Masonic lodges are called both the premises where “free masons” gather, and the associations of these people themselves, moreover, the second of these values is much more common than the first. In a broad sense, the Masonic lodge is a kind of society with its own hierarchy, secret symbols and ideology.
Freemasonry appeared in the Middle Ages, and the first lodge - in the XVII century. The term "freemason" means "freemason", and at first such people really included representatives of the working English masons workshops, which in the 15th century received a huge amount of privileges, although before that they were not considered influential. The word "free" was added to the name of their profession, as these were the only English workers who were officially allowed free movement around the country.
Over time, Masonic lodges began to appear, and "free masons" began to accept not only workers, but also representatives of the intelligentsia, and also created their own ideology. The ancient idea that the building was built only thanks to the joint efforts of all workers became the main one. Masons, who knew firsthand about building ethics and equality among all workers, accepted writers, philosophers and other intellectuals into their ranks, who told them about a utopian society based on the principles of justice, reason and science. The Masons decided to start creating such a society, and since it was openly very dangerous to talk about such things, they created their own language, incomprehensible to those who did not go into lodges.
The number of Masonic lodges and the number of their members grew, and this affected the hierarchy badly. In order to coordinate the actions of all these disparate societies, it was decided to create the Great Lodge. She appeared in London in 1717. The activity of the Great Lodge was so successful that the number of Masons increased many times, moreover, even the English princes, some of whom subsequently ascended the royal throne, were included in their number.
According to the ideology of Freemasonry, lodges were created so that representatives of different nationalities and even different religions could come together and in a friendly atmosphere discuss their views, ask for help from others, make certain decisions, etc. Later, the lodges changed a bit: in particular, ceremonies of initiation and transition to new stages of Freemasonry appeared, and the hierarchy of lodges became more clear.
