Yet, from the moment the real-life group disbanded, “the myth expanded”. “Most of the group’s secrets were disclosed or published, and, if you believe most historians, the Illuminati disappeared,” said Vox. However, it didn’t last long after Karl Theodor, Duke of Bavaria, outlawed secret groups on punishment of death in the late 1780s. It grew from a handful of men to a few thousand, including some influential members, with the most famous thought to have been the German thinker Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - although this is disputed by some. Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images He based his society on the Freemasons, with a hierarchy and mysterious rituals, and named it the Order of Illuminati to reflect the enlightened ideals of its educated members.Īn illustration of Johann Weishaupt, founder of the Order of the Illuminati Weishaupt “decided to find another form of ‘illumination’, a set of ideas and practices that could be applied to radically change the way European states were run”, said the magazine. The Order of the Illuminati was a secret group founded in Bavaria in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, who believed “the monarchy and the church were repressing freedom of thought”, said National Geographic. While most of the rumours are fiction, there was a real secret society formed in Bavaria more than 200 years ago. ‘Great replacement’: what is the conspiracy theory?ĭoctors, politicians, actors and musicians have been accused of being members of a shadowy group that supposedly controls the world.Katy Perry conspiracy theories: from Illuminati to JonBenet Ramsey.Who killed JFK? The Kennedy conspiracy theories.

Illuminati new world order card list