Sección de Historia de la Cultura/Estudios Generales (Humanidades)

This article analyzes the development of Masonic activities in the city of Puntarenas between the years 1870 and 1876. In the first section we explain the expansion of Freemasonry in Costa Rica, then the development of this sociability in the city of Puntarenas. Finally end we analyze the reaction of the Catholic Church in Puntarenas to the establishment of this form of society ideas.

Port Limón in Costa Rican Caribbean coast was transformed into a multicultural and ethnic interaction area in the late nineteenth century because of its links with the international market, the railway construction and the development of the banana industry. To this port arrived Europeans from the more diverse backgrounds, but also Americans, Latin Americans and black creoles of the Caribbean, who with his different cultural backgrounds reshaped customs, habits of consumption and forms of sociability. The Limón’s society for these years acquired a dynamic more liberal, progressive, modern and cosmopolitan outlook than it did in any other part of Costa Rica. The previous situation facilitated the establishment of secret societies like the Freemasons and the Knights of Pythias, micro spaces of sociability where people interacted between different cultures and backgrounds. The study of such groups is a task still pending in the Caribbean studies, so this research is a breakthrough contribution.

In the 1890’s Port Limón was certainly an area multicultural and ethnic interaction. The cultural heritage of its population defined customs, consumer habits and forms of sociability of this city. In this port Europeans arrived from very diverse backgrounds, Americans, Latin Americans and black creoles of the Caribbean, who built a city more liberal, progressive,
modernist and cosmopolitan, that many others in Costa Rica,
to the extent that Port Limón was prepared to organize societies of ideas. The societies of ideas havebeen categorized in three forms: initiatory, patriotic and Protestants. The study of such groups is a task still pending in Central America, so this research is a contribution.

The Freemasonry found its beginnings due to its secret character and to its participation in different social processes and many politicians with multiple myth inspiration. Many secular reforms in the world during centuries XVIII and XIX were led by affiliates with this association, which is the reason why the stance of the Catholic Church to the freemasonry was constant. The Catholic Church was taking advantage of its power on the masses to develop a “true ideological battle”. From the ecclesial position, the imagination of the people at the time was representing the masonry that did not have limits. The secret character was based on the idea that was developed that being freemasonry is bound to the political conspiracy, the religious mystery and or the atheism. Therefore, in the following investigation we analyzed the found documentation and the main present representations in it. The base of this investigation is a speech analysis which was centered in Costa Rica from 1865 to 1899.

Freemasonry, from its very beginnings, due to its secret character and participation in different social and, most importantly, political processes, inspired multiple myths. Many reforms of secularization in the world during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were led by members of this organization, which is one of the reasons why the Roman Catholic Church’s disapproval of masonry remained part of its doctrine. The Catholic Church was taking advantage of its power over the masses to develop a “true ideological battle”. As a result of the church’s position, people were entirely free to construct their own vision of what freemasonry was. Its secretive nature was the basis for the idea that being a mason is tied in with political conspiracy, religious mysticism or atheism. The subsequent investigation analyses representations of freemasonry in the documentary evidence discovered. The basis for this investigation is an analysis of discourses in Costa Rica from 1865 to 1899.

Masonic Latin American historiography is undergoing a methodological regeneration therefore it is necessary performing a state of matter. This paper is divided into four parts. The first one synthesizes historiographical renewal on Freemasonry studies. The following examines the writing so far on Freemasonry in Central America, not including itself because it is considered to correspond to other do it. The third part analyzes the main results of the research on the Masonic issue and proposes a series of new problems that could be researched. And the final part refers to the first section in the bibliography, which includes all it has been written about Freemasonry in Central America. It must be emphasized that is an open whose completeness is as complex as the theme itself. Therefore, just wants to be a point of reference on completing this historiography will continue in the future.

One of the historical reasons of the success of the Masonry in the world has been the fact that their lodges constitute a suitable space for free thought and expression, which is why, between its members, it is common to find people of different origins, occupations and even religions. This atmosphere of tolerance and brotherhood has allowed, in addition, the initiation of people of different socioeconomic levels and diverse nationalities. Therefore, the objective of this work is to analyze from a prosopographic base, the partner-occupational profile and the possible social networks that they integrated the members of the lodges of Costa Rica during century XIX.

This paper intends to analyze Freemasonry’s role in the genesis of new cosmovisions based on its relationship with religiosity, atheism, spiritism, the Theosophy Society, co-Freemasonry and the Liberal Catholic Church (LCC) in Costa Rica during the turn of the 19th to 20th centuries. What were the social practices of Freemasons’ ideals regarding religiosity and the new cosmovisions? And how did they influence the enormous modernization process that the country was going through at that time? These are questions to answer through a prosopography analysis. Prosopography allows us to approach the relations between the structure and social dynamics of a group of Freemasons, as well as the social reality and the context of Costa Rica in which they took place. This not only allows us to approach Freemasonry with a greater understanding, but also to view Costa Rica as a country that was fully in the process of social changes and building cultural practices, as well as discourses.