拿破仑·波拿巴何时何地成为共济会兄弟的？对此曾经有多种推测，但一直无法明确地证实——究竟是他在瓦伦斯（法国Drome）、马赛、南希（耶路撒冷圣约翰会馆，1797年12月3日？）或者马耳他、埃及或其他地方入会的。

但是可以肯定的一点是，在远征埃及期间，拿破仑指挥的探险队成员已经把共济会带到了尼罗河两岸。

克莱伯将军在开罗建立了“伊斯兰国”会馆，而加斯帕德·蒙格（Gaspard Monge）和多米尼克·维万特·德农（Dominique Vivant Denon）兄弟（“巴黎完美联盟”军事会所的成员）和多米尼克·维万特·德农（Dominique Vivant Denon）（索菲亚斯“完美联盟”的成员，巴黎会所）是这些学者中的成员。他们是将他在埃及遭遇的战略和军事挫败转变为成功的智囊中的人，年轻的波拿巴将军在回到法国后将利用这一点。

波拿巴发动1799年的雾月政变以后，共济会在法国蓬勃发展了15年。​

​

在拿破仑·波拿巴掌权之后，签署了一份有九个章节的文件，日前是1799年6月22日（共济会纪年第5799年）。文件决定联合法国总会所（Grande Loge De France: GLDF）和法国大东方会（Grand Orient De France: GODF）。这个文件将两个组织的档案合并，去除了巴黎会所大师的特权，重申了大导师的任期，并且设立了官员选举制度。但是，一些“苏格兰”会所拒绝了这个安排。

法国共济会采用自身的古老礼仪（GODF），而与英国古典苏格兰礼仪（AASR）的共济会分庭抗礼。

1801年，波拿巴在巴黎让吉恩·波塔利斯兄弟（普罗旺斯会馆，艾克斯的“友谊”分会）举行了与罗马教廷的签约谈判，并与让·雅克·里吉斯·德·坎巴切雷斯兄弟和克劳德·安布罗瓦·雷涅尔兄弟合作起草了《民法典》。

1803年1月1日通告“横跨两个半球”的共济会诞生。两大对立体系（古代和现代共济会）的石匠大师都有资格参选，不分宗教信仰（因此有“宽容”这个词）。古老的教义被采纳。

同年，出版了《法国大东方现代法国礼仪》、《共济会规则手册》。

正是在拿破仑执政期间，法国共济会经历了它的黄金时代，十年内旅馆的数量从300家增加到1,220家。

路易·波拿巴成为了大东方会社的大首领。

［    路易·波拿巴Louis Bonaparte (1778-1846)，拿破仑一世的二弟,娶约瑟芬的女儿为妻.曾任荷兰国王。其子即后来的拿破仑三世。］​

拿破仑与大东方会馆的关系非常密切，他麾下多位大臣将领都是他的会馆的共济会员。

这些会馆包括荣誉军团会馆、“九姐妹”会馆和“圣拿破仑”会馆。

让-雅克·雷吉斯·德·康巴塞雷斯法兰西总理，法国苏格兰礼仪共济会（AASR）的首领（1806年至1821年）​。

帝国时代著名的共济会成员包括：

杰罗姆·波拿巴王子（17岁时在土伦的“和平”会馆加入，被称为“小狼崽”，后来是威斯特伐利亚的祖母会馆的大师）

意大利总督欧仁亲王，德·博哈奈斯王子（意大利大东方和最高委员会创始人）

约瑟夫·安托万·波尼亚托夫斯基元帅（华沙“ Bracia Polacy Zjetnoczeni”会馆），

邦·阿德里安·扬诺·德·蒙西元帅，科内利亚诺公爵，

米歇尔·奈伊元帅

尼古拉·查尔斯·奥迪诺元帅，

内政部长让-巴蒂斯特·农比尔·尚帕尼

雷吉奥公爵（“圣拿破仑”会馆，阿姆斯特丹）

阿尔布费拉公爵路易斯·加布里埃尔·苏谢元帅

费留利公爵，格雷乌德·米歇尔杜洛克宫殿大元帅

阿伯兰蒂斯公爵让·安多什·朱诺将军（1794年由“火星与海王星之子”发起，巴黎“大师”会馆成员）

维琴察公爵阿尔芒·德考兰考特将军（巴黎“朋友会”和“坦率”会馆）

雅克·德·劳德·洛奇将军

路易斯·伯特兰·德西夫雷将军

查尔斯·特里斯坦·德蒙霍伦将军

雷米·约瑟夫·伊西多尔·艾克斯曼将军

约瑟夫·利奥波德·西格斯伯特·雨果将军（“法国荣誉之友”洛奇）

查尔斯·亨利·维胡尔海军上将

约瑟夫·西米恩（律师，威斯特伐利亚王国的）共济会大师

天文学家皮埃尔·西蒙·德拉普拉斯

让·多米克·拉雷男爵（“火星之子”，第27国际扶轮社）

查尔斯·路易斯·德·卡斯特爵士

画家皮埃尔·普鲁登（Pierre Prud'hon），

弗朗索瓦·杰拉德（FrançoisGérard，巴黎的狮身人面像Le Grand Sphinx）

让·巴蒂斯特·伊莎贝（Jean-Baptiste Isabey）（Les AmisRéunis）和“Saint-Napoléon”（巴黎），

悲剧演员弗朗索瓦·约瑟夫·塔尔玛（巴黎“联盟”旅馆）

学者、科学院院士乔治·卡巴尼斯

作家和政治家本杰明·康斯坦特

建筑师Alexandre Brongniart（“社会契约的圣约翰”Lodge，巴黎）和Pierre Fontaine

作曲家路易吉·切鲁比尼（“巴勒斯坦圣约翰”洛奇，上帝）和安德烈·格雷特里

雕塑家克劳德·克洛迪翁（“朋友聚会”洛奇，巴黎）

学者约瑟夫·拉卡纳尔（《完美和谐》会馆，巴黎）

实业家克里斯托夫·奥伯坎普（“完美和谐”会馆，巴黎）

海盗罗伯特·苏尔库夫（1796年创立毛里求斯路易斯港的“三重希望”旅馆，1809年成为圣马洛“三重精华”会馆的成员）

很明显，在拿破仑时代共济会一直在掌权，并且它的影响力绝不隐晦。

拿破仑注意着共济会，并且通过约瑟夫·富歇监控它。

虽然会所中的圣殿里陈列着拿破仑的雕像，并且共济会认为任何对政权的挑战对于共济会都是不可原谅的，一些研究团体主要致力于宣扬皇帝的荣耀，但某些会所中也涌动着保皇党活动的暗流。

在帝国时代共济会军事会所有很强的发展。并且拿破仑利用共济会作为促使军人团结的手段，以及实现他统治欧洲野心的工具。

1804年，在法国大革命期间处于休眠状态的圣殿骑士团制在贝桑松恢复了。​

女性的（注：即“哈巴狗”）认领会所（通过名为“认领”的仪式附属于男性会所的女性的会所）在帝国之下大部分削弱了，除了约瑟芬女皇控制下的那些会所以外，她也是一名女性总会长（巴黎的“自由骑士”和“圣卡罗琳”认领会所）。1808年，女性认领会所被男性共济会禁止，理由是“与纲领不符”。

　　革命时代禁止成立的行业公会（执政府继续了此项禁令）在帝国之下被允许，但是需要经过严格审批和监控。19世纪初，石匠仪式有铺屋顶瓦片的、泥水匠、木匠，被视作“对神的圣职”（天主教徒，保皇党和拿破仑党）的继承者的那些人，雅各大师的追随者，聚集了石匠、铁匠、和制革匠，还有一些其他行业的人（编绳子的、编箩筐的、制帽匠等）。

拿破仑的垮台在很大程度上导致了法国共济会的垮台。

路易十八重新掌权，在随后的白色恐怖中，被怀疑与法国大革命或拿破仑政府有联系的人——包括军队和共济会成员——目睹了他们的军队和住所被天主教的“信仰骑士”杀害，而他们的领袖是共济会成员阿梅德威洛德格兰普雷斯将军。

警察局长、法国共济会最高委员会成员埃利·德卡兹公爵（Duke Elie Decazes）也无法限制对共济会兄弟的攻击。

共济会必须等到波拿巴的第二帝国，更重要的是，第三共和国时期，才再度进入法国的一个新的“黄金时代”。

费迪南德贝蒂埃伯爵于1810年创立了“信仰骑士团”（Banner Association），这是一个极端保皇主义的政治运动，其基础是古代和中世纪的秩序，以及慈善机构最近的具体经验。骑士团有五个等级：慈善伙伴、乡绅、骑士、好客骑士和信仰骑士。它的一些成员也属于“圣母玛利亚”的宗教会众。

1811年，几个共济会活动发生了：

前一年成为瑞典世袭王子的帝国元帅让-巴蒂斯特·朱尔斯·伯纳多特兄弟改革了瑞典的仪式，该仪式在21世纪仍然保持12级。

汉堡省会馆采用了弗里德里希·路德维希·施罗德兄弟发展的仪式，仅限于三个象征性等级，灵感来自古代的“圣殿骑士”共济会——这一仪式至今仍在德国、奥地利、匈牙利和瑞士的一些会馆中实行。

在埃及，开罗（“金字塔骑士”）和亚历山大（“共和之友”）建立了“苏格兰哲学仪式的巴黎母亲会馆”。

在西班牙，格拉斯·蒂利伯爵建立了共济会西班牙最高委员会。

【法国共济会建立凯旋门】

1805年2月18日，奥斯特里茨战役后两个月，拿破仑决定建立凯旋门。众多共济会会员参与此项目。​

有趣的是，尽管法兰西帝国的大部分将领是共济会会员，但他们的敌人也是共济会会员，包括英国的海军将军霍雷肖·纳尔逊Horatio Nelson（约克联盟会所#331），约翰·穆勒John Moore爵士、米哈伊尔·拉里奥诺维奇·库图佐夫Mikhal Illarionovitch Kutuzov元帅（“三把钥匙”会所，雷根斯堡），威灵顿元帅Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington。

【附录】Freemasonry under the French First Empire

Was Napoleon Bonaparte a member of the Masonic Brotherhood? Multiple hypotheses have been advanced on the subject, and although the probability is high, it has never been definitely established that he was made a Freemason, either in Valence (French Department Drome), Marseille, Nancy ("St. John of Jerusalem" Lodge, December 3, 1797?), Malta, Egypt or elsewhere.

What is certain is that members of the expedition he commanded during the Egyptian campaign brought the Freemasonry to the banks of the Nile. General Kleber founded the "Isis" Lodge in Cairo (was Bonaparte a co-founder?), while Brothers Gaspard Monge (member, among others, of the "Perfect Union" Military Lodge, Mezieres) and Dominique Vivant Denon (a member of Sophisians, "The Perfect Meeting" Lodge, Paris) were among the scholars who would make this strategic and military setback a success that the young General Bonaparte would exploit upon his return to France.

What is also undeniable is that, beginning with Bonaparte's coup of 18 Brumaire, the Freemasonry would thrive for 15 extraordinary years, multiplying the number of lodges and members. The First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, understanding the advantages he could derive from the obedient Freemasonry, invested in these reliable men, hoping to be rewarded with faultless servility. He was not disappointed.

Freemasonry under the ConsulateWhen Napoleon Bonaparte came to power, a text of nine articles was signed on June 22, 1799 (the 21st day of the third year of the V:. L:. 5799) that unified the Great Lodge of France (Grande Loge De France: GLDF) and the Great Orient of France (Grand Orient De France: GODF). The text provided for the assembly of archives of both organizations, removed the privileges of the masters of the lodges of Paris, entrenched the tenure of Worshipful Masters, and established a system of election of officers. However, some "Scottish" lodges rejected this arrangement.

In 1801, while in Paris, Brother Jean Portalis ("Friendship" Lodge, Aix-en-Provence) actively participated in negotiating the Concordat with the Holy See and drafting the Civil Code with Brothers Jean-Jacques Regis de Cambaceres and Claude-Ambroise Regnier, a page of Freemason history was written on May 31 in Charleston, South Carolina. There, Colonel John Mitchell, a merchant born in Ireland, and Frederick Dalcho, a physician born in London of Prussian parents, "opened the Supreme Council 33° for the United States of America", the first Supreme Council of rite in 33 grades that would take the name Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (AASR) of France. It would announce its creation through a circular distributed "across both hemispheres" on January 1, 1803.

The Master Masons of the two great rival systems (Ancients and Moderns) were eligible indiscriminately, regardless of religion (hence perhaps the term "Accepted"). The motto Ordo ab Chao was adopted which, in organizational terms, expressed the desire to create a coherent system of degrees and to end the chaotic profusion of high grades. The rite, whose ranks were all of French origin, synthesized the influences initially spun by the English lodges, Scottish Lodges of Perfection, dissident structures such as the Council of the Eastern Knights of Brother Pirlet, the Order of Scottish Trinitarians, and the Order of the Flamboyant Star of Baron Tschoudy, and of the administrative system of the Mother Lodge of the Scottish Social Contract, which was a member of Count Auguste de Grasse-Tilly (started in 1783 in the "Saint John of the Scottish Social Contract" Lodge, Paris).

The universality of the AASR was founded on the basis of 33 successive degrees of initiation and the content of its various grades that encompassed almost all sources of ancestral spirituality in the West and Middle East. It was, therefore, not possible to claim the AASR without rigorously following its initiation rites and trusting the consistency of its gradual evolution.

In 1801, the Vatican reiterated its ban on priests receiving Masonic initiation.

The same year, the Freemason Rulebook, on the Modern French Rite of the Great Orient of France, was published, in line with the first Moderns, House of Grades of the Great Orient and some aspects of the Rectified Scottish Regime (RSR) that were made in 1795 by the Great Worship Master Alexander-Louis Roëttiers de Montaleau.

This document was consistent with decisions made in 1785, but in 1796 was repudiated by the Grand Orient, which had opted for communication of rituals to be exclusively in handwritten, not printed, form. The ritual of the French Rite was subsequently revised several times.

Regarding the Rectified Scottish Rite, 1801 saw the beginning of a three-year correspondence between Jean-Baptiste Willermoz, of Lyon ("founder" of the RSR in France and general counsel of Department Rhone by the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte since June 1, 1800) and Claude-François Achard, of Marseille (Worshipful Master of The Triple Union, which resumed its work on June 1, 1801). In September 1802, Brother Taxil was received in Lyon by Willermoz and tasked to copy the "new rituals," which took five years.

On November 12, 1802 (the 12th day of the ninth month of the year of the V:. L:. 5802), a circular from the Grand Orient of France condemned the "so-called Scottish" Lodges and invited Brothers to turn from our Temples a seed of discord that, during the most tempestuous times, seemed to have been respected. So as to maintain "regular lodges in France," the GODF began to write off all lodges practicing a rite other than the French Rite of seven degrees – an action that specifically targeted Scottish Mother Lodges.

The year 1804 saw, in the atmosphere following the global exclusion of the Grand Orient, the Count of Grasse-Tilly returning to France and founding the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree on September 22. It met on October 22 at the Scottish General Grand Lodge of France with the participation of the Scottish Mother Lodge of Marseilles. Both lodges had refused the merger with the Grand Orient in 1799, and were "blacklisted" by the Big East because of "discrepancies" - that is, for practicing the Scottish Rite – as representatives of Santo Domingo lodges followed the rite of Ancients, and, according to some sources, the Prince of Rohan, who had signed the Morin patent in 1761. Louis Bonaparte became the Grand Master.

Seeing the Supreme Council extended de facto authority over the lodges' first three degrees, the Grand Orient suddenly had the power to sign a contract that merged the Scottish Grand Lodge with the Grand Orient, but left in existence a Sublime Council of the 33rd degree, which remained the sole authority to confer this level and to decide on everything that was a point of honor.

Freemasonry under the EmpireIt was during this period that French Freemasonry would experience its first golden age, as the number of lodges grew from 300 to 1,220 in ten years.

Bonaparte (initiated in "The Perfect Sincerity" Lodge of Marseilles) became Grand Master of the Grand Orient, which was entirely devoted to Napoleon and rarely failed to criticize the fiercely independent Scottish lodges.

Napoleon's relationship with the Grand Orient was all the more excellent that Roëttiers de Montaleau undertook to purify anti-Bonapartists, and that there were then among the dignitaries of the obedience:

Prince Louis Bonaparte

The Chancellor of the Empire Jean-Jacques Régis of Cambaceres

Marshals Andre Massena (initiated in Toulon in 1784 by "The Students of Minerva," a member of many lodges, including "The Real Friends Meeting" in Nice and the military lodge "The Perfect Friendship," GODF administrator and member of the Supreme Council), Joachim Murat, François Etienne Christophe Kellermann ("Saint Napoleon" Lodge, Paris), Charles Augereau (initiated in the lodge "The Children of Mars" in The Hague during his assignment in Holland, then a member of the Parisian Lodge "The Candor" before becoming Worshipful Master of the "Friends of the Arts and Glory" regimental Lodge), François Joseph Lefebvre ("Friends Meeting," Mainz), Catherine Dominique de Perignon, Jean-Mathieu Philibert Serurier (Parisian lodges "St. Alexander of Scotland" and "The Imperial Bee"), Guillaume Brune ("Saint-Napoleon", Orient of Paris and "The Constant Friendship"), Adolphe Edouard Casimir Joseph Mortier (33°), Jean-de-Dieu Soult and Jean Lannes

Senators Antoine-César de Choiseul-Praslin ("The Candor," Paris), Arnail-Francis de Jancourt, Louis-Joseph-Charles Amable de Luynes and Dominique Clement de Ris

Deputy Luc Duranteau de Baune

Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor Bernard Germain Etienne de Lacepede (member of the "Nine Sisters" and "Saint Napoleon" lodges in Paris)

Scholar Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande (the first Worshipful Master of the "Nine Sisters" Lodge in Paris)

Generals Etienne Macdonald and Horace Sebastiani

Contre-Admiral Charles Rene Magon de Medine

Ambassador Pierre Riel de Beurnonville

Interior Minister Jean-Baptiste de Nompere de Champagny

Constable Joseph Fouché (initiated in the "Sophie Madeleine, Queen of Sweden" Lodge in Arras) and the first president of the Court of Appeal Honoré Muraire (in original records of the secularization of the Civil State).

Brother Jean-Antoine Chaptal ("The Perfect Union," Montpellier) was in charge of agriculture.

Clearly the Freemasonry was still in power, and its influence not hidden.

Napoleon I, whether he had been initiated or not, was wary of Freemasonry, which he monitored through Joseph Fouché, and although the lodges displayed his bust in their temples and considered any challenge to his regime a serious Masonic error, some workshops were devoted mainly to celebrating the glory of the Emperor ("Napoléomagne", "The French Saint-Napoleon"), while others used the distinctive Masonic signage to conceal the work of subversive royalist activities ("St. Napoleon", in Angers).

There was a strong development of Masonic military lodges under the Empire, and Napoleon saw in that Masonic presence a powerful means of military cohesion and a tool for his European ambitions (using his own passionate feelings to unite the Brotherhood).

As for Lodges of Adoption (women's lodges attached to men's lodges by a ritual called "adoption"), most weakened under the Empire, except for those of the Empress Josephine, who was a Grand Mistress ("Free Knights" and "Sainte Caroline" Lodges of Adoption, in Paris). In 1808, Lodges of Adoption were banned by the male Masons as contrary to its constitution. The Masonic practice of adoption did not survive into the nineteenth century, except marginally.

Trade guilds, which had been banned during the Revolution – a prohibition reinforced by the Consulate – were tolerated, but closely monitored, under the Empire. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the guilds were organized around three rites. The rite of Father Soubise included roofers, plasterers and carpenters. Those seen as heirs to the Holy Duty to God (Catholic, royalist and Bonapartist), followers of Master Jacques, gathered stonemasons, smiths and tanners, as well as some otherprofessions (rope makers, basket makers, hatters, etc.).

Under the rite of Solomon, which welcomed Protestant or agnostic members with a Republican, left-leaning political sensitivity, one found foreign stonemasons (C:.E:.) and the Journeymen of the Duty of Freedom (I:.N:.D:.G:.), which separated from the Duty of Freedom in 1804 under the pressure of freethinking and anticlerical trade union members. It was during that period that a French Freemason journeyman introduced the third grade in the Duty of Freedom (which now included affiliates of members), and an aristocratic body (the "insiders") composed mainly of members established as Masters was formed.

In 1804, the system of Beneficent Knights of the Holy City (the final stage of the Rectified Rite or Regime), which had been dormant during the French Revolution, was revived in Besançon.

In 1805, the first of two series of the rite of Mizraim (symbolic degrees 1-33° and philosophical degrees 34-66°) developed in France and Italy, borrowing various high levels from the eighteenth century (to compete with the AASR):

The rite of the Metropolitan Chapter of France

The Rite of Perfection of the Council of Eastern and Occidental Emperors (also used for AASR)

The Adonhiramite rite

The rite of the Grand Lodge of the Regular Masters of Lyon

The rite of the Scottish Mother Lodge of Marseilles

The Strict Templar Observance (SOT) and the Rectified Scottish Rite (RSR),

The Primitive Rite of Namur, the Scottish Philosophical Rite of Avignon, the Golden Rosicrucian, the Inside Brothers of Asia and the Egyptian Rite of Cagliostro.

Specific contributions rose from the gradations of Chaos (49-50°) and Key Masonics (54-57°).

That same year, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord was introduced to the Imperial Lodge of the Free Knights in Paris, where he remained apprenticed throughout his life.

It was also in 1805 that the Grand Orient created a Grand Executive Board of Rites, where some Brothers received the 33rd degree, in violation of agreements with the Sublime Council. The latter reacted by denouncing the text, restoring the Grand Lodge and Scottish General, and reinstating its authority over the entire AASR. But again, the imperial power intervened on behalf of the Grand Orient and forced the signing of a power-sharing agreement that gave it authority over the first eighteen degrees, with the Supreme Council of France overseeing the nineteenth to thirty-third.

Contrary to the wishes of Napoleon, there were now two rival Masonic powers in France, so the next year, to ensure control of the Supreme Council, he named Chancellor Jean Jacques Régis de Cambaceres the Sovereign Grand Commander instead of Grasse-Tilly or one of several dignitaries of the Grand Orient (Dominique Clement de Ris, Pierre Riel de Beurnonville, Catherine Dominique de Pérignon, Honoré Muraire, D'Aigrefeuille, etc.).

In the next decade, the Supreme Council dedicated itself to developing the Guide to Scottish Freemasons, which took its roots from the Scottish Mother Lodges and Freemasonry of English and American Ancients (particularly Three Distinct Knocks of 1760) but also in the Freemason Regulator of the Modern French Rite. For the blue lodges (the first three workshops degrees), there was the Journal of Symbolic three grades of the Ancient and Accepted Rite.

On February 18, 1806, two months after the battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon I decided to build a triumphal arch, a project that involved several Freemasons. Brother Jean-Baptiste Champagny Nompère convinced the Emperor to choose the site of the monument in these terms: An Arch of Triumph that features the most majestic, superb and picturesque view, of the imperial palace of the Tuileries ... It will strike admiration in the traveler entering Paris ... It will imprint in any visitor to the French capital an indelible memory of its incomparable beauty ... Although the visitor has gone away, he will always have in front of him the triumphant arch. Your Majesty will cross it on your way to Malmaison, St. Germain, St. Cloud and even to Versailles ...

Brother Jean Chalgrin ("The Simple Hearts of the North Star" Lodge, Paris), an architect, drew up the plans, based upon an initial draft prepared by Brother Charles Louis Balzac ("The Great Sphinx" Lodge, Paris). Under the July Monarchy (constitutional monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe, starting with the July Revolution of 1830), two Brothers were to be in charge of the sculpture in bas-relief of the North Face - Francois Rude (The Marseillaise) and Jean-Pierre Cortot (The Peace of Vienna).

It was probably also in 1806 that Pierre-Joseph Briot, Governor of Abruzzo (under the authority of Joseph Bonaparte), introduced the Carbonari in Italy and started a "Secret Society of Philadelphian Republicans" at Besançon, "Good Cousin Carbonari" of the woodsman rite of Alexander the Great's Order of the Forger, which became affiliated at the rite of Mizraim in 1810.

Meanwhile, Filippo Buonarroti, a French revolutionary from Pisa and an old friend of Gracchus Babeuf, who knew Briot at Sospel, spent 30 years serving the lodges, especially within his own organization ("The Perfect Sublime Masters", under the direction of a "Great Firmament"), to cover up the spread of revolutionary ideas, Babouvist ideals and communism. Although its incidence was relatively limited, this unfortunate confusion between Freemasons and Carbonari ideas would quickly be interpreted as the politicization of the lodges.

The same year, 1806, saw the demise of the Strict Templar Observance (SOT), which did not survive the Revolution, as well as the introduction of the RSR and the loss of interest of its great master Charles of Hesse-Cassel, who became much more passionate about his research and mystical theurgics than about the Freemasonry.

Not counting the Anderson texts (The Constitutions of the Free-Masons of Pastor James Anderson, published in 1723), which defined the Freemasons of British influence, the statutes enacted in 1806 by the Grand Orient of France merely noted that the Masonic Order in France was composed only of Freemasons recognized as such, assembled at regular workshops for camaraderie.

Also in 1806, archaeologist Alexandre Du Mège (or Dumège) founded an Egyptian rite, the "Sovereign Pyramid of Friends of the Desert", in Toulouse. There were some spin-offs in the region (Auch, Montauban), but they didn't last. The Friends of the Desert came into contact with the neighboring Napoleomagne Lodge, whose members had revived the Jacobite Scottish Rite of "Scottish Faithful," brought to Toulouse in 1747 by George Lockhart, aide to Charles Edward Stuart. The Grand Executive Board of Rites of the Grand Orient of France rejected this rite, based on Eastern occultism, in 1812.

In 1808, Brother Michel Ange de Mangourit, Grand Officer of the Scots Philosophical rite (who was temporary Foreign Minister in the Government of the Convention in November 1794), revived the Masonic "adoption" practice by creating the "Sovereign Metropolitan Chapter of the Ladies Scottish Hospice of France in Mount Tabor, Paris", which consisted mainly of women of imperial nobility. This highly esteemed lodge, which would operate until 1830, had a "class of choice" (Novice Freemason and Discreet Companion), two grades of Perfection, or "Great Mysteries" (Mistress Adonis and Mistress Moralist), and two highest grades (Historical and Philosophical).

In Naples [img]https://media.napoleon-images.us/photo-16-stoht.png[/img], where Joachim Murat became king on August 1, 1808, the (military) Franco-Italian lodges saw a blossoming of the Rite of Mizraim, which would last until the end of the Empire. In 1811, Murat required the Grand Orient and Supreme Council of Naples to unify, and became their Grand Commander. It was doubtless during this period that the first attempts were made to establish the Rite of Mizraim in France. The rite thus received its third series (67-77° mystic degrees) the last (78-90°) would be introduced only until about 1812 in Naples.

In 1809, the Pope Pius VII was arrested by order of Napoleon, in anger over his excommunication because of the capture of Rome and the despoliation of the Papal States. It seemed the Emperor had not lost the support of the Grand Orient when he introduced a certain anticlericalism in the lodges, but the Pope did not forget how the Freemasons supported Napoleon.

In 1810, there arose in France a groundswell of opposition to republican secret societies such as the Carbonari founded by Arnaud Bazard, Jacques Flotard and Brother Jacques Buchez. In the region of Besançon, a revolutionary movement of Carbonari Cousins tried to infiltrate the lodges to let in opposing ideas and recruit workers to participate in a republican uprising. The Carbonari were organized into groups of twenty members, coordinated by a "High" group that belonged to Brother Lafayette (it also housed the venerable "Friends of Truth" of Rosoy and member of Supreme Council).

At the other end of the political spectrum, Count Ferdinand de Bertier in 1810 founded the "Knights of the Faith" ("Banner Association"), an ultra-royalist political movement based on ancient and medieval orders and the more recent and concrete experience of the Philanthropic Institute. The order had five grades: Charity Partner, Squire, Knight, Knight of Hospitality, and Knight of Faith. Several of its members also belonged to the religious congregation of the "Blessed Virgin".

In 1811, several Masonic events occurred:

Brother Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte - Marshal of the Empire, who the previous year had become hereditary prince of Sweden - reformed the Swedish rite, whose organization still exists in twelve degrees in the 21st century.

The Provincial Grand Lodge of Hamburg adopted the rite developed by Brother Friedrich Ludwig Schroeder, limited to three symbolic grades, inspired by the ancient "Templar" Freemasonry - a rite still practiced today in some lodges in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Switzerland.

In Egypt, the "Mother Lodge of Paris of the Scottish Philosophical Rite" was founded in Cairo ("Knights of the Pyramids") and Alexandria ("Friends of the Concorde").

In Spain, the Count of Grasse-Tilly installed the Spanish Supreme Council.

In 1813, the Rite of Mizraim was endowed from 90 degrees from the impetus of Charles Lechangeur, Theodoric Cerbes and brothers Marc, Michel and Joseph Bédarride. Pierre Lassalle, grand master of Mizraim in Naples, was probably the one who introduced the Arcana Arcanorum in the "Plan of Naples" to the primitive rite of Mizraim. At the same time, the occultist Lodge of the "Commanders of Mount Tabor", linked to the Scottish Philosophical Rite, was founded, while a lodge of Egyptian Rite of Cagliostro ("The Vigilanza") continued its work independently of Mizraim.The same year in England, after more than half a century of conflict, the Union Act put an end to the quarrel between the Ancients and Moderns, merging them into a universal masonry at three degrees (Emulation rite), in which explicit references to Christianity were removed.

After the first abdication of Napoleon and his exile to Elba, the Grand Orient provided support to King Louis XVIII, affirming the position that the Empire was only tyranny. This led many Freemasons to resign, especially as the Grand Orient changed its position again during the Hundred Days.

The Battle of Waterloo saw the end of the First Empire and of the great period of military lodges. The units commanded by Brothers Michel Ney (initiated in 1801 at the "St. John of Jerusalem" Lodge in Nancy, then a member of "The Candor" Lodge of the 6th Corps of the Grand Army), Pierre Cambronne and Emmanuel de Grouchy (of the "Heroism" Lodge in Beauvais and the "Candor" Lodge in Strasbourg) were defeated by those headed by Brothers Arthur Wellesley of Wellington (of the "Wellesley Family Lodge # 494" of Trim, Ireland) and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher ("Archimedes" Lodge in Altenburg). Most of the marshals of the Empire were Freemasons, as were many of their opponents, including the English Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson (York Union Lodge # 331), Sir John Moore, Marshal Mikhaïl Illarionovitch Kutuzov ("The Three Keys" Lodge, Regensburg) and General Jean-Victor Marie Moreau.

Among the famous Freemasons of the Empire were

Prince Jerome Bonaparte (acknowledged as Wolf Cub when he was 17 years old at the "Peace" Lodge in Toulon, then serving as Grand Master of the Grand Mother Lodge of Westphalia)

Prince Eugene de Beauharnais, Viceroy of Italy (founder of the Grand Orient and Supreme Council of Italy)

Prince Marshal Jozef Antoni Poniatowski ("Bracia Polacy Zjetnoczeni" Lodge, Warsaw)

Marshal Bon Adrien Jannot de Moncey, Duke of Conegliano

Marshal Nicolas Charles Oudinot, Duke of Reggio ("Saint Napoleon" Lodge, Amsterdam)

Marshal Louis-Gabriel Suchet, Duke of Albufera

Grand Marshal of the Palace Géraud-Michel Duroc, Duke of Friuli

General Jean Andoche Junot, Duke of Abrantes (initiated in Toulon in 1794 by "The Children of Mars and Neptune" and member of "The Great Master" Lodge, Paris)

General Armand de Caulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza ("Friends Meeting" and "Candor" lodges, Paris)

General général Jacques Alexandre Law de Lauriston ("Sully" Lodge, regiment of Toul, and deputy Grand Master of the GODF)

General Louis Bertrand de Sivray

General Charles Tristan de Monthollon

General Remi Joseph Isidore Exelmans

General Joseph Leopold Sigisbert Hugo ("Friends of the French Honor" Lodge)

Admiral Charles-Henri Verhuell

Joseph Simeon (Attorney for GODF, then Grand Master of the Kingdom of Westphalia)

Astronomer Pierre-Simon de Laplace

Baron Jean-Domique Larrey ("Children of Mars" Lodge at the 27th RI)

Sir Charles-Louis Cadet de Gassicourt

Painters Pierre Prud'hon ("The Charity" Lodge, Beaune), François Gerard ("The Great Sphinx" Lodge, Paris) and Jean-Baptiste Isabey ("Friends Meeting" and "Saint-Napoleon" lodges, Paris)

The tragedian François-Joseph Talma ("The Union" Lodge, Paris)

Academic Georges Cabanis

Writer and politician Benjamin Constant

Architects Alexandre Brongniart ("Saint John of the Social Contract" Lodge, Paris) and Pierre Fontaine

Composers Luigi Cherubini ("Saint John of Palestine" Lodge, the GODF) and Andre Gretry

Sculptor Claude Clodion ("Friends Meeting" Lodge, Paris)

Academic Joseph Lakanal ("The Perfect Point" and "The Triple Harmony" lodges, Paris)

Industrialist Christophe Oberkampf ("The Perfect Harmony" Lodge, Paris)

Privateer Robert Surcouf (initiated in 1796 to the "The Triple hope" Lodge in Port Louis, Mauritius and a member in 1809 of "The Triple Essence" Lodge in Saint-Malo)...

The fall of Napoleon caused to a large extent that of French Freemasonry. Louis XVIII was returned to power, and during the subsequent White Terror, people suspected of having ties with the government of the French Revolution or Napoleon – including the military and Freemasons – saw their armies and lodges decimated by "Knights of Faith," led by General Amédée Willot de Gramprez, a freemason himself. Duke Elie Decazes, Prefect of Police and a member of the Supreme Council of France, was hardly able to limit attacks against the Freemasons. The Freemasons would later, like many public figures, capitalize on political opportunism. But they would have to wait until the Second Empire and, more importantly, the Third Republic, before the Freemasonry would know a second "golden age" in France.

AcknowledgmentsA. Bouchon and Didier Grau, webmasters of this site, warmly thank their friend who permitted them to use his personal archives about Freemasonry during French Consulate and First Empire.