FREEMASONRY 102: Proven History

Freemasonry history as backed by solid empirical evidence has been traced back to 1390 as illustrated by the following timeline:

1390. The year when the Regius Manuscripts, the oldest authenticated Masonic documents, was written. The Masonic phrase “So Mote it be” originated from this document.

1450. The year when the Cooke Manuscript was written by a Speculative Mason. This document of immense Masonic significance was the source of many important Masonic usages including Andersen’s Constitutions written in 1723, and references to the seven liberal arts and sciences, and King Solomon’s Temple. It consists of 100 manuscripts known collectively as The Old Charges.

1473. The London Company of Freemasons was granted its coat and arms.

1583. Appointment of William Schaw by King James IV as a Master of the Work and Warden General. He issued the Schaw Statutes which spelled out the duties owed by members to their Lodges. His second Statute issued in 1599 included requiring all Lodges to keep written records, meeting at specific times, and testing members in the Art of Memory. Schaw is regarded as the founder of modern Freemasonry.

1600. The first recorded Masonic initiation was that of John Boswell in the Lodge of Edinburgh.

1717. Four London lodges formed the Premier Grand Lodge of England on June 24 --- the feast day of St. John the Baptist.

1730. Masonic ritual was widely published for the first time by Prichard in his Masonry Dissected. The words “hele”, “conceal” and “points of fellowship” were first published in 1696 in the Edinburgh Register House Manuscript; the square, compass and bible in 1710 in the Dumfries Manuscript No. 4; and the Five Noble Orders of Architecture and Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth in 1724.

1731. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, the first American Grand Lodge, was given its Constitution.

1738. First Papal Bull banning Freemasonry was issued by Pope Clement 12.

1751. The Antients followed the “Grand Lodge of All England Held at York” in breaking away from the Premiere Grand Lodge of England (i.e. the Moderns) and established The Grand Lodge of England. The main reasons cited for the split was the drastic changes made to the ritual and passwords supposedly to prevent their abuse by immigrant Freemasons from Ireland and Scotland, and the creation of a third degree. A Second Papal Bull banning Freemasonry was issued at this time.

1777. The motto “Vide Aude Tace” first appeared in a Masonic calendar.

1813. The Antients and Modern Freemasons were reunited under the United Grand Lodge of England on December 27, the feast day of St. John the Evangelist.

1877. Split between the United Grand Lodge of England and the Grand Orient de France. The main reasons cited for the split were when the Grand Orient de France started accepting atheists and recognized women masonry as co-masonry

1884. Third Papal Bull banning Freemasonry was issued. All the 3 Papal Bulls issued banning Freemasonry were rescinded by the Vatican in 1974.

FOOTNOTE: The images used in this article were downloaded from the following sources: a portion of the Regis Manuscript from the web site of the Brattleboro Lodge No. 102; portions of the Cooke Manuscript and Prichard's Masonry Dissected from the web site of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon; and a portion of the Schaw Statutes from The Masonic Trowel. Almost all information in this article is from the web site of the Old Epsomian Lodge. Any errors in the interpretation of their work are the Blog Administrator’s alone.