Areopagus Lodge

[2] It was founded in 1796 in Itambé, Pernambuco by Manuel Arruda da Câmara, a former Carmelite friar who had been educated in France.

[3][4] It was inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution including the Conspiracy of Suassuna which aimed to create an independent republic allied to Napoleon Bonaparte.

The lodge's initial members included the brothers of the Alvarez family, the three Cavalcanti de Albuquerque brothers, priests Velho Cardoso, Pereira Tinoco, Montenegro Albuquerque, Joao Pessoa Ribeiro, and José Luis Lima Cavalcanti, the latter being the vicar of Recife, Pernambuco.

[citation needed] The lodge was founded as a political project, based on the struggle for equality, liberty and fraternity.

Some Masons fled, to sow Masonry in other locations, such as Merchants of Cape St. Agosatinho, Recife, and other Igarassu.