What was the Illuminati?
The Illuminati (the Bavarian Illuminati) was a secret society founded on May 1, 1776, by Adam Weishaupt, a law professor at the University of Ingolstadt in Bavaria, southern Germany. “Illuminati” means “the enlightened ones” in Latin.
Europe at the time was swept by Enlightenment ideas, which sought to free people from superstition and old authority through reason. The Illuminati gathered intellectuals and nobles as members with the aim of spreading these ideas and resisting abuses of power by the church and the monarchy.
The dissolution of the Illuminati
At one point the Illuminati is said to have had about 2,000 members, but in 1784–1785 the Elector of Bavaria issued edicts banning secret societies, and it was suppressed and forced to dissolve. Weishaupt was driven out of Bavaria, and the Illuminati as an organization ended its history about ten years after its founding.
Illuminati conspiracy theories
After its dissolution, however, books were published claiming that “the Illuminati went underground, survived and caused the French Revolution,” and conspiracy theories began to spread. Since then the Illuminati has been said to secretly control governments, finance and the media around the world, aiming to build a New World Order that rules the world as one.
Stories that the “Eye of Providence” or the pyramid on the one-dollar bill are Illuminati signs, and rumors that celebrities flash Illuminati signals, have also spread online, but none has any solid basis. It is often confused with Freemasonry, and the danger of conspiracy theories leading to prejudice against particular groups has been pointed out. The card game Illuminati, themed on secret societies, is also known for urban legends of “prophecy.”
