Abstract
The intent of this paper is not to discover or summarize the debate on the origins of either institution. The objective is to shed light on women’s views of themselves and their role in society in eighteenth- and early nineteenth-centuries in Western Europe. This will be illustrated by examples of women’s involvement in and influence on Freemasonry in France and Germany. The origins of women's involvement with Freemasonry will be discussed, therefore, only in an effort to display the above-mentioned objective, not to make a statement in the debate regarding the introduction of women into Freemasonry.
Highlights
Discovering women’s initial involvement with Freemasonry is similar in its complexity to the task of discovering the origin of Freemasonry itself: both histories are cluttered with scholarly refutation of the residual experts’ theories and facts
The origins of women’s involvement with Freemasonry will be discussed, only in an effort to display the above-mentioned objective, not to make a statement in the debate regarding the introduction of women into Freemasonry
To demonstrate women’s views of themselves and their role in Western European society, this author will look at the motivations for the introduction of women into Freemasonry, the thriving French Lodges of Adoption, the effect those lodges had on German women and Freemasonry, and records of speeches and minutes of various lodge meetings in Germany during the period
Summary
Discovering women’s initial involvement with Freemasonry is similar in its complexity to the task of discovering the origin of Freemasonry itself: both histories are cluttered with scholarly refutation of the residual experts’ theories and facts. The objective is to shed light on women’s views of themselves and their role in society in eighteenth- and early nineteenth-centuries in Western Europe. This will be illustrated by examples of women’s involvement in and influence on Freemasonry in France and Germany. The appellation, “adoption,” was originally obtained because male Masonic lodges would “adopt” quasiMasonic, French-speaking organizations for men and women. These were recognized as Masonic lodges in France, and were known as “Lodges of Adoption” (Burke and Jacob 515)
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