Schism: Antients & Moderns - The Battle that Forged Freemasonry

For decades, a fierce and transformative conflict raged in the shadows of eighteenth-century England, pitilessly dividing the Craft. We are told this rivalry was between the entrenched, aristocratic Premier Grand Lodge who were dismissed by its rivals as mere "Moderns" and the insurgent, egalitarian zeal of the London Irish working class who claimed the mantle of the "Antients". Spearheaded by the unyielding Laurence Dermott, these rebel masons shattered the aristocratic monopoly with a claim of secret mystical knowledge, and the possession of older more genuine rituals.

But could there be more nuance to this tale of divided brotherhood? We are proud to illuminate this explosive, six-decade civil war through Ric Berman's definitive historical narrative - a masterpiece that meticulously exposes the political rivalries, Irish influences, and ideological clashes that forged modern Freemasonry out of the fires of division.

Schism examines the creation of the Antients Grand Lodge and traces the influence of Ireland and the London Irish - and most especially that of Laurence Dermott, the Antients' Grand Secretary - in the development of freemasonry in the second half of the eighteenth century. This new and extended second edition highlights the accessibility of the Antients and contrasts it with the Moderns, the original Grand Lodge of England's exclusivity.

The Antients instigated what became a six-decades long rivalry with the Moderns and pioneered fundamental changes to the social composition of freemasonry, extending formal sociability to the lower middling and working class, and creating one of the first modern friendly societies. It had particular importance and resonance in America, another theme explored in the book.

Author: Ric Berman

Format: Paperback, 287 pages

Size: 15.24 x 1.65 x 22.86 cm

ISBN: 9781739170868

Contents

List of Tables

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: Laurence Dermott & the Antients Grand Lodge

Chapter 2: Antients Freemasonry & the London Irish

Chapter 3: The Antients' General Register

Chapter 4: London's Magistracy & the London Irish

Chapter 5: An Age of Decline: English Grand Lodge, 1740-1751

Chapter 6: Masonic Misrule, Continued...

Chapter 7: The King's Arms Lodge

Chapter 8: The Anglo-Irish Ascendancy

Chapter 9: Eighteenth-Century Irish Freemasonry

Chapter 10: America

Last Words

Abbreviations

Appendix 1: The Antients, Principal Grand Officers, 1751-1780

Appendix 2: Grand Lodge of Ireland, Grand Officers, 1725-1770

Appendix 3: Grand Lodge of England, Grand Officers, 1717-1770

Selected Bibliography

The Author