THE DUPLICITIES OF HISTORY : THE CENTRAL PROBLEM OF FREEMASONRY

ENJOY THE FIRST 15 MINUTES OF PART ONE

By Dr. Robert James Ph.D. of New South Wales, Australia.

‘Freemasonry’, as a single identifiable entity, doesn’t exist and probably has never existed. The Grand Lodge [GL] of English Freemasonry (EF), an organisation which probably began meeting in the period 1717-23 and claims to have ‘mothered’ all other variants, is a distinct entity which asserted and gained ascendancy by the classical carrot and stich technique. It offered benefits to memberships of otherwise independent lodges in return for oaths of loyalty and thus of a secondary position. Claims that it was made up of men of higher status who were therefore deserving of obedience from men of lower standing were no more than a re-fashioned statement of ‘the Divine Right of Kings’. The mythical history of this GL is full of delicious ironies. At the same time, the real-time history needs the mythology to help explain the Order’s global expansion.

That initial GL had no authority to determine either ‘Masonic’ or political practice of any other ‘Masonic’ entity yet that is the nature of its achievement. Its claims of uniqueness and authority were parts of a marketing strategy it needed because it was neither unique nor in charge. Why its self-defined ‘Grand Lodge Officers’ chose to act in this way is only the first of many questions the answers to which determine how its subsequent 300 years + of endeavour are to be interpreted. Over three centuries, something called ‘Masonic history’ has been cobbled together by partisans from not very-objective accounts of entities self-identifying as ‘Masonic’ for political reasons and, it seems, for no other reason. . . . .

Enjoy the First 10 Minutes of PART TWO of W.G. Fisher's stories of more than 100 years of Masonic activities of success Dukes of Atholl who served as both the Grand Master Mason of the Grand Lodge of Scotland and the Ancient Grand Lodge of England. Paper printed in the Grand Lodge of Scotland's Year-Book, 1969.

ATHOLL, EARLS AND DUKES OF. The Stewart line of the Scottish earls of Atholl, which ended with the 5th Stewart earl in 1595, the earldom reverting to the crown, had originated with Sir John Stewart of Balveny (d. 1512), who was created earl of Atholl about 1457 (new charter 1481). The 5th earl’s daughter, Dorothea, married William Murray, earl of Tullibardine (cr. 1606), who in 1626 resigned his earldom in favour of Sir Patrick Murray, on condition of the revival of the earldom of Atholl in his wife and her descendants. The earldom thus passed to the Murray line, and John Murray, their only son (d. 1642), was accordingly acknowledged as earl of Atholl (the 1st of the Murrays) in 1629.

John Stewart, 4th earl of Atholl, in the Stewart line (d. 1579), son of John, 3rd earl, and of Grizel, daughter of Sir John Rattray, succeeded his father in 1542. He supported the government of the queen dowager, and in 1560 was one of the three nobles who voted in parliament against the Reformation and the Confession of Faith, and declared their adherence to Roman Catholicism. Subsequently, however, he joined the league against Huntly, whom with Murray and Morton he defeated at Corrichie in October 1562, and he supported the projected marriage of Elizabeth with Arran. On the arrival of Mary from France in 1561 he was appointed one of the twelve privy councillors, and on account of his religion obtained a greater share of the queen’s favour than either Murray or Maitland. He was one of the principal supporters of the marriage with Darnley, became the leader of the Roman Catholic nobles, and with Lennox obtained the chief power in the government, successfully protecting Mary and Darnley from Murray’s attempts to regain his ascendancy by force of arms. According to Knox he openly attended mass in the queen’s chapel, and was especially trusted by Mary in her project of reinstating Roman Catholicism.

The Atholl Chronicles have been privately printed by the 7th duke of Atholl (b. 1840). See also S. Cowan, Three Celtic Earldoms (1909)

Enjoy the first SEVEN MINUTES of this Third Episode of THE WIDE MASONIC WORLD - Join hosts Robert Cooper and Mark Tabbert for a captivating discussion with Prof. Christopher Thomas on German Freemasons and the Nazi Party, 1933-1945. Our discussion begins with with Prof. Thomas' paper: "Defining "Freemason": Compromise, Pragmatism, and German Lodge Members in the NSDAP (Nazi Party), published in "German Studies Review", V.35, N.3, (October 2012). Read by the MAGI Mark A. Tabbert.

ABSTRACT: The Nazi persecution of Freemasons presented a conundrum; Freemasonry

was condemned by party ideology, but individual Freemasons possessed skills as

professionals that were essential to the success of the regime. What would have

otherwise been a mutually beneficial relationship sought after by both parties was

prevented solely by the fact that these professionals were Freemasons. The process

of negotiation and accommodation as the party continually redefined what it

meant to be a Freemason, in an attempt to find a way to balance ideological purity

and practical necessity, reveals the ad hoc nature of the Nazi government.

Dr. Christopher Thomas graduated from Arizona State University before earning his Master’s and doctorate in history from Texas A& M University in College Station. He currently is a professor at Reynolds Community College in Richmond, Virginia. Although not a Freemason, Prof. Thomas began researching the fraternity in the Third Reich while researching his Master’s thesis. This work, in turn, led to his 2011 dissertation titled: Compass, Square, and Swastika: Freemasonry in the Third Reich. For the last 15 years he has published several articles and book chapters on American and European history and has taught for numerous colleges and universities in Texas and Virginia.