The article explores the themes of Enlightenment and Counter-

Enlightenment through the lens of Freemasonry, and, more specifically,

Freemasons in Russia who wrote history. It tests the approaches of

Masonic history writers against Berlin’s definitions of the Enlightenment

and Counter-Enlightenment. Whilst a definitive break between the

Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment seems attractive, the article

advances a more nuanced picture of the plurality of religious and

secular discourse in Russia. Instead of opposing the Enlightenment,

many late eighteenth-century Masonic writers of history provided their

own, alternative interpretative models of history as a way out of the

perceived crisis between the mind and the soul.

Keywords: counter-enlightenment, eighteenth century, enlightenment,

freemasonry, Russia

Read by the Author

Natalie Bayer specializes in European intellectual history and Russian/Soviet history, offering courses on European Enlightenment, nationalism in Modern Europe, the French Revolution, freemasonry and fraternalism in Modern European history, Russian Imperial history, the history of the USSR, and Soviet experience. She also teaches world history.

Published in INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR HISTORY, CULTURE AND MODERNITY Vol 7, 2019 : 1089-1120,

Enjoy the first 6 Minutes of this Sixth Episode of THE WIDE MASONIC WORLD - Join hosts Robert Cooper and Mark Tabbert for a in-depth discussion with Samuel Biagetti Ph.D., of Historiansplaning.com - a podcast.

We discuss his paper:

Section iii: The Masonic Degree Rituals from Chapter 2: The Unfinished Temple- Interpreting Masonic Ritual, taken from his 2015 dissertation is titled : The Only Universal Monarchy Freemasonry, Ritual, and Gender in Revolutionary Rhode Island, 1749-1803. Dr. Biagetti's dissertation is over 750 pages with 19 chapters, plus Introduction, conclusion, bibliography, & glossary. It begins with the formation of British freemasonry in the 1500s and then grand lodges the 1700s, moves to American with the first lodge in Rhode Island in 1740s, through the American revolution, ends in the in 1804.

Along with a narrative, your various sections and chapters address the social make up / demographics of lodges, the so-called higher degrees perpetuated by Thomas Smith Webb and Moses Michael Hayes, and at the end the limits of Rhode Island Freemasonry as relating to the slave trade, women and gender.

Samuel Biagetti holds a Ph.D. in early American history from Columbia University, and has had research published in Early American Studies, Journal of Caribbean History, and Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities, as well as social commentary in various outlets. He has been consulted and interviewed on NPR. He lives in central Massachusetts, where he holds a very minor local elective office.

He hosts a great podcast: HISTORIANSPLAINING https://historiansplaining.com/

Enjoy the first 16 minutes of the author reading Section iii: The Masonic Degree Rituals from Chapter 2: The Unfinished Temple- Interpreting Masonic Ritual, taken from his 2015 dissertation is titled : The Only Universal Monarchy Freemasonry, Ritual, and Gender in Revolutionary Rhode Island, 1749-1803. Dr. Biagetti's dissertation is over 750 pages with 19 chapters, plus Introduction, conclusion, bibliography, & glossary. It begins with the formation of British freemasonry in the 1500s and then grand lodges the 1700s, moves to American with the first lodge in Rhode Island in 1740s, through the American revolution, ends in the in 1804.

Along with a narrative, your various sections and chapters address the social make up / demographics of lodges, the so-called higher degrees perpetuated by Thomas Smith Webb and Moses Michael Hayes, and at the end the limits of Rhode Island Freemasonry as relating to the slave trade, women and gender.

Samuel Biagetti holds a Ph.D. in early American history from Columbia University, and has had research published in Early American Studies, Journal of Caribbean History, and Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities, as well as social commentary in various outlets. He has been consulted and interviewed on NPR. He lives in central Massachusetts, where he holds a very minor local elective office.

He hosts a great podcast: HISTORIANSPLAINING https://historiansplaining.com/