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

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 rapidly became part of Britain's national profile and the largest and most influential of Britain's extensive clubs and societies. The new organization 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 scientific Enlightenment concepts that they championed. Through an examination of new and previously unexplored primary documentation, this book 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, connecting a number of elite metropolitan and provincial figures. A range of networks - centered on the aristocracy, parliament, the learned and professional societies, and the magistracy - are examined, while key individuals instrumental in spreading the Masonic message are evaluated. Special focus is given to the role of the 'Craft' in the development of the scientific Enlightenment. The book concludes that Freemasonry should be recognized not only as the most prominent of the many 18th-century fraternal organizations, but also as a significant cultural vector and a component of the social, economic, scientific, 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. "...a valuable work for serious Masonic historians." Choice, October 2012, Vol. 50 No. 02