[3] This Masonic exposure is most notable for being the first the posit the theory that Oliver Cromwell created the society of Freemasons for the sole purpose of overthrowing the English monarchy and placing himself at the head of the Commonwealth of England.
This theory is founded upon two claims: first, that the ideologies of Freemasonry and Cromwell's political agenda are similar (i.e. liberty and equality for all people); and second, that he gathered this information from an anonymous Grand Master of English Freemasons.
[4] According to Abbé Larudan, Cromwell initiated his closest friends—who were dedicated to his mission to free everyone from the tyrannical rule of the monarchs—into this secret society he called the Freemasons, and held them under severe oaths of loyalty, and he received instruction to do this by divine providence.
[6] The theory of the origin of Freemasonry as a cult of Oliver Cromwell has been refuted by most Masonic scholars, and is largely held as being an invention of Abbé Larudan's imagination.
In fact, the whole Cromwellian origin of Masonry would have fallen into total obscurity had it not been revived by Léo Taxil a century and a half after Abbé Larudan.