Women in Freemasonry: formal exclusion and parallel paths
The relationship between Freemasonry and women has, for centuries, been complex and predominantly discriminatory. Although the foundational constitutions of the Premier Grand Lodge of England formally prohibited the admission of women, there is documented testimony of female participation in Masonic activities since medieval times. From the 18th century onward, parallel systems developed in continental Europe—the adoption lodges—which allowed women to participate within their own ritual framework. Today, recognition of female and mixed Freemasonry divides the main Masonic traditions: while continental jurisdictions linked to the Grand Orient admit them, Anglo-American Freemasonry does not officially recognize them, although unofficial relations may be cordial.
Women in Operative Freemasonry
In medieval and Renaissance Europe, the legal status of women was subject to paternal authority and, after marriage, to that of the husband. Nevertheless, local law recognized the figure of the femme sole—an unmarried woman or widow with independent legal capacity—which allowed some widows of merchants to continue the business of their deceased husband and, on occasion, to enjoy the rights and privileges of the corresponding guild. Exceptions were more frequent in trades linked to traditional female occupations, such as mercery or sewing, but cases are also recorded in construction.
The first documented testimony of a woman identified as a mason dates from 1256, when a woman named Gunnilda appears as such in the Calendar for Close Rolls of Norwich. In England, the Regius Manuscript (c. 1390–1425) and the records of the York Minster guild from 1408 offer indications of female participation. Likewise, the London Masons’ Company employed women in administrative tasks, with entitlement to the benefits of membership.
The York Manuscript No. 4, dated 1693 and used as a warrant by the later Grand Lodge of All England at York, contains the phrase “hee or shee that is to be made mason.” Some Masonic historians have considered it a typographical error, but Adolphus Frederick Alexander Woodford, a scholar and cataloguer of these documents, regarded it as genuine. This historiographical debate remains open.
In Scotland, the minutes of the Lodge of St. Mary’s Chapel in Edinburgh, corresponding to the 16th and 17th centuries, codify a female status similar to that of England: a burgess could pay for the Freedom to employ and instruct masons, and the widow of a master mason could accept commissions from former clients, provided she employed a lodge officer to supervise the work.
There is also a tradition, not documented, according to which Sabina von Steinbach, daughter of the architect, worked on Strasbourg Cathedral in the early 14th century. The first reference to her work dates from three hundred years later, so it must be considered legend rather than documented fact.
Adoption Lodges
While the Freemasonry of the Premier Grand Lodge of England spread across France, the French fraternity remained within the letter of the Andersonian prohibition on women, but saw no reason to prevent them from attending its banquets or religious services. During the 1740s, adoption lodges began to appear, attached to a regular, exclusively male lodge. In them, the wives and female relatives of Masons were admitted into a parallel system of degrees, with a moral tone similar to that of the lodge’s authentic rite. The oldest ones had a nautical theme.
In 1747, the Chevalier Beauchaine initiated the Order of Woodcutters (Ordre des Fendeurs), with rites supposedly based on an early version of the Carbonari. In 1774, adoption lodges came under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of France, and the published regulations show a system of four degrees: Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master, and Perfect Masoness. Over time, additional degrees were added and removed, until reaching a system of ten degrees by the end of the 18th century. The idea spread widely across Europe, but never appeared in England.
After a brief eclipse during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, adoption lodges flourished again. Empress Joséphine presided over one of them in Strasbourg in 1805. However, in 1808 the Grand Orient decided that these lodges were unconstitutional and they became marginalized until the same Grand Orient reactivated them in 1901. In their new incarnation, the presidency was held by a woman, whereas previously only a man could occupy the “Chair of King Solomon.” The final separation occurred in 1935, and in 1959 they adopted the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, constituting themselves as the Grande Loge féminine de France and integrating into regular Freemasonry. Only one lodge, Cosmos, maintains the adoptive rite.
The Case of Sweden
In Sweden, the presence of women Masons seems to have occurred early, although information is scarce. According to Swedish Masonic documents, Hedvig Charlotta Nordenflycht was in 1747 Grand Master of a certain “Ordre de la resemblance,” which may be interpreted as a female adoption lodge, although this interpretation is not conclusive. A confirmed female lodge does not appear until the 1770s.
On May 2, 1776, the Grand Master of the Swedish Masonic Order, Duke Charles, had his wife, Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte of Holstein-Gottorp, inaugurated as Grand Master of a female adoption lodge attached to his own lodge at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, called “Le véritable et constante.”
Mixed and Modern Female Freemasonry
In the late 19th century, rites similar to adoption emerged in the United States, allowing Masons and their female relatives to participate together in ritual. These bodies carefully distinguished between mixed ritual and men’s Freemasonry, and the British lodges of the 18th century and their American offshoots remained exclusively male.
In the 1890s, mixed lodges following a standard Masonic ritual began to appear in France, and they quickly spread to other countries. Shortly afterward, exclusively female jurisdictions appeared. As a general rule, the admission of women is now recognized in the continental jurisdictions of the Grand Orient. In Anglo-American Freemasonry, neither mixed nor exclusively female lodges are officially recognized, although unofficial relations may be cordial, with premises sometimes shared.
Conclusion
The history of women in Freemasonry is the history of formal exclusion tempered by real exceptions and by the development of parallel paths of participation. From the medieval testimonies of women linked to the building trades to the adoption lodges of the 18th century and the contemporary mixed and female jurisdictions, female presence has been constant albeit unequal. The current division between continental jurisdictions, which recognize female and mixed Freemasonry, and Anglo-American ones, which do not officially recognize it, reflects the persistence of different conceptions about the nature of the institution and about the role of women within it. The historiographical debate over documents such as York Manuscript No. 4 reminds us that the interpretation of sources remains a living matter of study.