When was the Freemasons movement started and where did it originate?
The Freemasons movement, as we know it today, originated in England in 1717 when four Lodges in London came together to form the first Grand Lodge. This marked the transition from Operative Masonry, which was primarily concerned with the craft of stonemasonry, to Speculative Masonry, which accepted members who were not actual craftsmen. The roots of Freemasonry can be traced back to the craftsmen's guilds of the Middle Ages, particularly after the Norman Conquest, where masons formed 'Lodges' attached to specific quarries or buildings. The earliest Masonic manuscripts, such as the Regius Manuscript from around 1390, indicate that the principles of secrecy and moral standards were already in place among these early associations.
Thus, while the formal organization of Freemasonry began in 1717, its origins can be traced back several centuries earlier to the practices of medieval stonemasons and their guilds.