CONSPIRACY RISING Chapter 2 The Big Three: The Knights Templar, the Freemasons, and the Bavarian Illuminati Part 2

CONSPIRACY RISING

Chapter 2

The Big Three:

The Knights Templar,

the Freemasons, and the

Bavarian Illuminati

The Order of the Illuminati

Freemasonry fulfilled the needs of individuals adjusting to a rapidly changing society. At the same time, however, it was an effective model of political organization, and it was only a matter of time before someone realized the potential of secret societies as strategic political actors. The person who did so was Adam Weishaupt, a law professor at the University of Ingolstadt, Bavaria. On May 1, 1776, Weishaupt, together with four of his friends, founded the Order of Illuminists. Freemasonry began in England as an outlet for a traditional society undergoing rapid change; Weishaupt’s new organization played a similar role in Bavaria.

Eighteenth century Bavaria was still a traditional kingdom, and it was marked by the social, political, and religious hierarchies that were already changing elsewhere in Europe. Bavaria, however, had proved resistant to the powerful ideas of the French Enlightenment. Adam Weishaupt, a talented and motivated young scholar, set about to change that situation. Fueled by personal ambition and a desire for recognition, Weishaupt undertook to bring Enlightenment ideas to Bavaria. He created the Illuminati as a tool to help him accomplish that goal.

Educated at a Jesuit college, and employed at the Jesuit-dominated University of Ingolstadt, Weishaupt developed an appreciation for the religious order’s political techniques and achievements. In his view, the Jesuits had maintained their power through effective domination of Bavaria’s intellectual and cultural life. At the same time, however, he was frustrated by their influence over university teaching methods and curriculum, and in particular, their resistance to the ideas of the Enlightenment, and their hostility to non Catholic instructional materials. Weishaupt who was well-connected within the university administration and confident of his continued employment despite his conflicts with the Jesuits challenged them early on in his career. One of his earliest publications was a pamphlet that promoted the ideas of Protestant thinkers such as Hugo Grotius and Gottfried Leibniz, and his support for these scholars was an audacious move that angered his Jesuit colleagues. Nevertheless, he was promoted to the position of Chair of Canon Law, a professorship that had been held by Jesuits for the previous century. Confident in his abilities, and popular with his students, Weishaupt began to criticize the university administration and his colleagues in lectures, and outside his employment, associated with ex-Jesuits and anticlerical radicals. As Roberts points out, these facts together suggest that he “was a familiar hazard of academic and collegiate life: the clever, cantankerous, self-absorbed, and self-deceiving bore” who in these activities also revealed his “taste for disciples and will to dominate.” Despite embodying the worst characteristics of the stereotypical academic, however, Weishaupt was redeemed by his vision of the future: he was enthralled with the ideas of the Enlightenment and believed they would liberate Bavaria from the chains of tradition.

Weishaupt’s dream of a world dominated by human reason and science was prophetic. He understood that together these forces had the power to transform Western civilization. Indeed, over the next 200 years, they transformed the face of the world. Enlightenment ideas brought sweeping change to virtually every aspect of human existence. Science and technology altered the way we live, and the implications of these ideas also changed our political world. Reason, equality, and freedom became the foundation for new democratic regimes, including the United States of America. We now take these ideas for granted, but in Weishaupt’s time, they were revolutionary. His colleagues recognized the threat they posed. For those who held power by virtue of religious institutions and tradition, equality and freedom were problematic. As a result, Weishaupt made enemies among his Jesuit colleagues at the university, and he stood to make real political enemies outside its ivory towers.

Weishaupt realized that his ability to disseminate Enlightenment ideas through the university was limited, and he began to consider how he might achieve a wider audience. Cognizant of how these ideas challenged Bavaria’s governing class, he determined that the creation of a secret organization might be the most effective way to accomplish his goals. Politics requires strategy and sometimes therefore secrecy.

In such an environment, Weishaupt determined that a secret organization was the most effective way to spread Enlightenment ideas in Bavaria. He first considered Freemasonry as a possible means through which this could be accomplished but soon concluded that its elaborate doctrine, mythology, and symbols made it too conservative and apolitical. He wanted the most effective means possible to spread Enlightenment ideas in an oppressive political environment, and he concluded that for his purposes, an entirely new organization was necessary. He did not, however, begin with a blank slate. Weishaupt cleverly borrowed from the Freemasons, the world’s most successful secret society, as well as from his bitter enemies, the Jesuits.

A vast body of conspiracy literature that asserts Weishaupt was a Jesuit and that his creation of the Illuminati was part of a complicated Jesuit plot to control the world. There is, however, no evidence to support this charge. Indeed, even Nesta Webster, the doyenne of conspiracy theory, condemns this idea, commenting that Weishaupt “perpetually intrigued” against the Jesuits. Weishaupt admired the Jesuits; he was impressed that even dispersed around the globe they could follow a singular direction, and that as a group, they were not afraid to advance their own objectives at the expense of society’s well-being. As Webster writes, it was possible for Weishaupt to “imitate [Jesuit] methods whilst holding views diametrically opposed.” Weishaupt wished to end Jesuit influence—they were a barrier to the spread of freedom and equality—and he was willing to copy the order’s tactics to do so.

Weishaupt also used Freemasonry effectively. He recruited from its membership, copied its structure, and utilized its complex symbolic codes for his own purposes. He joined a Masonic lodge in Munich in 1777 and from there began a campaign to recruit Illuminists from one of the German Masons’ highest orders. Indeed, as Billington points out, Weishaupt appeared to use Masonry as a kind of training ground for Illuminism, and in the organization’s later years, the two societies were fully integrated. One had to become a Mason before progressing through the Illuminati’s ranks.

In addition, the Illuminati made use of ancient symbols and ceremonies, again, like the Masons. Members took pseudonyms (Weishaupt became Spartacus), utilized Zoroastrian symbols to describe themselves and their ceremonies, and read classical political philosophy. As they moved through the movement’s ranks, becoming “illuminated” through reason, they were gradually exposed to the Illuminati’s true purpose: spreading the Enlightenment ideas of rationalism and egalitarianism. Only those within the movement’s inner circle, the “Areopagus,” were told of its political goals. The Illuminati were to infiltrate the social and political institutions of Bavaria, and from there create a Rousseauian world, wherein humanity would live in peace and brotherhood. In this perfected state, the divisions caused by society and organized religion would no longer exist.

Like Freemasonry, the Order of the Illuminati was a response to the deterioration of traditional social structures and the emergence of modernity. Freemasonry, however, had emerged organically from traditional English social institutions. Weishaupt deliberately created the Order to achieve a specific political goal. Whereas the Masonic lodges had served as a place where individuals could discuss Enlightenment ideas, the Order of the Illuminati was effectively a political interest group that aimed to use those ideas to transform Bavarian society from a traditional hierarchical state, dominated by aristocrats and the Church, to a modern state governed by human reason and promoting equality and freedom.

It is difficult to determine the extent to which Weishaupt achieved his objective. The Illuminati certainly did not transform Bavaria into a perfected republican city-state. As historians point out, however, it is clear that many prominent Europeans joined the group. Intellectuals such as Goethe, Schiller, and Mozart, and statesmen such as Cobenzl, the Austrian foreign minister, and Hardenberg, the Prussian prime minister, were said to have been members, and within Bavaria, it appears that both the political and educational establishments were peppered with Illuminati. Despite its high-profile membership, however, ultimately the Illuminati were undone by the fact that the diversity of human experience and desire cannot be contained by a single political doctrine; the movement split over a disagreement regarding initiation ceremonies and political change in Bavaria.

Many conspiracy theorists contend that since the day that Weishaupt and his friends created the movement, the Illuminati has been the driving force behind modern history. Among their apparent accomplishments are a variety of major (and sometimes contradictory) political achievements.  It is possible to find theories arguing that they oversaw international banking’s creation of the Communist Manifesto,planned all the wars of the 20th century, engineered the events of September 11, 2001 (and in doing so fulfilled a long-term plan in accordance with biblical prophecy), and have controlled the behavior and policies of every U.S. president, including President Barack Obama. As Wes Penre of the Illuminati Newswrites:

More often than not the Illuminati sponsor both sides to have a game to entertain the ignorant public. They decide who will be the next president, and they see to that their man wins, even if they have to cheat like they did in Florida when President George W Bush “won” over Al Gore. Even if their preelected candidate for some reason can’t win and the other candidate does, they just go to Plan B, which is very well structured and prepared before hand, should this happen. So basically, no matter which candidate wins the race, THEY win.

Other commentators suggest that if the Illuminati’s powers seem superhuman, perhaps it is because they are in league with the Grey Aliens.The prominent role of the Illuminati in such a wide variety of conspiracy theories again suggests that it is perhaps the faith that someone or something is controlling history that appeals to believers. If this is so, the Illuminati’s very lack of specific visible achievements might in fact be part of the reason for its popularity in conspiracy discourse.

In part, it is possible that the Illuminati’s lack of visible impact is precisely the reason for its identification as an all-powerful villain engaging in intrigues that shape all aspects of human existence. It is effectively a blank canvas upon which conspiracy theorists can paint their own fears and suspicions. In addition to facilitating conspiracy belief by this lack of practical political accomplishment, Weishaupt and his small group of German intellectuals also engaged in creative organizational innovation. The nature of these changes also facilitates the wide and wild imputation of power and influence to the group. Weishaupt and his colleagues, for example, developed the concept of an organizational “double doctrine”: the Illuminati’s rank and file membership learned a belief system that was primarily theoretical and not particularly revolutionary, while those who moved through its hierarchy to its highest levels learned that it also had explicitly political goals.

This strategic move reflected the movement’s overall purpose. The leadership hid the movement’s real purpose from the majority of its members who gradually became “illumined” as they gained more knowledge. It was also a reasonably helpful political tactic. In an oppressive political environment, where ideas of freedom and equality threatened those who held power, the organization’s real goals could be kept hidden.

For conspiracy theorists, the Illuminati’s double doctrine is of particular importance. Their logic tells them that if these organizations can hide information from their own members,then clearly the organization’s purpose is subversive and aims to undermine democracy. Following that assumption, the logic goes, such an organization must also be particularly adept at hiding its subversive goals from nonmembers. There are, however,

Problems with this logic. Across human history, leaders have devised political, military, economic, and business strategy and kept secrets from outsiders, both internal and external. In business, secrecy may protect a product or plan from competitors; in economics, a planned change to interest rates may protect a run on banks; in the military, it may protect soldiers’ lives. In politics, secrecy may help leaders and elites more effectively achieve their goals. We might reasonably expect, therefore, that the leaders of modern democracies might plan specific strategies of which their political parties and citizens are not aware. For Weishaupt and the Illuminati, there were good reasons to keep the organization’s political goals secret from the majority of members. The Illuminati planned a form of democratic revolution, and its strategy protected the membership from the state’s wrath, and perhaps prolonged the organization’s life.

Weishaupt’s strategic abilities were also evidenced in the means he devised to mobilize a network of support. Pipes counts among the Illuminati’s most important contributions Weishaupt’s use of other societies’ structures and membership. As noted above, Weishaupt modeled the Order on the structure of Freemasonry and went so far as to borrow its myths and symbols. In addition, he recruited members from the Freemasons and offered to give them special “advanced standing” to encourage them to leave the Masons for the Illuminati. If a man had attained a certain level in Freemasonry, he was admitted at an advanced level to the Illuminati hierarchy.

Indeed, by the time of the Illuminati’s demise, the two organizations and their membership did not just overlap, they were thoroughly interconnected. This arrangement served two purposes. First, it provided the Illuminati with a pool of possible new recruits already inclined to be hostile to clerics and fond of secret myths and symbols. Second, it was also a means to shunt off Illuminati members who “proved incapable” of acquiring full knowledge of the movement’s goals.Weishaupt clearly possessed a particular organizational genius.

The best laid plans, however, can go wrong, and the Illuminati soon began to suffer the consequences of both infighting and governmental attack. Weishaupt had come to rely on a German by the name of Baron Adolf Knigge, as one of his greatest recruiters. Indeed, he had quickly taken Knigge into his inner circle, and the man had an ever-increasing influence on the direction of the Illuminati’s efforts. Knigge, however, differed with Weishaupt on two key points: he was frustrated by the latter’s insistence on a peaceful, philosophical revolution, and he was fond of mysticism, a tendency directly at odds with Weishaupt’s doctrinaire rationalism. In addition, he was more sympathetic to the Church than was Weishaupt, a sentiment that may have sprung from his fondness for mysticism but was also related to his desire to recruit members from Germany.

Weishaupt’s and Knigge’s differences eventually led to conflict, and it came to a head in 1784. The two men clashed over the development of new ceremonial practices for admission to the Illuminati’s highest grade: Knigge developed elaborate, mystical ceremonies and Weishaupt felt those plans betrayed the purpose of the order. Ultimately, their disagreements led to Knigge’s departure from the movement, threatening as he left that he would reveal the group’s secrets. Unfortunately for Weishaupt, this internal dissension was just the beginning. Bavaria’s reasonably liberal leader, Maximilian Joseph, was replaced by Carl Theodore, a man more conservative in outlook. He was threatened by the Illuminati’s presence and banned all unauthorized societies. One year later, he proscribed the Freemasons and Illuminati specifically, citing concerns over their religious and political implications.

Following this event, the Order of the Illuminati was disbanded. Weishaupt fled Bavaria, and apparently lived out the remainder of his years in Gotha. Before the dust could settle on this chain of events, a burgeoning Illuminati industry emerged. Weishaupt and Knigge each wrote their own account of the Illuminati and its activities (indeed, Weishaupt wrote three such books), and in the next five years, over 50 more publications on the Illuminati appeared. Some of these books purported to contain collections of documents confiscated by the government, and some aimed to present the organization’s true history. Most, however, made outrageous claims with no evidence to support them. In one such volume, for example, Weishaupt was accused of both incest and infanticide, and in another, his organization was charged with poisoning the heir presumptive to the Duke of Zweibrucken, as well as encouraging masturbation, sodomy, and prostitution. The notoriety of the main figures involved in the Illuminati, along with the political controversy and sexual allegations were then, just as today, good for book sales.

While Weishaupt may not have had immediate success, it is fair to say that in the long run, the Illuminati, like the Freemasons, spread the ideas of the Enlightenment indirectly. As Bernard Bailyn argues in his discussion of the liberal ideas that sparked the American Revolution, liberty is a contagion:

The movement of thought was rapid, irreversible, and irresistible. It swept past boundaries few had set out to cross, into regions few had wished to enter.How infectious this spirit of pragmatic idealism was, how powerful and dangerous the intellectual dynamism within it, and how difficult it was to plot in advance the direction of its spread.

Freedom is a powerful idea, and just as in America, once it had been unleashed in Bavaria, it could not be contained. The Illuminati’s expression of Enlightenment ideas and their critique of traditional power did not disappear when the group was outlawed and destroyed. Indeed, their ideology then became more powerful, as democratic ideas began to spread across Europe. As Billington writes:

 “ Illuminist ideas influenced revolutionaries not just through left-wing proponents, but also through right-wing opponents. As the fears of the Right became the fascination of the Left, Illuminism gained a paradoxical posthumous influence far greater than it enjoyed as a living movement “.

The power of Enlightenment ideas, and the role these ideas played in fostering democratic revolution, suggest to us that the Order of the Illuminati was influential in shaping how we think about justifications  for revolution, and about democracy. While conspiracy theorists suggest to us that the Illuminati masterminded a plan for world domination, historical evidence suggests the very opposite. In the shadow of a monarchical regime and in the context of a society dominated by tradition and the Church, Adam Weishaupt and his small and obscure band of German academics were instead one important element in spreading the Enlightenment ideas of freedom and equality.

What might be termed the real or documented positive histories of the Knights Templar, Freemasons, and Illuminati reveal that at the time of their existence, each of these groups was understood as problematic because it embodied changes that threatened the status quo. The Templars’ innovation was the creation of the wealthy priest knight, a development that threatened both the Church and the French monarchy, and suggested the gradual transformation of European society. Power could, and eventually did, emerge from outside traditional strongholds. Freemasonry was an organization for the emerging industrial class, individuals who desired status, but advocated Enlightenment ideals, especially the notions of equality and brotherhood. The symbols of their ancient trade also neatly embody one of the foundations of modernity: the notion that it is possible to build a more perfect world. In this way, Masonic doctrines laid the foundation for democracy and troubled those who held power by virtue of heredity. Likewise, Baron Weishaupt and his Illuminati advocated for a world dominated by reason and science. Today, these principles seem innocuous, but in the 1700s, they were revolutionary: they suggest that human beings are equal, and in so doing, imply that only a political system that accounts for this equality can be justifi ed. The Illuminati’s ideology therefore threatened the aristocracy and the Catholic Church and its institutions.

Each in their own way, these groups were marked by the changing power structures in the societies from which they emerged. They were, in Wallace’s terms, revitalization movements that eased the transformation from traditional to modern political life. For those who clung to old power structures, however, the new political horizon—and the groups that were concrete evidence of this impending change were dangerous. Rather than embracing democracy and science, they argued that these ideas would destroy civilization.

In the 20th century, conspiracy theory resurfaced as a common way to talk about political life, and the Knights Templar, Freemasons, and Illuminati were an important part of that discourse. Much as they were perceived as evil in early and early modern Europe, they were likewise condemned in the 20th century. Once again, they were identifi ed as threats to all that is good and right in the world. Nesta Webster argues in the interwar years that the aim of these organizations is to destroy British civilization, and when they appear in American political culture at the end of the 20th century, they are identifi ed as a threat to Americans and American civilization. Rather than embodying the promise of democracy, they are a threat to it. In Britain and later the United States, the Knights Templar, Freemasons, and Illuminati became the repository of people’s fears, and no longer are they viewed as being engaged in a limited conspiracy to simply change a country’s leadership. Instead, conspiracy theories identify them as plotting to take over the world.

The next chapter of this book focuses on Nesta Webster, the person responsible for this change. In many ways, Webster was on the cutting edge of social change in Britain: she led a nontraditional life and was a vocal advocate for women’s rights. Events in her life moved her, however, toward the political right, and eventually she became perhaps the most significant conspiracy theorist of the 20th century. Webster adapted the conspiratorial stories of the Knights Templar, Freemasons, and Illuminati to suit the context of a rapidly globalizing world and the conspiratorial architecture she developed remains the dominant way of conceptualizing conspiracies even in the 21st century. For Webster and those conspiracists that followed her, these conspiracy theories offer one place to rest their fears, while trying to maintain the status quo.