Overview

Following the appointment of its first aristocratic Grand Masters in the 1720s and in the wake of its connections to the scientific Enlightenment, Free and Accepted Masonry became part of Britains national profile and the largest and most influential of Britains extensive clubs and societies. The organisation did not evolve naturally from the mediaeval guilds and religious orders that pre-dated it but was reconfigured radically by a largely self-appointed inner core at Londons most influential lodge, the Horn Tavern. Freemasonry became a vehicle for the expression of their philosophical and political views, and the Craft attracted an aspirational membership across the upper middling and gentry. Through an examination of previously unexplored primary documentation, Foundations contributes to an understanding of contemporary English political and social culture and explores how Freemasonry became a mechanism that promoted the interests of the Hanoverian establishment and connected the metropolitan and provincial elites. The book explores social networks centred on the aristocracy, parliament, the learned and professional societies, and the magistracy, and provides pen portraits of the key individuals who spread the Masonic message. ""Foundations & Schism"" (Sussex Academic, 2013), have been described as the most important books on English Freemasonry published in recent times, providing a precise, social context for the invention of English Freemasonry. Bermans analysis throws a new and original light on the formation and development of what rapidly became a national and international phenomenon.

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9781845196981

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The transformation of English Freemasonry after the foundation of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717 was especially marked by the (largely nominal) leadership of young pro-Hanoverian Whig aristocrats who transformed Freemasonry into an important component of the economic, scientific, social, and political changes of the 18th century. Freemasonry rapidly became an important facet of the upper reaches of English society, and Berman (Oxford) traces the role these aristocratic architects played in the formation of what quickly became the most prominent and socially elite fraternal order of the modern era. There were important connections between Freemasonry and the judiciary, the Royal Society, and other learned and professional societies. Berman provides a useful introduction to these key figures, as well as a series of valuable appendixes, giving readers the Grand Officers of the Grand Lodge of England, excerpts from the Masonic 1723 Constitutions, a list of the various military lodges, and an inventory of the Masonic membership of selected professional societies. Although its origins as a doctoral thesis are all too clear, this remains a valuable work for serious Masonic historians. Recommended. -- Choice

Author Information

Richard 'Ric' Berman holds an MA in Economics from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in History from the University of Exeter. He is a past Senior Visiting Researcher at the MEHRC at the University of Oxford, and a past Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University. A sister book, Schism, was published in 2013; a second companion volume Loyalists & Malcontents is currently being completed.

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