The secret history of freemasonry : its origins and connection to the Knights Templar

by Paul Naudon

Paper Book, 2005

Status

Available

Call number

366/.1/09

Collection

Publication

Rochester, Vt. : Inner Traditions, 2005.

Description

Explores the hidden history of Freemasonry from ancient Rome, through the Middle Ages, to the present * Shows the close connection between medieval masons and the Knights Templar * Illustrates the sacred nature of Roman and medieval trade associations * Reveals the missing link that connects the lodges of modern Freemasonry to the medieval brotherhoods of builders Historians often make a sharp distinction between the operative Masonry of the Middle Ages and the speculative Masonry of modern times, emphasizing that there is no direct bridge connecting the two. Modern historians also have scoffed at Masonic claims concerning the close relationship between the Lodge and the Temple. Using medieval archives housed throughout Europe, historian Paul Naudon reveals that there was in fact a very intimate connection between the Masons and the Knights Templar. Church records of medieval Paris show that most, if not all, the Masons of that time were residents of the Templar censive, which allowed them to enjoy great exemptions and liberties from both church and state as a result of the protection afforded them by this powerful order. Naudon shows that the origins of Freemasonry can be traced back to the collegia of ancient Rome. He traces the evolution of organizations such as the Comacine Masters, the Arab turuqs, and the brotherhoods of builders created under the aegis of the Benedictines and the Knights Templar, all of which provide the vehicle for the transmission of a sacred tradition from pre-Christian times to the modern era. This tradition is the source of Masonic ritual and symbolism, and it provides the missing link in the transformation of the operative Masonry of the medieval cathedral builders to the spiritual principles of modern speculative Masonry.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha
The contents of this book belie its lurid title and glitzy cover. Author Paul Naudon is a legal historian, and he often uses reliable primary sources to make his worthwhile case regarding the interactions of masonic craft organizations with the medieval Order of the Temple. He provides a full
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context, reaching back to late antiquity, and his quantity of supporting detail will tempt even the most exacting reader to skip forward a page or two occasionally.

It isn't until the second half of the book that Naudon begins to discuss the transition to the "accepted" Masonry of fraternal initiation without the trade of actual stonework. And here his effort is to demonstrate how "The Temple of Solomon had been transformed into the Tower of Babel" (266) by the end of the eighteenth century. He doesn't use the customary "operative to speculative" formulation, because of his insistence that the earlier masonic craft always had a "speculative" philosophical dimension.

Naudon's approach as a French historian is at conspicuous odds with the usual Anglo-American histories of Freemasonry. For him, the Grand Lodge of London was more pernicious than pioneering, as it was responsible for marginalizing the Christian essence of masonic ritual. He does offer a very coherent narrative, covering the Deist vector, the introduction of Hermetic esotericism, and the transformation of a practical universalism into a distant internationalist ideal. While he recognizes the integrity of the motives in all these changes, he condemns the net effect.

Jon Graham's translation of Naudon's French is sufficient, but not without occasional blunders. English readers may be confused by his repeated failure to translate St Benoit into St Benedict, for example. There are some problems with idiom, such as the "Scot Lodges," and a somewhat annoying frequency of spelling and punctuation errors.

The book ends with a plea for a "healthy reaction on ... behalf" of Freemasonry to return it to former ideals, but for all that Naudon insists on his own hope, the prospect seems far fetched. While I don't share his traditionalist values, I applaud his work in putting together an accurate piece of positive history, which mentions the legendary accounts when relevant, but keeps them in their proper perspective.
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Language

Original language

French

Physical description

ix, 308 p.; 23 cm

ISBN

159477028X / 9781594770289

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