when did the schism happen between the antients and moderns and what actually sparked it

The schism culminated in the formal establishment of a rival Grand Lodge between 1751 and 1753 124, though the friction had been accumulating since the 1730s 24. Dissenting Masons were in full operation by 1751, elected Laurence Dermott as Grand Secretary in 1752, and formally selected a Grand Master for their competing body in 1753 12. By adopting the title of "Antients" for themselves, they cast the older, premier Grand Lodge as "Moderns" 14.

The split was sparked by a combination of ritual alterations, governance grievances, and jurisdictional tensions. To prevent unrecognized brethren—particularly a group of Irish Masons living in London—from attending their lodge meetings, the premier Grand Lodge made variations in the established forms and altered certain modes of recognition during the 1730s and 1740s 1234. Dissenters viewed these changes as illegal departures from the ancient landmarks 12. The premier Grand Lodge's official sanction in 1738 of making the "Master's Part" into the Third Degree was likewise regarded by many as an unauthorized alteration of time-immemorial custom 4.

Organizational centralization further inflamed the divide. The premier Grand Lodge curtailed the Craft's practice of electing Wardens, granted the Grand Master power to appoint them, and restricted Grand Lodge offices to a narrow oligarchy of Past Grand Stewards 1. Dissension was also fed by disagreement over religious framing, as some brethren insisted on retaining or adding explicit Christian sentiments to the ritual and Constitutions 14, alongside persistent differences between English working methods and the usages brought by Scottish and Irish Masons 1.

The schism lasted for 62 years, beginning with the formal organization of the Antients in 1751 and concluding with the official Union of the two Grand Lodges on December 27, 1813 34.

In Craft Masonry, friction had been growing since the 1730s, but the rival Antient Grand Lodge established its earliest recorded Grand Committee on July 17, 1751 3. The division persisted across six decades due to alterations in ritual, governance grievances, and disputes over high degrees 34. Formal overtures toward reconciliation began in 1801, and the Earl of Moira warranted the Lodge of Promulgation in 1809 to prepare a unified framework 3.

The division was formally healed on St. John's Day, December 27, 1813, when representatives of 641 Modern lodges and 359 Antient lodges gathered at Freemasons' Hall in London to ratify the Articles of Union 314. The two rival bodies merged into the United Grand Lodge of England 34. As part of the compromise, the Articles of Union declared that pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees—Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft, and Master Mason—while formally recognizing the Supreme Order of the Royal Arch as part of the system 345.