The Seven Order of the IlluminatiThe Seven Order Apply

The historical record

Our History

From Ingolstadt in 1776 to suppression in 1785 — and the two centuries of myth that followed.

The Bavarian Illuminati existed for less than a decade. Almost everything reliable we know about it comes from a small body of sources: the order's own papers seized and published by the Bavarian government, the writings of its members, and the edicts that banned it.

Throughout this section, statements are labelled as documented facts (supported by primary sources or established scholarship) or as interpretations and later claims (theories, polemics and cultural reception).

Origins of the Bavarian Illuminati

A secret society of the late Enlightenment.

In the 1770s the Electorate of Bavaria was a Catholic state in which Enlightenment ideas met strong resistance. The Society of Jesus had dominated education there until Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Jesuit order in 1773.

It was in this setting that a young law professor at the University of Ingolstadt founded a secret society intended to spread rational thought and moral self-improvement among an educated elite.

Adam Weishaupt

Professor of canon law, and founder of the order.

Adam Weishaupt (1748–1830) was born in Ingolstadt and became professor of canon law at its university in 1773 — a chair previously held by Jesuits. Within the order he took the code name Spartacus.

Read his full profile in Historical Figures.

Foundation in 1776

Ingolstadt, 1 May 1776.

On 1 May 1776 Weishaupt founded the society with a small group of students. It was first called the Bund der Perfektibilisten (Covenant of Perfectibilists) and soon became known as the Illuminatenorden — the Order of the Illuminati.

Its structure was hierarchical, with graded levels of initiation, beginning with the Minerval grade. Members used classical code names. From 1780 the order grew considerably after Adolph Freiherr Knigge joined and helped reshape its degrees, recruiting heavily among Freemasons.

Suppression, 1784–1787

Banned by Elector Charles Theodore.

Elector Charles Theodore (Karl Theodor) issued an edict on 22 June 1784 forbidding all associations not authorised by law. A second edict of 2 March 1785 named the Illuminati and the Freemasons explicitly. Weishaupt lost his professorship and left Bavaria, eventually settling in Gotha under the protection of Duke Ernst II.

In 1786 the authorities searched members' homes and seized papers, which the government published in 1787 as Einige Originalschriften des Illuminatenordens. A further edict of 16 August 1787 repeated the ban. By then the order had effectively ceased to exist.

Development & Modern Interpretations

How a short-lived society became a global legend.

After the French Revolution, writers including the Abbé Augustin Barruel (1797–98) and John Robison (1797) argued that the Illuminati had survived and engineered the Revolution. Historians have found no evidence for these claims, but they spread widely — including in the United States, where they fed a political controversy in 1798.

In the twentieth century the Illuminati became a staple of conspiracy theories and popular fiction. These are interpretations and later claims, not history, and we present them as such.

Documented Facts and Later Claims

How to read this section.

  • Documented: the order was founded in 1776, banned by edicts in 1784–1787, and its papers were published by the Bavarian government in 1787.
  • Documented: membership at its height is estimated by historians at a few thousand, mostly in German-speaking Europe.
  • Not supported by evidence: that the order survived its suppression, caused the French Revolution, or controls governments or finance today.
  • Not historical: the "Eye of Providence" and the pyramid were never Illuminati emblems — see Symbols & Traditions.

Interactive

Chronological Timeline

Entries marked Documented fact are supported by primary sources or established scholarship. Interpretations are later claims, theories or cultural reception, presented as such.

  1. 6 February 1748
    Documented fact

    Birth of Adam Weishaupt

    Adam Weishaupt is born in Ingolstadt, in the Electorate of Bavaria.

    Source

    R. van Dülmen, Der Geheimbund der Illuminaten (1975).

  2. 1773
    Documented fact

    Suppression of the Jesuits; Weishaupt's professorship

    Pope Clement XIV suppresses the Society of Jesus. Weishaupt holds the chair of canon law at Ingolstadt, formerly a Jesuit preserve.

    Source

    Papal brief Dominus ac Redemptor (21 July 1773); van Dülmen (1975).

  3. 1 May 1776
    Documented fact

    Foundation of the order

    Weishaupt founds the Bund der Perfektibilisten with a small group of students at Ingolstadt; it becomes known as the Illuminati.

    Source

    Einige Originalschriften des Illuminatenordens (1787); R. Le Forestier (1914).

  4. 1780
    Documented fact

    Adolph Knigge joins

    Knigge (code name "Philo") joins and reworks the degree system, drawing many Freemasons into the order.

    Source

    Le Forestier (1914); van Dülmen (1975).

  5. 1782
    Documented fact

    Convent of Wilhelmsbad

    A congress of Freemasons at Wilhelmsbad provides an opportunity for Illuminati recruitment among lodges.

    Source

    Le Forestier (1914).

  6. 22 June 1784
    Documented fact

    First edict against secret societies

    Elector Charles Theodore bans all associations not authorised by law. Knigge leaves the order the same year after disputes with Weishaupt.

    Source

    Bavarian electoral edict of 22 June 1784.

  7. 2 March 1785
    Documented fact

    The Illuminati banned by name

    A second edict explicitly prohibits the Illuminati and the Freemasons. Weishaupt loses his professorship and leaves Bavaria for Gotha.

    Source

    Bavarian electoral edict of 2 March 1785.

  8. 1787
    Documented fact

    Seized papers published; third edict

    The government publishes papers seized from members as Einige Originalschriften des Illuminatenordens. An edict of 16 August 1787 repeats the ban.

    Source

    Einige Originalschriften (Munich, 1787); edict of 16 August 1787.

  9. 1797–1798
    Interpretation / later claim

    Conspiracy theories of the Revolution

    Augustin Barruel and John Robison publish works claiming the Illuminati caused the French Revolution. Historians have found no evidence for this.

    Source

    Barruel, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire du Jacobinisme (1797–98); Robison, Proofs of a Conspiracy (1797).

  10. 1798
    Interpretation / later claim

    The "Illuminati scare" in the United States

    Sermons and pamphlets in New England warn of Illuminati influence, becoming part of the partisan politics of the period.

    Source

    V. Stauffer, New England and the Bavarian Illuminati (1918).

  11. 18 November 1830
    Documented fact

    Death of Weishaupt

    Adam Weishaupt dies in Gotha.

    Source

    van Dülmen (1975).

  12. 20th century
    Interpretation / later claim

    The Illuminati in popular culture

    Novels, films and online conspiracy theories turn the Illuminati into a modern myth largely unconnected to the historical order.

    Source

    See the Education articles in News & Publications.

  13. Today
    This organisation

    The Seven Order of the Illuminati

    An independent, modern historical and educational organisation — not a continuation of the Bavarian order — dedicated to preserving and presenting this history.