-
Articles/Ads
Article FREEMASONRY IN SPAIN. Page 1 of 2 Article FREEMASONRY IN SPAIN. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In Spain.
FREEMASONRY IN SPAIN .
WE stated last week that we had it in contemplation to publish an English version , either in full or in summary , of the article entitled " Freemasonry in Spain , " which appeared iu the Jnly number of Le Monde Macon * nique . The article is decidedly interesting , more
especially as our knowledge of Spanish Freemasonry is somewhat limited , the materials at our disposal for anything like a connected history being extremely scanty . In fact , tbe bulk of the English brethren know little beyond the fact that Lodges were established in Spain , that ,
thanks to the tender regards of the Bomish priesthood , but particularly of the Inquisition , the members had a hard time of it , and that , as shown in the Cosmopolitan Masonic Calendar , there is now a Grand National Orient , with a Grand Lodge , and a Supreme Council 33 ° , working
apparently in harmony . The Orient is credited with some 180 Lodges and a membership of 14 , 800 , while the Grand Lodge has 270 Lodges , to some 50 of which are Chapters . Thus , from the mere point of numbers Spain would seem justified in claiming a foremost position
among Masonic powers , though to judge from certain remarks in Le Monde Maconnique , it would seem as if Spanish ideas of the Craft inclined too much towards those prevalent in France to make it of much account as a section of the true Fraternity .
According to our French contemporary , the establishment of Feeemasonry in Spain is traceable to the influence of the Duke of Wharton , who was Grand Master of England 1723 . The writer of the article produces no evidence in support of this statement ,-but it is by no
means improbable . It is in evidence that the Duke of Wharton was in Spain about the year 1727—he married a maid of honour to the Queen of Spain in 1726—that he took part against his own countrymen at the siege of Gibraltar—a possession of ours since 1704—and that he
died in a state of penury at a Bernardino convent in Catalonia in 1731 . Le Monde Macojmique , however , states absolutely that the Duke of Wharton was charged with the duty of introducing Freemasonry ; that he repaired to Madrid in 1727 , took np his quarters in the
only French hotel in the Spanish capital , and having made all the requisite preliminary arrangements , that on the 15 th February 1728 was consecrated in his Grace ' s apartments a Lodge which was afterwards ranked as No . 50 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of England . Our
own early registers bear testimony to the fact of there having been such a Lodge , and from the Appendix to Bro . Gould ' s " Four Old Lodges , " it seems to have been erased in January 1768 , but we shonld like to hear more about the authority on which the chief place in the
account is assigned to the Duke of Wharton . This appears to have been the only Masonic Lodge in Spain Wl 1739 , when Lord Lovel , who was at the time Grand Master , granted to Captain James Cnmmersford a deputation as Provincial Grand Master of Andalusia with full
Powers to found Lodges in the south of Spain . This gave great umbrage to the clergy and monks , and so disquieted the secular power that , influenced by the Legate of
f ^ ope Uement XIII ., Philip V . issued an edict against freemasonry , in which members of Masonic Lodges were aercel y denounced , and threatened with the severest Penalties if they retained their connection with the Order ,
Freemasonry In Spain.
and many brethren of the original Lodge , founded in Bernard Street , Madrid , in 1727-8 suffered . However , this edict had the usual effect of causing tho further development of the Craft , and in 1750-1 , there were , according to the Inquisition , as many as
ninetyseven Lodges in Spain . About this time , Father Joseph Torrubia , member of the Inquisition , acting under the authority of a Papal brief , was initiated as a Mason , taking the oaths prescribed of all who sought admission , his object being to obtain a complete knowledge of the
members of the Spanish Craft . In March 1751 , Father Torrubia placed in the Grand Inquistiors' hands list of the 67 Lodges then in Spain , when , to the latter ' s great dismay it turned out that pretty nearly the whole of the Masonic body consisted of nobles and members of the upper ranks of
society . However , he referred the subject to Popo Benedict XIV . and King Ferdinand VI ., when the King , by a decree dated 2 nd July 1751 , ordered the complete suppression of the Order , the penalty of death without any previous trial of any kind being assigned to all found to be members .
During the next sixteen years , Freemasonry in Spain remained in obscurity , but not without making considerable progress , and in 1767 it renounced its obedience to the Grand Lodge of England and declared itself independent , when the Count d'Aranda , Prime Minister of Charles III . and
the real author of the royal decree which in the spring of that year banished the Jesuits from Spain , was appointed Grand Master , his election to that office being due to this edict . In 1780 , influenced by French ideas , the Grand Lodge took the title of Grand Orient , the Count d'Aranda ,
however , continuing to preside with his original title of Grand Master , and so remained till 1795 , when , having lost his liberty , he designated as his successor the Count de Montijo , an able diplomatist and Spanish Ambassador to the Court of Berlin . The Count was
legally nominated Grand Master of the Grand Orient and it was under his auspices that tho Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite made its appearance in Spain in 1808 . One of the creators and propagators of the Dalcho theory , Count Alexander Augustus de
Grosse-Tilly , G . Commander of the Supreme Council 33 ° in France , had a brother in Spain—the Count de Tilly . This brother , out of hatred for Buonaparte , devoted the whole
of his vast energy to the service of Spain , and , under the name of Gusman , was the soul of the popular movement in Andalusia , which commenced in May and June 1808 with the relief of Seville from tbe French and terminated
at Baylen ; in fact , it was he who prepared the terms of the capitulation of Baylen , which utterly discomfited the forces of Napoleon . This Count de Tilly , on the 17 th December 1808 , assembled at Aranjuez several Brothers , among whom were Quintana , Saavedra , Vadillo , and
Gonzalez , and constituted tbe Supreme Council of the 33 rd Degree for Spain . Thus , towards the close of 1800 , Spanish Freemasonry consisted of the Grand Orient , ruled
by Count de Montijo , practising the English Rite of Anderson-Ashmole , and the Supreme Council , ruled by the Count de Tilly , and practising the system of Morin-Dalcho .
On 3 rd November 1809 was constituted in the very dungeons of " the Inquisition itself , " in the street Isabella the Catholic , a new Spanish Grand Orient , founded under the auspices of Kng Joseph , formerly Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France , by the Grand Duke de Berg .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Freemasonry In Spain.
FREEMASONRY IN SPAIN .
WE stated last week that we had it in contemplation to publish an English version , either in full or in summary , of the article entitled " Freemasonry in Spain , " which appeared iu the Jnly number of Le Monde Macon * nique . The article is decidedly interesting , more
especially as our knowledge of Spanish Freemasonry is somewhat limited , the materials at our disposal for anything like a connected history being extremely scanty . In fact , tbe bulk of the English brethren know little beyond the fact that Lodges were established in Spain , that ,
thanks to the tender regards of the Bomish priesthood , but particularly of the Inquisition , the members had a hard time of it , and that , as shown in the Cosmopolitan Masonic Calendar , there is now a Grand National Orient , with a Grand Lodge , and a Supreme Council 33 ° , working
apparently in harmony . The Orient is credited with some 180 Lodges and a membership of 14 , 800 , while the Grand Lodge has 270 Lodges , to some 50 of which are Chapters . Thus , from the mere point of numbers Spain would seem justified in claiming a foremost position
among Masonic powers , though to judge from certain remarks in Le Monde Maconnique , it would seem as if Spanish ideas of the Craft inclined too much towards those prevalent in France to make it of much account as a section of the true Fraternity .
According to our French contemporary , the establishment of Feeemasonry in Spain is traceable to the influence of the Duke of Wharton , who was Grand Master of England 1723 . The writer of the article produces no evidence in support of this statement ,-but it is by no
means improbable . It is in evidence that the Duke of Wharton was in Spain about the year 1727—he married a maid of honour to the Queen of Spain in 1726—that he took part against his own countrymen at the siege of Gibraltar—a possession of ours since 1704—and that he
died in a state of penury at a Bernardino convent in Catalonia in 1731 . Le Monde Macojmique , however , states absolutely that the Duke of Wharton was charged with the duty of introducing Freemasonry ; that he repaired to Madrid in 1727 , took np his quarters in the
only French hotel in the Spanish capital , and having made all the requisite preliminary arrangements , that on the 15 th February 1728 was consecrated in his Grace ' s apartments a Lodge which was afterwards ranked as No . 50 on the roll of the Grand Lodge of England . Our
own early registers bear testimony to the fact of there having been such a Lodge , and from the Appendix to Bro . Gould ' s " Four Old Lodges , " it seems to have been erased in January 1768 , but we shonld like to hear more about the authority on which the chief place in the
account is assigned to the Duke of Wharton . This appears to have been the only Masonic Lodge in Spain Wl 1739 , when Lord Lovel , who was at the time Grand Master , granted to Captain James Cnmmersford a deputation as Provincial Grand Master of Andalusia with full
Powers to found Lodges in the south of Spain . This gave great umbrage to the clergy and monks , and so disquieted the secular power that , influenced by the Legate of
f ^ ope Uement XIII ., Philip V . issued an edict against freemasonry , in which members of Masonic Lodges were aercel y denounced , and threatened with the severest Penalties if they retained their connection with the Order ,
Freemasonry In Spain.
and many brethren of the original Lodge , founded in Bernard Street , Madrid , in 1727-8 suffered . However , this edict had the usual effect of causing tho further development of the Craft , and in 1750-1 , there were , according to the Inquisition , as many as
ninetyseven Lodges in Spain . About this time , Father Joseph Torrubia , member of the Inquisition , acting under the authority of a Papal brief , was initiated as a Mason , taking the oaths prescribed of all who sought admission , his object being to obtain a complete knowledge of the
members of the Spanish Craft . In March 1751 , Father Torrubia placed in the Grand Inquistiors' hands list of the 67 Lodges then in Spain , when , to the latter ' s great dismay it turned out that pretty nearly the whole of the Masonic body consisted of nobles and members of the upper ranks of
society . However , he referred the subject to Popo Benedict XIV . and King Ferdinand VI ., when the King , by a decree dated 2 nd July 1751 , ordered the complete suppression of the Order , the penalty of death without any previous trial of any kind being assigned to all found to be members .
During the next sixteen years , Freemasonry in Spain remained in obscurity , but not without making considerable progress , and in 1767 it renounced its obedience to the Grand Lodge of England and declared itself independent , when the Count d'Aranda , Prime Minister of Charles III . and
the real author of the royal decree which in the spring of that year banished the Jesuits from Spain , was appointed Grand Master , his election to that office being due to this edict . In 1780 , influenced by French ideas , the Grand Lodge took the title of Grand Orient , the Count d'Aranda ,
however , continuing to preside with his original title of Grand Master , and so remained till 1795 , when , having lost his liberty , he designated as his successor the Count de Montijo , an able diplomatist and Spanish Ambassador to the Court of Berlin . The Count was
legally nominated Grand Master of the Grand Orient and it was under his auspices that tho Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite made its appearance in Spain in 1808 . One of the creators and propagators of the Dalcho theory , Count Alexander Augustus de
Grosse-Tilly , G . Commander of the Supreme Council 33 ° in France , had a brother in Spain—the Count de Tilly . This brother , out of hatred for Buonaparte , devoted the whole
of his vast energy to the service of Spain , and , under the name of Gusman , was the soul of the popular movement in Andalusia , which commenced in May and June 1808 with the relief of Seville from tbe French and terminated
at Baylen ; in fact , it was he who prepared the terms of the capitulation of Baylen , which utterly discomfited the forces of Napoleon . This Count de Tilly , on the 17 th December 1808 , assembled at Aranjuez several Brothers , among whom were Quintana , Saavedra , Vadillo , and
Gonzalez , and constituted tbe Supreme Council of the 33 rd Degree for Spain . Thus , towards the close of 1800 , Spanish Freemasonry consisted of the Grand Orient , ruled
by Count de Montijo , practising the English Rite of Anderson-Ashmole , and the Supreme Council , ruled by the Count de Tilly , and practising the system of Morin-Dalcho .
On 3 rd November 1809 was constituted in the very dungeons of " the Inquisition itself , " in the street Isabella the Catholic , a new Spanish Grand Orient , founded under the auspices of Kng Joseph , formerly Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France , by the Grand Duke de Berg .