Illuminati

Illuminati [Lat.,=enlightened], rationalistic society founded in Germany soon after 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, a professor at Ingolstadt, having close affinities with the Freemasons and seemingly organized on a Masonic plan. While briefly very popular among German rationalists, it had limited influence. The Roman Catholic Church, which Weishaupt left in his youth and rejoined before his death, condemned the Illuminati; in 1785 the Bavarian government dissolved the organization. It did not long survive. In Spain and Italy in the 15th and 16th cents. the term Illuminati, or Alumbrado, referred to persons claiming direct communion with the Holy Spirit, so asserting that outward forms of religious life are unnecessary. Their claims led to persecution by the Inquisition. Other groups using the name have included the Rosicrucians , and certain followers of Jakob Boehme and Emmanuel Swedenborg .

Illuminati. Either 16th-cent. Spanish mystical sects; or a German secret society founded in 1776. The Spanish illuminati or alumbrados appear to have been founded by Antonio de Pastrana at the end of the 15th cent. They believed in a form of pure contemplation and absorption into God, practised severe mortifications, and claimed visions and the power of prophecy. The German illuminati, founded by Johann Adam Weishaupt (1748–1830), pursued progressive illumination through initiation into the successive stages of their society, involving the study of philosophy and the arts. They were also known as Perfectibilists. Though outlawed in 1784/5, the society re-emerged at the end of the 19th cent., only to disappear again under the Nazis.

illuminati applied to several sects claiming special enlightenment: (i) the Sp. heretics Alumbrados XVI; (ii) G. Illuminaten, secret society founded by Adam Weishaupt XVIII; (hence gen.) persons claiming special knowledge XIX. — L., pl. of illūminātus, pp. of illūmināre (see prec.), or — It., pl. of illuminato.