Hírek és javítások Sheffieldből

A sheffieldi hírlevél 26. számát a nem sokkal később befutó hibajavítással egybefésülve közlöm - Péter Róbert tiltakozott előadásának félreértelmezett közreadása miatt.

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NEWS FROM THE CENTRE FOR RESEARCH INTO FREEMASONRY

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No. 26: APRIL 2008


Dear colleagues, dear friends!

Our newsletter is sent to about 1,000 people across the world, quoted on many homepages and blogs and distributed further to an unknown number of recipients. We are very happy that so many are interested in our activities and hope that you appreciate the information we are providing. In order to develop the concept of this newsletter further, we will soon ask for your opinion on how to improve its content or appearance. This survey will be carried out before autumn 2008. Meanwhile, I hope that you will be happy to read the following:



1) CRFF Working Paper Series ISSN 1756-7645

In order to stimulate a free exchange of scholarly ideas on freemasonry and fraternalism, we have launched a Working Paper Series accessible through our constantly improving website.



We are very proud to present its first issue. Andrew Prescott writes on ‘British Freemasonry between 1425 and 2000’ in which he suggests a new periodisation of its historiography. You are free to download the paper and my Editorial at following URL:



www.freemasonry.dept.shef.ac.uk/workingpapers.htm



The next issue is scheduled for May 2008 when Jan Snoek’s paper “Researching Freemasonry: Where are we?” will be published. We apologize for the delay that was caused by our attempts to develop an appropriate publication format.



The third issue will appear in June and treat ideas of cosmopolitanism and world citizenship in eighteenth- century European freemasonry.



2) Journal for Research into Freemasonry and Fraternalism

We are likewise proud to present that an initiative to edit the first academic peer-reviewed journal devoted to freemasonry and fraternalism has been launched. In co-operation with London-based Equinox Publishing, within the next six weeks the journal will present its programme and editorial board, consisting of major European and US scholars in the area. The first issue is scheduled for spring 2009.



Look out on www.equinoxpub.com for more information.



In addition to producing the journal, an edition series, “Sheffield Studies in the History of Freemasonry and Fraternalism” will also be launched.



3) 2nd International Conference in the History of Freemasonry, (ICHF)

The Call for Papers for the 2nd International Conference in the History of Freemasonry has been issued and can be downloaded on www.ichfonline.org/main.htm



The format of the ICHF offers an excellent opportunity for academic networking, to listen to ground-breaking research in the area, and to make contacts between the academic world and fraternal organisations.



Deadline for the submission of papers and panels is 12th June 2008.



4) Director’s trip to the USA

The Director of the Centre will travel to the US for a variety of activities. Between the 16th – 23rd May, he will be in and around New York and Washington DC, continuing on to California and finally participating in a conference in Bloomington, Indiana 29th May-1stJune. In Bloomington, he will present a paper entitled, ‘Imagining a Common Space: Freemasonry in the Baltic Sea Area during the Eighteenth-Century’, at the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies Conference. In between various obligations there are still opportunities for contacts.



5) M.A. in the History of Freemasonry and Fraternalism

Please help us to spread the word about this M.A.-program by posting the following link to any potentially interested students and scholars.



www.sheffield.ac.uk/history/ma/freemasonry



As the first programme ever devoted to postgraduate studies in this area of research, it is of key importance for the recruitment of a future generation of researchers and plays also a crucial roll for knowledge transfer between academia and fraternal organisations.



6) New Publication

We are very happy to announce the edition of a groundbreaking volume on freemasonry and Russian culture, “La franc-maçonnerie et la culture russe”, edited in the series Slavica Occitania Numéro 24 at the University of Toulouse, France in 2007. For an overview of the content, see:

www.slavica-occitania.org/un_numero.php





The 600-pages volume covers many important aspects of the history of the fraternity in Russia. Its importance to political associations and cultural history are discussed and reflects the high quality of academic research into this area in France.



7) Report from a research trip to Poznan/Poland 31st March-1st April 2008

The Director of the Centre travelled to Poznan in Poland in order to visit the important masonic collection held at the University library there. The collection of Masonic books and pamphlets is vast and encompasses a collection amounting to 80,000 volumes from the seventeenth-century onwards. The collection was found at Sława Śląska in autumn 1945 as a result of the action of reassembling and protecting the abandoned and dispersed collections seized by the Nazis. The largest part of the collection is kept at the Chateau of Ciazen, 70 km outside Poznan. Some invaluable publications were found during this very short research trip and several potential areas of future co-operation detected. As it is possible to arrange overnight-stays at the baroque chateau of Ciazen, plans were discussed to organize a summer school for young researchers in summer 2009.



See

lib.amu.edu.pl/specjalne/index.htm for more information.



8) Report from the foundation of the Swedish Academic Network for Research into Freemasonry and Associational Life (SAFFS) in Lund, Sweden 24th April 2008

At the occasion of the Conference of Swedish Historians (Svenska Historikermötet) arranged at Lund University, Sweden between 24th-26th April 2008 a Swedish academic network for research into freemasonry and associational life was founded. The network organised a session on freemasonry in the eighteenth-century that included M.A. Jonas Andersson, PhD-candidates Marcus Willén and Harriet Sandvall and Andreas Önnerfors.



9) Report from a session on freemasonry at The Centre for Studies on New Religions, CESNUR-conference in London 17th April 2008, by PhD-student Harriet Sandvall
CESNUR, The Centre for Studies on New Religions, is an international network of associations of scholars working in the field of new religious movements. 16-20 of April 2008, the network organized an international conference at London School of Economics, under the subject heading: ‘Twenty Years and More: Research into Minority Religions, New Religious Movements and “the New Spirituality”'.
Two papers were presented that had a bearing on the research into freemasonry, The first, presented by Jean-Pierre Laurant, from Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonne University, had the title Freemasonry and Religion in Paris: How to Cast a Glance Upon Some Preconceived Ideas?, dealt with the religious background of French and Parisian freemasons of today. Directly concerned with research into freemasonry in Britain was Róbert Péter’s paper, with the title Twenty Years of Scholarship on British Freemasonry.


“Twenty years of Scholarship on British Freemasonry

The last two decades saw an immense interest in the research of freemasonry from various fields of the humanities. Due to the pioneering works of academics such as David Stevenson, Margaret Jacob, Alexander Piatigorsky and Andrew Prescott and the changing patterns of academic interests (e.g. the study of various forms of associations and sociabilities), the British and the international scholarly community realized the previous ignorance of the subject and that freemasonry as a new and enlightened form of religiosity yields significant insights into modern political, social and religious history. This was manifested, for example, in the establishment of a research centre into freemasonry at the University of Sheffield in 2001. In early 2007 A. Prescott, the first director of the centre, in his farewell lecture argued that "in studying the history of Freemasonry, it is to the history of religion that we should look for a disciplinary context." This paper is an attempt to discuss the paradigm shifts in the academic study of this organization and provide a critical overview of the major writings of the last twenty years that are concerned with the religious dimensions of the fraternity. It also highlights new areas for further research including the sociological analysis of the brotherhood.”



10) Report from a one-day conference in Paris 3rd April 2008

by Michael R Taylor

« Les réseaux maçonniques dans le monde des Lumières » 3rd April, Paris-Sorbonne



Held in the prestigious surrounding of the Sorbonne and with the participation of the “Centre d’Etude de la Langue et Littérature Francaises de XVII et XVIII siècles”, this one-day international symposium was chaired by the distinguished French historian Profesor Charles Porset and masterminded by Professor Cécile Révauger of the Michel Montaigne University in Bordeaux.

There were representatives from Belgian, British, Finnish and Italian universities as well as an audience of academics and students from French institutions. The programme for the day took the form of a series of lectures delivered in French (with one exception) under the broad heading of the title of the symposium; Networks of Masonic resources in the century of Enlightenment.

The opening paper was presented by Professor Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire of the University of Nice. He outlined the vast resource of primary source material available to scholars and researcher that was to be found in the correspondence papers not only of individual Masonic Lodges in France but also the private papers of the members. Citing examples of the type of information that could be found in both he recommended historians to give serious consideration to further study to this hitherto relatively under-exploited source.

The only presentation in English was that given by Dr. Petri Mirala of the University of Helsinki. He gave a fascinating insight into Irish masons, especially in the province of Ulster, and their opposing political stances during the struggles in previous centuries for Irish independence. His talk managed to reveal very clearly the tensions which were to be found and which formed an undercurrent in Masonic life throughout the whole of Ireland. He touched on other quasi-masonic organizations and their roles in the history of Freemasonry in Ireland with especial reference to the Orange Order.

After lunch, which for invited speakers and chosen guests, was taken in the Professors club of the Sorbonne, Professor Sylvain Menant, director of the CELFF mentioned above gave a short welcome to the speakers and audience and expressed his pleasure that such a study day was taking place and congratulated the organizers.

The first of the afternoon’s three lectures was given by Professor Jean Mondot of the Michel de Montaigne University of Bordeaux. His paper centred on the Illuminaten of Bavaria and their links to masonic networks in Germany. He gave a lucid and well-structured history of this group of writers and thinkers and their place in the history of ideas. Antonio Trempus of the University of Venice then delivered his lecture on the Jesuits and their relations with the Freemasons of the Habsburg Empire, notably in Austria. The part played by Jesuits after the abolition of the Society in the development of Masonic Lodges and in particular the study of the liberal arts and sciences which formed a considerable part of the life of Freemasonry in the period under examination was dealt with comprehensively in a manner that enabled the listener to follow clearly this fascinating aspect of C18 history in Europe.

The day’s final presentation was given by Jean-Marie Mercier of the University of Nimes and Thierry Zarcone of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Centred on Avignon they covered the birth, consolidation and decline of a vast network of Masonic correspondence or the end of a dream of Masonic hegemony in Avignon in the middle of the C18. This very well -researched piece was presented by two scholars who each approached their separate contributions with equal enthusiasm thus ensuring the avid attention of the audience at the end of what had been a long but very worthwhile and fascinating day.

Each contribution was added to and enhanced by further questions and or additional material provide by members of the audience, some of whom were quite clearly very familiar with the field of study that was the agenda for the day.



Was the day a success?

From the point of view of a participant whose knowledge of French was sufficient to be able to follow the day’s proceedings without any difficulty then the answer must be a resounding yes; but I can see that the lack of abstracts in either French or English could have formed a barrier for those less well versed in the language.

I am sure that the underlying message of the abundance of untapped resources in the archives of Masonic correspondence across Europe will have inspired many of those present to consider a fruitful and promising area of research which will lead to further insights into the history of ideas in Europe and especially in the age of Enlightenment.



Andreas Önnerfors

Sheffield, 30th April 2008
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Dr. Andreas Önnerfors
Director / Senior Lecturer in History
Centre for Research into Freemasonry
34, Gell Street
Sheffield S3 7QY
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)114 222 9893
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 98 94
Email: a.onnerfors@sheffield.ac.uk
Website: www.freemasonry.dept.shef.ac.uk/
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