The history of Freemasonry in Belgium reflects the many influences on what is now Belgium from the neighbouring states.
18th century In the 18th century, Belgium was made up of 2 states – the Austrian Netherlands and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.
Austrian Netherlands Freemasonry in the Austrian Netherlands was very varied in its origins and expressions. The source of this fragmentation was to be found particularly in the complexity of its institutions, the influence of the government or surrounding powers, and its very deeply rooted local sense of identity.
The first Belgian lodge was founded in 1721 in Mons, under the name "La Parfaite Union" ("The Perfect Union"). It has frequently changed its name and allegiance since then, but still exists today as number 1 of the Grand Orient of Belgium. Other, more short-lived lodges seem to have been created in Ghent and Tournai in 1730. The first evidence of masonic activity in the provinces dates to 1743, in Brussels.See De Schampheleire This would be the "La Discrète Impériale" ("The Discrete Imperial") lodge of Aalst which would have number one on the tablet of the order of the Provincial Grand Lodge (Grande loge provinciale) of the Austrian Netherlands, the mother-lodge of London several times recognising it as the oldest in the region. It disappeared with the Provincial Grand Lodge of the Austrian Netherlands.See of the AusB. Vander Schelden
Thanks to the War of the Austrian Succession, from 1746 several lodges formed under the influence of French forces occupying the country and of the Grand Lodge of France (of which a French prince de sang, Louis de Bourbon Condé, Comte de Clermont, was Grand Master). These lodges received their patents from the Grand Lodge of France, the Grand Lodge of London, the Grand Lodge of Holland or the Grand Lodge of Scotland – for example, the "Parfaite Union" ("Perfect Union") Lodge at Namur, one of the "ancient" lodges, which in 1777 became the "Bonne Amitié" ("Good Friendship") lodge in Namur). After the Treaty of la Barrière in 1715, Batavian troops (also including English and Scottish troops) occupied the strongholds of the Austrian Netherlands (notably Namur, Tournai, Veurne, Ypres, Warneton) for a long and difficult period, and it was probably this that led to the creation or confirmation of more lasting lodges.
Another event, within freemasonry itself, accelerated the demand for patents from the non-French masonic authorities. Internal disputes within the Grand Lodge of France led to its suspension in 1767, a result of the Convent's secession from this Grand Lodge in Paris, having been excluded in previous years.See P. Chevalier From then on lodges in the Austrian Netherlands came to feel isolated. This was certainly the case for the "Vraie et Parfaite Harmonie" ("True and Perfect Harmony") lodge in Mons (English patent, received January 1770), probably also for the "Discrète Impériale" in Aalst (English patent, received June 1765) and perhaps for the "Parfaite Union/Bonne Amitié" in Namur (Scottish patent, received February 1770). In 1770, the Provincial Grand Lodge of the Austrian Netherlands formed, dependent on the Grand Lodge of London (the "Moderns"), made up of 26 lodges and with the Marquis de Gage as its Grand Master. It was centred on de Gage's own lodge "la Vraie et Parfaite Harmonie" in Mons, the most brilliant of the 18th century Austrian Netherlands.
It was in Brussels that Belgian Freemasonry was particularly important, with Masons frequently coming from its noble families. Also the ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles) was also founded by several Masons, many of whom were also Catholics, following an appeal by the Lodges of Belgium. Itinéraire de la franc-maçonnerie à Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Société royale belge de Géographie / Parcours maçonnique, 2000 – (collection, Hommes et paysages; 31) To quote the writer Liane RanieriHistoire de Bruxelles, Toulouse, Privat, 1976, p.352"Originating from Brussels' Masonic lodges, Brussels' University largely benefitted from the communal [Masonic] authorities; [there were] 25 Masons out of its 31 administrators". An imperial edict of Joseph II of January 1786 reduced the number of lodges in Brussels to 3 and banned them in all the other towns and cities. The Marquis de Gage tried to stall the edict but to no avail, and on 26 June that same year he was dismissed. Of the 3 official lodges in Brussels, only one truly continued the struggle.
It is useful to underline that the majority of 18th century lodges belonged to one man who became his lodge's president and so usually died out when he or his descendants died out.P. Chevalier Examples of this include the "Parfaite Union" (Fonson family), "Vraie et Parfaite harmonie" (Marquis de Gage) and "Union des cœurs" ("Union of Hearts", by the chevalier de Sicard) lodges. Others, like the "Parfaite Union/Bonne Amitié" of Namur, did not have this characteristic and had presidents who succeeded each other quite regularly. This was why Joseph II's edict more surely put to sleep the majority of lodges of this era.
Nevertheless, a number of lodges continued to operate in secret. These were helped by the Brabant Revolution, whose beginnings can be seen as early as 1787 and which broke out in earnest in 1789 in the wake of the French Revolution. As a result, there arose one lodge in Tournai, two in Mons, one in Namur, one in Antwerp and one in Luxembourg.
18th century lodges in Brussels One lodge, name unknown, c.1740. L’Union, 1742. L’Equité, 1743. L’Union Parfaite, 1754. Loge Saint-Charles. La Constance de l’Union, 1769. La Constance Eprouvée (20 mai 1770) L’Heureuse Rencontre, 1772. La Parfaite Amitié (ou l’Amitié), 1772. Les Vrais Amis de la Justice, 1775. Les Vrais Amis de l’Union, 1782. L’Union Fraternelle, 1784. La Constance de l’Union (or les Amis de l’Union), 1784.
Lodges of adoption (women) La Parfaite Harmonie, 1782. A l’Heureuse Rencontre (Les Vrais Amis) Au Chapitre de l’Union, 1777. Aux Vrais Amis de l’Union. Grande Loge de Saint-André d’Écosse, 1785.
Secret Lodge Au Pot d’Etain, Grand Place.
Prince-Bishopric of Liège The lodges in the principality of Liège, not submitted to the imperial edict of 1786, continued in a more classical manner.
In the principality of Liège, the first lodge seems to have been "La Nymphe" ("The Nymph") lodge of Chaudfontaine in 1749. In 1760, the prince-bishop banned freemasonry, but his successor François-Charles de Velbrück (1772–1784) belonged to and protected the Order (during the 18th century, several Catholic priests were also Freemasons.)
In 1774 the "Union des Cœurs" lodge was founded in Liège by chevalier Pierre de Sicard, who had already founded several lodges from which he profited (according to U. Capitaine) – in the lodge's regulations, the cost of a mallet, an apron, a lodge rug and other Masonic equipment was precisely stipulated! This was not the first time that the mercantile instinct had intruded into Freemasonry, with France's Grand Lodge also struggling against it at this time. This was why, Ulysse Capitaine tells us, there was a huge transfer of "brothers" from this lodge to the "la Parfaite Intelligence" ("The Perfect Intelligence") lodge, created in 1775 by the Grand Orient de France. A schism quickly took place in this lodge, with the creation of the "la Parfaite Egalité" ("The Perfect Equality") lodge, finally recognised by the Grand Orient de France in 1776. Another lodge, the "Indivisible", in Spa, was created by the Grand Lodge of Holland in 1778 and rejoined the Grand Orient de France (according to Ulysse Capitaine) in 1787.
The Grand Orient de Bouillon The Duchy of Bouillon, annexed from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège by French troops of Louis XIV, was a sovereign duchy set up for the Duc de Bouillon. Its dukes during the 18th century were Charles-Godefroy, then Godefroy-Charles de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne. The La Tour d'Auvergne family in this era was strongly linked to the House of Stuart, deposed from the English throne (the Duke was the brother-in-law of James III of England), as well as being enthusiastic freemasons. This Grand Orient thus represented the "Jacobite" tendency within Freemasonry (named after James II of England), a Freemasonry traditionally finding its roots among the Catholic Scottish nobility and in a format based on the upper degrees of freemasonry. This Grand Orient was represented by one lodge, the "Saint-Charles de la Parfaite Harmonie", situated in Bouillon. Its presence was historically confirmed in 1763, but few documents on it survive. It was the origin for other lodges, such as "Amitié et Fraternité" in 1786 in Dunkirk. Its influence was probably more important than the surviving documents seem to show.André de Kervella
1795 to 1814 The French Revolution decimated freemasonry in France itself – from around 700 lodges and 30,000 masons during the ancien regime, only around 30 lodges and a few thousand masons remained. – but led to a new start for Belgian freemasonry. This was due to the new French republic's annexation of the Austrian Netherlands in 1794, and its merger into France from 1795 to 1814. From 1798, thanks to French military lodges, the "Les Amis Philanthropes" lodge was created in Brussels, giving second wind to Belgian freemasonry and forming the basis for the most important Belgian Masonic works of the following century. The military lodges also caused a massive expansion in the number of new lodges (see the list below).
The French period was characterised by an important expansion in Freemasonry in what would become Belgium. These lodges were perhaps revolutionary, anticlerical and Francophile. They were above all, at least in appearances, strongly submitted to French imperial power – Napoleon, as emperor, favoured Freemasonry only because he controlled it. It was at this time largely Deist, if not Catholic, even if anti-clericalism was never really absent, and experience little tension with the Roman Catholic Church. This period came to an end with Napoleon's final defeat at the battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815, by which time Belgium had 27 lodges.
1815–1830 The treaty of Paris and the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars annexed Belgium to the kingdom of the Netherlands, with Belgian Freemasonry coming under Dutch instead of French influence. Some of its lodges disappeared with the end of French control, some of which were revived later. The Grand Lodge of the Netherlands (Grand Loge des Pays-Bas) formed at this time, with two administrative Grand Lodges (one for the north, known as Holland, and the other for the south, known as Belgium); the southern one included the "Bonne amitié" lodge of Namur, which was number one on the southern administrative Grand Lodge's tablet.See G. de Froidcourt Prince Frédéric d'Orange-Nassau became the overall lodge's Serenest Grand Master and Prince Charles-Alexandre de Gavre, a member of the "Bonne Amitié" lodge of Namur since the mid-1770s, became the southern lodge's official representative. Nevertheless, few records survive on the relations between the two administrative lodges and between the Serenest Grand Master and the various lodges, especially those in Belgium. These relations are illustrated by an episode in 1821 when the Belgian lodges suppressed the upper grades to replace them with a system of two contemporary grades to three top grades ("Élu" and "Maître Élu").