The Illuminati is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on 1 May 1776 in Bavaria, today part of Germany. The societys stated goals were to oppose superstition, obscurantism, religious influence over public life, and abuses of state power. The Illuminati, along with Freemasonry and other secret societies, were outlawed through edict by Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria, with the encouragement of the Catholic Church, in 1784, 1785, 1787, and 1790. During subsequent years, the group was generally vilified by conservative and religious critics who claimed that the Illuminati continued underground and were responsible for the French Revolution.
The term "Illuminati" has also been used to refer to various groups of persons who claimed to be unusually enlightened. The word is the plural of the Latin illuminatus ("revealed" or "enlightened") . Early illuminati believed that the source of the "light" was viewed as being directly communicated from a higher source or due to a clarified and exalted condition of the human intelligence. To the former class belong the Alumbrados (Spanish: "enlightened") of Spain. Spanish historian Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo first finds the name about 1492 (in the form aluminados, 1498) but traces them back to a gnostic origin and thinks their views were promoted in Spain through influences from Italy.
Today, the Illuminati is often associated with conspiracy theories about a secret society that controls the world. However, the group itself was real, though its influence was not nearly as vast and enduring as modern conspiracists claim.
