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causes all our divisions, it is the despotism that he exercises over men perhaps less rich than
himself in imagination, in ruses, in cunning ... I declare that nothing can put me on the same
footing with Spartacus as that on which I was a first.” He also wrote: “I abhor treachery and
profligacy, and I leave him to blow himself and his Order into the air.” On April 20, 1784,
Knigge quit, followed by Baron Bassus (‘Hannibal’), Count Torring, Prince Kreitmaier, and
others. In July, Knigge signed an agreement promising to return all documents in his possession,
and to keep quiet on what he knew about their plans and activities. Some researchers believe that
Knigge had also discovered that Weishaupt was a Satanist. He resumed his work as a writer, later
becoming an inspector of schools at Bremen, where he died on May 6, 1796.
To insure that the activities of the Order would remain a secret, a warning as to the
consequences of betraying the Order was including in the ceremony of initiation. They would
point a sword at the initiate and say: “If you are a traitor and a perjurer, learn that all our
Brothers are called upon to arm themselves against you. Do not hope to escape or find a place of
safety. Wherever you are, shame, remorse, and the rage of our Brothers will pursue you, and
torment you to the innermost recesses of your entrails.”
In October, 1783, Joseph Utzschneider, a lawyer, who had dropped out of the Order in
August, presented to the Duchess Maria Anna, a document which detailed the activities of the
Illuminati. He was upset because he had been promoted too slow, and was constantly prodded to
prove his loyalty. The Duchess gave the information to the Duke. On June 22, 1784, Duke Karl
Theodore Dalberg, the Elector Palatinate of Bavaria, after discovering from the information that
the goals of the Illuminati were to “in time rule the world,” by overthrowing all civil
government, criticized all secret societies, and groups established without government sanction.
On March 2, 1785, he issued a proclamation identifying the Illuminati as a branch of the Masons,
and ordered that their Lodges be shut down. The government began a war against the Order by
initiating judicial inquiries at Ingolstadt. In an attempt to preserve the secrecy of their motives,
the Areopagite burned many of their documents, however, the government was able to seize
many of their papers when they raided the Lodges.
After being replaced at the University in February, Weishaupt fled across the border into
Regensburg, finally settling in Gotha, where he found refuge with another Illuminati member,
the Duke of Saxe-Gotha.
In April, 1785, Utzschneider was able to convince three other members to come forward.
They were fellow professors at the Marienburg (Marianen) Academy who had doubts about the
validity of the organization’s principles when they discovered that they would receive no
mystical powers. They were also disgruntled over Weishaupt’s tyranny. Cossandey, Grunberger,
and Renner went before the Court of Inquiry on September 9, 1785, where they supplied
valuable information, such as membership lists, and revealed their aims and goals, which they
consolidated into the following six points:
1) Abolition of the Monarchy and all ordered government.
2) Abolition of private property.
3) Abolition of inheritance.
4) Abolition of patriotism.
5) Abolition of the family, through the abolition of marriage, all morality, and the
institution of communal education for children.
6) Abolition of all religion.