Did England's greatest architect help shape modern Freemasonry?
For generations, many Masons believed that Sir Christopher Wren served as the bridge between the medieval operative builders and the emerging speculative fraternity.
But does the historical evidence support that claim?
In Episode 217 of Masonic Muscle: The Origin War, we investigate Theory #11 from Brother Kenneth R.H. Mackenzie's Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia (1877) and examine why Wren became one of the most enduring figures in Masonic origin literature.
More importantly, we ask whether admiration has sometimes been mistaken for evidence.
In This Episode
Theory #11 of the 12 Origin Theories of Freemasonry
• Sir Christopher Wren
• The Great Fire of London (1666)
• St. Paul's Cathedral
• The rebuilding of London
• Anderson's Constitutions
• The transition from operative to speculative Masonry
Why association is not the same as causation
Battlefield Question
Did Sir Christopher Wren help create speculative Freemasonry...
...or did later generations of Masons place England's greatest architect into their origin story because he represented everything the Craft admired?
Continue the Investigation
Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia
https://archive.org/details/royalmasoniccycl00mack
Anderson's Constitutions (1723)
https://archive.org/details/constitutionsoff00ande
The Origins of Freemasonry — David Stevenson
The Craft — John Hamill
The Pocket History of Freemasonry — Pick & Knight
Internet Archive
https://archive.org
Sacred Texts
https://www.sacred-texts.com
Next Battlefield
Next we conclude Brother Kenneth Mackenzie's twelve origin theories with one of the most important figures in early speculative Masonry:
Dr. John Theophilus Desaguliers.
The Origin War continues.
Strengthening the Craft... one degree at a time.
