Freemasonry in Mexico: History, Rites, and Foundational Myths
Freemasonry in Mexico is the Masonic tradition developed in Mexican territory since the second half of the 18th century, characterized by the coexistence of various rites—mainly the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the Mexican National Rite, and the York Rite—and by its close historical ties with liberalism and the construction of the Mexican state. Officially emerging with the independence of the First Mexican Empire in 1821, Mexican Freemasonry has since maintained a continuous presence in the country’s public life, with predominantly male lodges alongside female and mixed lodges that have been gaining ground since the 19th century.
Origins and colonial era
The Masonic presence in colonial Mexico dates back to the second half of the 18th century, when French emigrants settled in the capital of New Spain introduced the first Masonic practices. These early Masons were accused and condemned by the local Inquisition, which saw Freemasonry as a threat to religious orthodoxy and the colonial order. The Inquisitorial archives paradoxically constitute one of the main documentary sources for this period, although their evidentiary value is limited: the charge of belonging to Freemasonry was frequently used to condemn without the possibility of defense, so accusations did not always correspond to actual affiliation.
The existence of itinerant lodges in the Spanish royalist army stationed in New Spain is considered probable, although without documentary support. Likewise, it is possible that some autonomist and independence-minded Creoles, linked to the Enlightenment ideas of the 18th century, may have had contact with Freemasonry, although this hypothesis lacks conclusive evidence. Historian Virginia Guedea has pointed out the structural similarity between the patriotic societies of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and Masonic lodges, suggesting an organizational influence rather than direct affiliation.
War of Independence and founding myths
The Mexican War of Independence (1810-1821) has been the subject of abundant Masonic mythology, largely fueled by the work of liberal politician José María Mateos, Historia de la masonería en México desde 1806 hasta 1884, published in 1884. According to the tradition collected by Mateos, who provided no documentary evidence, the independence leaders Miguel Hidalgo, José María Morelos, and Ignacio Allende belonged to Freemasonry, whom he places as initiates of the lodge “Arquitectura Moral,” located at 4 Ratas Street—today 73 Bolívar Street—in Mexico City. The same tradition attributed the assassination of Agustín de Iturbide to a Masonic lodge of the Scottish Rite, an equally unsubstantiated claim.
Other figures of the period have been identified as Masons, including Vicente Guerrero and the friar Servando Teresa de Mier. In the case of Teresa de Mier, it is known that he joined the Spanish army on the Peninsula and that in Cádiz he entered the patriotic society “Caballeros Racionales,” but his Masonic membership is an undocumented hypothesis. Historians such as León Zeldis Mandel and José Antonio Ferrer Benimeli have warned that Latin American Freemasonry has built its own mythology, moving away from historical scientific rigor, and that many of these attributions should be treated with caution.
First Empire and first republic (1821-1830)
After independence, the few existing lodges came to light and multiplied rapidly. From 1821 until 1982, a large part of Mexico’s rulers presumably belonged to Freemasonry, although this claim requires nuance and case-by-case verification.
During this period, the fundamental division of Mexican Freemasonry took shape. On the one hand, Joel R. Poinsett, American agent and minister plenipotentiary between 1822 and 1823, promoted the creation of York Rite lodges, inclined toward the interests of the United States. On the other hand, Masons close to the Spanish liberalism of Rafael del Riego and the Revolution of 1820 formed the Scottish Lodge of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, headed by the Barcelona-born physician Manuel Codorniu Ferreras, who through his newspaper El Sol defended the republic, opposed Iturbide’s monarchy, and advocated the exclusion of the Catholic Church from education and civil society. Codorniu also founded the Lancasterian Company in Mexico.
The Yorkino lodges became associated with American liberalism, while the Scottish lodges were linked to Spanish liberalism. In 1825, Masons who identified with neither option founded the Mexican National Rite, of a nationalist character, seeking a distinct political model for the country. Recent historiography has debunked the simplification identifying the Yorkinos with liberals and the Scottish with conservatives, calling it a “nonsense and historical simplification”; the relationship between Masonic rites and political factions was much more complex and has been scarcely studied.
19th century: expansion and consolidation
Throughout the 19th century, Mexican Freemasonry became associated with liberalism and the reduction of the Catholic Church’s political influence, supporting ideas of secular government, public education, freedom of conscience, and Church-State separation, although the degree of direct influence of the lodges on these policies is a matter of historiographical debate.
The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite experienced notable expansion in the second half of the century. In 1860, Charles Laffon de Ladebat, a Mason linked to the Scottish Rite of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, traveled to Veracruz and participated in the establishment of the Supreme Council of Mexico. However, there were disputes among various Scottish organizations over lineage, recognition, ritual, and jurisdiction, so it cannot be asserted without qualification that a single organization exercised exclusive national authority.
During the French Intervention and the Second Mexican Empire, French military lodges linked to the Grand Orient of France operated in Mexican territory; most disappeared after the withdrawal of French troops. Among the Mexican presidents identified as Masons by historian Karen Racine is Antonio López de Santa Anna, although this attribution is not documentarily proven in the available sources.
Women and Freemasonry
At the end of the 19th century, some Mexican Masons supported female education and the creation of lodges for women, although this initiative was controversial in organizations that limited full membership to men. The writer and educator Laureana Wright de Kleinhans actively participated in debates on women and Mexican Freemasonry, arguing against the exclusion of women from the institution. Today, male lodges, the majority, coexist in Mexico alongside female and mixed lodges, reflecting a process of opening that began in the 19th century and continues to develop.
Historiography and sources
The historical study of Mexican Freemasonry presents specific difficulties. Inquisitorial sources, although abundant, are not conclusive due to the political use of the charge of Freemasonry. Patriotic societies, for their part, present structural similarities with lodges, making it difficult to distinguish between the two. The Masonic mythology built in the 19th century, exemplified in Mateos’s work, has contaminated part of the historiographical tradition. Authors such as Virginia Guedea, León Zeldis Mandel, José Antonio Ferrer Benimeli, and Karen Racine have contributed to a more rigorous analysis, although numerous documentary gaps persist.
In the 21st century, Mexican Freemasonry maintains its presence with the three historical rites—Scottish, Mexican National, and York—to which are added, in a very minor way, lodges of English origin. The institution continues to be a relevant phenomenon for understanding Mexico’s political and cultural history, although its study requires carefully distinguishing between documented facts, plausible hypotheses, and legendary traditions.