The Foundations of Modern Freemasonry: The Grand Architects : Political Change and the Scientific Enlightenment, 1714-1740

Ric Berman

Sussex Academic Press, 2015 - History - 357 pages

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 Britain's national profile and the largest and most influential of Britain's 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 London's 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'. Berman's analysis throws a new and original light on the formation and development of what rapidly became a national and international phenomenon.

About the author

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.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Foundations of Modern Freemasonry: The Grand Architects : Political Change and the Scientific Enlightenment, 1714-1740
• Author: Ric Berman
• Edition: revised
• Publisher: Sussex Academic Press, 2015
• ISBN: 1845196988, 9781845196981
• Length: 357 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / Great Britain / General; History / Modern / 16th Century; History / Modern / 18th Century; History / Social History; Social Science / Freemasonry & Secret Societies