Freemasonry was a secret society espousing a "cult of humanism" as Eugen Weber called it, 30,000 strong in France alone in the 18th Century.

Meeting in Lodges, they offered a secular international alternative to the church and spread the ideas of the Enlightenment and it's confidence in human reason.

Voltaire, Diderot, Frederic the Great and Mozart all were Freemasons as well as

The enormous and enduring influence of the Masons can be seen in the symbolism and the words on the dollar bill:

Casanova was probably a Freemason. He certainly lived and breathed the ideas of the Enlightenment. The word "reason" alone occurs dozens of times in his book. Note his emphasis on precise measurement and the value he places on individual freedom.