Adam Weishaupt
Encyclopedia
Johann Adam Weishaupt was a German
philosopher and founder of the Order of Illuminati
, a secret society with origins in Bavaria
.
in the Electorate of Bavaria
. Weishaupt's father Johann Georg Weishaupt (1717–1753) died when Adam was five years old. After his father's death he came under the tutelage of his godfather
Johann Adam Freiherr von Ickstatt
who, like his father, was a professor of law at the University of Ingolstadt
. Ickstatt was a proponent of the philosophy of Christian Wolff
and of the Enlightenment
, and he influenced the young Weishaupt with his rationalism
. Weishaupt began his formal education at age seven at a Jesuit
school. He later enrolled at the University of Ingolstadt and graduated in 1768 at age 20 with a doctorate of law
. In 1772 he became a professor of law. The following year he married Afra Sausenhofer of Eichstätt
.
After Pope Clement XIV
’s suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, Weishaupt became a professor of canon law
, a position that was held exclusively by the Jesuits
until that time. In 1775 Weishaupt was introduced to the empirical
philosophy of Johann Georg Heinrich Feder
of the University of Göttingen
. Both Feder and Weishaupt would later become opponents of Kantian
idealism
.
" within the order. Though the Order was not egalitarian or democratic, its mission was the abolition of all monarchical governments and state religions in Europe and its colonies.
The actual character of the society was an elaborate network of spies and counter-spies. Each isolated cell of initiates reported to a superior, whom they did not know, a party structure that was effectively adopted by some later groups.
Weishaupt was initiated into the Masonic Lodge
"Theodor zum guten Rath", at Munich in 1777. His project of "illumination, enlightening the understanding by the sun of reason, which will dispel the clouds of superstition and of prejudice" was an unwelcome reform. Soon however he had developed gnostic mysteries of his own, with the goal of "perfecting human" nature through re-education to achieve a communal state with nature, freed of government and organized religion. He began working towards incorporating his system of Illuminism with that of Freemasonry.
He wrote: "I did not bring Deism
into Bavaria more than into Rome. I found it here, in great vigour, more abounding than in any of the neighboring Protestant States. I am proud to be known to the world as the founder of the Illuminati."
Weishaupt's radical rationalism and vocabulary was not likely to succeed. Writings that were intercepted in 1784 were interpreted as seditious, and the Society was banned by the government of Karl Theodor
, Elector of Bavaria, in 1784. Weishaupt lost his position at the University of Ingolstadt and fled Bavaria.
(1745–1804), and lived in Gotha
writing a series of works on illuminism, including A Complete History of the Persecutions of the Illuminati in Bavaria (1785), A Picture of Illuminism (1786), An Apology for the Illuminati (1786), and An Improved System of Illuminism (1787). Adam Weishaupt died in Gotha on 18 November 1830. He was survived by his second wife, Anna Maria (née Sausenhofer), and his children Nanette, Charlotte, Ernst, Karl
, Eduard, and Alfred. Weishaupt was buried next to his son Wilhelm who preceded him in death in 1802.
, a professor of natural philosophy
at Edinburgh University in Scotland
and a member of a Freemason Lodge there, said he had been asked to join the Illuminati. After consideration he concluded that the Illuminati were not for him. In 1798 he published a book called Proofs of a Conspiracy in which he wrote: "An association has been formed for the express purposes of rooting out all the religious establishments and overturning all existing governments ... the leaders would rule the World with uncontrollable power, while all the rest would be employed as tools of the ambition of their unknown superiors." This book was sent to George Washington
, who replied:
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
philosopher and founder of the Order of Illuminati
Illuminati
The Illuminati is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically the name refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776...
, a secret society with origins in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
.
Early life
Adam Weishaupt was born on 6 February 1748 in IngolstadtIngolstadt
Ingolstadt is a city in the Free State of Bavaria, in the Federal Republic of Germany. It is located along the banks of the Danube River, in the center of Bavaria. As at 31 March 2011, Ingolstadt had 125.407 residents...
in the Electorate of Bavaria
Electorate of Bavaria
The Electorate of Bavaria was an independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria....
. Weishaupt's father Johann Georg Weishaupt (1717–1753) died when Adam was five years old. After his father's death he came under the tutelage of his godfather
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
Johann Adam Freiherr von Ickstatt
Johann Adam von Ickstatt
Johann Adam Freiherr von Ickstatt was a German educator and director of the University of Ingolstadt. Born in Vockenhausen, he was a major proponent of the Enlightenment in Bavaria. He died in Waldsassen. He was a godfather to Adam Weishaupt.-Sources: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ....
who, like his father, was a professor of law at the University of Ingolstadt
University of Ingolstadt
The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology, law and medicine, all of which were contained in the Hoheschule...
. Ickstatt was a proponent of the philosophy of Christian Wolff
Christian Wolff (philosopher)
Christian Wolff was a German philosopher.He was the most eminent German philosopher between Leibniz and Kant...
and of the Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
, and he influenced the young Weishaupt with his rationalism
Rationalism
In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...
. Weishaupt began his formal education at age seven at a Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
school. He later enrolled at the University of Ingolstadt and graduated in 1768 at age 20 with a doctorate of law
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
. In 1772 he became a professor of law. The following year he married Afra Sausenhofer of Eichstätt
Eichstätt
Eichstätt is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the District of Eichstätt. It is located along the Altmühl River, at , and had a population of 13,078 in 2002. It is home to the Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, the lone Catholic university in Germany. The...
.
After Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV
Pope Clement XIV , born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was Pope from 1769 to 1774. At the time of his election, he was the only Franciscan friar in the College of Cardinals.-Early life:...
’s suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1773, Weishaupt became a professor of canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
, a position that was held exclusively by the Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
until that time. In 1775 Weishaupt was introduced to the empirical
Empiricism
Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism, idealism and historicism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence,...
philosophy of Johann Georg Heinrich Feder
Johann Georg Heinrich Feder
Johann Georg Heinrich Feder was a German philosopher.- Life :Feder was born on 15 May 1740 in the village of Schornweisach in the Principality of Bayreuth, the son of Martin Heinrich Feder , the village pastor. Feder studied theology and pedagogy at Erlangen...
of the University of Göttingen
Georg-August University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen , known informally as Georgia Augusta, is a university in the city of Göttingen, Germany.Founded in 1734 by King George II of Great Britain and the Elector of Hanover, it opened for classes in 1737. The University of Göttingen soon grew in size and popularity...
. Both Feder and Weishaupt would later become opponents of Kantian
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher from Königsberg , researching, lecturing and writing on philosophy and anthropology at the end of the 18th Century Enlightenment....
idealism
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
.
Founder of the Illuminati
On 1 May 1776 Weishaupt formed the "Order of Perfectibilists". He adopted the name of "Brother SpartacusSpartacus
Spartacus was a famous leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable...
" within the order. Though the Order was not egalitarian or democratic, its mission was the abolition of all monarchical governments and state religions in Europe and its colonies.
The actual character of the society was an elaborate network of spies and counter-spies. Each isolated cell of initiates reported to a superior, whom they did not know, a party structure that was effectively adopted by some later groups.
Weishaupt was initiated into the Masonic Lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...
"Theodor zum guten Rath", at Munich in 1777. His project of "illumination, enlightening the understanding by the sun of reason, which will dispel the clouds of superstition and of prejudice" was an unwelcome reform. Soon however he had developed gnostic mysteries of his own, with the goal of "perfecting human" nature through re-education to achieve a communal state with nature, freed of government and organized religion. He began working towards incorporating his system of Illuminism with that of Freemasonry.
He wrote: "I did not bring Deism
Deism
Deism in religious philosophy is the belief that reason and observation of the natural world, without the need for organized religion, can determine that the universe is the product of an all-powerful creator. According to deists, the creator does not intervene in human affairs or suspend the...
into Bavaria more than into Rome. I found it here, in great vigour, more abounding than in any of the neighboring Protestant States. I am proud to be known to the world as the founder of the Illuminati."
Weishaupt's radical rationalism and vocabulary was not likely to succeed. Writings that were intercepted in 1784 were interpreted as seditious, and the Society was banned by the government of Karl Theodor
Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria
Charles Theodore, Prince-Elector, Count Palatine and Duke of Bavaria reigned as Prince-Elector and Count palatine from 1742, as Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1742 and also as Prince-Elector and Duke of Bavaria from 1777, until his death...
, Elector of Bavaria, in 1784. Weishaupt lost his position at the University of Ingolstadt and fled Bavaria.
Activities in exile
He received the assistance of Duke Ernest II of Saxe-Gotha-AltenburgSaxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was a duchy ruled by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in today's Thuringia, Germany.It was nominally created in 1672 when Frederick William III, the last duke of Saxe-Altenburg, died and Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha , inherited the major part of his possessions...
(1745–1804), and lived in Gotha
Gotha (town)
Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...
writing a series of works on illuminism, including A Complete History of the Persecutions of the Illuminati in Bavaria (1785), A Picture of Illuminism (1786), An Apology for the Illuminati (1786), and An Improved System of Illuminism (1787). Adam Weishaupt died in Gotha on 18 November 1830. He was survived by his second wife, Anna Maria (née Sausenhofer), and his children Nanette, Charlotte, Ernst, Karl
Karl von Weishaupt
Carl also Karl Romanus von Weishaupt was a Bavarian Lieutenant General and War Minister under Maximilian II of Bavaria from April 5, to November 21, 1848.- Biography :...
, Eduard, and Alfred. Weishaupt was buried next to his son Wilhelm who preceded him in death in 1802.
Contemporary opinion
John RobisonJohn Robison (physicist)
John Robison FRSE was a Scottish physicist and mathematician. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Edinburgh....
, a professor of natural philosophy
Natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or the philosophy of nature , is a term applied to the study of nature and the physical universe that was dominant before the development of modern science...
at Edinburgh University in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and a member of a Freemason Lodge there, said he had been asked to join the Illuminati. After consideration he concluded that the Illuminati were not for him. In 1798 he published a book called Proofs of a Conspiracy in which he wrote: "An association has been formed for the express purposes of rooting out all the religious establishments and overturning all existing governments ... the leaders would rule the World with uncontrollable power, while all the rest would be employed as tools of the ambition of their unknown superiors." This book was sent to George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, who replied:
- It was not my intention to doubt that, the Doctrines of the Illuminati, and principles of Jacobinism had not spread in the United States. On the contrary, no one is more truly satisfied of this fact than I am. The idea that I meant to convey, was, that I did not believe that the Lodges of Free Masons in this Country had, as Societies, endeavoured to propagate the diabolical tenets of the first, or pernicious principles of the latter (if they are susceptible of separation).
Quotes about Weishaupt
On the Illuminati
- (1786) Apologie der Illuminaten.
- (1786) Vollständige Geschichte der Verfolgung der Illuminaten in Bayern.
- (1786) Schilderung der Illuminaten.
- (1787) Einleitung zu meiner Apologie.
- (1787) [Einige Originalschriften des Illuminatenordens...]
- (1787) [Nachtrage von weitern Originalschriften...] Google Books
- (1787) Kurze Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten.
- (1787) Nachtrag zur Rechtfertigung meiner Absichten.
- (1787) Apologie des Mißvergnügens und des Übels.
- (1787) Das Verbesserte System der Illuminaten.
- (1788) Der ächte Illuminat, oder die wahren, unverbesserten Rituale der Illuminaten.
- (1795) Pythagoras, oder Betrachtungen über die geheime Welt- und Regierungskunst.
Philosophical works
- (1775) De Lapsu Academiarum Commentatio Politica.
- (1786) Über die Schrecken des Todes – eine philosophische Rede.
- Discours Philosophique sur les Frayeurs de la Mort (1788). Gallica
- (1786) Über Materialismus und Idealismus. Torino
- (1788) Geschichte der Vervollkommnung des menschlichen Geschlechts.
- (1788) Über die Gründe und Gewißheit der Menschlichen Erkenntniß.
- (1788) Über die Kantischen Anschauungen und Erscheinungen.
- (1788) Zweifel über die Kantischen Begriffe von Zeit und Raum.
- (1793) Über Wahrheit und sittliche Vollkommenheit.
- (1794) Über die Lehre von den Gründen und Ursachen aller Dinge.
- (1794) Über die Selbsterkenntnis, ihre Hindernisse und Vorteile.
- (1797) Über die Zwecke oder Finalursachen.
- (1802) Über die Hindernisse der baierischen Industrie und Bevölkerung.
- (1804) Die Leuchte des Diogenes.
- Diogenes Lamp (Tr. Amelia Gill) introduced by Sir Mark Bruback chosen by the Masonic Book ClubFreemasonryFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
to be its published work for 2008. (Ed. Andrew Swanlund).
- Diogenes Lamp (Tr. Amelia Gill) introduced by Sir Mark Bruback chosen by the Masonic Book Club
- (1817) Über die Staats-Ausgaben und Auflagen. Google Books
- (1818) Über das Besteuerungs-System.
External links
Biography in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie Vol. 41, pp. 539–550 by Daniel Jacoby.- A Bavarian Illuminati primer by Trevor W. McKeown.
- Illuminati entry in The Catholic EncyclopediaCatholic EncyclopediaThe Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
, hosted by New AdventNew AdventNew Advent is an online version of the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia.In 1993, Kevin Knight, then a 26-year-old resident of Denver, Colorado, was inspired, during the visit of Pope John Paul II to that city for World Youth Day, to launch a project to publish the 1913 edition of the encyclopedia on the...
.