Freemansony and hastiludes

In 1774 Duke Karl of Södermanland became Grand Master of the Swedish Freemasons. Under his leadership the Swedish masonic system was to be expanded into ten degrees. The IX Masonic Province (known from 1937 onwards as the Swedish Masonic Order) was founded in 1780.

The first hastiludes, arranged by Karl's brother, King Gustav III, coincided with Karl's creation, on medieval lines, of the chapter system of higher degrees in which symbolic stories were transformed into reality. These chapter degrees became "a secret order" in which the cloak and sword of the knight replaced the apron and trowel of the mason. This allusion to a medieval order of chivalry attracted many people from the upper reaches of society and enhanced the pleasure they took in the antiquity of freemansony.

At the hastiludes in Adolf Fredriks Torg in 1777, the Duke's quadrille assembled on the courtyard of the Rosenhane Palace on the island of Riddarholmen, at that time the home of the knights of the Duke's quadrille carried shields with masonic symbols, indicating their membership of the order.

Duke Karl's armour, probably made at the same time as Gustav III's armour for the Ekolsund hastiludes of 1776, acquired a new function in 1780, when it became the uniform of the Grand Master. The Duke's own armorial symbols were replaced by the symbols of this new dignity, at the same time as the masonic sword and the Grand Master's insignia were added. The armour was used at private tournaments or hastiludes organised by Duke Karl exclusively for freemansons, probably in the grounds of Rosersbergs Castle.

At these hastiludes the knights in the King's and Duke's quadrilles carried coat of arms which, in addition to a motto, were also blazoned with emblematic pictures. The choice of masonic symbols for the shields of the Duke's quadrille can be put down to several of its members being freemansons. Those shields can be taken as the fore-runners of the armorial shields which began to be used in the masonic order in 1777.

The connection is apparent from the riveted border surrounding the actual armorial bearings. The three rivets at the sides symbolise the attachment of the leather straps behind the shield, which went round the wearer's arm. Chapter brethren initiated into the VII degree were given a coat of arms with a chivalric name and motto, a custom which is still practised today.