The Protocols of the Elders of ZionThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion (Протоколы сионских мудрецов) or The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion is an antisemitic forgery purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Russia in 1903, translated into multiple languages, and disseminated internationally in the early part of the 20th century. It played a key part in popularizing belief in an international Jewish conspiracy.
Anti-Masonic PartyThe Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest third party in the United States. Formally a single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry in the United States. It was active from the late 1820s, especially in the Northeast, and later attempted to become a major party by expanding its platform to take positions on other issues. It declined quickly after 1832 as most members joined the new Whig Party; it disappeared after 1838. The party was founded following the disappearance of William Morgan, a former Mason who had become a prominent critic of the Masonic organization.
StonemasonryStonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar, to wall or cover formed structures. The basic tools, methods and skills of the banker mason have existed as a trade for thousands of years. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history.
RosicrucianismRosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts announcing to the world a new esoteric order. Rosicrucianism is symbolized by the Rosy Cross or Rose Cross. Between 1610 and 1615, two anonymous manifestos appeared in Germany and soon after were published throughout Europe. The Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis (The Fame of the Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross) was published at Cassel in 1614, though it had been circulated in manuscript among German occultists since about 1610.
Anti-MasonryAnti-Masonry (alternatively called anti-Freemasonry) is "avowed opposition to Freemasonry", which has led to multiple forms of religious discrimination, violent persecution, and suppression in some countries as well as in various organized religions (primarily Abrahamic religions). However, there is no homogeneous anti-Masonic movement. Anti-Masonry consists of radically differing criticisms from frequently incompatible political institutions and organized religions that oppose each other, and are hostile to Freemasonry in some form.
Papal ban of FreemasonryThe Catholic Church first prohibited Catholics from membership in Masonic organizations and other secret societies in 1738. Since then, at least eleven popes have made pronouncements about the incompatibility of Catholic doctrines and Freemasonry. From 1738 until 1983, Catholics who publicly associated with, or publicly supported, Masonic organizations were censured with automatic excommunication. Since 1983, the prohibition on membership exists in a different form.
