative George I at that time held the British throne. At the same time, Georg hardly touched on domestic politics, leaving it at the mercy of parliament. As you might guess, many parliamentarians were Masons. Over the course of subsequent generations, representatives of the Hanoverian dynasty consistently held the post of grand master of the lodge - August Friedrich, King George IV, King Edward VII and King George VI.
At the same time, since the reign of William III, one of the main competitors of Britain was Catholic France with the Bourbon dynasty at its head. France was relatively obedient to the Roman Holy See, in contrast to the independent Anglican Church. But the Freemasons worked to eliminate this "misunderstanding". In 1733, the Grand Lodge of France was organized in Paris by immigrants from England, which later changed its name to the Grand East of France.
The fact that in 1738 Pope Clement XII issued a bull In eminenti apostolatus specula, prescribing the excommunication of members of the lodge from the church, did not really bother the Freemasons (franc means "free" or "free" in Old French). Although in Europe, it became the reason for the surge in anti-Masonic performances. In France, the bull was denied registration by the Parliament of Paris. And without this, its effect was zero. Masonic deputies did not want to register such a document.
In turn, the activities of the Freemasons did not bother the French kings. But in vain … It was the Masons who made the greatest contribution to the fermentation in society, which resulted in the French Revolution. Moreover, many enlighteners and prominent revolutionaries were members of the Grand Orient of France. As a result, in 1789, riots rocked Paris, which ended with the execution of King Louis XVI of France in January 1793.
In addition, Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States, was a member of the Nine Sisters Lodge, which was under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of France. He joined it when he was ambassador in Paris. It can be said with a great deal of confidence that since the founding of the United States, the Masonic lodges here have not experienced any difficulties in carrying out their activities. Modern Masonic organizations in the USA have the largest number of members in the world - more than two million people.
Russian variant
In Russia, Masons, like all Western innovations, appeared during the reign of Peter I. The first Russian Masons are often called the Tsar himself and his faithful assistants - Franz Lefort and Patrick Gordon. However, in order to assert that these three were active Masons, there is not enough evidence. But undoubtedly, it was during this period that foreigners - members of Masonic lodges - visited Russia.
The first documentary news about the emergence of the Masonic lodge in Russia is dated 1731. Grand Master of England's First Grand Lodge, Lord Lovelle produced Captain John Philips in The Provincial Grand Master of Russia. Ten years later, Phillips was succeeded by General of the Russian Service James Keith. Most of the Freemasons in Russia at that time were foreigners in the Russian service. But already in 1756 a Masonic lodge appeared in St. Petersburg, where Count Roman Vorontsov was a great master, and the members - mainly young guards officers who in the future had grown to significant posts - Prince Mikhail Shcherbatov, historian Ivan Boltin, "father of the Russian theater" Alexander Sumarokov. It is believed that one of the lodges was personally founded by Emperor Peter III in Oranienbaum.
In the 1770s, several dozen Masonic organizations were already operating in Russia, among which stood out the system of boxes of the dignitary Ivan Elagin (Elagin) and the chamberlain of the Braungschweig court of Baron Reichel (Zinnendorf).
Poison for the Empress
Catherine II, distinguished by her lively mind, tried to comprehend the riddle of Freemasonry by reading several Masonic books. But I didn’t find anything there but “extravagance”. The appearance in St. Petersburg in 1780 of the Mason Count Cagliostro, whom the Empress called "a scoundrel worthy of the gallows", further alienated her from the Freemasons. But the Empress's feelings were much more affected by the Great French Revolution. Seeking to free Louis XVI, Catherine gathered a coalition from Austria and Sweden, ready to invade France to pacify the rebels. However, soon the Emperor of Austria Leopold II died suddenly, and 15 days later another initiator of the invasion, King Gustav III of Sweden, was killed at a ball in Stockholm. Rumors reached Catherine herself that a poisoner, the Freemason Basseville, had left France for her soul. But the police were never able to apprehend or find him.
Four days after the order to search for Bassevil, Catherine II ordered the arrest of the master of the Moscow lodge, Nikolai Novikov, and put him in the Shlisselburg fortress. Masonic books were confiscated and destroyed, and the activities of lodges in Russia were suspended. But the son of Catherine, Paul I, in opposition to his mother, not only freed the convicted Masons, but also legalized their lodges. According to some reports, he himself joined the brotherhood. However, this did not save the emperor from cruel reprisals in the luxurious chambers of the Mikhailovsky Castle.
In 1815, the four largest lodges in Russia formed the "Grand Lodge of Astrea", headed by Count Vasily Musin-Pushkin-Bruce. Its members were such famous people as Alexander Griboyedov, Pyotr Chaadaev, Pavel Pestel and others.
In 1822, Emperor Alexander I issued a rescript "On the destruction of Masonic lodges and all kinds of secret societies." The ban lasted almost 80 years. However, in 1905, Masonic lodges reappeared in Russia. There is an opinion that it was they who became the instrument of weakening the country. First, Russia survived the 1905 revolution, then entered the First World War. And then she experienced two more revolutions that destroyed the empire. However, the fruits of this activity are unlikely to suit the Masonic lodges. After all, they were banned by the Soviet government, and they could not overcome this ban throughout the existence of the USSR.
Lev KAPLIN