Published anonymously in 1747, Les Francs-Maçons écrasés: Suite Du Livre Intitulé L'ordre Des Francs-maçons Trahi is ascribed to Abbé Larudan – and was the first work to advance the claim that Freemasonry was established by Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658)

Abbé Larudan is an unknown figure. It was speculated by Jacques Brengues that “Larudan” was an anagram of “Arnauld”, that it was the pseudonym of Henri Charles Arnauld de Pomponne (1699-1756)

The English translations of the Rosicrucian Manifestos were published in 1652 by Eugenius Philalethes (Thomas Vaughan, 1622-1666). The English Revolution lasted between 1642-1649

Below, the 1658 engraving by William Faithorne the Elder (1616-1691), unofficially called “Cromwell Between Two Pillars”, could possibly have inspired the claim that Freemasonry was established by Oliver Cromwell