Why the ”Frăţia” is not a Masonic Lodge - Criticism of the Sources and the Comparative Approach of Secret Societies Cover Image

De ce nu a fost „Frăţia” o lojă masonică - Critica izvoarelor şi abordarea comparată a societăţilor secrete
Why the ”Frăţia” is not a Masonic Lodge - Criticism of the Sources and the Comparative Approach of Secret Societies

Author(s): Gheorghe Bichicean
Subject(s): History
Published by: Editura Universităţii Petru Maior
Keywords: Freemasonry; Lodge; Carbonary Society; Bălcescu; Frăţia

Summary/Abstract: This study aims to clarify the status of the Brotherhood Society within the secret societies of the first half of the nineteenth century. On the basis of known documentary sources and a comparative approach, it is demonstrated that this society was not a Masonic Lodge. Political secret societies were associates who tried to conceal their activity or to conceal it, which was, as a rule, directed against the existing social and political order. Their organization included a hierarchy that was not known by all members and limited in time, coinciding with the achievement of the proposed goal or with their disclosure. Initial secret societies, unlike political ones, are discrete associations that do not disguise their presence, have initiatory rituals and signs of recognition, being over temporal. The result of our study demonstrates the existing confusion regarding the status of Brotherhood Society, which was not a Masonic Lodge, but typological, a Carbonary Society.

  • Issue Year: 17/2017
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 43-56
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Romanian