Founded in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt, the Bavarian Illuminati sought to promote enlightenment ideals and reason over traditional authority. The group infiltrated Masonic lodges, recruiting ...

In 1776, Adam Weishaupt, a professor of natural and canon law at the University of Ingolstadt, Bavaria, and a former Jesuit, founded a secret society that came to be called the Orden der ...