The first Grand Lodge was formed on 24 June the feast day of John the Baptist in 1717.
[1] This may arise from an old tradition, as the Baptist appears to have been regarded as the patron of stonemasons in continental Europe during the Middle Ages.
The guild of masons and carpenters attached to Cologne Cathedral was known as the Fraternity of St. John the Baptist.
[3] As records of individual lodges appear in Ireland and in the Antients' in England, it seems many of them met to install a new master twice a year, on the feast days of both the Baptist and the Evangelist.
The Lodge of Edinburgh was associated with the aisle of St. John the Evangelist in St. Giles Cathedral from the 15th century.