Hitchhiker's Guide to Religion
Masonic

Adam Weishaupt

Founder of the Bavarian Illuminati

Masonic Enlightenment Radicalism, Secret Societies, Conspiracy-Theory Bait
Attribute Value
Combat
ATK 50
DEF 45
SPR 60
SPD 55
INT 88
Rank Professor of Canon Law, University of Ingolstadt / Founder of the Bavarian Illuminati (1776)
Domain Enlightenment Radicalism, Secret Societies, Conspiracy-Theory Bait
Alignment Enlightenment / not-actually-Masonic
Weakness The Bavarian government, which suppressed his order in 1785 and seized its papers; subsequent two centuries of conspiracy theorists who keep insisting his dead organization still runs the world
Counter Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria (banned the Illuminati 1785); historical reality (the order was crushed and never effectively reconstituted)
Key Act Founded the **Order of the Illuminati** on 1 May 1776; co-opted Masonic lodge structures to spread Enlightenment ideals; was crushed by Bavarian authorities within a decade
Source Bavarian state archives (the seized Illuminati papers); cf. [Conspiracies.md](../Conspiracies.md) for the conspiracy treatment

Lore: Weishaupt is the figure conspiracy theorists most conflate with Freemasonry. He was not a conventional Mason, and the Illuminati is not Masonry—though he co-opted Masonic ritual and recruited from existing lodges, explaining his perennial entanglement with Masonic conspiracy theories. The Bavarian Illuminati was real (founded 1776, suppressed 1785) with radical Enlightenment aims: anti-clerical, pro-republican, opposed to absolutism. Crushed within nine years. Every claim that the Illuminati still operates—behind the French Revolution, the New World Order, the Federal Reserve, the United Nations, the music industry—rests on the corpse of an organization dead 240 years. See Conspiracies.md #5 for evidence ranking (4/2: documented historical organization; speculative conspiracy claims).


1 min read

Combat Radar

ATK DEF SPR SPD INT
← Back to Masonic