The Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland's Century, 1590 to 1710

this Book Is A New Edition Of David Stevenson's Classic Account Of The Origins Of Freemasonry, A Brotherhood Of Men Bound Together By Secret Initiatives, Rituals And Modes Of Identification With Ideals Of Fraternity, Equality, Toleration And Reason. Beginning In Britain, Freemasonry Swept Across Europe In The Mid-eighteenth Century In Astonishing Fashion--yet Its Origins Are Still Hotly Debated Today. The Prevailing Assumption Has Been That It Emerged In England Around 1700, But David Stevenson Demonstrates That The Real Origins Of Modern Freemasonry Lie In Scotland Around 1600, When The System Of Lodges Was Created By Stonemasons With Rituals And Secrets Blending Medieval Mythology With Renaissance And Seventeenth-century History. This Fascinating Work Of Historical Detection Will Be Essential Reading For Anyone Interested In Renaissance And Seventeenth-century History, For Freemasons Themselves, And For Those Readers Captivated By The Secret Societies At The Heart Of The Bestselling The Da Vinci Code. David Stevenson Is Emeritus Professor Of Scottish History At The University Of St. Andrews. His Many Previous Publications Include The Scottish Revolution, 1637-1644; Revolution And Counter-revolution In Scotland, 1644-1651; And The First Freemasons; Scotland, Early Lodges And Their Members. His Most Recent Book Is The The Hunt For Rob Roy (2004). Previous Edition Hb (1988) 0-521-35326-2 Previous Edition Pb (1990) 0-521-39654-9 Cover 2 Half-title 3 Title 5 Copyright 6 Dedication 7 Contents 9 List of plates 11 Preface 13 List of abbreviations and conventions 17 1 Introduction 21 Masonic history 21 The origins of freemasonry 25 The Scottish evidence 27 Problems of definition 29 2 The Medieval contribution 33 The organisation of the craft 33 The Old Charges 38 3 William Schaw, master of works and general warden 46 The life of William Schaw 46 The Coplands of Udoch, wardens of the masons 52 The First Schaw Statutes 54 The Second Schaw Statutes 64 4 The Sinelairs of Roslin and the masters of works 72 The First St Clair Charter 72 The Sinclairs of Roslin 74 The Second St Clair Charter 77 The struggle for jurisdiction 81 The Falkland Statutes 87 The last general wardens 92 5 The Renaissance contribution 97 Neoplatonism and the occult striving of the late Renaissance 97 Hermeticism and the cult of Egypt 102 The art of memory 107 The Rosicrucians 116 The architect, the mathematician and the manual arts 125 Renaissance, Reformation and the Scottish masons 137 6 Rituals of identification and initiation 145 The Mason Word 145 The catechisms: rituals of identification 155 The catechisms: rituals of initiation 173 7 Sir Robert Moray: masonry, symbolism and ethics 186 The life of Sir Robert Moray 186 A mason and his mark 188 Voluntary social institutions and the cult of friendship 199 8 The early Scottish lodges 210 Lodges and incorporations 210 The coming of the non-operatives 216 Life in the lodges 228 9 Early Scottish and English freemasonry 233 Freemasonry in seventeenth-century Scotland 233 Freemasonry in seventeenth-century England 236 Appendix: Early (pre-1710) masonic lodges in Scotland 254 Bibliographical note 256 Index 258 This is a classic account of the origins of freemasonry, a brotherhood of men bound together by secret initiatives, secret rituals and secret modes of identification with ideals of fraternity, equality, toleration and reason. Beginning in Britain, freemasonry swept across Europe in the mid-eighteenth century in astonishing fashion yet its origins are still hotly debated today. The prevailing assumption has been that it emerged in England around 1700, but David Stevenson demonstrates that the real origins of modern freemasonry lie in Scotland around 1600, when the system of lodges was created by stonemasons with rituals and secrets blending medieval mythology with Renaissance and seventeenth-century history. This fascinating work of historical detection will be essential reading for anyone interested in Renaissance and seventeenth-century history, for freemasons themselves, and for those readers captivated by the secret societies at the heart of the bestselling Da Vinci Code Freemasonry has always been a highly controversial movement. Yet in spite of the vast literature which has been produced on the subject its origins have remained obscure. The prevailing assumption has been that it emerged in England around 1700, but most of the evidence used to support this interpretation turns out on examination to relate to Scotland. The Origins of Freemasonry represents the first attempt to study this evidence in the context of Scottish history. This is a classic account of the origins of freemasonry, a brotherhood of men bound together by secret initiatives, secret rituals and secret modes of identification with ideals of fraternity, equality, toleration and reason. This fascinating work of historical detection will be essential reading for anyone interested in Renaissance and seventeenth-century history, and for freemasons themselves. The origins of freemasonry are traced to Scotland in this account of the creation of an international movement through a blending of medieval mythology and late Renaissance intellectual influences. Considered a seminal work in the research to find Freemasonry's origins, which the author (a non-Mason) contends lie in Scotland. Well worth reading! The evidence relating to the emergence of modern freemasonry is complex, confusing, and often fragmentary. David Stevenson. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. [236]-237.