The order initially served the higher nobility. In 1738, King Frederick I briefly banned the society on pain of death, but he rescinded the ban after only a few months once the Freemasons paid official homage to him.
Freemasonry was introduced to Sweden not from England, but through . Svenska frimureriets historia
In 1756, Carl Friedrich Eckleff formed the first St. Andrews lodge in Stockholm, and in 1759, he established a Grand Chapter, introducing a progressive system of higher degrees. The order initially served the higher nobility