ILLU'MINA'TI (Lat. noun. pl., enlightened). A name which has been borne by four different societies. (1 ) The earliest was that of the Alom brados in Spain, followers of a seductive mysti cism. curiously compounded of Gnosticism, Lu theranism, and Buddhism. 1t spread rapidly through Spain about the middle of the sixteenth century, though vigorously combated by the apostle of Andalusia. -John of Avila. and by Ignatius Loyola. It was finally suppressed by the Inquisition, though it lingered until the mid dle of the seventeenth century, and had a few scattered followers even at the beginning of the eighteenth. Consult Pelayo, historic de nos heterodoxos espaiioles (Madrid, 1880). (2) A group of enthusiasts and visionaries, known as Gudrinets, in France about 1684. (3) An asso ciation of mystics in Belgium in the latter half of the eighteenth century. (4) A society to which the name is now most commonly applied, the Order of the Illuminati, which was founded at Ingolstadt on May 1, 1776, and soon spread over almost all the Roman Catholic parts of Ger many. Its founder at first called it the 'Order of the Perfeetibilists.' It owed its existence to Adam Weishaupt, professor of canon law at Ingolstadt, a man of superior abilities and much benevolence, but deficient in practical knowledge of mankind. Impatient of restraints imposed on the human mind, he conceived the idea of forming an association which should consist of the choicest spirits, labor for the establishment of the dominion of reason, and promote religious and political enlightenment and emancipation.
Religious dogmas and forms of worship were to be rejected, a system of deism was to he propagated together with republican opinions. The accession of Baron von Knigge to the new Order,and the support which it received from the Freemasons, led to its rapid extension. Weis haupt's knowledge of the Order of the Jesuits, whose pupil he had been, led him to borrow some of the methods of organization which had proved so successful in their hands for build ing up a strong and united system, though he meant to use them for the most opposite ends. His arrangements were calculated to place the threads all in one hand by which the on June 22, 1784, an edict was issued by the Elector of Bavaria for its suppression, which was followed by others March 2, 1785, of a more drastic character, and under the prosecution en suing the Order was suppressed. Weishaupt was removed from his professorship. He returned to Gotha, where he was received and died as Court Councilor, in 1830, at the age of 82. Various other members were severely punished, and the form of justice was not strictly observed in the proceedings against them. Great im portance was at one time attached to the Order of the Illuminati, whose secret influence was re garded as a principal cause of many of the political events of the time of the French Revo lution. Consult Kloss, Bibliographic der Frei inaarerei and der nut ihr in Verbindung gesetzten geheimen Gesellschaften (Frankfort, 1844).