Ingolstadt, The Illuminati & Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"

Mary Shelley introduces the Illuminati and Ingolstadt to her audiences when her character of Victor Frankenstein is a student of the University of Ingolstadt, attending from 1789. Ingolstadt is located within south central Germany, in Bavaria, near Munich; the map above marks the location of Ingolstadt, located near the Danube River. During the Middle Ages, Ingolstadt was known as an important fortress and today is highly industrialized and it has the distinction of being the sixth largest city in Bavaria. A three-walls defense system "made Ingolstadt one of the best fortified towns in Southern Germany (Encarta)." From 1537-1930, today the Bavarian fortress holds the Bavarian Army museum. According to Wikipedia, "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is related to the Ingolstadter alte Anatomie, now museum for medical history." I am still trying to locate a connection with Mary Shelley and the University of Ingolstadt. I do know that she spent some time traveling and during her travels went to Germany. I am hoping to find a connection somewhere in all of the bibliographies available.

The University of Ingolstadt was formally inaugurated on 26 June 1472. Within the first semester, they had 489 students. Louis the Rich, Duke of Bavaria founded the University of Ingolstadt. The University of Ingolstadt was modeled after the University of Vienna. The main goal of the University was the "propagation of the Christian faith (Wikipedia)." Prior to the 16th Century, the area of philosophy was divided into two sections, the Realists and the Nominalists, each section had its own dean. In 1496, Duke George the Rich, son of Louis, founded the Collegium Georgianum for poor students in the arts. The Popes Adrian VI and Clement VII gave the University additional revenue in the form of ecclesiastical property. In 1549, the University appointed professorships in theology and philosophy being taught by Jesuits, Paul III, Peter Canisus, Salmeron, and Claude Lejay. In 1688, the teaching in the faculty of philosophy came into the hands of the Jesuits entirely. The Thirty Years War brought much hardship upon the University's finances. Thought they were exempt from taxes and juridical autonomy. Weishaupt in 1772 began a movement to secure the triumph of the "enlightenment" against Church and State by founding the Illuminati. In 1786, in order to suppress Weishaupt by Elector Carl Theodore, Weishaupt was dismissed. In May of 1800, the University was moved to Landshut. Maximillian IV, on 25 November 1799, announced that the University's finances were being depleted and he could not afford to finance the University any longer. He granted the University the ability to finish out the year's school term, but then they would have to move to Landshut. During its peak, the University of Ingolstadt was renowned for being "one of the most influential and powerful institutes of higher learning in Europe." Several sources cited this same quote about the University of Ingolstadt.

Adam Weishaupt, founder of the Illuminati, was born on 6 February 1748, in Ingolstadt and died on 18 November 1811, in Gotha. He was educated as a Jesuit from a very young age. Weishaupt has the distinction of being credited as being the University of Ingolstadt's greatest influence. Weishaupt founded the Bavarian Illuminati on 1 May 1776; he based it on the principles of his training as a Jesuit. The Illuminati were also known as the "Perfectibilists." Illuminati in Latin means "enlightened ones." Weishaupt in 1775 offended the members of the University of Ingolstadt. He was a Professor of Natural and Canon Law at the University of Ingolstadt. His views were much more liberal in his religious and political views, he favored deism (belief in a God or the existence of God based on reason rather than faith, "natural religion") and a type of natural order that brushed aside state and organized religion. It was not until the Baron Adolph von Knigge joined Weishaupt in 1780, did they make any great advances. Knigge gathered 500 members within two years by using his influence within Masonic circles. With Knigge by his side, they boasted to be the only "pure" Freemasonry. They gained such a reputation that members were vying to join their institution. The Illuminati were formed of men calling themselves Freemasons. The Illuminati had branches scattered throughout most of the European countries, their total number of members never seemed to have been more than two thousand strong.

Weishaupt was initiated into a Freemasonry Lodge, in 1777, at Munich. According to Wikipedia, "Conspiracy theorists highlight the link between the Illuminati and Freemasonry." It has been speculated that our founding fathers of the United States of America were Freemasons (more will be presented shortly on Freemasonry) and there was corruption from the Illuminati within their ranks as well. Another speculation is that the "all-seeing pyramid" in the Great Seal of the United States is an example of the Illuminati's ever-present eye watching over us. Another more reasonable answer to this phenomenon is that it was the design that Pierre Du Simitiere submitted that was chosen and the eye atop a pyramid was his creation, and it just so happened to be approved by the committee. The committee consisted of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams. Franklin was the only one to be credited as being a Freemason, but the committee accepted none of his ideas. Though, Jefferson along with Franklin is credited for being the most well known American Deists. Thomas Paine published The Age of Reason; this helped to popularize Deism throughout America and Europe. Weishaupt worked to incorporate his system of the Illuminati into the Masonry; his aim was to spread his ideals throughout the world. He wrote, "I did not bring Deism into Bavaria more than into Rome. I found it here, in great vigour, more abounding than in any of the neighboring Protestant States. I am proud to be known to the world as the founder of the Illuminati (TheFreeDictionary.com)." Weishaupt's goals were to perfect human nature through re-education in order to reach a communal state of nature, free from government and organized religion. When Weishaupt lost his position at the University of Ingolstadt, he fled to Gotha, where the Duke of Ernest of Gotha, helped assist him with his writings. He wrote a series of works on Illuminism, these works included A Complete History of the Persecutions of the Illuminati in Bavaria (1785), A Picture of Illuminism (1786), An Apology for the Illuminati (1786), and An Improved System of Illuminism (1787). It is not certain as to whether or not Weishaupt died in 1811; some speculate that he died rather in 1830. It was largely due to the writings of various men, that occultist became interested in the Illuminati and the secrecy behind their organization. Thomas Jefferson stated that if Weishaupt had written in America he would not have had to hide and that it was due to the "tyranny of despots and priests" that forced Weishaupt to be so secretive in his organization - the Illuminati.

Weishaupt modeled the Illuminati after the Freemasons, with the degrees and ceremonial aspects of his order.

It was rumored that these last degrees were never quite worked out by the order. The Illuminati also gave themselves names for the Order; it was usually a “classical character.” Weishaupt was known as Spartacus, Knigge was Philo, and Zwack (another leader in the Order) was known as Cato. Countries were also given fictitious names. Ingolstadt was known as Eleusis, Austria was known as Egypt (this was given as a reference to the Egyptian darkness of the kingdom, which excluded all Masonry from its areas), Munich was Athens, and Vienna was known as Rome. The Order also had their own calendar with the months having names specific to what the Order had decided upon. Another thing they created was a cipher, this was used in the way the Order communicated and all official correspondence was done using the cipher. This character , this symbol is now used by Masons to mean a Lodge, was actually first used by the Illuminati.

This was patterned after the Society of Jesus. Because of Weishaupt's beliefs, Knigge leaves the order on 1 July 1784; citing that Weishaupt was "a Jesuit in disguise (Catholic Encyclopedia)." In 1783, the "anarchistic tendencies of the order (Catholic Encyclopedia)" came to the attention of the Bavarian Government. In 1784, the Bavarian Government issued enactments against the Illuminati, these enactments were dated: 22 June 1784, 2 March 1785, 16 August 1785, and 16 August 1787. The 16 August 1787, enactments banned the recruitment of new members to the order under penalty of death. By the year 1785, the Illuminati and its teachings had spread far and wide. In 1785, Weishaupt fled Ingolstadt and eventually settled in Gotha in 1787. He later denounced his active connections with the secret societies and helped to build the Catholic Church in Gotha.