In April 1778, the order became the Illuminatenorden, or Order of Illuminati, after Weishaupt had seriously contemplated the name Bee order. Weishaupt later expelled Sutor for indolence. Law students Massenhausen, Bauhof, Merz and Sutor became respectively Ajax, Agathon, Tiberius and Erasmus Roterodamus. The members were to use aliases within the society. On, Weishaupt and four students formed the Perfectibilists, taking the Owl of Minerva as their symbol. His original name for the new order was Bund der Perfektibilisten, or Covenant of Perfectibility (Perfectibilists) he later changed it because it sounded too strange. įinding Freemasonry expensive, and not open to his ideas, he founded his own society which was to have a system of ranks or grades based on those in Freemasonry, but with his own agenda. Weishaupt became deeply anti-clerical, resolving to spread the ideals of the Enlightenment ( Aufklärung) through some sort of secret society of like-minded individuals. They made constant attempts to frustrate and discredit non-clerical staff, especially when course material contained anything they regarded as liberal or Protestant. The Jesuits of Ingolstadt, however, still retained the purse strings and some power at the university, which they continued to regard as their own. He was the only non-clerical professor at an institution run by Jesuits, whose order Pope Clement XIV had dissolved in 1773.

History Origins The Owl of Minerva perched on a book was an emblem used by the Bavarian Illuminati in their 'Minerval' degree.Īdam Weishaupt (1748–1830) became professor of Canon Law and practical philosophy at the University of Ingolstadt in 1773. This view of the Illuminati has found its way into popular culture, appearing in dozens of novels, films, television shows, comics, video games and music videos. Central to some of the more widely known and elaborate conspiracy theories, the Illuminati are depicted as lurking in the shadows and pulling the strings and levers of power. These organisations have often been accused of conspiring to control world affairs, by masterminding events and planting agents in governments and corporations, in order to gain political power, influence and to establish a New World Order. In subsequent use, 'Illuminati' has been used when referring to various organisations which are alleged to be a continuation of the original Bavarian Illuminati (though these links have not been substantiated). It attracted literary men such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann Gottfried Herder and the reigning Duke of Gotha and of Weimar. During subsequent years, the group was generally vilified by conservative and religious critics who claimed that the Illuminati continued underground and were responsible for the French Revolution. 'The order of the day,' they wrote in their general statutes, 'is to put an end to the machinations of the purveyors of injustice, to control them without dominating them.' The Illuminati-along with Freemasonry and other secret societies-were outlawed through edict by Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria, with the encouragement of the Catholic Church, in 1784, 1785, 17. The society's stated goals were to oppose superstition, obscurantism, religious influence over public life, and abuses of state power.

Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on in Bavaria, today part of Germany. The Illuminati ( / ɪ ˌ l uː m ɪ ˈ n ɑː t i/ plural of Latin illuminatus, 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. For other uses, see Illuminati (disambiguation).Īdam Weishaupt (1748–1830), founder of the Illuminati

For the conspiracy theory, see New World Order (conspiracy theory). This article is about the secret society.

Illuminate education headquarters