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

Berman, Ric

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184519506X ISBN 13: 9781845195069

Publisher: Sussex Academic Press, 2012

Synopsis

Now in its second edition, The Foundations of Modern Freemasonry examines previously unexplored primary documentation and contributes to an understanding of contemporary English political and social culture.  It explores how freemasonry became a mechanism that promoted the interests of the Hanoverian establishment and a social nexus that connected the metropolitan and provincial élites. The book reveals social networks centered 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 across Britain and Europe. ...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. It became a vehicle for the expression and transmission of their political and religious views and for the concepts that they championed. ... Ric Berman concludes that Freemasonry should be recognised not only as the most prominent of the many eighteenth-century fraternal organisations but also as a significant cultural vector and a component of the social, economic and political transformation then in progress. This analysis throws a new and original light on the formation and development of what rapidly became a national and international phenomenon.

About this title

About the Author

Appointed the Prestonian Lecturer for 2016, Dr Berman researches, speaks and writes on eighteenth-century history, focusing on the social and political impact of freemasonry. He is a Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University and holds a Doctorate in History from the University of Exeter and a Masters in Economics from the University of Cambridge. Dr Berman has written some of the most important recently published books on eighteenth-century freemasonry, and his Prestonian Lecture - now published - sets the context for the 300th anniversary of the Grand Lodge of England - the world's first grand lodge.

Review

“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

Edition details

• Publisher: Sussex Academic Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 184519506X
• ISBN 13: 9781845195069
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320