Marc Bédarride (4 February 1776 – April 1846) was a French writer, military officer and

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. He served the

First French Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (), was founded on 21 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted u ...

during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

under

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

in Egypt and later in the Italian Peninsula. Although born in France, the conquests of the

War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition () (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on periodisation) was the second war targeting French Revolution, revolutionary French First Republic, France by many European monarchies, led by Kingdom of Great Britain, Britai ...

brought him to the Italian Peninsula where his chief legacy was the founding of the masonic

Rite of Misraim The Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraïm is a masonic rite combining esoteric spirituality with humanitarian ideals. Created in Naples in September 1881, it emerged from the fusion of two distinct masonic systems: the Rite of Misra� ...

in 1813.

Biography

Background

Bédarride came from a

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

family from

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

; the family took their name from

Bédarrides Bédarrides (; Provençal: ''Bedarrida'') is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Name The settlement is attested as ''villa Betorrida'' in 814, ''Biturrita'' in 898, ''Bistur ...

where the family had lived for some time and had been familiar with

Kabbalistic Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal (). Jewi ...

currents in Judaism there through the ''

Dönmeh The Dönmeh (, , ) were a group of Sabbatean crypto-Jews in the Ottoman Empire who were forced to convert to Islam, but retained their Jewish faith and Kabbalistic beliefs in secret. The Sabbatean movement was centered mainly in Thessalonik ...

'' movement. Mardochée "Marc" Bédarride was born at

Cavaillon Cavaillon (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France.

, then part of

Comtat Venaissin The (; ; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the for short, was a part of the Papal States from 1274 to 1791, in what is now the region of Southern France. The region was an enclave within the Kingdom of France, comprising the area aroun ...

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

on 4 February 1776 to Gad Bédarride (1740—25 December 1800) and Gentille Milhaud (1747—6 September 1831). He had two brothers; Jossuda "Joseph" Bédarride (1787—1840) and Michel Bédarride (29 August 1778—9 February 1856). Their father, Gad, became a freemason at

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

in 1771.

Military

He served as part of

's Army as an officer during the French campaign in Egypt alongside Jean Poussielgue,

Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier Jean-Baptiste Joseph Fourier (; ; 21 March 1768 – 16 May 1830) was a French mathematician and physicist born in Auxerre, Burgundy and best known for initiating the investigation of Fourier series, which eventually developed into Fourier analys ...

Bernardino Drovetti Bernardino Michele Maria Drovetti (January 7, 1776 – March 5, 1852) was an Italian antiquities looter, diplomat, and politician. He is best remembered for having acquired the Turin Royal Canon and for his questionable behavior in collecti ...

and Jean Baptiste Henraux. After returning to Europe from the Egypt campaign he arrived at

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

in the Italian Peninsula. On 14 January 1799, he was appointed Captain of Staff of the Army of the

Parthenopean Republic The Parthenopean Republic (, ) or Neapolitan Republic () was a short-lived, semi-autonomous republic located within the Kingdom of Naples and supported by the French First Republic. The republic emerged during the French Revolutionary Wars after ...

under the command of General

Jean Étienne Championnet Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

. He was commander of the 18th ''"Les Emules de Mars"'' Line Battalion at the

Battle of Marengo The Battle of Marengo was fought on 14 June 1800 between French forces under the First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte and Austrian forces near the city of Alessandria, in Piedmont, Italy. Near the end of the day, the French overcame General ...

Freemasonry

While serving in the French military, Bédarride became involved in

Freemasonry Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. He was a scholar of

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Ancient Greek, Greek , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian History of Egypt, history, Egyptian language, language, Ancient Egypt ...

(something then very popular in France) and an honorary member of the Bonapartist Lodge of the Philosophical

Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a List of Masonic rites, rite within the broader context of Freemasonry. It is the most widely practiced List of Masonic rites, Rite in the world. In some parts of the world, and in the ...

"''Saint Napoleon''" of Palazzo Cocchi-Serristori in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. In 1801, he organized a meeting in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

of the most important Masonic lodges of the

Kingdom of Etruria The Kingdom of Etruria ( ; ) was an Italian kingdom between 1801 and 1807 that made up a large part of modern Tuscany. It took its name from Etruria, the old Roman name for the land of the Etruscans. History The kingdom was created by the ...

, together with Jacob Bédarride, Mathieu de Lesseps, the Consul General of France in Florence (and father of

Ferdinand de Lesseps Ferdinand Marie, Comte de Lesseps (; 19 November 1805 – 7 December 1894) was a French Orientalist diplomat and owner of Main Idea of the Suez Canal, which in 1869 joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas, substantially reducing sailing distan ...

) and "Philalete Abraham" (perhaps Giulio Cesare Tassoni, Napoleonic diplomat). In 1813 he founded in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

the lodge ''"La Figlia della Sapienza"'' then directed in 1814 by the Grand Cofto General Lorenzo Montemayor (1768-1841) and historically linked to the lodge ''"I Figli della Libertà"'' which had been underground since 1799. He is remembered for having founded the Masonic "''Rito Egizio di Misraim''" in 1813 and, together with Jacob and Joseph, constituted the first Egyptian Rite of Paris on 19 May 1815, called ''Arc en Ciel'' (Arcobaleno), closely associated with the Italian and French circles of

Filippo Buonarroti Filippo Buonarroti (18 November 1661 in Florence – 10 December 1733 in Florence), the great-grandnephew of Michelangelo Buonarroti, was an Italian official at the court of Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany and an antiquarian, whose Etruscan ...

. The definitive structure of the Egyptian Rite of Misraim dates back to 1818, while in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1819 it regulated the ''"Tegolatura Suprema Scala di Napoli"'', better known as "'' Arcana Arcanorum''."

Legacy

After his death, Bédarride's ''Rite of Misraim'' merged with the ''Rite of Memphis'' in 1880 under

Giuseppe Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as (). In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as () or (). 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, revolutionary and republican. H ...

to become the Ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis-Misraïm. The ''Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia'' (1877) by Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie (author of the ''

Cipher Manuscripts The ''Cipher Manuscripts'' are a collection of 60 folios containing the structural outline of a series of magical initiation rituals corresponding to the spiritual elements of Earth, Air, Water and Fire. The "occult" materials in the ''Manuscrip ...

'' of the

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (), more commonly the Golden Dawn (), was a secret society devoted to the study and practice of occult Hermeticism and metaphysics during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Known as a magical order, ...

), considers the three Bédarride brothers; Marc, Michel and Joseph as "charlatans".

Bibliography

*Marc Bédarride, ''De l'ordre maçonnique de Misraïm'', Editions de Bénard, 1845. *Gastone Ventura, ''I Riti Massonici di Misraim e Memphis'', Atanor, Roma 1975 *Daniel Ligou, ''Dictionnaire de la Franc-Maçonnerie'', Presses Universitaires de France, 1987. *Gerard Galtier, ''Maçonnerie Egyptienne, Rose Croix et Neo-Chevalerie'', Editions du Rocher, 1989. *Franco Cristelli, ''Storia della Loggia Massonica "Napoleone" di Firenze'', Centro Editoriale Toscano, 1992.

External links

Les frères Bédarride et le Rite maçonnique de Misraïm
by Gérard Galtier

by Jean Gallian
The Misraim Rite
by Jean-Lambert Renders
Genealogie Misraim

at Maconnieke Encyclopedie {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedarride, Marc 1776 births 1846 deaths 18th-century French Sephardi Jews 19th-century French Sephardi Jews French Army officers French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars French Egyptologists French Freemasons