Research
Historical Archives
A searchable research archive of documents, publications, papers and important dates.
Search by keyword, filter by kind of item or by year. Each entry records its source so that it can be checked independently. Downloadable files are provided where we hold the right to share them.
10 items
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1 May 1776 — Foundation of the order
The traditional foundation date of the Bavarian Illuminati at Ingolstadt.
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Electoral edict of 22 June 1784
Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria
The first Bavarian edict prohibiting associations not authorised by law.
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Electoral edict of 2 March 1785
Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria
The edict explicitly prohibiting the Illuminati and the Freemasons.
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Einige Originalschriften des Illuminatenordens (1787)
Bavarian government (publisher)
Papers seized from members and published by the Bavarian government.
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Electoral edict of 16 August 1787
Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria
A further edict repeating the prohibition of secret societies.
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Barruel, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire du Jacobinisme (1797–98)
Augustin Barruel
The founding text of the Illuminati conspiracy theory — an interpretation, not evidence.
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Robison, Proofs of a Conspiracy (1797)
John Robison
An influential British polemic against Freemasons and the Illuminati.
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Le Forestier, Les Illuminés de Bavière (1914)
René Le Forestier
The foundational scholarly study of the order and German Freemasonry.
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Stauffer, New England and the Bavarian Illuminati (1918)
Vernon Stauffer
A classic study of the American "Illuminati scare" of 1798.
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van Dülmen, Der Geheimbund der Illuminaten (1975)
Richard van Dülmen
A standard modern study with edited documents.