Bloke
Premium Member
"The Oldest Fraternity in the World" - Freemasons say it so often. Is it really true ?
I generally say "Freemasonry is one of the oldest and is the largest Fraternity in the World. We cannot say exactly when Freemasonry started, but we do know that 4 existent lodges founded the Modern Grand Lodge System in a pub in London in 1717"
What would evolve into UGLE is dated at 1717, formed from 4 lodges, yet groups like The Order of Free Gardeners ("a fraternal society that was founded in Scotland in the middle of the 17th century - that puts it mid 1600's and "The most ancient evidence of the order is a record of the minutes of the Haddington lodge, opened 16 August 1676, which begins with a compilation of fifteen rules called Interjunctions for ye Fraternity of Gardiners of East Lothian.") predate the establishment of the modern GL system, as indeed do the four lodges which formed the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster.
We can cite things like the Regius Poem (aka Halliwell Manuscript) of ca. 1390, as the basis of the claim that "Freemasonry is the oldest Fraternity in the World" ?
Do others Monastic Orders like the Benedictines, founded in 529 by Benedict at Monte Cassino, count as Fraternities ?
Further
"The earliest phases of monasticism in Western Europe involved figures like Martin of Tours, who after serving in the Roman legions converted to Christianity and established a hermitage near Milan, then moved on to Poitiers where a community gathered around his hermitage. He was called to become Bishop of Tours in 372, where he established a monastery at Marmoutiers on the opposite bank of the Loire River, a few miles upstream from the city. His cell was a hut of wood, and round it his disciples, who soon numbered eighty, dwelt in caves and huts. His monastery was laid out as a colony of hermits rather than as a single integrated community. The type of life was simply the Antonian monachism of Egypt"
Or does it rest in something like this
"The minutes of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel) No. 1 in Scotland show a continuity from an operative lodge in 1598 to a modern speculative Lodge.[42] It is reputed to be the oldest Masonic Lodge in the world.[43]"
Can we really say Freemasonry is the Oldest Fraternity in the world ?
What is the argument that it is ?
I generally say "Freemasonry is one of the oldest and is the largest Fraternity in the World. We cannot say exactly when Freemasonry started, but we do know that 4 existent lodges founded the Modern Grand Lodge System in a pub in London in 1717"
What would evolve into UGLE is dated at 1717, formed from 4 lodges, yet groups like The Order of Free Gardeners ("a fraternal society that was founded in Scotland in the middle of the 17th century - that puts it mid 1600's and "The most ancient evidence of the order is a record of the minutes of the Haddington lodge, opened 16 August 1676, which begins with a compilation of fifteen rules called Interjunctions for ye Fraternity of Gardiners of East Lothian.") predate the establishment of the modern GL system, as indeed do the four lodges which formed the Grand Lodge of London and Westminster.
We can cite things like the Regius Poem (aka Halliwell Manuscript) of ca. 1390, as the basis of the claim that "Freemasonry is the oldest Fraternity in the World" ?
Do others Monastic Orders like the Benedictines, founded in 529 by Benedict at Monte Cassino, count as Fraternities ?
Further
"The earliest phases of monasticism in Western Europe involved figures like Martin of Tours, who after serving in the Roman legions converted to Christianity and established a hermitage near Milan, then moved on to Poitiers where a community gathered around his hermitage. He was called to become Bishop of Tours in 372, where he established a monastery at Marmoutiers on the opposite bank of the Loire River, a few miles upstream from the city. His cell was a hut of wood, and round it his disciples, who soon numbered eighty, dwelt in caves and huts. His monastery was laid out as a colony of hermits rather than as a single integrated community. The type of life was simply the Antonian monachism of Egypt"
Or does it rest in something like this
"The minutes of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel) No. 1 in Scotland show a continuity from an operative lodge in 1598 to a modern speculative Lodge.[42] It is reputed to be the oldest Masonic Lodge in the world.[43]"
Can we really say Freemasonry is the Oldest Fraternity in the world ?
What is the argument that it is ?