The Grand Loge des Philadelphes (or just Philadelphes) was a masonic lodge founded in London by French exiles in 1850, associated with the Quarante-Huitards. It was originally named after the Egyptian pharaoh Menes, but changed its name in 1853. Among its members were Charles Bradlaugh and fellow freethinker Austin Holyoake. It was associated with the Conseil Suprême de l’Ordre Maconnique de Memphis, a Masonic order, and the Rite of Memphis. The Grand Lodge of England opposed the Philadelphes, as it counted a number of atheists among its members and did not mandate religious observance.
It became a centre for conspiratorial revolutionary activity. It had seemingly close ties with French revolutionary Charles Nodier (presumed grand master of the prieure de' sion at the period.) Nodier even spoke of the secret society after he published his book on the subject in 1822.
In the beginning it was made up mainly of French émigrés. From 1852 onwards, it had close ties with the political group La Commune Révolutionnaire, which it appears to have founded, as all of the prominent members of one organization were members of the other. Although some associates of Blanqui were involved, such as Jean Baptiste Rougé and Theophile Thoré, they did not play a prominent role. This was taken rather by Montagnards or Jacobins, most of them with a long track record of conspiratorial politics.
Aside from La Commune Révolutionnaire, they also founded the "International Association", which existed from 1855 to 1859. Its principal tasks, as set out in its constitution, consisted of spreading the doctrine of solidarity and preparing to implement "the ideal of our hearts, the Universal Democratic and Social Republic". However, despite trying to develop ties with English Chartists, it remained an organisation of émigrés in England and America. Although it has been claimed that this was the first form of international proletarianism, it remained a conspiratorial group more like Mazzini's Young Europe. They were also supporters of individual acts of terror. Following Felice Orsini's attempt on Napoleon III's life, the British government tried to put Simon François Bernard, another émigré, on trial. The Philadelphians defended both Bernard's actions and the assassination of tyrants. Indeed Adolphe Talandier, Gustave Jourdain, Joseph Holyoake and Félix Pyat (all Philadelphians) were the only people who spoke at his funeral a few years later. They also laid on a banquet (under the name of the Lodge) for Paolo Tibaldi when he arrived in London after serving a prison sentence for an attempt on the life of Napoleon III. Louis Blanc, Talandier and Gustave Flourens (another Philadelphian) spoke on this occasion.
The Philadelphians recruited principally amongst revolutionary socialists, but gained few recruits in Italian émigré circles because of their sharp criticisms of Mazzini. Hence the lack of Italians in the International Association. This however changed in 1858-9 as the war between Piedmont and Austria started to brew. Despite the publication of a Manifesto criticising Mazzini for his anti-socialist stance emanating from the International Association, it was not signed by any of the leaders of La Commune Révolutionnaire or the Philadelphians. Evidence in the Vienna Staatsarchiv shows that there was a faction fight, and that the Philadelphians were opting for a rapprochment with Mazzini. Napoleon III's support for Piedmont facilitated Garibaldi's victories, even if they did not indicate a leftward political trajectory on behalf of the emperor.
Following his campaign in Italy, Garibaldi set up the International Legion, led by Ludwik Mieroslawski, and from 1859 to 1864 the Philadelphians concentrated on giving him support. According to La monde maçonnique (1874) Garibaldi, Mazzini, Charles Bradlaugh and Louis Blanc were all members of the London Lodge of the United Philadelphians". A bloc was formed by the largely French Philadelphians with Garibaldi and his Italian followers. Soon their ranks were swelled by Belgians and Swiss, who then set about organising a new international organisation to replace the International Association. In 1863 Johan Philip-Becker sent out an invitation to a Congress of democratic and republican movements from all the countries of Western Europe. The Congress was held in Brussels in September 1863, prersided over by Pierre Coulery from La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland. It issued a resolution to create an Association Fédérative Universelle de la Démocratie. However this was eclipsed by Garibaldi's trip to London and the attempt to agitate among workers groups and democratric organisations.