The 18th century was a time of radical transformation in Europe. Enlightenment ideas challenged monarchies, religion held institutional power, and secret societies were multiplying across the continent. Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, and similar orders rose in influence, often operating in shadows. In this intellectual and ideological tension, Johann Adam Weishaupt emerged—an academic, philosopher, and legal scholar who would found one of the most controversial secret orders in history: The Illuminati.
