Cette thèse porte sur Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour, ballet héroïque de Jean-Philippe Rameau sur un livret de Louis de Cahusac, créé le 15 mars 1747 à Versailles à l’occasion du second mariage du Dauphin. L’étude se consacre à l’histoire de l’œuvre, explorant ainsi ses diverses représentations, ses remaniements successifs en passant par le rayonnement de l’opéra sur le spectacle lyrique de l’époque. Elle s’intéresse également à la figure de Louis de Cahusac, à ses théories sur l’opéra et le ballet, aux sources d’inspirations de son livret puisant dans l’égyptologie et la franc-maçonnerie. Elle aborde par ailleurs le traitement musical du compositeur. Pour finir, cette étude propose une édition du livret et de la partition accompagnée d’un apparat critique et du catalogue des sources de l’opéra. / This thesis focuses on Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour, an heroic ballet written by Jean-Philippe Rameau with a libretto by Louis de Cahusac, created on March 15th, 1747 in Versailles for the Dauphin’s second wedding. The study is about the history of the piece, exploring its various representations, its successive changes and the influence of this opera on the lyric show of the xviiith century. It is also interested in the figure of Louis de Cahusac, his theories on opera and ballet, the inspirations of his libretto drawing Egyptology and Freemasonry. It also addresses the composer’s musical treatment. Lastly, this study offers an edition of the libretto and the score accompanied by a critical apparatus and a catalog’s sources of the opera.

Cette thèse étudiera la franc-maçonnerie de traditions européennes qui se transforma au cœur des périodes colonisatrices française et britannique de 1778 à 1915. Les loges du Grand Orient de France qui s’implantèrent, sous la colonisation française de l’Isle de France, à la fin du XVIIIe siècle furent des pionnières de la maçonnerie dans un pays qui vécut, simultanément, une nouvelle période de colonisation britannique, à partir de 1810, et des changements drastiques aux niveaux démographique, socio-économique, ethnique et politique. Le fait maçonnique ne put que changer intrinsèquement dans le contexte insulaire multiculturel alors que la colonie, n’ayant pas de peuples autochtones, devint le terreau d’une multitude de traditions européennes, africaines et asiatiques. La maçonnerie locale acquit, grâce aux échanges entre les loges françaises et les nouvelles obédiences qui s’implantèrent (la Grande Loge Unie d’Angleterre, la Grande Loge d’Ecosse, la Grande Loge d’Irlande et le Suprême Conseil de France), une identité insulaire et mauricienne. Cette thèse montrera comment l’institution maçonnique mit en exergue la possibilité de construire une cohésion et un espace de partage à certains moments-clés de l’histoire du pays. Cependant, les loges françaises et britanniques eurent à faire face aux grands défis socio-politiques, économiques et religieux du XIXe siècle et du début du XXe siècle. En effet, les maçons furent aussi en proie aux divisions et conflits liés au multiculturalisme et à la pluriethnicité de la société coloniale. Cette thèse démontrera, en l’occurrence, comment la franc-maçonnerie de plusieurs obédiences développa des fonctionnements et des traditions influencés par le contexte et put maintenir un œcuménisme malgré les difficultés. Pourtant, la fin du XXe siècle entraîna les loges dans des divergences religieuses, idéologiques et institutionnelles et certains éléments, qui firent du laboratoire maçonnique mauricien un exemple des valeurs universelles et de la fraternité internationale, devinrent les sources mêmes de divisions. / This thesis will study freemasonry coming from European cultures which was transformed in the midst of French and British colonising periods from 1778 to 1915. The Grand Orient de France lodges, which settled under the French colonising regime of Isle de France at the end of the 18th century, introduced freemasonry in a country which underwent, simultaneously, a new British colonising era, as from 1810, and deep changes on the demographic, socio-economic, ethnic and political levels. Freemasonry could not but profoundly change in this insular multicultural context as the colony, which did not have any indigenous population, became the melting pot of various European, African and Asian traditions. Local freemasonry acquired, owing to the relations of the French lodges with the different lodges which were created (of the United Grand Lodge of England, the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the Grand Lodge of Ireland and the Suprême Conseil de France), an insular and Mauritian identity. This thesis will show how the Craft enabled cohesion and provided a place for sharing at some milestones in the history of the country. However, the French and British lodges had to face the grand socio-political, economic and religious challenges of the 19th century. In fact, the freemasons had also to experience the divisions and conflicts induced by the multicultural and multi-ethnic colonial society. Therefore, this thesis will to show how freemasonry from different grand lodges developed practices and traditions influenced by the context and were able to uphold ecumenism in spite of the obstacles. However, the lodges got caught into religious, ideological and institutional conflicts at the end of the 19th century and some components, which made of the Mauritian masonic laboratory an example of universal values and international fraternalism, eroded.

The black church and Prince Hall Freemasonry both played important roles in the black experience in America. Freemasonry and the black church; one secular, the other spiritual, played equally important, interrelated roles in the way the black community addressed social, political, and economic problems in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

La franc-maçonnerie spéculative s’est répandue en Europe de l’ouest durant tout leXVIIIe. Bien que les Constitutions d’Anderson interdisent catégoriquement l’admission des femmes dans les loges maçonniques, il s’avère que des femmes furent initiées en France et en Allemagne. La présente étude part du constat que nous sommes confrontés à un double phénomène en ce qui concerne la franc-maçonnerie et les femmes. D’un côté leur exclusion formelle des loges instituées pour les hommes dotées de règlements délivrés par leurs obédiences respectives. D’un autre côté l’existence prouvée de l’initiation des femmes dans des loges maçonniques. L’organisation de ces loges nous renvoie immédiatement à d’autres constats. Plusieurs questions se posent d’emblée. Quelles sont les raisons précises de cette exclusion et d’où tirent-elles leur origine? La définition de la femme fut-elle la même dans les sociétés anglaise, française et allemandes du XVIIIe siècle ? Si l’on parvient à identifier les causes, pourrons nous établir si elles sont intrinsèques à la franc-maçonnerie ou plutôt liées à la délimitation entre sphère publique et privée ? Enfin comment expliquer dès lors que cette exclusion ait pu être dépassée et contournée et qu’un modèle d’intégration des femmes ait pu être inventé? Dans une première partie la recherche repose sur les mentalités existantes dans les trois pays au vu des paroles des francs-maçons au sujet des femmes. Dans la deuxième partie sont analysés avec détail les arguments qui ont justifié l’exclusion des femmes de la franc-maçonnerie. La troisième partie est accordée aux loges féminines. Une attention particulière est apportée aux discours prononcés dans les loges féminines ainsi qu’aux différents rituels utilisés. Les sources à l’appui sont principalement des sources primaires, tels que des ouvrages du XVIIIe siècle, les articles de presse, mais aussi les chansons et les poèmes. / Freemasonry spread throughout Europe in the eighteenth century. Although the Constitutions of Anderson barred women from membership right from the beginning, women were initiated in France and Germany. The present research starts from the observation that we are confronted to a double phenomenon. On the one hand the formal exclusion from male lodges according to the regulations of the Grand Lodges. On the other hand the proved existence of the initiation of women in masonic lodges. The organization of these lodges suggests other remarks and several issues have arisen. What are the precise reasons of this exclusion and what are its origins? Are women defined in the same way in England, France and Germany? If we can identify the reasons of this exclusion, are they intrinsic to freemasonry itself or rather linked to the definition of the public and private spheres? How can we explain that these rules of exclusion could be overcome and that a model of integration be invented? In the first part of this study the research is based on the mentalities existing in the three different societies with regard to the freemasons’ opinions on women. The second part is analysing the arguments brought forward to justify women’s exclusion from freemasonry. The third part deals with women's lodges and particular attention is given to the speeches delivered in these lodges as well as to the rituals in use. The documentation consists mostly in primary sources, such as books published in the eighteenth century, press articles, but also masonic songs and poems.

ENG Esotericism and Occultism in the Italian Literature of the Early Twentieth Century The purpose of this research is to bring contribution to the branch of academic studies dedicated to Western Esotericism with aim to clarify the relationship between this literary field and culture in general. Numerous studies were made in this area of research, specifically tackling the influence of Esotericism on modern and contemporary literature. The goal was to show, in particular, the contribution Italian authors had to establishing of esoteric directions in literature, throughout a limited time-span (last decades of the 19th until the early 20th century). The research, based mainly upon concrete examples and documented resources, portrays the attempt of many writers and entire cultural trends in Italy, during the period considered, to adopt an original approach to expressing themselves, one which will in turn help them to overcome the literary boundaries of that time. This direction found fruitful ground and rooted itself in the esoteric culture, the occult sciences, in the lyrical dimension of dreams and of the unconscious. This study shows the relationship between esotericism and Italian science and culture scene between "fin de siècle and avant-garde", with emphasis on the undeniable influence the...

Au début du XIXe siècle, le paysage socio-politique européen est dominé par les bouleversements en provenance de France. Réagissant à ceux-ci, l’empereur Franz I restreint les libertés individuelles des sujets du Saint Empire Romain, tandis qu’au sein de l’aristocratie se trouvent au contraire des adeptes de l’Aufklärung, défenseurs de liberté et de tolérance. C’est dans ce contexte que Beethoven compose sa troisième symphonie en 1803-1804. Solomon (2004) a démontré que le compositeur a fréquenté sa vie durant des adhérents aux principes de l’Aufklärung, dont plusieurs francs-maçons. Des symboles maçonniques de sa main ornent d’ailleurs une page d’esquisses pour l’Eroica (Lockwood, 2013). Il semble donc naturel d’explorer cette œuvre sous cet angle. Une analyse formelle de l’Allegro con brio, la première selon la méthode de Caplin (1998), permet de faire ressortir une récurrence marquée du chiffre 3 à travers plusieurs paramètres (tonalité, métrique, rythme, forme, instrumentation). De plus, les trois étapes du rite initiatique (mort, enterrement et résurrection) sont représentées dans les trois premiers mouvements, tandis qu’on retrouve dans les trois derniers mouvements des évocations de la devise française Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité Cette relecture sous l’angle d’une interprétation maçonnique d’une œuvre fondamentale du canon symphonique apporte une contribution inédite à l’historiographie sur Beethoven ainsi qu’à l’histoire de la pensée et des sociétés. / At the beginning of the 19th century, the changes coming from France dominate the European sociopolitical landscape. In reaction to these, Franz I restricts individual freedom of the subjects of the Holy Roman Empire, while within the aristocracy, the numbers of adepts of the Aufklärung movement and believers in freedom and tolerance are growing. It is in this context that Beethoven composes his Third Symphony in 1803-104. Solomon (2004) has demonstrated that his whole life, the composer was surrounded with members of the Aufklärung, many of them also freemasons. Masonic symbols in Beethoven’s hand are even to be found on a page of his sketchbook for the Eroica (Lockwood, 2013). Therefore, it only seems logical to analyse the symphony from the angle of a masonic interpretation. A formal analysis of the first movement according to Caplin’s method (1998), the first of its kind to be applied to a whole movement from a Beethoven symphony, brings to the fore a marked recurrence of the number three throughout numerous parameters (tonality, measure, rhythm, form, instrumentation). Furthermore, all three steps of the masonic initiation rite (death, burial and resurrection) are represented in the first three movements, whereas one also finds references to the French motto of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité in the last three. This new reading of a fundamental work of the symphonic canon represents a novel contribution to the historiography of Beethoven.

This paper identifies theories and cognitive aspects that shed light on the transcultural unifying identity power of Masonic initiation rituals and illustrates this more closely using the case study of the German master ritual. It suggests that the potential of the unifying identity of Masonic rituals does not reside solely in their symbolism, but rather primarily in their enactment as performance. By breaking down the basic elements of the performative character of rituals and comparing the Masonic ritual to that of male initiation among the Chambri people of Papua New Guinea within Whitehouse’s theoretical model of modes of religiosity, this paper also explores the transcultural unifying identity power of rituals while outlining a novel explanatory framework in the field of Cognitive Science of Religion (CSR) and Ritual Studies. The present paper suggests that religious and religiously connoted transcultural unifying identity, including its inherent capacity for meaning creation and meaning attribution, is more strongly and stably achieved the more Framed Cognitive Immersion (FCI) is engaged, that is, the more corresponding cognitive processes of the participants are triggered together.:1. Why ritual research? 1.2 The concept of religion used in this study 1.3 The concept of ritual used in this study 1.4 The three basic elements of a ritual 2. Symbols and the performative character of rituals 2.1 The holistic approach to human cognition (Embodiment) 3. The power of rituals: The performative dimension 3.1 The performance of the legend of Hiram Abif 3.2 Generation of Reality 3.3 Scenic Staging 3.4 Corporeality or Physical Presence 4. Framed Cognitive Immersion (FCI) in ritual context

This master thesis deals with the spiritual progress pointing to a national self-awareness in the Enlightenment era from the beginning until 1848. The Enlightenment is an European phenomenon, which is characterized by a change of thinking, and self-awareness. This idea of tolerance and human emancipation contributed to the reforms of fundamental social, political and ecclesiastical changes. These changes result not only from a philosophical influences, but also from royal reforms during the reign of Maria Theresa and Joseph II in particular. The Teresian enlightened Catholicism and Josephinian reformism fully started the journey from the Enlightenment to liberalism. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Cette thèse analyse le système‐monde maçonnique entre 1717 et 1921, perçu comme un produit et un agent de la modernité occidentale, comme le prototype fondateur de l’opinion publique internationale et comme une plaque tectonique de la géoculture du système-monde moderne. Elle fluctue entre une perspective globale, une perspective atlantique et un ancrage latino‐américain, fourni notamment par les principales puissances océaniques d’Amérique latine (Argentine, Brésil, Mexique). Quelle fut l’évolution globale des réseaux maçonniques au cours des XIXe et XXe siècles ? Quelle fut leur géopolitique et leur géoculture ? Dans quelle mesure peut‐on ou non parler de « système maçonnique international » ? Quelle fut la place de l’Amérique latine dans cette dynamique ? Comment le sous‐continent américain s’intégra‐t‐il dans le système‐monde maçonnique ? Les réseaux maçonniques y furent‐ils une plaque tectonique géoculturelle et des vecteurs de transferts culturels ? Contribuèrent‐ils à l’intégration du sous‐continent américain au sein de la grande communauté atlantique mais aussi à l’intégration et à l’autonomisation latino américaine ? / This thesis investigates the birth and development of the Masonic world‐system, seen as a product and an agent of western modernity, as the prototype of international public opinion and as a tectonic plate of the géoculture of the modern world‐system. This text focuses on the first period of its development (1717‐1921). It fluctuates between a global perspective,an Atlantic perspective, and a Latin American anchorage, provided by the major oceanic powers of Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico). What was the global evolution of the Masonic networks in the 19th and 20th centuries? What were their geopolitics and their géoculture? Is it possible to talk about an "international Masonic system"? What was the place of Latin America in this dynamic? How the American subcontinent became a part of the Masonic world‐system? In Latin America in the 19th and 20th centuries, were the Masonic networks a tectonic plate of géoculture and the vectors of cultural transfers? Did they contribute to the integration of the American sub‐continent in the Atlantic community? Did they contribute discreetly to the regional integration and to the Latin American empowerment ?

The colonists living in the new United States after the American War for Independence were faced with the problem of forming new identities once they could no longer recognize themselves, collectively or individually, as subjects of Great Britain. After the French Revolution American politicians began to weed out the more radical political elements of the newly formed United States, particularly by painting one of the revolution’s biggest defenders, Thomas Paine, as unworthy of the attention he received during the American War for Independence, and fear ran throughout the states that an anarchic revolution like the French Revolution could bring the downfall of the nation. State, local, and regional organizations sprang up to fight Jacobinism, the legendary secret group of murderers and anarchists that fought against the French government. This distressing situation gave rise to new literature that sought to describe the “real” origins and background of Jacobinism in the War in Heaven and in Eden, and a new movement against Jacobinism was established. Fears about the organization of secret societies did not wane in the decades after the French Revolution, but worsened in the last half of the 1820s when a Freemason, William Morgan, disappeared under mysterious circumstances in connection to an exposé of Masonry he had written. Most Americans assumed that Freemasons had abducted and murdered Morgan in order to keep their oaths and rites secret. One influential early American who was influenced by this socio-historical was Joseph Smith, Jr., the founding prophet of Mormonism. Smith interpreted the Eden narrative in light of the movement against secret societies, and literary motifs common to anti-Jacobin literature during the period provided language and interpretive strategies for understanding the Eden narrative that would influence how Smith produced his new scripture. Only a few months after the publication of the Book of Mormon Smith edited the version of Eden found there into the text of the Bible itself and made the biblical narrative conform to the version found in the Book of Mormon through his own revisions and additions.