The first known Freemasons in Portugal were the Swiss John Coustos and two other Portuguese members of his lodge, who were arrested by the Portuguese Inquisition and questioned under torture in the 1740s. Coustos wrote a book detailing his sufferings under the Inquisition and pointed to 1728 as being the year of the first Lodge, although nothing is known of the first years of this Lodge and it was not then recognised by the Grand Lodge of England. Today there are several Masonic Obediences in Portugal. Grande Oriente Lusitano The "Grand Orient of Lusitania", founded in 1802, is the oldest Masonic Obedience in Portugal. It is recognized by the Grand Orient de France and also belongs to CLIPSAS. The Grand Orient of Portugal is part of the liberal or continental Freemasonry tradition, proclaiming the absolute liberty of conscience and dogmatism. Rites Under the auspices of the Grande Oriente Lusitano there are lodges of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite and of the French Rite. These Rites are administered by the respective philosophical Potences with which the Grande Oriente Lusitano has a treaty to confer the symbolic degrees: The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for Portugal and its jurisdiction French Rite of Portugal (Rose-Croix) Grémio Lusitano The three potencies are represented in civil society through the Grémio Lusitano, a cultural, recreational and philanthropic society whose headquarters are situated at the Rua do Grémio Lusitano, number 25, in Lisbon. This building, the Masonic Palace, also hosts the Portuguese Masonic Museum, which is open to the general public. Grande Loja Regular de Portugal The "Regular Grand Lodge of Portugal" (GLRP) was established in 1991 by the Grande Loge Nationale Française (GLNF), in an attempt to introduce regular organised Freemasonry into Portugal. Following internal disagreement, the organisation split in 1996. The founding French authority has since withdrawn recognition, and the residual GLRP enjoys very little international recognition. Grande Loja Legal de Portugal/GLRP Following a dispute over the legality of an election to the Grand Mastership of GLRP, the party disputing the election took control of the civil association under which the Obedience had legal existence. In 1996 a large majority of the members of that body created a new civil association under the name "Grande Loja Legal de Portugal/Grande Loja Regular de Portugal" (GLLP/GLRP). The GLLP/GLRP considers itself to be entirely continuous with the Grand Lodge founded in 1991, and unconnected with the body