Illuminati Ambigrams Articles
The Inquisition and the Illuminati
"The Illuminati went deep underground where they began mixing with other refugee groups fleeing the Catholic purges-mystics, alchemists, occultists, Muslims, Jews. Over the years, the Illuminati began absorbing new members. A new Illuminati emerged. A darker Illuminati. A deeply anti-Christian Illuminati. They grew very powerful, employing mysterious rites, deadly secrecy, vowing someday to rise again and take revenge on the Catholic Church. Their power grew to the point where the church considered them the single most dangerous anti-Christian force on earth. The Vatican denounced the brotherhood as Shaitan."
"Shaitan?"
"It's Islamic. It means 'adversary'…God's adversary. The church chose Islam for the name because it was a language they considered dirty." Langdon hesitated. "Shaitan is the root of an English word….Satan."
(Angels and Demons, p. 25.)
The Inquisition: "Roman Purges" for the Suppression of Heresy
Brown's character Robert Langdon in Angels and Demons speaks of "the Catholic purges". The Inquisition was Medieval Catholicism's attempt to halt the advance of heresy within the territories controlled by the Church through the use of ecclesiastical authority and political power. Led by a special tribunal, the Inquisition was established in the Middle Ages to discover and to punish heretics and those guilty of offenses against the Roman Catholic Church. The Latin word Inquisition means an inquiry.
To stop the threatening advance of heretical groups, the church sought the help of the European political authorities. Each of the great countries of medieval Christendom-England, France, Italy, Germany, Bohemia, the Balkan States and Spain-cooperated with the coercive activities of the Inquisition.
With the princes' support, physical penalties became regular tools of the Inquisitors. Pope Alexander III in 1163 called for the princes to pursue heretics by imprisonment, and confiscation of their property. He ordered the bishops to actively search out heretics, not just passively to wait for accusers of heretics to identify them to church officials. This more vigorous method in which the judge took the initiative was called the "inquiry" or in Latin, the Inquisition.
The Inquisition proved most effective in neutralizing or even exterminating viewpoints that were deemed contrary and harmful to Roman Catholic orthodoxy. The Inquisition was eventually extended to control and punish Jews, sorcerers and magic which were viewed as various shades of heresy.
In the Reformation Era, the Inquisition was encouraged by Pope Paul III in 1542 to combat witchcraft and the Protestant Reformation. Sadly, some Protestants learned from the example of Medieval Roman Catholicism and used the methods of the Inquisition to resist sorcery and doctrinal error in their territories.
The Inquisition also attacked the Jansenists in 17th century France, which was an Augustinian revival within Roman Catholicism that reflected elements of the Protestant Calvinist faith. As the Inquisition broadened its scope, it pursued "bigamists, blasphemers, usurers, sodomites, priests who had married or broken the secrecy of the confessional, laymen who assumed ecclesiastical costume" and the Illuminati or Alumbrados. From 1738 on, the Inquisition also opposed freemasonry. Various philosophers and scholars also came under the scrutiny and condemnation of the Inquisition.
Contemporary Western society views the Inquisition as tragically immoral. In most western nations today such use of coercive force against religious or aberrant beliefs has been abandoned, nevertheless, the suppression of views deemed unorthodox whether in universities, churches or governments continues by other less bloody means.
Sources of the Inquisition in the Early Church
While the Middle Ages gave birth to the highly developed processes employed by the Inquisition, its beginnings can be seen as early as the fourth century.
During the first three centuries of the Church there is no trace of any official persecution by Christians. Constantine, by the edict of Milan (313), established official religious tolerance. But from the time of Theodosius I onwards (ruled 379-395), laws against heretics began to appear. Heretics were exiled, imprisoned and had their property confiscated. They were disqualified from inheriting property. And sometimes heretical groups, such as the Manichaeans and Donatists, were condemned to death. Augustine permitted punishments on heretics, such as beatings, fines or exile. John Chrysostom believed a heretic should lose his liberty of speech and that their communities should be closed. Still, he stated that "to put a heretic to death would be to introduce upon earth an inexpiable crime."
Establishment of the Inquisition.
Pope Gregory IX during 1231 to 1235 is often credited with having officially established the Inquisition since he developed the Inquisition's formal organization and procedures. Gregory's policies against the heretics included penalties of death, banishment and confiscation of property. After Gregory, the apprehension and trial of heretics was usually reserved to the church and inquisitors authorized by the Pope.
Dominicans and Franciscans were usually chosen as papal inquisitors. Assisted by aides, the inquisitor visited a town and summoned the clergy and people to an assembly where those guilty of heretical views were urged to confess their heresy within a period of grace that lasted for a few weeks. Those who openly confessed were usually given light punishment. When this time of grace was over, however, the inquisitor searched for suspected heretics who would be summoned by the Inquisitors for interrogation. The suspects were not permitted legal defense. Rather, with the aid of a counselor, they were urged to confess their heresy. Sadly, Pope Innocent IV in 1252 authorized the Inquisition's use of torture.
But the lucrative results of confiscating heretics' property caused the political leaders to desire to have a hand in the bloody business of the extirpation of heresy. Thus in 1478 Sixtus IV authorized the Spanish Inquisition. It followed procedures similar to the papal inquisitors but it was characterized by its control by the Spanish crown, which reserved the right to appoint the leaders of the Inquisition in Spanish lands.
Censorship of Books
A central feature of the Spanish Inquisition was the censure of books. The censure of books was established in 1502 by Ferdinand and Isabella as a state institution. All books had to be approved by the bishops. From 1521 the Inquisition began to examine books suspected of Lutheran heresies. The Inquisition retained the right of prohibiting books which it judged to be dangerous. In 1547 it produced an Index of prohibited books. Any library or bookshop could face the confiscation of prohibited books. In 1558 the penalty of death and confiscation of property was decreed against any bookseller or individual who should keep in his possession condemned books. The censure of books was not abolished until 1812.
The Financial Motivation for the Inquisition: Confiscation of Property
The confiscation of a condemned man's property was the lesser of the penalties administered by the Inquisition. For confiscation of property was coupled with life in prison or execution. Nevertheless, the confiscation of the condemned's property was one of the stronger motives for the political as well as the spiritual powers to support the Inquisition. For example, Mateo Pascual, a Spanish professor of theology in a public lecture expressed a doubt about purgatory. As a result he suffered imprisonment and the confiscation of his goods.
The practice of confiscation began in Roman law, and later princes discovered that it advanced their own wealth. The papacy too was able to secure a share of the profits from confiscated property. Given the vast profits that accrued from this practice there is little doubt that the quest for additional wealth often spurred princes to support the Inquisition.
But the confiscation of goods also had negative effects on commerce. Scholars have noted that there was a constant source of uncertainty in business transactions due to the Inquisition's practice of confiscation. For example, a contract could be nullified if it was discovered that it had been created with a heretic. Thus the suspicion of heresy made contracts uncertain of enforcement since a contract with a heretic was nullified. Inheritances too were uncertain, since posthumous heresy trials could cancel the force of a last will and testament. In some cases heresy disqualified the heretic's descendants from holding office.
The Inquisition also impacted the Jews who often pursued business in the Medieval Era. Jews were often permitted to practice their religion without accusation of heresy. But they would be viewed as heretics if they attacked the Christian faith, made converts, or lapsed from their faith after converting to Christianity. But the Inquisition often justified its pursuit of the Jews by declaring that the Jews practiced usury, which was viewed as a violation of the law against stealing.
Procedure of the Inquisition.
The Inquisition had no interest in upholding civil rights or legal protections. Its concern was to stem the tide of heresy. Thus, the Inquisition was not bound by the legal rules of procedure. The accused was often surprised by a sudden summons, and could be imprisoned on suspicion. He was presumed guilty before a judge who was at the same time his accuser.
When confessions were not forthcoming from a suspected heretic during an inquiry, the testimony of two witnesses, if it could not be refuted, was considered sufficient for conviction. The names of such witnesses were often withheld from the accused. Often, the accused found that his best defense was to confess to avoid the perception of being an unrepentant heretic which would result in death.
Witnesses could not refuse to give their evidence unless they were willing themselves to be considered guilty of heresy. The trial occurred in secret. The accused swore that he would tell the truth, and was bound to reveal and condemn all those who he knew were guilty of his heretical beliefs. If he refused to save himself or to expose his comrades, other ways of gaining confessions were pursued including torture.
When the judgment was for death, the guilty heretic was abandoned to the state authority to be burned. The church had no desire to have part in the shedding of blood. Lesser punishments included imprisonment, confiscation of property, wearing a yellow cross, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, flagellation and pilgrimage. The sentences of the condemned were pronounced in public on a Sunday before the inquisitors, in the presence of the civil and ecclesiastical rulers.
Who Were the Illuminati and Why Were They the Objects of the Inquisition's Wrath?
The name "Illuminati" has been used by groups holding various beliefs. Nevertheless, each of the differing forms of Illuminati claimed that they possessed some special "light" of knowledge. This light had either been divinely communicated to them through mystical visions, or it had been achieved by a superior use of the human mind. Early Illuminati beliefs and their mystical tendencies may be traced to Neo-Platonic and Gnostic origins. Their sectarian mysticism and divine visions soon caused them to run afoul of the Inquisition.
Spanish Illuminati
The first Illuminati or "alumbrados" were from Spain. A Franciscan, for example, used the word "Illuminati" in 1494 in a letter to Cardinal Jimenez. The popularity of the movement can be explained in part by the fact that early sixteenth century Spain experienced a religious renewal. Common believers longed for a personal understanding of the Gospel, and often met in small groups to study the Bible. These groups often identified with the Alumbrados, or "enlightened ones".
St. Ignatius de Loyola was suspected of being an adherent of the Illuminati and was twice imprisoned early in his career. St. Theresa was accused of misconduct, and denounced; and one of her works was prohibited by the Inquisition. One of the Illuminati's earliest leaders was a laborer's daughter known as La Beata de Piedrahita. She came under the scrutiny of the Inquisition in 1511 having claimed to communicate with Christ and the Virgin Mary. In 1529 a congregation of common believers at Toledo were visited by the Inquisition and received scourging and imprisonment. Many Illuminati were executed by the Inquisition.
The Illuminati emphasized the love of God. They taught that there was a freedom in God's love, emphasizing that God's grace was more important than human merit. The Illuminati also sought perfection by submission to God's will rather than through an eradication of spiritual evil. Some developed a special method of prayer to achieve illumination or union with God. An allegorical interpretation of Scripture was developed that claimed that man's nature possesses divine light upon which God's grace can build.
The movement reached France by 1623 and continued till 1794, having similarities with the "French prophets," an outgrowth of the Camisards.
Illuminati, Secret Societies, Freemasons
A different strand of the Illuminati called themselves Rosicrucians. This secret society combined the mysteries of alchemy with claims for secret principles of religion.
Another Illuminati secret society was not based on religion but on freethought. It was founded in 1776 by a former Jesuit, Adam Weishaupt (d. 1830). Weishaupt had been a professor of canon law. These Illuminati pledged obedience to their superiors and as a movement was divided into three main classes. The second class consisted of "freemasons," "ordinary," Scottish" and "Scottish knights". This designation enabled relations to be established with Masonic lodges throughout Europe. Its membership may have grown to about 2,000. The Inquisition officially began its opposition to freemasonry in 1738.
This variety of Illuminati was not only opposed by the Inquisition, but it was also viewed as a dangerous and seditious movement by early Americans. A discussion of Weishaupt's Illuminati and their impact on American and European Freemasonry can be found in the correspondence of George Washington. Jonathan Edwards' grandson and President of Yale Timothy Dwight addressed his concerns about the Illuminati in an address on July 4, 1798. Dwight claimed that
The...ends proposed by the Illuminati...are the overthrow of religion, government and human society...Murder, butchery and war...are declared by them to be completely justifiable...No villainy...can be named which was not vindicated ...Satanic lips polluted the pages of God...inundated the country with ... immorality ...Where religion prevails, Illumination cannot make disciples, a French Directory cannot govern, a nation cannot be made slaves. To destroy us therefore...our enemies must first...seduce us from the house of God.
It is this variety of Illuminati that is in view in Angels and Demons when Langdon says,
"A new Illuminati emerged. A darker Illuminati. A deeply anti-Christian Illuminati. They grew very powerful, employing mysterious rites, deadly secrecy, vowing someday to rise again and take revenge on the Catholic Church."
Sources:
The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church
Encyclopedia Britannica
American Moment
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