The Illuminati was founded by professor Adam Weishaupt in Bavaria on May 1, 1776. Weishaupt, chafing at the power of the conservative Catholic Church and the Bavarian monarchy, sought to cast aside organized religion in favor of a new form of “illumination” through reason. Inspired by the spread of the Enlightenment across Europe, he also drew upon ideas expressed by the Jesuits (he was a former member), the Mysteries of the Seven Sages of Memphis, the Kabbalah and Freemasons. He recruited heavily from the latter group, infiltrating masonic lodges in his quest to recruit some of the wealthiest and most influential men in Europe.
Members of the Bavarian Illuminati, referred to as “Perfectibilists,” were broken into three tiers of increasing power and drawn from societal elites, including noblemen like former freemason Baron von Knigge and writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. All communication was in cipher and members were given classical nicknames (Weishaupt’s, for example, was Spartacus).
What Happened to the Illuminati?
The organization flourished before being stamped out by Karl Theodor of Bavaria, who issued an edict making membership in the Illuminati punishable by death in 1787. But the death of the Bavarian Illuminati did not quell gossip about their clandestine activities, and conspiracy theorists have linked the group to everything from the French Revolution to the assassination of JFK. The Illuminati served as inspiration for Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons and Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco.
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