The Illuminati are a group of comic book superheroes who joined forces and secretly work behind the scenes in Marvel Comics' main shared universe. The group was formed very shortly after the Kree-Skrull War. That war was depicted in Avengers #89-97 (1971-1972^[1]), however the Illuminati were not established to exist (via story retcon) until their first (published) appearance in New Avengers #7 (July 2005),^[2] written by Brian Michael Bendis. Their history was discussed in the special New Avengers: Illuminati (May 2006).^[3]

Members[link]

Creator Bendis says on the group's members:

They each represent a certain something that is very special to the Marvel Universe:

• Namor is a ruler of the oceans and represents the antihero mindset.
• Tony Stark represents the Avenger type of hero, one who understands and appreciates that a hero can work with the government, rather than outside of it. He also represents the common man, as he possesses no natural superhuman abilities.
• Reed Richards represents the science-based part of the superhero community.
• Black Bolt represents the Inhumans, who are an important part of Marvel history and play an important part in events that have not yet come to pass. He also represents a ruler/king archetype, one that has also been filled by Namor.
• Dr. Stephen Strange speaks for the mystical/non-scientific side of the Marvel universe.
• Prof. Charles Xavier is there on behalf of the mutant community.

They all bring with them a unique viewpoint and perspective that isn’t shared by the others.^[4]

The group forms at some time in the aftermath of the Kree-Skrull War, and probably after the Avengers/Defenders war. Iron Man realizes that each of the individual members had information about these alien races beforehand, and they could have collectively stopped it. He brings together the Illuminati with the Black Panther in Wakanda, and proposes that they form a government of superhumans. Namor refuses, on the grounds that too many superheroes are violent outsiders (such as Hawkeye and Quicksilver, both former criminals). Xavier refuses on the grounds that mutants are already feared and hated, and if Iron Man thinks he can fight this with iconic superheroes, it'll result in heroes being feared and hated as much as mutants. Dr. Strange refuses on the grounds that too many heroes are anti-establishment and that the group Iron Man has assembled to form a governing body would not be 'anti-establishment', but rather a form of 'counter-establishment'. The group does, however, agree to meet to exchange information regularly. The only individual present who outright refuses to meet or even participate with the others is the Black Panther, who fears the association will end in less than altruistic actions.

Publication history[link]

The Illuminati first appeared in the Sentry story arc of New Avengers, written by Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis explored their history in the New Avengers: Illuminati one-shot (May 2006), which built up to the Civil War event that summer. Bendis, along with co-writer Brian Reed and artist Jim Cheung, produced a five-issue miniseries filling out what the group does behind the scenes between their formation and dissolution. The first issue of The New Avengers: Illuminati was released in December 2006 ^[5][6] and the final issue was released in November 2007.

Fictional group history[link]

This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (October 2011)

First meeting[link]

Iron Man (representing the Avengers), Mister Fantastic (representing the Fantastic Four), Namor (representing Atlantis), Black Bolt (representing the Inhumans), Professor Xavier (representing the X-Men), Black Panther (representing Wakanda), and Doctor Strange (Sorcerer Supreme of Earth) meet in Wakanda, in the aftermath of the Kree-Skrull War that ravaged Earth. Iron Man highlights the fact that numerous heroes possessed information that could have prevented the war had they been combined, as well as the fact that Earth’s heroes are the only defense against an attack on that scale. From this, he concludes that a representative body, similar to the United Nations, be established amongst the heroes. The others in attendance debate the effectiveness of such a body, pointing out issues of trust amongst heroes and the bureaucracy that would result; however, most agree that continued secret meetings such as this one could help deal with larger threats in the future. All agree to this except the Black Panther, who takes issue with their self-righteous attitudes and predicts disaster when they disagree.^[7]

Skrull Empire[link]

The Illuminati travel to the homeworld of the Skrulls, who are still reeling from their defeat during the Kree-Skrull War on Earth. The group warns the Empire not to attack Earth again, but are unable to escape afterwards. The Skrulls analyze their captives (physiology, genetics, technology, etc.) and glean information from their behavior, until Iron Man is able to lead an escape. The Illuminati recognize that another attack is inevitable, while the Skrull Empire begins to make use of the data they compiled.^[8] By using a clone of Black Bolt and technology from Richards, the Skrulls were able to be undetected by superheroes.^[9]

Infinity Gauntlet[link]

Mr. Fantastic reveals to the group that he has been collecting the Infinity Gems, and hopes to collect them all with the help of the Illuminati. Despite a general apprehension, the group manages to acquire all six gems. Upon doing so, Mr. Fantastic attempts to will the Gems out of existence, but he is unable to do so. Faced with this failure, and a reprimand from Uatu, the Watcher, he makes the controversial decision to give each Illuminati member one gem to hide so that they may never be combined and used again.^[10]

The Beyonder[link]

In New Avengers: Illuminati #3, it is stated that during the opening moments of the first Secret Wars, Professor Xavier and Reed Richards sought to, but were ultimately unable to, use Xavier's mind control power to render the heroes and villains kidnapped by the Beyonder for participation in the Secret War unconscious, so that they could deny the Beyonder his pleasure of forcing both sides to fight for his amusement. The issue also contends that the Illuminati confronted the Beyonder during the events of Secret Wars II. The story itself was filled with major continuity errors (Tony Stark is referred to have been present during the original Secret Wars storyline when James Rhodes was actually Iron Man during the storyline, the Beyonder is proclaimed to be an Inhuman who was a mutant before he was exposed to the Terrigen Mists, as well as the implication that the events of Secret War II never really happened and instead took place within an asteroid replica of Earth that the Beyonder created, and that in the end Black Bolt, under the guise as the Beyonder's "king", convincing him to go into another dimensional exile); as such, canonical status is unknown.^[11]

Marvel Boy[link]

The Illuminati approach Noh-Varr, a Kree warrior who tried to take over the Earth, in his prison, reasoning that it is better to convince him to change on his own rather than to just try and make him change using their abilities. They demonstrate the Kree connection to the Inhumans, and their desire to protect Earth. They demonstrate the primitive nature of humanity, but also the potential of the race to evolve and better itself. Ultimately, using Captain Marvel (a deceased, Kree-born superhero), they try to convince Noh-Varr to use his powers to protect the Earth and guide humans to better themselves.^[12]

The Sentry[link]

Iron Man informs the Illuminati of the formation of a new Avengers team in light of the breakout from the Raft. All but Namor wish him well in his endeavor, and Iron Man moves on to the issue of the Sentry. Although none of the Illuminati have any recollection of him, Mr. Fantastic discovers that he has files on the Sentry and Professor Xavier discovers that his mind has been tampered with. Mr. Fantastic is able to use the files to get through to Robert Reynolds, a.k.a. the Sentry, and help him reverse what has been done to him. Iron Man tells the group that the Avengers take full responsibility for the Sentry, should he ever lose control, but dodges their questions about other recent Avengers inquiries.^[13]

House of M[link]

Though the Illuminati did not appear to exist in the House of M reality, a mysterious group called 'The Council of Kings' included both Namor and Black Bolt in the group, as well as having Black Panther (who had been present at the Illuminati's inception) and consisting of six different people, all rulers both Mutant and otherwise of their own respective kingdoms in the House of M. These included Black Bolt of the Inhumans, Namor of Atlantis, Victor von Doom of Latveria, Storm of Kenya, Sunfire of Japan, and Black Panther of Wakanda. The group met up to discuss the likely attack by Apocalypse in the name of Magneto on Black Panther's country, and all but Doom agreed to assist T'Challa in defeating him.^[14]

Hulk[link]

Maria Hill, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., approaches Iron Man concerning the Hulk, who has recently destroyed Las Vegas. Iron Man presents a solution to the problem of the Hulk to the Illuminati (excluding an absent Professor Xavier), suggesting that they shoot him into space. Namor, alone, dissents to the plan. He believes that they have no right to banish their ally from Earth and accuses them of not helping to cure Bruce Banner to the best of their abilities. The other four members vote in favor of the plan, and Namor departs. While leaving, he says that the Black Panther was correct, and he himself correctly predicts that the Hulk will eventually return to seek justified revenge.^[7]

Registration and the Road to Civil War[link]

Despite deciding not to meet again, Iron Man calls together the Illuminati (excluding Professor Xavier, who is in exile in Scotland after the M Day event) to introduce them to the Superhuman Registration Act. He illustrates the fact that recent events have raised suspicion of all super-powered individuals and groups, and that one wrong move on the part of a hero will trigger disaster.

"A hero, probably a young one... One of the Young Avengers, or those kids in Los Angeles... Some carefree happy go-lucky, well-meaning young person with the best of intentions will do something wrong. He'll be trying to save someone- do something heroic- but he'll make a mistake. Turn to the left instead of the right and people will be hurt or killed because of it. And it'll happen on live TV, or it'll be recorded... and like Rodney King, it'll play over and over. All over the world. Until the unrest that is already bubbling over will boil over... and every politician looking to make a name for himself will run right on TV and they'll tell America how they are going to save the world from these out-of-control costumed characters who think the law doesn't apply to them. And half of us will go along with it and half of us won't. And because of this mini-rebellion, our lawmakers will be forced to make an example of someone. Someone like our friend Spider-Man. Someone they can make a real spectacle of. Someone they can unmask on TV, destroy his marriage and family and pin a crime or two on! All for the whole world to see. And the country will rupture. Sides will be taken and people will be hurt. Friend against friend. People who used to be adversaries finding themselves teamed up against a common cause. Friends dying at the hands of a former ally or teammate. That is what will happen."

If the Act passes, a war amongst heroes will result and cause untold damage. In order to avoid it, Iron Man reiterates his idea of a representative body of superheroes, and urges the group to come out in favor of registration prior to a disaster. While Namor dismisses the issue as none of Atlantis’ business and Dr. Strange and Black Bolt disagree on principle, Mr. Fantastic agrees with Tony. The damage is done, however, and the Illuminati dissolve.

Civil War[link]

Although the Illuminati never met or operated as a group during Civil War, their actions in the conflict reflect their reactions at the last meeting. Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic became two of the leading members of the pro-registration side, and worked closely with the United States government and S.H.I.E.L.D. Dr. Strange stayed out of the conflict, meditating and fasting,^[15] though he later admits, after joining the New Avengers and finding new love, that he regrets his lack of involvement. Afterward, he would join the New Avengers, who continue to operate underground without registering. Black Bolt and the Inhumans stayed out of the conflict, but began their own Cold War with the United States. Namor was involved only so far as it served his interests. This included avenging the death of his cousin in the Stamford tragedy, and coming to the aid of his friend Captain America’s forces in the final battle.^[16] Professor Xavier was not on Earth during the conflict.

World War Hulk[link]

During Civil War, Reed is contacted by Amadeus Cho, who informs him that Hulk did not land on the intended planet. When the Hulk ultimately returns to Earth, he seeks revenge on the Illuminati as Namor had warned. He became King of the planet he landed on, before the ship malfunctioned and destroyed millions of the inhabitants, along with the Hulk's wife and unborn child. His first act is to attack and defeat Black Bolt at the Inhuman settlement on the moon. After providing New York with a twenty-four-hour time limit to hand the other three Illuminati over to him, the Hulk approaches Xavier at his mansion to determine whether he would have supported the Illuminati plan had he been present. He battles the X-Men, but after learning of the mutant population's recent severe losses as a result of M-Day, the Hulk decides that the X-Men have suffered enough and departs.^[17] Having then taken over Manhattan Island, the Hulk is attacked by Iron Man in a new 'Hulkbuster' armor, only for him to be defeated and Stark Tower to be destroyed. Despite the aid of the other members of the Fantastic Four, including temporary members the Black Panther and Storm, the same fate befalls Mr. Fantastic. Dr. Strange tries to enter the Hulk’s mind, but Hulk tricks Strange into presenting himself in a physical form that he attacks upon appearance. Strange later invokes and is possessed by the demon spirit of Zom, hoping that he could stop the Hulk before it was too late. However he loses control of his new found power, and he almost caused some civilians to die during his battle with the Hulk. Although the Hulk saves them, this action makes Strange lose his confidence in his powers and makes him vulnerable for the Hulk to defeat him.

Hulk then implants the Illuminati members with obedience discs and forces them to fight each other in his makeshift gladiatorial ring in Madison Square Garden. However the Hulk spared them from killing each other, showing them that he proved his point to the world. They survived the encounter by Hulk's mercy and the timely intervention of the Sentry which leads to a prolonged battle where Hulk knocks out the Sentry with a final punch as they revert back to their civilian forms. This allows enough time for Stark to use prototype defense satellites to negate the Hulk's powers. The Illuminati is also partially cleared from the responsibility of Sakaar's destruction when Miek admits he saw the Red King's forces breach the ship's warp core and kept quiet to initiate what Miek felt was Hulk's destiny as the "Worldbreaker".^[18] Namor, being the only Illuminati member opposed to shooting Hulk into space from the beginning, was spared by Hulk for that reason, and remained uninvolved throughout the conflict.

Secret Invasion[link]

Iron Man calls the Illuminati together one more time to show them the body of the Skrull that was posing as Elektra. He feels that the Skrull represents a secret invasion of Earth, and that the group is responsible (after traveling to the Skrull homeworld years before). His suspicions are proved correct when Black Bolt reveals himself to be a disguised Skrull. The five remaining members are able to barely defeat it, and its two compatriots, and begin making plans to detect and defeat the remaining Skrulls. They soon realize, however, that this is pointless, as they cannot trust each other, going each his separate way, for better or for far, far worse, upon realizing that they have lost far more than just a world: they have lost each other's trust, and have lost the last hope of uniting the superheroes against the Skrulls...^[19]

Though in Secret Invasion, just like in Civil War, though for reasonably different incentives (they could not trust each other because of their own actions during the War, and they could not trust each other because of the actions of outside enemies during the Invasion), the Illuminati never worked together as a group, and the Illuminati itself is most likely to be permanently shattered. However, all six of them were affected in some way during the invasion, as were all inhabitants and allies of Earth.

Iron Man and Mister Fantastic were the two chief fighters of the Secret Invasion, taking central roles in the main battles, and key to the ultimate failure of the Invasion, though neither survived unscathed. Iron Man brought the Skrull corpse to the world’s top minds, and summoned Citri Noll (in the form of Henry Pym) and Mister Fantastic to examine and dissect the body. Stark was soon, as planned by the Skrulls, called in, along with his Mighty Avengers to the Savage Land, where one of the first and most significant of battles of the invasion took place. It started when a spaceship crashed there, several dozen superheroes came out, and the New Avengers also arrived on the scene. Just as Mister Fantastic ingeniously discovers the method of concealment the Skrulls have been utilizing to become virtually undetectable, Citri Noll acts, using a special, Skrull-designed gun to subdue Reed Richards and prevent him from maintaining solidity; the remaining members of the Fantastic Four are also swiftly taken out elsewhere for most of the invasion, though all survive, if but barely. Agent Abigail Brand of S.W.O.R.D. frees Mister Fantastic and takes control over the Skrull ship he was held in to the Savage Land, but sadly not before the Skrulls manages to infect Iron Man with an alien virus disabling himself, his armor, and S.H.I.E.L.D. itself. Veranke, disguised as Spider-Woman, also attempts to crush and destabilize what remains of Stark’s morale, will, and faith by trying to convince him he is actually a Skrull sleeper agent, but the Black Widow convinces him, at least slightly, otherwise. Richards and Brand arrive, with Reed using a self-designed machine to reveal the Skrulls in the midst of the Savage Land battle, which are quickly disposed of by the heroes. Reed and Tony lead the other heroes back to the now chaotic New York for the final battle, in which Reed exposes the Skrulls and which he is a prime target. Reed survives, and Tony, though his secondhand and relatively crude armor he had quickly constructed suffer enough damage to force him to initially retreat from the battlescene, uses a spare old Iron Man armor to enable him to aid the struggle against the Skrulls, freeing the prisoners, including Pym and Jarvis.

Dark Reign[link]

The blame for the invasion is placed on Stark, who loses S.H.I.E.L.D., a great deal of public support and popularity, and much of his pride and hope, becoming, essentially, a fugitive from the now-powerful Norman Osborn.

The Fantastic Four, too, are hit hard by the Dark Reign and Osborn conspires to remove Richards, knowing his intellect well exceeds his own, and attacks the Baxter Building with the Four in another time and another place, with only two, less likely, defenders remaining to secure the headquarters. Richards will have internal conflicts within himself shaking him more than the threats outside however…Norman Osborn has sent H.A.M.M.E.R. agents to shut down the Fantastic Four and capture them, expelling them from the Initiative and stripping them all their rights. This takes place a week from the Secret Invasion, which has caused Richards to seriously reevaluate his own life and the life he has built for his family, resulting in turbulent internal conflicts. Richards, as he takes a long, hard look at the life, is prompted to construct a machine that is capable of bending reality itself, to do so. Agents from H.A.M.M.E.R. (sent by Norman Osborn, a man well aware Reed is one of the few that has intellect exceeding even his own and thus poses a great threat to his carefully constructed shadow world) arrive just as Reed activates the machine, interfacing with the Baxter Building's power supply, resulting in an energy fluctuation that sends Sue, Ben, and Johnny back to the prehistoric era, fraught with dangers, which manifest in the form of the First Celestial Host. Reed searches for answers which can only be found in alternate timelines as the three find themselves in a superhero Hyborian-age civil war; Franklin and Valeria are the only ones available to confront the agents Osborn sent. Richards studies other parallel Earths to see if any found a peaceful solution to the Civil War, which resulted from the Superhuman Registration Act. Reed peers into different worlds, some more bizarre than our own, to see what they did differently. This is an insightful look into where the Marvel Universe has gone in the past “year” (in Marvel time) and to see who was at fault, if anyone. Reed meets with the other five Illuminati to handle the problem.

Doctor Strange left the New Avengers and the superheroes during the late stage of the infiltration (proving true the Skrull Jarvis' promise that his arrogance would resurface and he would “buckle” by himself, despite the initial desire of Veranke, before House of M to take him down, naming him “at the top of the list” and one of the “bigger guns”), after the invasion was just revealed, to parts unknown, only to return, alive but having lost nearly everything, from his house to his destined role, the only things retained are the enmities of the Hood and Dormammu, both of whom want to slay Strange more desperately than ever, to a world completely changed and nearly broken within, so desperate and helpless he goes to the New Avengers for aid.

Black Bolt (along with his son Ahura) was captured before the events of World War Hulk and did not even know about the invasion; his voice was intended by the Skrulls to be used as a powerful weapon of mass destruction, but the Inhumans, aided by the renowned Kree, Ronan the Accuser, found their former king, rescued him, and returned to Attilan, with Black Bolt and Maximus sharing power. The Inhumans and Attilan, shaken by the invasion, angered by the Skrulls, and tiring of humanity’s treatment, depart from the Sol system, destroy the fleeing Skrull ship along the way, take control over the Kree Empire from Ronan, and realize their ultimate destiny during the cosmic event known as War of Kings.

Professor Xavier did not appear to be greatly affected by the invasion, at least less so than the other five, and was primarily involved with X-Men events during its course; he was elsewhere attending matters of his own while recovering from personal wounds and hurts, both from the past and not, while the X-Men resisted and eventually drove off the Skrulls assailing San Francisco using the modified Legacy Virus. Xavier has at least survived the Secret Invasion.

Namor, along with his new ally Doctor Doom, appear to have been struck at least somewhat less hard, though were certainly affected. Neither was successfully replaced by Skrulls, and it is unknown whether their forces were assaulted, either covertly or openly. Doom was at first unaware of even the Skrull invasion, before it outright exploded into the Marvel Universe, as shown when Iron Man questions him, though Veranke names him one of the “bigger guns” to be taken down. Doom was released from the Raft by the Skrull virus that infected Stark's armor in the Savage Land and rendered StarkTech inoperable (it is unknown whether Doom was considered as part of the release). Namor and Atlantis were affected to an uncertain extent, with Namor, too, one of the “bigger guns” Veranke wanted removed and acknowledged as one of the Illuminati. Both separately arrived to the first Cabal meeting after the invasion, held by Osborn and attended by three others, though it has been revealed afterwards they have been concocting secret plans that even Osborn is unaware of. Namor’s allegiance afterwards has been unclear, from helping other heroes defend New York from the menace of the Red Hulk and aiding the new Captain America in searching for the first Human Torch’s body, to hunting down Tony Stark and insisting T’Challa join the Cabal.

Even the Black Panther, T’Challa, after successfully fighting off a Skrull fleet attacking Wakanda with his wife Storm, forewarned by the discovery of the Brother Voodoo-Skrull, has been taken down, due to the cunning and might of Doctor Doom, an ambushing force of Doombots, and the Cabal, with a new female Black Panther (his sister) active, and Wakanda’s spirit shaken.

With Dark Reign, the Illuminati is technically, as of yet, no more, with its members so scarred and divided, along with the problem of working together during crises:

• Black Bolt is presumed dead in the aftermath of the War of Kings.
• Doctor Strange’s strength is significantly reduced without the role of Sorcerer Supreme and the Sanctum Sanctorum.
• Tony Stark is blamed and heavily mistrusted as a fugitive and a failure. He was put into a vegetative state, but is now penniless and trying to rebuild his company.
• Professor X is no longer in charge of the X-Men, but still in constant peril.
• Namor worked both sides of good and evil during the Dark Reign, at first working with Norman Osborn's Cabal but later betraying them with Emma Frost and joining the X-Men on Utopia.
• Mister Fantastic is occupied with the Fantastic Four and the upcoming War of Four Cities around the galaxy.

The Illuminati continues to exist in alternate realities where events took less ill, or at least different, courses; each must provide oneself with his own answers as to whether this is for good, or for ill, whatever the original intentions of the Illuminati were.

Return[link]

The Illuminati reunited in December 2010 with founding members Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Doctor Strange and Professor Xavier returning. Medusa has joined the group as well (filling in for the presumably deceased Black Bolt^[20]) after learning that the Hood is targeting them for the Infinity Gems, seeking to reform the Infinity Gauntlet and regain the power he lost after the Siege of Asgard.^[21] With the Hood having been defeated once more, the Infinity Gems were re-divided among the Illuminati members with Captain Steve Rogers in possession of the sixth gem in Black Bolt's absence.^[22]

The Cabal[link]

The Cabal was a counterpart of the Illuminati consisting of Norman Osborn, Doctor Doom, Hood, Loki, Emma Frost, and Namor.

Other versions[link]

Earth-231[link]

In this reality, Mister Fantastic killed the other Illuminati members to keep them from being too ambitious.^[23]

Earth-976[link]

In this realty, the Illuminati consisted of Iron Man, Mister Fantastic, Namor, Black Bolt, Doctor Doom, and Magneto. The Superhuman Registration Act and the Initiative were successfully implemented because Doctor Doom and Magneto were members of the Illuminati.^[23]

Controversy[link]

The Illuminati received controversy upon revelation of its existence, mostly due to the fact that many major events have had no interaction from the group at all, such as the Secret Empire's takeover of America, Dr. Strange and his Defenders taking over Washington, D.C., and various other events that have been left, supposedly intentionally, out of continuity in Marvel's newest status quo.^[24]

In other media[link]

Television[link]

• The Illuminati is referenced in The Super Hero Squad Show episode "Tales of Suspense". War Machine tells Iron Man that he had to cover for him when handling the Illuminati.

Film[link]

• The Illuminati appear in Planet Hulk. They are featured as a recorded message telling Hulk that he is too dangerous to be on Earth and apologized for what they had to do. However, they programmed the ship to land on a vegetation planet, but Hulk landed on Skarr.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Illuminati at Marvel.com

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2012)

Adam Weishaupt, founder of the Bavarian Illuminati

The Illuminati (plural of Latin illuminatus, "enlightened") is a name given to several groups, both real (historical) and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776. In more modern contexts the name refers to a purported conspiratorial organization which is alleged to mastermind events and control world affairs through governments and corporations to establish a New World Order. In this context the Illuminati are usually represented as a modern version or continuation of the Bavarian Illuminati.

History[link]

The movement was founded on May 1, 1776, in Ingolstadt (Upper Bavaria) as the Order of the Illuminati, with an initial membership of five,^[1] by Jesuit-taught Adam Weishaupt (d. 1830),^[2] who was the first lay professor of canon law at the University of Ingolstadt.^[3] It was made up of freethinkers as an offshoot of the Enlightenment and seems to have been modeled on the Freemasons.^[4] The Illuminati's members took a vow of secrecy and pledged obedience to their superiors. Members were divided into three main classes, each with several degrees, and many Illuminati chapters drew membership from existing Masonic lodges.

Originally Weishaupt had planned the order to be named the "Perfectibilists".^[1] The group has also been called the Bavarian Illuminati and its ideology has been called "Illuminism". Many influential intellectuals and progressive politicians counted themselves as members, including Ferdinand of Brunswick and the diplomat Xavier von Zwack, the second-in-command of the order.^[5] The order had branches in most European countries: it reportedly had around 2,000 members over the span of ten years.^[3] It attracted literary men such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann Gottfried Herder and the reigning dukes of Gotha and Weimar.

In 1777 Karl Theodor became ruler of Bavaria. He was a proponent of Enlightened Despotism and his government banned all secret societies including the Illuminati. Internal rupture and panic over succession preceded its downfall, which was affected by the Secular Edict made by the Bavarian government.^[3] The March 2, 1785 edict "seems to have been deathblow to the Illuminati in Bavaria." Weishaupt had fled and documents and internal correspondences, seized in 1786 and 1787, were subsequently published by the government in 1787.^[6] Von Zwack's home was searched to disclose much of the group's literature.^[5]

Another reorganisation took place in 1780 after the Lower Saxon noble Adolph Freiherr Knigge joined the Illuminati. In 1782 he gave a structure similar to the Freemason lodges to the order that had until that point, as Weishaupt himself conceded, not actually existed anywhere but in Weishaupt's head. Leadership of the order was given to a so-called Areopagus that consisted of Weishaupt, Knigge and others.^{[citation needed]}

This new organisation allowed the Illuminati to recruit numerous Freemasons and infiltrate entire lodges against the backdrop of a crisis that the higher grades of the German Freemasonry were going through after the collapse of the Order of Strict Observance in 1776.^{[citation needed]} This relatively apolitical and romanticising movement claimed succession from the Knights Templar and had enabled Karl Gotthelf von Hund to get the German lodges under his leadership. For years he had been claiming to be in contact with "Unknown Superiors" who had let him in on the deepest secret of Freemasonry. However, after no such "Secret Superiors" contacted the lodges after Hund's death in 1776, the lodge members were perplexed. At the great Freemasons' Convent of the Strict Observance, that was held in Wilhelmsbad from July 16 to September 1, 1782, Knigge and Franz Dietrich von Ditfurth, the second Illuminati representative and a most radical proponent of the Enlightenment, could claim the opinion leadership for their order. The templar system was given up and the Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross, itself trying to succeed the Order of Strict Observance, remained in the minority. The two Illuminati even succeeded in winning over Johann Christoph Bode, one of the leading representatives of the Strict Observance.^{[citation needed]}

As a result, the disagreement between Weishaupt and Knigge intensified so much that it threatened to break the Order apart. Therefore an arbitral tribunal called a “Congress“ was convened in Weimar in February 1784. It came as a surprise for Knigge that the "Congress", in which among others Goethe, Johann Gottfried Herder and Duke Ernst of Saxe-Gotha participated, judged that a completely new Areopagus should be created. Both heads of the Order were supposed to resign from their positions of power. This seemed to be an acceptable compromise. It meant an obvious defeat for Knigge, as the founder of the order would probably still have the same influence even without the formal chairmanship of the Aeropagus. Silence and the return of all papers was agreed upon and Knigge left the Illuminati on the first of July 1784. From this point on he turned away from the "fashionable foolishness" of trying to improve the world with secret societies. Weishaupt for his part handed over the leadership of the Order to Johann Martin Count of Stolberg-Roßla.^{[citation needed]}

While members of societies were quarrelling amongst themselves, secret societies had attracted the attention of the Bavarian authorities. They deemed the objectives of progressive-minded secret societies suspicious because they concentrated on changing the traditional order and on establishing a "rational state" by infiltrating public offices. On June 22, 1784, the Bavarian electoral Prince Charles Theodore consequently prohibited any "communities, societies and associations", which had been founded without his approval as a sovereign ruler. With the insistence of Father Frank, the chancellor Baron of Krettmayr, the Rosicrucian Baron of Törring and other people at court, another edict was released on March 2, 1785, which explicitely mentioned the names Illuminati and Freemason. It banned them for reason of treason and heresy. During house searches various documents of the order that showed further circumstantial evidence for their radical objectives were confiscated. Documents which were found with a deceased courier gave away information about names of several members. In two letters to the bishop of Freising, sent within the same year (June 18 and November 12), Pope Pius VI declared membership of the order to be incompatible with the Catholic faith.^{[citation needed]}

Organisation[link]

The most valuable secret of the Illuminati was their own moral system of authority, which was already practiced inside the order, but was now supposed to be applied on the outside world. The deceit and patronizing of the lower-positioned members soon provoked disagreements within the order. This was caused by Weishaupt's aim to perfect the individual by encouraging it to practice more self-discipline and covert leadership. He assumed that for the improvement of the individual the first necessary step was to know its secrets. Probably, he adopted this concept from his arch-enemy, the Jesuits, which were known for their slavish obedience and their gentle but still effective leadership by means of confession. Actually, according to Illuminati-expert Agethen^{[citation needed]}, the order stayed in a dialectic entanglement with its opponents: they used Jesuit methods of investigating the conscience in order to emancipate the individual from the intellectual and spiritual domination of the church; they also used a ranking system and mystical fuss, similar to the enthusiastic irrationality of the Rosicrucians, to further the success of Enlightenment and rationality. They subjected their members to an utterly totalitarian monitoring and psychological techniques in order to ultimately free mankind of the despotism of princes and kings.^{[citation needed]}

Members[link]

This temporary success cannot hide the fact that the Illuminati order mainly consisted of quite subordinate academics who maybe joined the order especially in the hope of more career opportunities. Indeed their hope correlated with Weishaupt’s concept of infiltration. Of course new members were ignorant about those intentions. The order hardly achieved its actual aim, namely to form the intellectual and political elite of society. Apart from the mentioned exceptions (Goethe, Herder, Knigge), all the really important representatives of the German "Spätaufklärung" either completely absented themselves from the order (as Schiller, Kant, Lessing, but also Lavater whom Knigge unsuccessfully tried to convince of joining for a long time) or shortly afterwards quit, just as Friedrich Nicolai did, out of disappointment about the rigid structures within the order. “Bookworm Weishaupt and his companions, utopists in a good and a ridiculous way” were never considered a real threat for the state of Bavaria but “the challenge for the old regimes was of course still too strong, even in this moderate form.”

Barruel and Robison[link]

Between 1797 and 1798 Augustin Barruel's Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism and John Robison's Proofs of a Conspiracy both publicized the theory that the Illuminati had survived and represented an ongoing international conspiracy, including the claim that it was behind the French Revolution. Both books proved to be very popular, spurring reprints and paraphrases by others^[7] (a prime example is Proofs of the Real Existence, and Dangerous Tendency, Of Illuminism by Reverend Seth Payson, published in 1802).^[8] Some response was critical, such as Jean-Joseph Mounier's On the Influence Attributed to Philosophers, Free-Masons, and to the Illuminati on the Revolution of France.^{[citation needed]}

Robison and Barruel's works made their way to the United States. Across New England, Reverend Jedidiah Morse and others sermonized against the Illuminati, their sermons were printed, and the matter followed in newspapers. The concern died down in the first decade of the 1800s, though had some revival during the Anti-Masonic movement of the 1820s and 30s.^[1]

Modern conspiracy theory[link]

Writers such as Mark Dice,^[9] David Icke, Texe Marrs, Ryan Burke, Jüri Lina and Morgan Gricar have argued that the Bavarian Illuminati survived, possibly to this day. Many of these theories propose that world events are being controlled and manipulated by a secret society calling itself the Illuminati.^[10][11] Conspiracy theorists have claimed that many notable people were or are members of the Illuminati. Presidents of the United States are a common target for such claims.^[12][13]

A key figure in the conspiracy theory movement, Myron Fagan, devoted his latter years to finding evidence that a variety of historical events from Waterloo, The French Revolution, President John F. Kennedy's assassination and an alleged communist plot to hasten the New World Order by infiltrating the Hollywood film industry, were all orchestrated by the Illuminati.^[14][15]

Modern Illuminati[link]

In addition to the supposed shadowy and secret organization, several modern fraternal groups claim to be the "heirs" of the Bavarian Illuminati and have openly used the name "Illuminati" in founding their own rites. Some, such as the multiple groups that call themselves by some variation on "The Illuminati Order",^[16][17] use the name directly in the name of their organization, while others, such as the Ordo Templi Orientis, use the name as a grade of initiation within their organization.

Popular culture[link]

Novels[link]

The Illuminati are often illustrated in famous novels, such as the Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson; in Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco; or Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. These authors do not rely on serious sources that provide historic information about the order, but rather on conspiracy theories which are in circulation about it. Thus the Illuminati are described as evil villains and mysterious, diabolic conspirators or they are portrayed as enlightened humans seeking to protect the world from evil. However this speculative information about the Illuminati is often mistaken as the truth. Neither Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) nor Bernini (1598-1680) was a member of the Illuminati, as depicted in Brown's novel, and his plot about a thousand-year old tradition of Celtic druids, assassins and Templars, who had the intention to find the "umbilicus telluris" (from Latin, meaning "navel of the world"), is entirely fictional.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

Other Reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Illuminati

• Gruber, Hermann (1910). "Illuminati". The Catholic Encyclopedia. 7. NY: Robert Appleton Company. pp. 661–663. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07661b.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-28. 
• Melanson, Terry (5 August 2005). "Illuminati Conspiracy Part One: A Precise Exegesis on the Available Evidence". Conspiracy Archive. Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5w4m7HAAW. Retrieved 28 January 2010. 

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