cessation

The earliest government prohibition against Masonic assembly occurred in England under Henry VI in 1425, when the Statutes of Labourers forbade Masons from organizing in Chapters and Congregations under penalty of felony 12. Although never actively enforced, some historians hold that this statute marked the end of Freemasonry as a purely operative association 12.

Across continental Europe, suppression of the Craft expanded throughout the eighteenth century under both civil and ecclesiastical authorities:

In Holland, popular riots led the States General to ban lodge meetings in 1735, though the prohibition was abandoned after city magistrates were initiated and satisfied of the institution's harmlessness 1.

In France, police prohibited assemblies in 1737 and forcibly dispersed a lodge meeting at the Hôtel de Soissons in 1745 1.

Ecclesiastical suppression became permanent across Catholic states following the papal bull of Pope Clement XII in 1738 1.

In Vienna, Empress Maria Theresa ordered the arrest of assembled Masons, though the edict was frustrated by Emperor Joseph I 1.

In the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Ferdinand IV banned lodges under penalty of death in 1775, renewed the decree in 1781 1.

In Spain, Ferdinand VI enforced papal excommunication in 1751 1. Ferdinand VII intensified persecution in 1818 by ordering execution, banishment, and confiscation of property, until the Revolution of 1820 abolished the Inquisition and repealed the edicts 1.

In the United States, opposition took a political form rather than a royal decree following the Morgan affair 1. During the 1830s, intense anti-Masonic political pressure forced a complete cessation of Masonic work in Vermont 1. This shutdown affected all branches—including the Craft's Grand Lodge, the Royal Arch Grand Chapter, Cryptic Grand Council, and Knights Templar Grand Encampment—stopping all communications from 1831–1832 until the Order was reorganized between 1847 and 1854 1.