May Day 2026
May 1, 2026
May 1st holds a particular sacred and reverential significance for the Left in France and around the globe. For it was upon this day in 1776 that former Professor of Canon Law at the University of Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Adam Weishaupt, founded the Order of the Illuminati, which later infiltrated and captured the elite masonic hierarchy of the Grand Orient of France, playing a central role in precipitating the French Revolution of 1789, and subsequent revolutions through Europe and the wider world.
The Grand Orient de France is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly absorbed the rump of the older body in 1799, allowing it to date its foundation to 1728 or 1733). The Grand Orient de France is generally regarded as the “mother lodge” of Continental Freemasonry. The Lodge Les Neuf Sœurs was a prominent lodge attached to the Grand Orient de France that was particularly influential in organizing French support for the American Revolution (1765-1783) and later in the intellectual ferment that preceded the French Revolution (1789). Benjamin Franklin was a member of this Lodge when he was serving as liaison in Paris. Some notable French revolutionaries were Freemasons, including Marquis de Lafayette, Marquis de Condorcet, Mirabeau, Georges Danton, and Hébert. Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, was the Grand Master of the Grand Orient at the time of the French Revolution. In some parts of France, the Jacobin Clubs were continuances of Masonic lodges from the Ancien Régime, and according to historian Alan Forrest “some early clubs, indeed, took over both the premises and much of the membership of masonic lodges, before rebadging themselves in the new idiom of the revolution.”
According to the Marxist author Ernest Belfort Bax, Grand Orient Freemasons had a considerable involvement in the Paris Commune of 1871 after a couple of unsuccessful attempts at reconciling the Commune with the French Government. Every May 1st Parisian members of the Grand Orient Lodge stage a march through the city commemorating this fact.
May 1 remains the international day of solidarity for communists, socialists, Freemasons, and left anarchists.
Because of the particular nature of some of my articles and blogs, many readers over the years have inquired concerning my personal views and scholarly assessment of the Bavarian Illuminati and its genuine impact on world history. Did such an organization really exist? Does it exist today? What role did it play in the French Revolution of 1789? The Revolutions of 1848? The Russian Revolutions of 1917? etc. Since its founding on May 1, 1776, the Illuminati has been the subject of more controversy, disinformation and fear-mongering than almost any other topic analyzed by historians. But today, from impeccable archival research compiled over the past several decades, we now have an almost complete true picture of this clandestine organization and its nexus of influence.
In 2019, a documentary, Illuminated, was produced on the founding of the Illuminati.
Here are the seminal primary and secondary documents I recommend which present that historical portrait: Fire in the Minds of Men: Origins of the Revolutionary Faith, by James H. Billington; Perfectibilists: The 18th Century Bavarian Order of the Illuminati, by Terry Melanson; The Secret School of Wisdom: The Authentic Ritual and Doctrines of the Illuminati, edited by Josef Wäges, Reinhard Markner and translated to English by Jeva Singh-Anand; Philo’s Reply To Questions Concerning His Association With the Illuminati, by Adolph Freiherr Knigge and translated to English by Jeva Singh-Anand; Illuminati Manifesto of World Revolution (1792): L’Esprit des Religions, by Nicholas Bonneville and translated to English by Marco di Luchetti Esq.; Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism: A Translation from the French of the Abbe Barruel, by Augustin Barruel; The Forbidden Best-Sellers of Pre-Revolutionary France, by Robert Darnton; The Literary Underground of the Old Regime, by Robert Darnton; Mesmerism and the End of the Enlightenment in France, by Robert Darnton; Critique and Crises: Enlightenment and the Pathogenesis of Modern Society, by Reinhart Koselleck; and The First Professional Revolutionist: Filippo Michele Buonarroti, 1761-1837, by Elizabeth L. Eisenstein.
(The fictional works of Robert Anton Wilson are in a whole separate category or parallel universe.)
May 1, 2026, marked the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Bavarian Illuminati, an actual, short-lived secret society established on May 1, 1776, in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, by Adam Weishaupt.
While the group was officially disbanded and suppressed by 1785–1787, the 250th anniversary has brought renewed historical focus to the organization’s actual role in promoting Enlightenment ideals rather than the conspiracy myths that followed.
Historical Significance of the 250th Anniversary
Founder & Purpose: Adam Weishaupt, a law professor at the University of Ingolstadt, founded the society to promote rational thought, education, and secularism, aiming to curb the influence of religious oppression and absolute monarchy.
The Original “Perfectibilists”: Members were often known as “Perfectibilists” or simply the Order of the Illuminati, breaking themselves into three main tiers while using clandestine tactics, including secret ciphers, to infiltrate Freemason lodges and recruit elite thinkers.
2026 Commemorations: Historical research, such as that from the Gotha Research Centre of the University of Erfurt, is highlighting new research findings in 2026, and the city of Ingolstadt remains a focus for understanding the true history of the group, which is often linked to the origins of the Frankenstein legend in local lore.
Misconceptions & Legacy: While the group only existed for about a decade, its legacy has been inflated by centuries of conspiracy theories alleging it was the principal force which caused the French Revolution or still rules the world today.
Key Facts About the Bavarian Illuminati
Duration: The order operated from 1776 until it was banned by Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria, in 1787.
Members: At its peak, the group included prominent figures of the time, such as writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Baron von Knigge.
List of Illuminati members
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Illuminati_members
The secret society had set itself the goal of spreading the values of the Enlightenment and infiltrated the lodges of the Freemasons for this purpose.
A total of 1,394 members of the order can be identified, around a third of whom were also Freemasons and came almost exclusively from the German-speaking world (particularly Bavaria and Thuringia).
The members included members of the upper classes, including nobles, entrepreneurs, scholars, intellectuals, ecclesiastics, military personnel, and civil servants.
Sources: https://database.factgrid.de/wiki/FactGrid:The_Gotha_Illuminati_Research_Base
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