In dit boek verkent Paul Naudon de verborgen geschiedenis van de vrijmetselarij van het oude Rome, via de middeleeuwen tot heden • Toont de nauwe band tussen middeleeuwse metselaars en de Tempeliers • Illustreert de heilige aard van Romeinse en middeleeuwse handelsverenigingen • Onthult de ontbrekende schakel die de loges met elkaar verbindt van de moderne vrijmetselarij tot de middeleeuwse broederschappen van bouwers. Historici maken vaak een scherp onderscheid tussen de werkende vrijmetselarij van de Middeleeuwen en de speculatieve metselarij van de moderne tijd, waarbij ze benadrukken dat er geen directe brug is tussen de twee. Moderne historici hebben ook de spot gedreven met vrijmetselaarsclaims over de nauwe relatie tussen de loge en de tempel.. Met behulp van middeleeuwse archieven die in heel Europa zijn ondergebracht, onthult historicus Paul Naudon dat er in feite een zeer intieme band bestond tussen de vrijmetselaars en de Tempeliers. Kerkverslagen van middeleeuws Parijs tonen aan dat de meeste, zo niet alle, vrijmetselaars van die tijd inwoners waren van het Tempelierscensief, waardoor ze grote vrijstellingen en vrijheden genoten van zowel kerk als staat als gevolg van de bescherming die hen werd geboden door deze machtige orde.Naudon laat zien dat de oorsprong van de vrijmetselarij terug te voeren is op de collegia van het oude Rome. Hij volgt de evolutie van organisaties zoals de Comacine Masters, de Arabische turuqs en de broederschappen van bouwers die zijn opgericht onder auspiciën van de Benedictijnen en de Tempeliers, die allemaal het voertuig vormen voor de overdracht van een heilige traditie uit het voorchristelijke keer naar de moderne tijd. Deze traditie is de bron van maçonnieke rituelen en symboliek en vormt de ontbrekende schakel in de transformatie van de werkende vrijmetselarij van de middeleeuwse kathedraalbouwers naar de spirituele principes van de moderne speculatieve vrijmetselarij. ( )

The contents of this book belie its lurid title and glitzy cover. Author Paul Naudon is a legal historian, and he often uses reliable primary sources to make his worthwhile case regarding the interactions of masonic craft organizations with the medieval Order of the Temple. He provides a full context, reaching back to late antiquity, and his quantity of supporting detail will tempt even the most exacting reader to skip forward a page or two occasionally.

It isn't until the second half of the book that Naudon begins to discuss the transition to the "accepted" Masonry of fraternal initiation without the trade of actual stonework. And here his effort is to demonstrate how "The Temple of Solomon had been transformed into the Tower of Babel" (266) by the end of the eighteenth century. He doesn't use the customary "operative to speculative" formulation, because of his insistence that the earlier masonic craft always had a "speculative" philosophical dimension.

Naudon's approach as a French historian is at conspicuous odds with the usual Anglo-American histories of Freemasonry. For him, the Grand Lodge of London was more pernicious than pioneering, as it was responsible for marginalizing the Christian essence of masonic ritual. He does offer a very coherent narrative, covering the Deist vector, the introduction of Hermetic esotericism, and the transformation of a practical universalism into a distant internationalist ideal. While he recognizes the integrity of the motives in all these changes, he condemns the net effect.

Jon Graham's translation of Naudon's French is sufficient, but not without occasional blunders. English readers may be confused by his repeated failure to translate St Benoit into St Benedict, for example. There are some problems with idiom, such as the "Scot Lodges," and a somewhat annoying frequency of spelling and punctuation errors.

The book ends with a plea for a "healthy reaction on ... behalf" of Freemasonry to return it to former ideals, but for all that Naudon insists on his own hope, the prospect seems far fetched. While I don't share his traditionalist values, I applaud his work in putting together an accurate piece of positive history, which mentions the legendary accounts when relevant, but keeps them in their proper perspective.

This is kind of a dry book. The idea that the orgins of Freemasonry reaches back to distant antiquity is a popular one. Some writings are a little more far fetched than others. Naudon writes on the history of Ancient builder organizations. He makes his points concerning the evolution of the these organizations from Roman times, through medivial europe, To the Templars, and then to the modern Freemasons. I believe there is a disconnect between the roman and early monastic organizations, then again between the Templar's and the Freemasons, something Naubon dosne't deny, but doesn't stress either. This is an interesting in-depth look at the organization and history of builders organizations through eurpoean history. If it is debatable whether there is a continuity between the Roman college of builders and the modern freemason infact, there can be little debate about the continuity of the general spirit of organization, and ideas that seem to have been shared/passed on to the next generation of builder organizations. Good book. ( )