Speculative Freemasonry and the Enlightenment

A Study of the Craft in London, Paris, Prague, Vienna and Philadelphia, 2d ed.

R. William Weisberger (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

240 Seiten

2017
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
978-1-4766-6913-7 (ISBN)

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Through ritualistic teachings and social activities, Masonic lodges and learned societies offered their quickly growing numbers of Protestant, Catholic and Jewish members an understanding of deism, Newtonian science, representative government, and literature and the arts. This book describes how Masons were, for the most part, either enlighteners, political reformers or moderate revolutionaries.

Freemasonry began with stonemasons in the Middle Ages experiencing the decline of cathedral building. Some guilds invited honorary memberships to boost their numbers. These usually highly educated new members practiced symbolic or "speculative Freemasonry."

The new Masonic lodges and learned societies offered their growing numbers of Protestant, Catholic and Jewish members an understanding of deism, Newtonian science and representative government, and of literature and the fine arts.

This work describes how Masons on both sides of the Atlantic were mostly either enlighteners, political reformers or moderate revolutionaries. They offered minimal support to radical revolutionary ideas and leaders.

R. William Weisberger has long been a professor of history at Butler County Community College in Pennsylvania and an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He has written articles for the East European Quarterly and Pennsylvania History and book reviews for The American Historical Review, The Journal of American History and The Journal of Social History.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgmentsviii

Preface

Introduction

1. Speculative Freemasonry in Early Hanoverian London

2. Parisian Masonry, the Lodge of the Nine Sisters and the French Enlightenment

3. Prague and Viennese Freemasonry, the Enlightenment

and the Operations of the True Harmony Lodge of Vienna

Conclusion: An Evaluation of Eighteenth-Century

Speculative Freemasonry in London, Paris, Prague and Vienna

Appendix 1: Lodges

Appendix 2: Benjamin Franklin: A Masonic Enlightener in Paris

Appendix 3: Freemasonry as a Source of Jewish Civic Rights in Late Eighteenth-Century Vienna and Philadelphia: A Study in Atlantic History

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	07.07.2017
Zusatzinfo	appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	318 g
Themenwelt	Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Allgemeines / Lexika
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte
	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
ISBN-10	1-4766-6913-9 / 1476669139
ISBN-13	978-1-4766-6913-7 / 9781476669137
Zustand	Neuware