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Adam Weishaupt
founded the Illuminati of
Bavaria on May 1, 1776
on the principles of his
early training as a
Jesuit. Originally called
the Order of the
Perfectibilists, "its
professed object was,
by the mutual
assistance of its
members, to attain the
highest possible degree
of morality and virtue,
and to lay the
foundation for the
reformation of the world
by the association of
good men to oppose the
progress of moral evil."
1
FRENCH REVOLUTION
EUROPEAN ILLUMINATI
MYTHOLOGY OF SECRET
SOCIETIES
NEW ENGLAND SCARE
.
A Bavarian Illuminati primer
Compiled by Trevor W. McKeown
"As Weishaupt lived under the tyranny of a despot and priests, he
knew that caution was necessary even in spreading information,
and the principles of pure morality. This has given an air of mystery
to his views, was the foundation of his banishment.... If Weishaupt
had written here, where no secrecy is necessary in our endeavors
to render men wise and virtuous, he would not have thought of any
secret machinery for that purpose." Cf.
- Thomas Jefferson Letters, 1800
The two principal critics of the Illuminati, John Robison and the Abb
Barruel
2
both published their accusations, theories and "histories" in
English. But it has only been in the last few years that the source
documents have been translated, allowing the English-speaking world
an objective perspective on the order.
This webpage summarizes what was known about the Bavarian
Illuminati to the English-speaking world, up until the mid-twentieth
century. Serious students should consult Amelia Gill's 2008 translation
of Weishaupt's Die Lampe von Diogenese, Peggy Pawlowskis 2004
doctoral thesis, Der Beitrag Johann Adam Weishaupts zur Pdagogik
des Illuminatismus, and the works of such German historians as
Reinhart Koselleck, Richard van Dlmen, Hermann Schttler, Reinhard
Markner, Monika Neugebauer-Wlk, Manfred Agethen, and Christine
Schaubs.
Robison freely admitted that he had scanty knowledge of German and
had derived all his information from other writers.
3
Unfortunately
neither he nor Barruel were concerned with providing references for
their sources. When they do quote from the papers and
correspondence of the Order as published by the Bavarian government
or the published works of Adam Weishaupt and Adolph Knigge, they
also fail to provide context or citations.
Adam Weishaupt was born February 6,
1748 at Ingolstadt and educated by the
Jesuits. His appointment as Professor of
Natural and Canon Law at the
University of Ingolstadt in 1775, a
position previously held by one of the
recently disbanded Jesuits,
4
gave, it is
said, great offence to the clergy.
"Weishaupt, whose views were
cosmopolitan, and who knew and
condemned the bigotry and
superstitions of the Priests, established
an opposing party in the University...."
5
Weishaupt was not then a freemason;
he was initiated into a Lodge of Strict
Observance, Lodge Theodore of Good
Council (Theodor zum guten Rath), at
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Adam Weishaupt (1748 - 1830)
Retellings of the death of Lanz, an
Illuminati courier, who was struck by
lightning in Abschrift [Apologie, p. 229],
illustrate the mythology that has grown
up around the history of the Illuminati.
Lack of research and a disdain for
historical accuracy has lead conpiracy
theorists to confuse Johann Jakob Lanz,
a non-Illuminati secular priest in Erding,
and friend of Weishaupt, with Franz
Georg Lang, a court advisor in Eichsttt
who was active in the Illuminati under
the name Tamerlan.
Barruel mistakenly translated
"Weltpriester", or secular priest, as
apostate priest and subsequent writers
such as Webster and Miller have
repeated this error. Eckert renamed
Weishaupts friend as Lanze and had him
struck by lightning while carrying
dispatches in Silesia. Miller cited Eckert
but renamed Lanz as Jacob Lang and
placed the lightning strike in Ratisbon.
The importance of the papers found on
Lanz has also been over-stressed,
considering that his death on 10 July
1785 came some time after the first two
edicts for suppression issued on 22
June 1784 and 2 March 1785 and some
time before the mid-October 1786 raids
on Zwack and Bassus, and the final edict
on 16 August 1787. This is a minor detail
in the history but it illustrates the lack of
accuracy often displayed by detractors
of the Illuminati.
7
Munich in 1777.*
Most information regarding the rituals
and objectives of the order is derived
from papers and correspondence found
in a search of Xavier Zwacks residence
in Landshut on 11 October 1786, and a
search of Baron Bassuss castle of
Sondersdorf in Bavaria on 16 October of
the same year.
6
These documents were
published by the Bavarian government,
under the title: Einige Originalschriften
des Illuminaten Ordens, (Munich, 1787).
Until recently, the best English
exposition on the Order was found in
Chapter III of Vernon L. Stauffers New
England and the Bavarian Illuminati,
(pp. 142-228). Today, English
translations of the rituals are available
online.
Neither Robison nor Barruel deny
that the professed goal of the
Order was to teach people to be
happy by making them good to
do this by enlightening the mind
and freeing it from the dominion of
superstition and prejudice. But they
refused to accept this at face
value. Where Weishaupt and Knigge
promoted a freedom from church
domination over philosophy and
science, Robison and Barruel saw a
call for the destruction of the
church. Where Weishaupt and
Knigge wanted a release from the
excesses of state oppression,
Robison and Barruel saw the
destruction of the state. Where
Weishaupt and Knigge wanted to
educate women and treat them as
intellectual equals, Robison and
Barruel saw the destruction of the
natural and proper order of society.
The rituals were of a rationalistic and not occult nature. Status as a
freemason was not required for initiation into the Order of Illuminati
since the fourth, fifth and sixth degrees of Weishaupt and Baron
Adolphe-Franois-Frederic Knigges system practically duplicated the
three degrees of symbolic Freemasonry. Although Knigge claimed to
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Baron Adolph Knigge (1752 - 1796)
have a system of ten degrees, the last two appear never to have been
fully worked up.
8
"The Order was at first very popular,
and enrolled no less than two thousand
names upon its registers.... Its Lodges
were to be found in France, Belgium,
Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Poland,
Hungary, and Italy. Knigge, who was
one of its most prominent working
members, and the auther of several of
its Degrees, was a religious man, and
would never have united with it had its
object been, as has been charged, to
abolish Christianity. But it cannot be
denied, that in the process of time
abuses had crept into the Institution
and that by the influence of unworthy
men, the system became corrupted;
yet the course accusations of Barruel
and Robison are known to be
exaggerated, and some of them
altogether false.... The Edicts [on June
22, 1784, for its suppression] of the
Elector of Bavaria [Duke Karl Theodor] were repeated in [2 March 1785,
16 August 1787] and the Order began to decline, so that by the end of
the eighteenth century it had ceased to exist.... it exercised while in
prosperity no favorable influence on the masonic institution, nor any
unfavorable effect on it by its dissolution."
9
In 1785 Weishaupt was deprived of his chair and banished with pension
from the country. He refused the pension and moved to Regensburg,
subsequently finding asylum with Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-
Altenburg. Weishaupt was later appointed a professor at the University
of Gottingen, remaining there until his death on 18 November 1830.
10
Henry Wilson Coil describes the order as a "short lived, meteoric and
controversial society"
11
while George Kenning refers to it as a
"mischievous association".
12
In his own defense, Weishaupt wrote:
"Whoever does not close his ear to the lamentations of the
miserable, nor his heart to gentle pity; whoever is the
friend and brother of the unfortunate; whoever has a heart
capable of love and friendship; whoever is steadfast in
adversity, unwearied in the carrying out of whatever has
been once engaged in, undaunted in the overcoming of
difficulties; whoever does not mock and despise the weak;
whose soul is susceptible of conceiving great designs,
desirous of rising superior to all base motives, and of
distinguishing himself by deeds of benevolence; whoever
shuns idleness; whoever considers no knowledge as
unessential which he may have the opportunity of
acquiring, regarding the knowledge of mankind as his chief
study; whoever, when truth and virtue are in question,
despising the approbation of the multitude, is sufficiently
courageous to follow the dictates of his own heart, - such
a one is a proper candidate."
13
"The tenor of my life has been the opposite of everything
that is vile; and no man can lay any such thing to my
charge."
14
As regards any information derived from the celebrated anti-mason,
John Robison
15
: "In the (London) Monthly Magazine for January 1798
there appeared a letter from Bttiger, Provost of the College of
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Weimar, in reply to Robisons work, charging that writer with making
false statements, and declaring that since 1790 'every concern [sic] of
the Illuminati has ceased.' Bttiger also offered to supply any person in
Great Britain, alarmed at the erroneous statements contained in the
book above mentioned, with correct information."
16
Following is an unconfirmed list of the more notable members:
Adam Weishaupt Professor
Adolph Von Knigge Baron
Xavier von Zwack Lawyer, judge and electoral
councillor
Christoph Friedrich Nicolai
[Nicholai]
Bookseller
Westenrieder Professor
Hertel Canon
Thomas Maria de Bassus Baron
Johann Simon Mayr Composer
Dietrich Mayor of Strasbourg
Johann J. C. Bode Privy councillor
William von Busche Baron
Saint Germain compte de
de Constanzo Marquis
Ferdinand of Brunswick Duke *
Ernst II of Gotha Duke *
Johann W. Goethe author *
Of the 67 names published by the Abb Barruel, 10 were professors, 13
were nobles, 7 were in the church, 3 were lawyers and the balance
were drawn from the growing middle class: mostly government officials
and merchants and a few military officers.
17
John M. Roberts claims that "[Weishaupt] rapidly rationalized difficulties
growing out of his own rashness and taste for intrigue as the product
of obscurantism and soon envisaged wider purposes for his society"
18
while Robert Gilbert feels that Christopher McIntosh "overestimates the
strength and significance of the Illuminati."
19
Researchers are directed to a list of books and pamphlets written by
Weishaupt found at the end of this paper. A further bibliography can be
found in Vernon L. Stauffers New England and the Bavarian Illuminati,
pp. 185-86. The United Grand Lodge of England Library catalogue
includes: P.4. Adam Weishaupt, Uber den allgorischen Geist des
Alterthums. Regensburg, 1794. 8vo.
Evidence would suggest that the Bavarian Illuminati was nothing more
than a curious historical footnote. Certainly, this is the opinion of
masonic writers. Conspiracy theorists though, are not noted for
applying Occams razor and have decided that there are connections
between the Illuminati, Freemasonry, the Trilateral Commission, British
Emperialism, International Zionism and communism (if you read the
writings of Alberto Rivera and Jack T. Chick of Chino California), that all
lead back to the Vatican (or if David Icke is to be believed, the British
house of Windsor and extra-terrestrial lizard people) in a bid for world
domination. Believe what you will but there is no evidence that any
Illuminati survived its founders.
It should be noted that the compiler of these notes, and of the Anti-
masonry FAQ, is neither the founder nor the moderator of the
newsgroup alt.illuminati. This unmoderated newsgroup was created by
Gregg Bloom, a software programmer and systems manager, on 16 April
1993. He never posted to the newsgroup until, in response to this
website, Colz Grigor, claiming to be Gregg S. Bloom, posted into
alt.illuminati on 22 February 2003. [FNORD] Peter Trei posted the
Bavarian Illuminati FAQ in November 1992 and Trevor W. McKeown first
posted the Bavarian Illuminati Primer on February 18, 1996. Neither
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participated in the creation of the newsgroup nor are active in
maintaining any archive. While a number of automated online
cataloguers of FAQs have credited Trevor W. McKeown as the
newsgroup moderator, this is an error.
After the Illuminati
The Encyclopaedia Britannica refers to Illuminati "cells" in an article on
eighteenth century Italy as "republican freethinkers, after the pattern
recently established in Bavaria by Adam Weishaupt."
20
and as a
"rationalistic secret society" in an article on Roman Catholicism.
21
Depending on your perspective, the lack of any detailed information on
the Illuminati in the Encyclopaedia Britannica can be ascribed to their
current power and secretiveness or to the much simpler explanation
that the editors found the order to be of little importance in the flow of
history and social development.
It is unfortunate that conspiracy theorists have so confused the issue
with claims of Illuminati complicity that the real conspiracies, the real
danger to a free and open society, so often go unreported or
unremarked.
Eliphas Lvi made the following unsubstantiated juxapositions in 1860:
"... it was this same memory handed on to secret
associations of Rosicrucians, Illuminati and Freemasons
which gave a meaning to their strange rites...."
22

"...under the names of Magic, Manicheanism, Illuminism and
Masonry...."
23

"The maniacal circles of pretended illuminati go back to the
bacchantes who murdered Orpheus.
24

"Long before there was any question of mediums and their
evocations in America and France, Prussia had its illuminati
and seers, who had habitual communications with the
dead."
25

There is a secret correspondence belonging to the reign [of
King Frederick William] which is cited by the Marquis de
Luchet in his work against the illuminati..."
26
More important than the existence of any illuminati after 1784, was the
fear that they existed. John M. Roberts, in his Mythology of Secret
Societies details this concern of European rulers, and concludes that
their oppressive reactions to this fear provoked the very revolutions
they sought to prevent. Another insight into how this fear outstripped
the facts can be found in Vernon L. Stauffers New England and the
Bavarian Illuminati (1918).
Although attempts have been made to revive the order, none appear to
have survived their founders. As an example, William Westcott, in
exchange for the Swedenborgian Rite, received membership in the
"Order of the Illuminati" from Theodor Reuss in 1902. Documentation is
not available, nor is any explanation or description of this "Order" given.
27
Illuminati predecessors
These societies are only of interest insofar as they have been claimed
by anti-masons and conspiracy theorists to demonstrate a perceived
long-term anti-christian conspiracy. There is no similarity between the
objectives of these societies and the Bavarian Illuminati.
Hesychasts: Hesychasm is a form of Eastern Christian monastic life
requiring uninterrupted prayer. Dating from the 13th century, it was
confirmed by the Orthodox Church in 1341, 1347 and 1351, and
popularized by the publication of the "Philokalia" in 1782.
Alumbrados: (Spanish : 'enlightened') A mystical movement, at one
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time led by La Beata de Piedrahita (d. 1511); first recorded about 1492
in Spain (a varient spelling, aluminados, is found in 1498). They
believed that the human soul could enter into direct communication
with the Holy Spirit and, due to their extravagant claims of visions and
revelations, had three edicts issued against them by the Catholic
Inquisition, the first on 23 September 1525. According to the Catholic
Encyclopedia, "some of its features reappear in the Quietism of the
Spaniard Michael de Molinos". Although Ignatius of Loyola founder of
the Jesuits in 1534, and composer of the "Constitutions" of the Society
of Jesus was brought before an ecclesiastical commission in Alcal in
1527 to determine if his teachings were heretical, he was cleared of
any suspicion that he was an alumbrado, He wrote nothing that would
suggest he accepted their beliefs.
28
The name translates as 'illuminati'
but the name is the only similarity with the later Bavarian Illuminati.
29
Gurinets: The alumbrados, under the name of Illumins, arrived in
France from Seville in 1623, and were joined in 1634 by Pierre Gurin,
cur of Saint-Georges de Roye, whose followers in Picardy and
Flanders, known as Gurinets, were suppressed in 1635 (Jean Hermant
1650-1725, Histoire des hrsies, Rouen : 1727). "Another and obscure
body of Illumins came to light in the south of France in 1722, and
appears to have lingered till 1794, having affinities with those known
contemporaneously in this country as 'French Prophets,' an offshoot of
the Camisards." [Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911 edition.]
Illuminati claimants
Socit des Illumins d'Avignon: Formed by Dom Antoine Joseph de
Pernetti and the Polish Count Thaddeus Leszczy Grabianka in Avignon,
France in 1786 (Kenning says 1787); later moving to Montpellier as the
"Acadamy of True Masons". Although Kloss claims they were in
existence in 1812, they would seem to have disappeared in the French
Revolution.
Illuminated Theosophists or Chastaniers Rite: A 1767 modification
of Pernettis "Hermetic Rite" that later merged with the London
Theosophical Society in 1784.
Concordists: A secret order established in Prussia by M. Lang, on the
wreck of the Tugendverein (Union of the Virtuous), which latter Body
was instituted in 1790 [Miller says 1786] by Henrietta and Marcus Herz
as a successor of the Illuminati [or Moses Mendelssohn]. According to
Thomas Frost, Secret Societies of the European Revolution, vol. i, p.
183 [cited in Occult Theocrasy, p. 377.] a second Tugendbund was
formed by von Stein in 1807. It was suppressed in 1812 by the Prussian
Government, on account of its supposed political tendencies, and was
revived briefly between 1830-33.
World League of Illuminati: Allegedly the singer and journalist
Theodor Reuss "re-activated" the Order of Illuminati in Munich in 1880.
Leopold Engel founded his World League of Illuminati in Berlin in 1893.
From these two sprung the Ordo Illuminatorum which was still active in
Germany as late as the mid-1970s. Much research has been compiled
by Peter-R. Koenig.
Illuminates of Stockholm: The Illuminated Chapter of Swedish Rite
Freemasonry is currently composed of approximately 60 past or current
Grand Lodge officers who have received the honorary 11th degree. It
makes no claim to be related, historically or philisophically, with the
Bavarian Illuminati and strictly speaking should not be included in this
list.
Die Alte Erleuchtete Seher Bayerns: Alleged by Marc Lachance to
have been founded in 1947 by employees of the Munich newspaper,
Sddeutsche Zeitung, there are unsubstantiated claims to a longer
lineage. With some 100 members claimed in Bavaria, Baden-
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Wrttemburg and Thuringia, they have disavowed ritual, and keep
organised structure to a minimum.
30
The Illuminati Order: Founded sometime prior to 1988, this
Tallahassee Florida based group was brought online in 2001 by Solomon
Tulbure [1969/10/18 - 2004/11/17], one time Grand Master whose
idiosyncratic behaviour later estranged him from the group. Currently
the Illuminati Order can be found online at illuminati-order.com.
Orden Illuminati: Another addition to the list of claimants to the
Illuminati tradition, this group was founded in Spain in 1995 by Gabriel
Lpez de Rojas and could be found online at www.ordeniluminati.com
from October 2000 until February 2008.
Notes:
Cf. "diabolical tenets", The writings of George Washington from the original manuscript
sources, 1745-1799; prepared under the direction of the United States George
Washington Bicentennial Commission and published by authority of Congress; John
C. Fitzpatrick, editor. Washington : U.S. Govt. Print. Off. [1931-44] 39 v. fronts. (incl.
ports.) illus., maps (1 fold.) plans, facsims. (part fold.) 24 cm. vol. 36. See entry for
October 24, 1798.
1. Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Albert G. Mackey. Richmond, Virginia: Macoy
Publishing. 1966, p.474.
2. Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism, Written in French by the Abb
Barruel, and translated into English by the Hon. Robert Clifford, F.R.S. & A. S.
"Princes and Nations shall disappear from the face of the Earth ... and this revolution
shall be the work of secret societies." Weishaupts Discourse for the Mysteries. Part I.
The Antichristian Conspiracy. Second Edition, revised and corrected. London: Printed
for the Translator, by T. Burton, No. 11, Gate-fleet, Lincolns-Inn Fields. Sold by E.
Booker, No. 56, New Bond-Street. 1798 [Entered at Stationers Hall.] p. 261.
3. Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe carried on
in the Secret Meetings of the Freemasons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies, collected from
Good Authorities, John Robison (1739 - 1805). printed by George Forman for
Cornelious David, Edinburgh: 1797. (531 pages). Postscript, p. 2.
4. "In 1773 Pope Clement XIV, under pressure especially from the governments
of France, Spain and Portugal, issued a decree abolishing the order. The societys
corporate existence was maintained in Russia, where political circumstancesnotably
the opposition of Catherine II the Greatprevented the canonical execution of the
suppression. The demand that the Jesuits take up their former work, especially in
the field of education and in the missions, became so insistent that in 1814 Pope
Pius VII reestablished the society." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Chicago: 1989,
15th edition.
5. Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, Albert G. Mackey. Richmond, Virginia: Macoy
Publishing. 1966, p. 1099.
*. In a footnote to letter No 6 to "Ajax", undated but from the beginning of 1777,
Weishaupt writes: "I will go to Munich before the carnival, and will be received in the
famous Freymaurer Orden (Order of F M). Ne timeas. Our business is in good way;
we learn how to know a new nexus (bond, secrecy) and we will become thus reliquis
fortiores (stronger than the others). " This would be sometime before 12 February
1777. Cited in La Conjuration des Illumins, Henry Coston. Paris: Henry Coston, 1979.
pp. xxxvii-xxxviii. Pb. 304 pp.
6. The Secret Societies of all ages and Countries [in two volumes], Charles William
Heckethorn. London: George Redway. 1897 p.310. Cf. Memoirs Illustrating the History
of Jacobinism.
7. "Among his adepts was one LANZ, an apostate priest. Weishaupt designed him
as the person to carry his mysteries and conspiracies into Selesia. His mission was
already fixed, and Weishaupt was giving him his last instructions, when a thunder-
bolt from Heaven struck the apostate dead, and that by the side of Weishaupt. The
Brethren, in their first fright, had not recourse to their ordinary means for diverting
the papers of the deceased adept from the inspection of the magistrate. [footnote]
See the Apology of the Illuminees, P. 62." Barruel. p. 244.
Cf.: "When my late friend Lanz was struck by lightning at my side in the year
1785 in Regensburg, what an opportunity this could have provided me to play the
penitent and remorseful hypocrite, and thus gain the confidence of my persecutors."
trans. from : "Als im Jahre 1785 in Regensburg mein seeliger Freund Lanz an meiner
Seite vom Blitz ersclagen wurde, welche Gelegenheit htte ich gehabt, den
reumtigen und bufertigen Heuchler zu machen und auf diese Art das Zutrauen
meiner Verfolger zu erwerben?" Kurze Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten. Frankfurt and
Leipzig, 1787. Quoted in Die Illuminaten, Quellen und Text zur Aufklrungsideologie des
Illuminatenordens (1776-1785) Herausgegeben von Jan Rachold. Berlin: Akademie-
Verlag, 1984. p. 363. Also see pp. 127, 132, 140, 150-160, 168 for Franz Georg
Lang.
8. Mackey. p. 475.
9. Mackey. p. 1099.
10. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie vol. 41, p. 539. Cf. Albert Mackey's Encyclopedia of
Freemasonry notes 1811.
11. Coils Masonic Encyclopedia, Henry Wilson Coil. New York: Macoy Publishing. 1961
p. 545.
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12. Kennings Masonic Cyclopaedia and Handbook of Masonic Archeaology, History and
Biography, ed. Rev. A. F. A. Woodford. London: 1878. p. 326.
13. Adam Weishaupt, An Improved System of the Illuminati, Gotha: 1787.
14. Adam Weishaupt (1748 - 1811), An Apology for the Illuminati, Gotha: 1787.
15. See biographical notes: New England and the Bavarian Illuminati, Chapter III, pp.
142-228. Vernon L. Stauffer. 1918. with bibliographical notes.
16. Heckethorn, p. 314.
17. Heckethorn, pp. 305-16; Barruel, pp. 202-05. Estimates of the total
membership have ranged from Le Forestiers 650 to Albert MacKeys 2000. Rene" le
Forestier, 'Les Illumins de Bavire et la Franc-Maonnerie Allemande.'1914 [PhD
paper]
* Noted in Man, Myth & Magic. No. 50, p. 1404. Ellic Howe [1910-1991]. BPC
Publishing Ltd., London: 1970. [also source for portraits of Weishaupt and Knigge.]
Also listed by Augustin Barruel (1741/10/02 - 1820/10/05). p. 202.
Barruel lists a "Bode, F. H." and a "Busche, F. H.". p. 202.
Not listed by Barruel. Heckethorne does not note if this is General Claude-
Louise, compte de Saint-Germain (1707/04/15 - 1778/01/15), Louise XVIs minister
of war, or the compte de Saint-Germain (c.1710 - 1784/02/27?), a celebrated
adventurer known as der Wundermann who Cagliostro, in his Mmoires authentiques,
claimed was the founder of Freemasonry.
18. J.M. Roberts, "The Mythology of Secret Societies", New York: Charles Scribners
Sons. 1972, pp. 123-4.
19. Christopher McIntosh, "The Rose Cross and the Age of Reason", Leiden, E.J.
Brill, 1992, reviewed by Robert Gilbert in the Transactions of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No.
2076, London: Butler & Tanner Ltd.1993 p. 241.
20. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition. Vol. 22, p. 223, 2b.
21. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition. Vol. 26, p. 937, 2b.
22. Eliphas Lvi. The History of Magic. Reprinted by Samual Weiser, Inc., New York:
1973. p. 32.
23. ibid. p. 65.
24. ibid p. 130.
25. ibid. Chapter VI: "The German Illuminati". p. 317.
26. ibid p. 317.
27.26. R.A. Gilbert. "Chaos out of order: the rise and fall of the Swedenborgian
Rite". Ars Quatuor Coronatorum. Transactions of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No. 2076.
Volume 108 for the Year 1995. Edited by Robert A. Gilbert. p. 134.
28. "The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius", trans. by L.J. Puhl (1951); "The
Constitutions of the Society of Jesus; Translated with an Introduction and a
Commentary", by G.E. Ganss:1970.
29. Alumbrados: Marcelino Menndez y Pelayo (1856/11/03-1912/05/19), Los
Heterodoxos Espaioles, 1881, vol. v. ; aluminados : Francisco Lpez de Villalobos,
Sumario de la medicina, 1498, reprinted in vol. xxiv of the publications of the Sociedad
de bibliofilos espanoles, Madrid : 1886. Also see John E. Longhurst, "Alumbrados,
erasmistas y luteranos en el proceso de Juan de Vergara," in Cuadernos de historia de
Espaa, vols. xxvii, 1958.
30. Marc Etienne Lachance is a German freelance database and website developer
with an interest in role-playing games, the Church of the SubGenius and Principia
Discordia. There is no corroboration for his claims, first recorded in the usenet
newsgroup alt.politics.nationalism.white on 1998/09/26. [FNORD]
Primary source published texts:
Die Bibliothek des Deutschen Freimaurermuseums in Bayreuth - Katalog.
Knigge, Adolph, Freiherr von (1752-1796), Freimaurer- und Illuminatenschriften.
Raabe Paul [Editor] Samtliche Werke / Knigge, Adolph, Facsim. of 1781-1873 eds &
transcription of MS. Mnchen, Sau: Nendeln : KTO, 1978-92.
Nicolai, Christoph Friedrich (3/18/1733 - 1/8/1811), Versuch ber die
Besschuldigungen welch dem Tempelherrnorden gemacht worden und ber dessen
Geheimniss; nebst einem Anhange uber das Entstehen der Freimaurergesellschaft. [An
Essay on the accusations made against the Order of Knights Templar and their
mystery; with an Appendix on the origin of the Fraternity of Freemasons], Berlin:
1782.
Weishaupt, Adam, Die Illuminaten : Quellen und Texte zur Aufklrungsideologie des
Illuminatenordens (1776-1785) / herausgegeben von Jan Rachold. Berlin : Akademie-
Verlag, 1984. 409 p. ; 20 cm. LCCN: 85111344
Weishaupt, Adam, Die Leuchte des Diogenes oder Prfung unserer heutigen Moralitt
und Aufklrung. Regensburg: Montag Wei 1804 [Ratisbon 1805] English
translation: Diogenes' Lamp or an Examination of our Present-Day Morality and
Enlightenment. Bloomington : The Masonic Book Club, 2008.
Weishaupt, Adam, ber die Selbsterkenntnis. Ihre Hindernisse und Vorteile. Nach
dem Original von 1794. [3. Aufl. hrsg. im Auftrage von Ordo Illuminatorum (u.a.)
Zrich, Psychosophische Gesellschaft, 1966] 200 p. 15 cm. LCCN: 67106086.
Weishaupt, Adam, Illuminatenorden. Die neuesten Arbeiten des Spartacus und Philo in
dem Illuminaten-Orden jetzt zum erstenmal gedruckt und zur Beherzigung bey gegenwrtigen
Zeitluften herausgeben. [n.p.] 1794. 200, 90, 77 p. 20 cm. LCCN: 77465925.
Weishaupt, Adam, Ueber die Grnde und Gewisheit der menschlichen Erkenntniss; zur
Prfung der Kantischen Critik der reinen Vernunft. Nrnberg, in der Grattenauerischen
Buchhandlung, 1788. [Bruxelles, Culture et Civilisation, 1969] 204 p. 19 cm. LCCN:
73357961.
Weishaupt, Adam, Apologie der Illuminaten ... Frankfurth und Leipzig [i.e.
Nrnberg] In der Grattenauerischen Buchhandlung, 1786. p. cm. Zweifel ber die
Kantischen Begriffe von Zeit und Raum. LCCN: 09011125.
Weishaupt, Adam, Zweifel ber die Kantischen Begriffe von Zeit und Raum. Nrnberg,
8/6/2014 A Bavarian Illuminati Primer
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/illuminati.html 9/9
1788. [Bruxelles, Culture et Civilisation, 1968] 120 p. 19 cm. LCCN: 79459272.
Additional references:
"Illuminism and the French Revolution". Edinburgh Review. vol. 204, July 1906.
pp. 35-60.
Jedediah Morse and the Bavarian Illuminati: An Essay on the Rhetoric of Conspiracy
Central States Speech Journal Fall/Winter 1988. pages 293-303.
New England and the Bavarian Illuminati Chapter III, pp. 142-228. Vernon L.
Stauffer. 1918. with bibliographical notes.
Bavarian Illuminati FAQ Ver 1.2. Peter Trei. Jan. 1994. Further references to popular
usage of the term "Illuminati." Mirrored frequently online. Also see www.anti-
masonry.info/alt.illuminati_FAQ.html.
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