What year did freemasonry start?

There are no records to indicate in what year Freemasonry began, and it depends somewhat on how you define Freemasonry. We know that he stone masons who built the cathedrals and castles in the middle ages formed a sort of trade union in some locations in Britain and Europe. This activity can be traced back as far as 926 when Prince Edwin, son of King Athelstan, presided over a meeting of Masons at York, England.

The most widely accepted theory is that the modern fraternal organization of Freemasons evolved out of that group of stone masons. There is evidence that by the mid 1600's there were some independent lodges (groups) of "Free and Accepted Masons" who were not working stone masons.

The current fraternal institution of regular Freemasonry can be said to have started when the first Grand Lodge was formed in London, England, on St John's day, June 24 , 1717 and the fraternity has continued on uninterrupted to today.