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2nd Conference on Freemasonry, History, Fraternalism.

HISTORY, FREEMASONRY, FRATERNALISM AT THE BNF

THE RESULTS

By Pierre Mollier

Review of the 2nd International Conference

on

History, Freemasonry, Fraternalism

held at the French National Library - Paris, France

May 27, 2017.

Please note: Pierre Mollier's report, published on the Masonic Blog: HIRAM.be, has been translated here for your convenience by Bro. Vincent Lombardo.  This was an exceptional event, for members of the two main streams of Freemasonry, of Stuartist and Hanoverian traditions, met, without taking into account the gulf that has for centuries, and still does, separates them.

What is the outcome of the Second International Conference on History, Freemasonry, and Fraternalism, co-organized at the National Library by the American academic foundation PSO and the Museum of Freemasonry at the end of last week?   The theme put forward this year was the life and work of Chevalier de Ramsay.   The "Workshop", which traditionally precedes the conference at the Museum of Freemasonry, brought together about forty speakers - professional or amateur historians.   The discussions focused on the presentation of Ramsay in his context, including religious, and the need for a more accurate evaluation of the evolution of his thought between the Quietist of the 1710s and the adept of the "Universal Religion" of the end of his life.

On Friday, May 26 and Saturday, May 27 [2017], at the National Library, no less than 25 papers in three languages (French, English and Spanish) were presented.   Margaret Jacob, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), launched the work by proposing a methodological reflection on the specific problems posed by the history of Freemasonry.   We always come back to the question of origins, and Louis Trebuchet questioned the respective influences on the beginnings of Freemasonry by the Stuartist Tories and the Hanoverian Whig.   Susan Sommers has presented her most recent work drawing a scathing portrait of James Anderson and supporting the new theory that … nothing happened in 1717, the creation of the Grand Lodge did not actually occur until the year 1721. With a fascinating talk about Prince Hall and its portrayal in American newspapers of the late eighteenth century, Paul Rich showed all the resources that can bring the new techniques of the "Digital Humanities" into Masonic research.   The conference also hosted two thematic seminars: the first devoted to the relations between Art and Freemasonry; the second focused on the history of Lodges in Latin America.

In addition to the quality of the communications, the benefit of such an event lies in the encounters that one can make there.   During these two days of study one was able to meet the president of the Quatuor Corontati circle and some members of this prestigious Londoner Research Lodge, the Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of Germany, the editor-in-chief of the Revista de Estudios Históricos de la Masonería Latinoamericana, the promoters of the Research Group Alpina or the archivist of the Grand Lodge of Norway … and many more.