Probably certainly no or earlier than 1300. Organized Freemasonry probably goes back a few decades before that but not much more. This is the Regius Poem which was published then and it is basically the bylaws of a guild trade association. We know the Freemasonry was an organized institution in the British Isles and traces back to 1390 or so. Okay, let’s let’s get a few terms laid out here. I take a contrary position I believe that the High Degrees of Freemasonry have been an integral part of Freemasonry from our earliest days as a speculative institution, and they deserve our respect and our support because it’s part of the entire body a Freemasonry. They believe that everything beyond that is not part of Masonry and really is just superfluous and is dragging down the enterprise. Now I know that some contemporary authors, in fact many authors through the years have maintained that pure Masonry is the Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, Master Mason, and sometimes they throw in and include the the Royal Arch. The High Degrees are broadly termed as high degrees and it’s an area of research I’m very interested in.

These are the degrees that occur after the Hiramical legend in the Master Masons degree. I am going to use simple terminology that everyone understands.

So I’m not going to be politically correct.

Now I know it may be politically incorrect to say that there is anything higher than the Master Mason degree, but in fact High Degrees is the term that has been used for centuries to define the various degrees and ceremonies and rites that exist after the Master Mason degree. PRESENTED BY: I’m going to speak about the High Degrees of Freemasonry. HISTORY OF THE HIGH DEGREES OF THE YORK RITE

Red lodge masonry