Early French Freemasonry

Jérôme Lalande, founder and first Master of the Parisian Lodge of the Nine Sisters in 1776. Engraving by Robert Stanier, 1789, after André Pujos. Wellcome Collection.

Early French Freemasonry developed through contacts with Britain and Ireland during the eighteenth century. Lodges appeared in Paris in the 1720s, followed by competing attempts to organise them nationally. The reorganisation of 1773 established the Grand Orient de France.^[1]^[2]

The first lodges and their connections

The Grand Orient's historical account dates the Paris lodge Saint-Thomas au Louis d'Argent to 1725 and associates it with Jacobite exiles. Accounts differ in the dates and institutional stages they emphasise: the BnF records a first Grande Loge de France in 1728, revived in 1735. These dates refer to different aspects of the early organisation, rather than to a single uncontested foundation event.^[1]^[2]

Jacobite connections were one part of this history. Other lodges had links with English aristocrats who supported the Hanoverian monarchy. The Duke of Richmond established lodges in Paris and at Aubigny, and French members also took an interest in English intellectual and social life.^[3]

The Duke of Antin became Grand Master in 1738. Louis de Bourbon-Condé, Count of Clermont, succeeded in 1743 and held the position until his death in 1771.^[1]^[2]

The reorganisation of 1773

The reforms of 1773 sought to give the lodges a more effective common administration. They provided for elected officers and lodge representation, including representatives from outside Paris. Seventeen plenary meetings, held between spring and autumn, produced the structure and name of the Grand Orient de France.^[4]

The Duke of Chartres was Grand Master, while Sigismond de Montmorency-Luxembourg directed the reorganisation as Administrator General. The new body worked through three chambers with elected lodge representatives and developed regular correspondence with its lodges.^[4]

A Parisian example

The Lodge of the Nine Sisters, founded in 1776, brought together participants in the arts, sciences and learned professions. The astronomer Jérôme Lalande was its first Master. Voltaire joined in 1778; Benjamin Franklin served as Master from 1779 to 1781. Its membership illustrates the international contacts of one prominent Parisian lodge, rather than the social composition of every French lodge.^[5]

Surviving sources

The BnF holds a collection of documents relating to the 1773 reorganisation, including assembly minutes, constitutions and statutes. These administrative records can be read alongside lodge papers and correspondence when studying the development of French Masonic government.^[6]

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Grand Orient de France, Le Grand Orient de France en 7 points (2025–2026), “Un peu d'histoire…”.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Bibliothèque nationale de France, Grand Orient de France, authority record FRBNF11869722.
↑ QC Correspondence Circle, English Masonic Influence in France, 1723 Constitutions research website. Accessed 30 September 2026.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Grand Orient de France, 250 ans du nom Grand Orient de France, 4 July 2023.
↑ QC Correspondence Circle, Les Neuf Sœurs. Accessed 30 September 2026.
↑ Bibliothèque nationale de France, Documents relatifs à l'histoire du G. O. D. F., catalogue record FRBNF38773016.