List of Illuminati members

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The Illuminati was a secret society in Bavaria started on May 1, 1776 by Adam Weishaupt in Ingolstadt. Its goal was to spread Enlightenment ideas and to influence Freemason lodges. About 1,394 members are known, with roughly one third also Freemasons. Most members came from the German-speaking world, especially Bavaria and Thuringia, and they were mainly from the upper classes—nobles, business people, scholars, military, and civil servants. The group was banned in Bavaria in 1784/85 for treason and anti-religion, and by the 1790s it was mostly inactive. Later, some conspiracy theories claimed the Illuminati helped start the French Revolution, even though few French-speaking people were members.