Relations Between the Grand Lodges of England and Sweden During the Long Eighteenth Century

Abstract

This article is a study of two key moments in the relationship between the Grand Lodges in England and Sweden during the long eighteenth century. Both episodes illustrate how freemasonry reflected wider power and political relations between the two countries. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1763, Sweden became an important diplomatic forum for Britain, particularly in order to cultivate Russia. Sir John Goodricke’s mission to Sweden was accompanied by a vigorous attempt to establish freemasonry under the English Grand Lodge there and to drive out French freemasonry. These attempts collapsed, but many Swedes visiting England joined masonic lodges there. It is argued that concerns among elite Swedish masons at the way in which English lodges were recruiting lower class Swedes was an important factor in Swedish interest in the Union of the English Grand Lodges in 1813.