October has been a busy month with a number of interesting events taking place in the UK and elsewhere. With a slight delay we hope that you will appreciate following news. Look out for new publications among our Working Papers, as two are about to be published very soon. Our book on Freemasonry in Eighteenth century Russia is selling well, so make sure you order your copy right away!
All the best, Andreas Önnerfors
1) November 11 ‘Masonic Conspiracy online’’
Wednesday November 11 at 5.15pm PhD-candidate Dorothe Sommer will be lecturing as part of our Sheffield lecture series “Perceptions of Freemasonry” on the idea of Masonic conspiracy as represented on the Internet.
Place: Jessop West Bldg,
G.01a (room to left)
1 Upper Hanover Street
S3 7RA Sheffield
Events available on audio
Our event on Dan Brown’s new novel “The Lost Symbol” was recorded and accessible in audio-format via our website under “News and Events”.
Prof Margaret C Jacob’s lecture on the paradoxes of modernity as represented in masonic sources from Bordeaux is also now available.
2) Study day on Freemasonry and the Jacobites at the Sorbonne, Saturday 5th December
Jean-Pierre Brach and Jean-Pierre Laurant of the University of Paris, Paris IV Sorbonne as well as the journal Politica Hermetica(see www.politicahermetica.com/) are co-organising a study day on Jacobites and Freemasonry in Paris on the first weekend of December. We will post the final program on our website as soon as it has been made available. Two excellent British speakers, Dr. Steve Murdoch from the University of St. Andrews as well as Dr. Robert Collis from the CRFF in Sheffield will participate and we look forward to the outcome of this event.
3) Successful CMRC conference on The Origins of Freemasonry
The annual Canonbury Masonic Research Centre conference (co-organised by the CRFF), which this year centred on the topic of ‘The Origins of Freemasonry’, gathered an impressive line-up of eminent scholars in the field, such as professors Benimeli, Jacob, Stevenson and Prescott, as well as representatives of a new generation of scholarship, including the post-doctoral researchers Robert Péter, Robert Collis and Natalie Bayer and PhD-candidates, such as the promising Frank Albo from Peterhouse College, Cambridge. A novelty in the conference programme was the organisation of a screening of the documentary “The Scottish Key”, hosted by Dr. Andrew Pink at the University College of London, which was followed by a discussion in the presence of the co-producer Tristan Boulard. The conference clearly witnessed a larger number of delegates than in previous years. Academics praised the scholarly quality of the presentations, whilst freemasons expressed contentment at the clear focus of the conference on the history of the craft. A conference dinner at the newly refurbished The Canonbury, with world-class entertainment by the violinist Eugene Sarbu, provided an excellent forum for relaxed discussions between conference speakers and delegates. The conference touched upon the most relevant questions related to the origins of freemasonry, its religious roots, its significance for the early Enlightenment generation, its place in the identity formation within British pre-industrial artisan culture, as well as of late eighteenth-century Russian intellectuals. The phenomenon of English accepted freemasonry was treated, Rosicrucian myths were deconstructed and the place of freemasonry in the gothic revival of English architecture in the nineteenth-century were highlighted. These are just a few examples of the papers delivered and the most fascinating experience of conference participation were creative crossovers between various topics. The conference proceedings are now under preparation and the volume will constitute a major work of reference in the future.
4) Quatuor Coronati is pushing the limits
The German research lodge Quatuor Coronati No 808, under the United Grand Lodges of Germany (see www.quatuor-coronati.org/2.html), organised its 36th annual workshop between October 9th-11th on ‘Religion and Religious Enlightenment in Freemasonry’ in Espenau outside Cassel in Hesse. The director of the CRFF attended and was elected a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the research lodge. Over a number of yearsQuatuor Coronati has taken the wise decision to open up its conferences to academic topics and participants. Papers presented included: Appearances of the religious; Esoteric religiosity and its importance for freemasonry; Religion and religiosity in early freemasonry; Church service and Masonic ritual: overlaps, differences, opposites; The importance of religion in contemporary German society; religious discourse in German freemasonry. The Master of QC lodge, Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Grün, stated: “We have to open up Masonic research to impulses in the academic world and our open conferences create an important interface for revitalisation and exchanges of knowledge”. Professor Monika Neugbauer-Wölk presented a much-praised overview of the hermetic origins of Masonic religiosity as represented in Anderson’sConstitutions. German research into freemasonry is developing a fruitful interaction between academic and Masonic world, the platform freimaurerforschung.de being a significant tool for networks between the German-speaking research community.
5) Sheffield Academic assumes the Chair of QC Lodge in London
We are pleased to announce that Dr. John Wade will be installed as Master of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No 2076 on Thursday 12thNovember and we look forward to fruitful cooperation between the CRFF and the premier research lodge of the UGLE.
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