Was Nicolas II a Free Mason?

[Holly]

My great-grandfather was a mason. He was as high as you could go too. He never said a word about what he did there.   But it is not like he could anyways. I seriously doubt Nicholas was a mason! And there is know way that is why the executed them! That is just a rumor.

[Caleb]

Well supposedly King Edward VII ("Uncle Bertie") was an article from wikipedia: Freemason
An active Freemason throughout his adult life, Edward VII was installed as Grand Master in 1874, giving great impetus and publicity to the fraternity. He regularly appeared in public, both at home and on his tours abroad, as Grand Master, laying the foundation stones of public buildings, bridges, dockyards, and churches with Masonic ceremony. His presence ensured publicity, and reports of Masonic meetings at all levels appeared regularly in the national and local press. Freemasonry was constantly in the public eye, and Freemasons were known in their local communities. Edward VII was one of the biggest contributors to the fraternity

[rskkiya]

Dear rsKkiya : the book to which I reffered was written before our 1991 revolution and before Da Vinchi Code.

True!
But the best selling (and very silly) novel, The Da Vinchi Code has made this particular urban legend very popular at the moment in America.

rs

[AGRBear]

http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/russia/go_russia.html

You'll find some interesting information on the history of freemasonary in Russia on this site.

AGRBear

[David_Pritchard]

http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/russia/go_russia.html

You'll find some interesting information on the history of freemasonary in Russia on this site.

AGRBear

Dear Bear,

I read the article and it clearly states the the Masonic Lodges in operation during the reign of Nicholas II were under the authority of the Grand Orient Lodge in Paris. I cannot imagine that the Emperor would belong to such a lodge, the Grand Lodge in London maybe, Grand Orient Lodge in Paris never.

There are present day royals from Great Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands who belong to Masonic lodges but these are affiliated with the Grand Lodge in London.

David

[AGRBear]

Do you think the information on this site is accurate?

AGRBear

[David_Pritchard]

The site that you recommended seems most accurate.

The excerpt below and much more information can be found at this site: http://www.freemasonry.org/leonzeldis/russia.htm

The first lodges of which we have news are the following, all authorized but the Grand Lodge of England:

Lodge of Peace and Union No. 414, Saint Petersburg, 1 June 1771.

Lodge of the Nine Muses No. 466, Saint Petersburg, 1 June 1881.

Lodge of the Muse Urania No. 467, in the same city and date.

Lodge of Ballona No. 468, in the same city and date.

Lodge of Mars No. 469, Yassay, 1774.

Lodge of the Muse Clio No. 470, Moscow, 1774.

Lodge Phoenix No. 451, Helsingfors (Finland), 1777.

Lodge Astrea No. 504, Riga, 21 August 1787.

Furthermore, a military lodge (Lodge of Integrity) operated under direct obedience to the Grand Lodge of England.

These lodges were closed by Empress Ekaterina II in 1794 when she issued an Ukaze banning Freemasonry within the Russian Empire. After this time the some lodges went underground and lost their affilitions with the Grand Lodge in London other clandestine and irregular lodges based on the French model and more mystical beliefs were formed. Emperor Pavel I did not lift the ban and his son Aleksander I lifted the ban for only twelve years (1810-1 August 1822) before reinstating it. The ban on Freemasonry was continued by Nikolai I who reinforced it with another Ukaze on 21 August 1826. His successors Aleksander II, Aleksander III and Nikolai II continued the ban though there was a secret revival of Russian Freemasonry of the most irregular, suspect and political kind in the years following the Russo-Japanese War.

David

[TheAce1918]

My family has some masonry in its history.  But the whole 'murder' and 'sacrifice' gigs are jokes!  However I can't help but think of The Da Vinci Code and the Knights Templar and the Teutonic Knights of the Middle Ages...but now I'm off topic

[Alixz]

I always thought that the free masons began as builders.  As builders they had knowledge that no one else possessed and that they didn't want to have stolen from them.  Sort of like a patent or a copyright.

So they had secret signs and handshakes to identify each other and so that they would not accidentally give their knowledge of building and stonework away.

Even today we call those who build with and work in stone - masons.  You need a good mason to get a great stone wall built.

I had many friends who belonged to DeMolay and Rainbow Girls when I was younger.  DeMolay being for the boys and of course Rainbow Girls for girls.

DeMolay is also the name of one of the Grand Masters of the Knights Templar - Jacques DeMolay.

My sister is an Eastern Star and my brother in law is a Mason - neither of them build anything.   ;-)

I don't know anything about what they do.  I have never asked and they have never volunteered.

[Mexjames]

The Freemason lodges go back to York and Scotland, if I'm not mistaken.  The two most important rites were those belonging to each of those places.

Freemasons believe in God, to the best of my knowledge freemasonry doesn't require its members to profess any specific religion, and they believe that God is the Supreme Architect of the Universe, hence their symbol.

I have no way of knowing if the Emperor was a mason, but I don't think he was one.  Masonry wouldn't have excluded him, but his Orthodox faith might.

[Janet Ashton]

I have no way of knowing if the Emperor was a mason, but I don't think he was one.  Masonry wouldn't have excluded him, but his Orthodox faith might.

Nicholas had the same view of the Masons as most extreme conservatives in his era: he saw them as fomenters of revolution. There are references in his and Alexandra's correspondence to this belief.

However, I think the story that he was Mason himself originates in his association with the likes of Philippe Vachot/Vachod, who was a senior member of a para-Masonic order which stood for the revival of Catholicism and for right-leaning political views in France at that time. This movement was hostile to the masons, yet often confused with it. Philippe's biographer alleged that he initiated Nicholas and various other Grand Dukes in Petersburg ca. 1900, which may or may not be true.
Oddly, not all that much has been written about the meaning of Nicholas's and Alexandra's friendship with Philippe, beyond the usual nonsense about how he convinced her she was pregnant and he could change the sex of a child in the womb to ensure that she had a boy. The political aspects, the ties between the populist religious right in France and Nicholas's own views usually gets ignored, at least in biographies. The best article to touch on this is Robert Nichols "Friends of God", but even he is more interested in N's obsession with St Serafim than in Philippe.

[koloagirl]

Aloha from Kaua'i!

I was a "Job's Daughter" when I was a teenager - I had an elderly auntie who was an Eastern Star member - and she sponsored me to be in "Job's Daughters" (you had to have a sponsor in the Masons) - since I had several friends who were
also "Job's Daughters" I got into it as well - while I got a lot out of it at that time (music competition, travel, friendship) - I had no desire to continue on after high school to be a "Eastern Star" - just not my thing.

We wore white robes that looked faintly grecian, the cord had to be tied a certain way, adults checked our hemlines and knots as well as our little ribbons we wore in our hair before we started our ceremonies - we wore special little white slippers and there were all kind of "secret"
handshakes type of stuff as well.   Kind of funny looking back on it - everyone took it so seriously - I do remember how beautiful the old Masonic temple was that we held our meetings though.
While some stuff was certainly kind of "weird" - it was harmless.