Formation | 24 June 1773 |
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Location |
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Region | France |
Website | godf.org |
Part of a series on |
Freemasonry |
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The Grand Orient de France (GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly absorbed the rump of the older body in 1799, allowing it to date its foundation to 1728 or 1733). The Grand Orient de France is generally regarded as the "mother lodge" of Continental Freemasonry.
In 1777, the Grand Orient de France recognised the antiquity of the Lodge of Perfect Equality, said to have been formed in 1688. This, if it actually existed at that time, was a military lodge attached to the Earl of Granard's Royal Irish Regiment, formed by Charles II of England in Saint-Germain in 1661, just before his return to England. The regiment remained loyal to the Stuarts, and did not return to France until after the fall of Limerick in 1689. They returned to barracks in Saint-Germain in 1698, surviving to become the 92nd Infantry Regiment after the revolution. With these dates in mind, modern scholars usually regard the 1688 lodge as a folk tale. [1]
An English Lodge is also said to have been founded at Dunkirk in 1721. Since that year, the English lodges were ruled by nobles belonging to the English Freemasonry nobles, who kept the contacts with the Royal House of the United Kingdom. [2] Another "first Lodge" was organised by exiled Jacobites under the Earl of Derwentwater in Paris about 1725. A lodge was documented at the Louis d'Argent in the Rue des Boucheries, Paris, in 1732. These lodges were then independent of each other, each body recognizing no other authority than their owner. [3] There was also a French lodge listed in the 1723 minutes of the Premier Grand Lodge of England. Meeting at Solomon's Temple, in Hemmings Row (then off St. Martin's Lane in London) the Master was Jean Theophile Desaguliers, then Deputy Grand Master and effective governor of the craft in England. In a list of members, mostly having French names, James Anderson, who compiled the first printed constitutions, is listed as "Jaques Anderson maitre et arts". [4]
The first "deputisations" of lodges in France by the London Grand Lodge occurred in 1732, and the Grand Orient now dates its foundation from 1733, when there started to be a recognisable Grand Lodge of France. It was in 1743 that the English Grand Lodge of France became a French phenomenon, with Louis, Count of Clermont becoming Grand Master until his death in 1771. [5] [6] Shortly after his death, a schism occurred, with the larger party becoming what Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Chartres, renamed [2] the Grand Orient de France in 1773. [7] The ritual of the new Grand Lodge followed that of the Premier Grand Lodge of England. [8]
By the time of the French Revolution, there were some 1250 Masonic Lodges in the country. [9]
The Lodge Les Neuf Sœurs was a prominent lodge attached to the Grand Orient de France that was particularly influential in organising French support for the American Revolution (1765–1783) and later in the intellectual ferment that preceded the French Revolution (1789). Benjamin Franklin was a member of this Lodge when he was serving as liaison in Paris. [10]
Some notable French revolutionaries were Freemasons, including Marquis de Lafayette, [10] [11] Marquis de Condorcet, [12] Mirabeau, [13] Georges Danton, [14] the Duke of Orléans, [15] and Hébert. [16]
Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, a leader of the Liberal Aristocracy, was the Grand Master of the Grand Orient at the time of the French Revolution. [15] In some parts of France, the Jacobin Clubs were continuances of Masonic lodges from the Ancien Régime , and according to historian Alan Forrest "some early clubs, indeed, took over both the premises and much of the membership of masonic lodges, before rebadging themselves in the new idiom of the revolution." [17] In 1804 it merged with the rival Grand Lodge, the Rite Ecossais. [18]
In 1910, the Catholic Encyclopedia wrote that the Masonic book La Franc-Maçonnerie, écrasée in 1746 predicted the program of the French Revolution, [19] and quoted documents of the Grand Orient of France where Freemasonry claims credit for the French Revolution. [20] The New Catholic Encyclopedia of 1967 (written after the Second Vatican Council) says that modern historians see Freemasonry's role in the French Revolution as exaggerated. [21]
In France Napoleon III established a dictatorship over official French Freemasonry, appointing first Prince Lucien Murat and later Marshal Magnan to maintain close supervision over Freemasonry and suppress any hints of opposition to the regime. [22]
According to the Marxist author Ernest Belfort Bax, Freemasons had a considerable involvement in the Paris Commune after a couple of unsuccessful attempts at reconciling the Commune with the French Government. [23]
In 1877, at the instigation of the Protestant pastor Frédéric Desmons, it allowed those who had no belief in a supreme being to be admitted. [24] The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) and related Lodges regarded belief in the Supreme Being as a Masonic Landmark.
It was this decision that has been the root cause of the schism between the Grand Orient (and those lodges that followed it), and the rest of Freemasonry. It is a schism in Freemasonry which continues to this day. It is argued that the definition is ambiguous, that Anderson's Landmarks are his own collection and interpretation of the historical landmarks, and that changes in both interpretation and practice have occurred before and since.
The decision was not universally approved in France. By 1894 many lodges had split off in protest and formed the Grande Loge de France (GLdF) [25] In 1910, a few members of the Grand Orient, wishing to re-introduce the concept of God the Great Architect, brought back the Rectified Scottish Rite from Switzerland. In the resulting friction with the national body, they amalgamated with the English lodge of Bordeaux to produce, in 1913, a third grand lodge, la Grande Loge Nationale Indépendante et Régulière pour la France et les Colonies françaises, now the Grande Loge Nationale Française. [26]
The Grand Orient was instrumental in the founding of the left wing Republican Party. [27] [28] [29] [30]
The Grand Orient was implicated in the Affaire des Fiches, where it was accused of collecting [31] and holding information on the religious and political affiliation of army officers, passed on by a member of the government, [32] having been collected with the intention of blocking practicing Catholics and non-Republicans from further advancement. [33]
The Grand Orient of France advanced the principle of laïcité , a French concept of the separation of church and state and the absence of religious interference in government affairs. [34] In the 1930s the Grand Orient was still hostile to the interests of the Catholic Church, wishing to close private schools in France (which were predominantly Roman Catholic), or failing that to reintroduce an insistence that only state schools could provide civil servants. [35]
During the first decade of the 21st century, the Grand Orient de France was concerned about a "silent revolution" of a return of religion in society. [36] It advocated government action against (according to its own terms) an "offensive of cults in Europe". [37] In April 2008, when the legitimacy of the anti-cult ministerial group (MIVILUDES) was questioned, the Grand Master of the Order, Jean-Michel Quillardet, intervened personally with the Speaker of the French Parliament in order to maintain its activity. [38]
In 2013, the Grand Orient of France stated its support for the legalization of same-sex marriage in France in a press release condemning the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Paris, André Vingt-Trois, for his public statements against same-sex marriage; in the statement, the GOdF described the bill as one which seeks to "ensure Republican recognition of free marital choice of individuals who wish it, in the name of equal rights". The statement issued by the GOdF continues with a call for organized religions to abstain from interfering in private affairs and restrict their activities to purely spiritual matters, and not to interfere with the democratic process. [39]
The Grand Orient of France belongs to the Continental tradition of Freemasonry (known to its practitioners as "Liberal Masonry"), [40] the defining features of which are complete freedom of religious conscience and deliberate involvement in politics. This is antithetical to the "Anglo-American" tradition of Freemasonry, which remains male only and requires a belief in Deity but which otherwise bans discussion of both religion and politics. This difference affects which other Grand Jurisdictions give GODF "recognition" and deem it "regular". Those Grand Lodges and Grand Orients that follow the Continental tradition tend to recognize the authority of the GODF, while those that follow the Anglo-American tradition do not.
Unlike Anglo-American Freemasonry, the Grand Orient of France does not require candidates for membership to believe in a Supreme Being, and allows the discussion of political issues and religion in lodge. It upholds a series of guiding principles or ideals (valeurs), which individual members are expected to defend, and which the Grand Orient as a corporate body promotes. [41]
In discussions at all levels, up to and including the President, the Grand Orient claims to exert a beneficent influence on the French Government. [42]
When the Grand Orient of France took shape in 1773, it inherited several Lodges of Adoption attached to its own lodges. These were open to masons and admitted their female relatives in their own set of rituals. They received an implied seal of approval when the Duc de Chartres, then Grand Master of France, became "Grand Master" of a new lodge of adoption in Paris, with the Duchess of Bourbon as "Grand Mistress". Briefly eclipsed by the revolution, they again became fashionable under Napoleon, before being declared unconstitutional in 1808. [43] They were revived in 1901 as a women's society, before a final separation in 1935. The resulting organisation is now the Grande Loge féminine de France. [44]
For many years, the Grand Orient would not allow its lodges to initiate women, but did recognize and receive women who were made Freemasons in other jurisdictions. This changed in 2010, and after some setbacks, the Grand Orient currently allows the initiation of women. [45]
The Grand Orient of France currently has direct jurisdiction over the following individual lodges outside France:
*Foundation date as Triangle, it is not yet a lodge.
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 14th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients. Modern Freemasonry broadly consists of two main recognition groups: Regular Freemasonry, which insists that a volume of scripture be open in a working lodge, that every member professes belief in a Supreme Being, that no women be admitted, and that the discussion of religion and politics do not take place within the lodge; and Continental Freemasonry, which consists of the jurisdictions that have removed some, or all, of these restrictions.
Co-Freemasonry is a form of Freemasonry which admits both men and women. It began in France in the 1890s with the forming of Le Droit Humain, and is now an international movement represented by several Co-Freemasonic administrations throughout the world. Most male-only Masonic Lodges do not recognise Co-Freemasonry, holding it to be irregular.
This is a general survey on the historical and modern presence of Freemasonry in countries located in Asia.
Freemasonry has had a complex relationship with women for centuries. A few women were involved in Freemasonry before the 18th century, despite de jure prohibitions in the Premier Grand Lodge of England.
The Rectified Scottish Rite (RER), also known as the Rectified Rite or RSR, is a Christian Masonic rite with a long and complex history. It was founded in 1778 at the Convent of Lyon in France under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Willermoz, who served as the primary architect and driving force behind its formation. It emerged as a reform and restructuring of the earlier Templar Strict Observance system that had spread in Germany and France in the mid-18th century.
Continental Freemasonry, otherwise known as Liberal Freemasonry, Latin Freemasonry, and Adogmatic Freemasonry, includes the Masonic lodges, primarily on the European continent, that recognize the Grand Orient de France (GOdF) or belong to CLIPSAS, SIMPA, TRACIA, CIMAS, COMAM, CATENA, GLUA, or any of various other international organizations of Liberal, i.e., Continental Freemasonry. The larger number of Freemasons, most of whom live in the United States–where Regular Freemasonry holds a virtual monopoly–belong to Masonic lodges that recognize the United Grand Lodge of England and do not recognize Continental Freemasons, regarding them as "irregular".
The French Rite is a Rite of Freemasonry that was founded in France, in 1786.
Freemasonry in France has been influential on the worldwide Masonic movement due to its founding of Continental Freemasonry.
Grande Loge de France (G∴L∴D∴F∴) is an independent Masonic obedience based in France. Its conception of Freemasonry is spiritual, traditional, and initiatory. Its ritual is centred on the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. It occupies a unique position in the landscape of French Freemasonry but maintains its closest relationships with obediences belonging to Continental Freemasonry, and shares its motto Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité with the French Republic.
With 84 lodges and 3’350 members, the Grand Lodge Alpina of Switzerland (GLAS) is a Swiss Masonic obedience founded in 1844.
Continental Freemasonry in North America is relatively rare, but there are a few continental-style organizations active.
The history of Freemasonry in Belgium reflects the many influences on what is now Belgium from the neighbouring states.
Freemasonry in Spain is first recorded in 1728, in an English lodge. As various papal bulls condemned Freemasonry the Spanish Inquisition did their best to close lodges and demonise Freemasons, therefore the success of Freemasonry from year to year depended on the sympathy or antipathy of the ruling regime. Nevertheless, lodges and even Grand Lodges were formed, and even thrived during more liberal periods. When Francisco Franco consolidated power in 1939, all Freemasonry was banned. In 1979, four years after Franco's death, bans on Freemasonry were declared unconstitutional, and several Grand Lodges and Orients now flourish in Spain.
Freemasonry in Luxembourg traces its local origins to the 18th century. Though the practice of Freemasonry was suppressed by the reigning Austrian Habsburg dynasty, it enjoyed a revival under Napoleonic rule that persisted after the close of his reign. After their initial founding, Masonic lodges in Luxembourg rapidly developed strong ties with their French and Belgian counterparts. While suppressed again under Nazi rule, postwar Freemasonry forged stronger ties with the Anglo-American extension of the brotherhood, though the oldest lodges still use the French form of Masonic ritual.
Freemasonry in Germany started in several places during the second quarter of the Eighteenth century. After the extinction of the Rite of Strict Observance, which had a wide following and claimed Templar origins for its higher degrees, the several Grand Lodges in Germany defied all attempts at unification, although a largely ineffectual central organisation came into being with the unification of Germany. During the 1920s Freemasons were harassed alongside Jews by those taken in by the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and blamed for the German surrender of 1918. This culminated with the suppression of Freemasonry by the Nazis in 1935, with many Masons in Germany and occupied countries being executed or sent to concentration camps. Freemasonry returned to Germany after World War Two. A single central body now represents five "regular" Grand Lodges. Liberal, women's, and mixed lodges also exist.
Freemasonry under the Second Empire was founded under the tutelage of Napoleon III's authoritarian Empire. The Second Empire saw Freemasonry and Freemasons as a threat and aimed to either control them or wipe them out. Refusing to submit to imperial rule, some Freemasons chose exile and embarked for England. To survive, the Grand Orient de France, the main Masonic obedience, and French Freemasonry in general - as they had during the revolutionary and First Empire periods - had to accept major concessions. To avoid dissolution, they opted for the "prince's protectors" solution, who were responsible for taking control. The authoritarian period saw the banning of political debate and the fading and downsizing of the lodges, which suffered from low membership levels, before experiencing new dynamics and a new boom during the liberal period of the Second Empire.
French Freemasonry under the Second Republic experienced a period that ranged from euphoria over the advent of the Republic to rapid disillusionment. The implementation of many of its ideals, such as the abolition of slavery, and the large number of Freemasons in national bodies, fueled hopes of a “Masonic republic”, which were quickly extinguished by the workers' riots of June 1848. The law of July 1848 regulated club activity and increased pressure from the authorities, prompting the Grand Lodge to exercise caution.
Since 1721 English freemasonry is governed by nobles related to the Royal House of the United Kingdom through the United Grand Lodge of England, known as the Mother Grand Lodge
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