As has already been discussed, Freemasonry may have emerged out of an earlier order known as The Order of the Noachites, or Chevaliers Prussians. Some say this is why Freemasons are often known as Noachites, even though there are many many more connections between Freemasonry and Noahidism. To learn more about Freemasonry and Noahide Law see the main article on this subject (here)
The Origin, History & Purport of Freemasonry
by John Fellows
The order of Noachites, or Chevaliers Prussian.
This order, there is reason to believe, was instituted by the ancient Prussians. It claims priority over that of the freemasons of England. The author of an expose of the ritual of that institution, which will be noticed below, gives just fifty-three years between the periods of the two establishments; and says, " This tradition is firmly believed." In corroboration of this fact, Dr. Anderson observes, " The first name of Masons, according to some old traditions, was Noachidse." The ceremonies of the Noachites seem to have served in some measure, as a model upon which those of freemasonry are founded. Although the scene of the establishment of this order is laid at the Tower of Babel, instead of the Temple of Solomon, the craft of masonry, as in the freemasons' society, is made use of to cover the real design of the institution, the maintaining of religious dogmas, if not the recovery of independence. The following remarks, in Guthrie's sketch of the history of ancient Prussia and Poland, will tend to show at what time this institution was probably formed. Speaking of Poland, he says, "From this period [830] for some centuries we have no very certain records of the history of Poland. The title of duke was retained till the year 999, when Boleslaus (the I.) assumed the title of king, and conquered Moravia, Prussia, and Bohemia, making them tributary to Poland." Of Prussia. — " The ancient history of Prussia, like that of other kingdoms, it lost in the clouds of fiction and romance. The inhabitants appear to have been a brave and warlike people. They were descended from the Slavonians, and refused to submit to the neighboring princes, who, on pretence of converting them to Christianity, wanted to reduce them to slavery. They made a noble stand against the kings of Poland; one of whom, Boleslaus IV. they defeated and killed in 1163. They continued Pagans, till the time of the latter crusades, about the year 1227." From the foregoing statements, it appears that the sway of Poland over Prussia, obtained in 999, was not of long duration; and it is reasonable to conjecture, that soon after the conquest, the people of Prussia established the order of Noachites. It was evidently a military institution, and undoubtedly intended as a rallying point, to operate as occasions might occur, for the recovery of the civil and religious liberties of the nation. Admitting that the society of Noachites was founded in the year 1000, which is highly probable, and provided the foregoing tradition be correct, the establishment of freemasonry in England, would have occurred about the middle of the eleventh century, which is as late as it is likely to have been neglected, after the edict of Canute prohibiting the open worship of the Druids. Bernard, in his account of this order, says, "The grand master, general of the order, whose title is chevalier grand commander, is Frederic William, king of Prussia. His ancestors, for three hundred years, have been protectors of this order. The knights were formerly known by the name of Noachites. " The Noachites, now called Prussian Chevaliers, are descended from Peleg, the grand architect of the tower of Babel, their origin being more ancient than that of the masons descended from Hiram. — The knights assemble on the night of the full moon in the month of March, [the vernal equinox] in a secret place, to hold their lodges; and they cannot initiate a candidate into the mysteries of this order unless by the light of the moon." Great innovations have been introduced into the ceremonies of this order. I have a copy of its ritual, which, from its antiquity and Druidical style, may be presumed genuine. It was reprinted from a London copy, by John Holt, New York, 1768. As a curiosity, and as bearing a relationship to the ancient mysteries, I will give an abstract of it. The order consists of two degrees, called Minor and Major; and the officers form what masonically may be termed a Chapter, to which the other members are not admitted. This chapter comports with the royal arch of freemasonry; for here the secret word, Belusy is revealed, which, the reader is aware, is the same as Osiris, personated by Hiram. The expounder of the order appears to have committed an error, in giving this word at the opening of the minor's degree j because it is expressly said afterwards, that it was unknown to all but officers.
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