The Red Aprons: The French Influence on Freemasonry

In the earliest records Freemason’s aprons were almost always white or blue, so when did they start to take on a more scarlet hue? 

French Masonic historian Louis Arnolphe examines the often unacknowledged, yet profound, French influence of Freemasonry. 

Through meticulous research, Arnolphe investigates the French origins of, among other things, the birth of The Royal Arch, the York Rite and Heredom; the importance of the Crusading legacy and the Templar high grades; and the origins of the Rose Croix or Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite's red aprons.

Revealing a French connection often overlooked, the reader is treated to the rich traditions of French Freemasonry in both Europe and North America.

Questions this book answers include: 

• What historical sources say about symbolism of the red apron

• What is the first record of Grand Stewards wearing red aprons? 

• Why the French wore red aprons, and how they helped the Moderns and Ancients come together.  

• Why is the American ritual referred to as the York Rite? 

• What other degrees were developing in France in the eighteenth century?

• Why is the Rose Croix often identified as the Scottish rite?

And much, much more.

A must-read for Masonic historians, or anyone who owns a red apron. This work will delight students of the fraternity whose questions about continental Masonry have long gone unanswered, or who would like to gain a more broad understanding of how the degrees and traditions of the Craft developed.

Publisher Macoy Publishing

Hardback

280 Pages

ISBN: 9780880531436

Other questions this book answers include: why the French wore red aprons; how the French helped the Moderns and Ancients come together; and why the American ritual is referred to as the York Rite.

Contents

• Introduction Writing New Masonic History
• Chapter 1 Why Was the Word Freemason Initially Translated as Franc-maçon in France? A Philological Study (Part I)
• Chapter 2 Looking for Heredom, "The Mountain of Initiation"
• Chapter 3 Geopolitics of Écossisme and the Masonic Union of 1813
• Chapter 4 The Birth of Red Masonry: French Master Masons' Aprons of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (17371837)
• Chapter 5 Why is the American Ritual Referred to as the York Ritual?
• Chapter 6 Why Was the Word Freemason Initially Translated as Franc-maçon in France? A Philological Study (Part II)
• Conclusion Perspectives for Future Research
• Bibliography
• Endnotes
• Index