In Bavaria, new ideals of rationalism, religious freedom, and universal human rights, competed with the Catholic church's heavy influence over public affairs.

在巴伐利亞，理性主義、宗教自由和普世人權的新思潮正在與當時對公共事務有重大影響的天主教教會相互抗衡。

Across the Atlantic, a new nation staked its claim for independence on the basis of these ideas.

在大西洋的另一頭，有一個新國度以這些新想法為根基宣告獨立。

But back in Bavaria, law professor Adam Weishaupt's attempts to teach secular philosophy continued to be frustrated.

但回到巴伐利亞，法學教授 Adam Weishaupt 在試圖教授世俗哲學時屢受挫折。

Weishaupt decided to spread his ideas through a secret society that would shine a light on the shortcomings of the Church's ideology.

Weishaupt 決定透過一個祕密的社群傳播自己的想法，藉以揭露教會意識形態的缺陷之處。

He called his secret society the Illuminati.

他把自己的秘密社群取名為光明會。

Weishaupt modelled aspects of his secret society off a group called the Freemasons.

Weishaupt 的秘密社群是以共濟會為範本開始的。

Originally an elite stone-workers' guild in the late Middle Ages, the Freemasons had gone from passing down the craft of masonry to more generally promoting ideals of knowledge and reason.

共濟會原本是一個中世紀晚期由傑出石匠組成的工會，其目的從傳承石匠工藝演變成推廣知識與理性。

Over time, they had grown into a semi-secret, exclusive order that included many wealthy and influential individuals with elaborate, secret initiation rituals.

隨著時間的推進，他們轉變為一個半秘密、高級的組織，除了有許多有錢、有影響力的人加入外，入會儀式也非常的複雜和神秘。

Weishaupt created his parallel society while also joining the Freemasons and recruiting from their ranks.

Weishaupt 加入共濟會的同時也創造了屬於他自己的平行社群，並從共濟會的高層中招募會員。

He adopted the code name Spartacus for himself, after the famed leader of the Roman slave revolt.

他採用了古羅馬時著名的奴隸起義領袖的名字，也就是 Spartacus 作為自己的代號。

Early members became the Illuminati's ruling council, or Areopagus.

早期的成員就成了光明會的裁決委員會，又叫做 Areopagus。

One of these members, Baron Adolph Knigge, was also a Freemason, and became an influential recruiter.

其中的一位成員 Baron Adolph Knigge 他也同時是一個共濟會會員，成了一個富有影響力的招募者。

With Knigge's help, the Illuminati expanded their numbers, gained influence within several Masonic chapters, and incorporated Masonic rituals.

藉由 Knigge 的幫助，光明會開始擴張會員規模、在幾個共濟會的地方分會擴展影響力、並融入了一些共濟會的儀式。

By 1784, there were over 600 members, including influential scholars and politicians.

在 1784 年，光明會有超過 600 個會員，包括了具有影響力的學者與政治家。

As the Illuminati gained members, the American Revolution also gained momentum.

當光明會的會員人數越來越多時，美國獨立革命也從中得到啟發與動力。

Thomas Jefferson would later cite Weishaupt as an inspiration.

Thomas Jefferson 接下來就會引用 Weishaupt 的話作為啟發。

European monarchs and clergy were fearful of similar revolts on their home soil.

歐洲的獨裁者們與神職人員都很害怕相同的革命也會出現在他們管理的土地上。

Meanwhile, the existence of the Illuminati had become an open secret.

與此同時，光明會的存在已經成了一個公開的秘密。

Both the Illuminati and the Freemasons drew exclusively from society's wealthy elite, which meant they were constantly rubbing shoulders with members of the religious and political establishment.

光明會與共濟會都只招募有一定財富的社會菁英，也就代表他們持續地在和宗教與政治圈的人交手。

Many in the government and church believed that both groups were determined to undermine the people's religious faith.

許多政府、教會裡的人相信這兩個團體的終極目標就是要削弱人們的宗教信仰。

But these groups didn't necessarily oppose religion; they just believed it should be kept separate from governance.

但其實這些團體並不是完全反對宗教，他們只是相信宗教應該和政治是分開的。

Still, the suspicious Bavarian government started keeping records of alleged members of the Illuminati.

然而，猜疑心重的巴伐利亞政府開始追蹤、記錄那些被指稱為光明會會員的人。

Just as Illuminati members began to secure important positions in local governments and universities, a 1784 decree by Duke Karl Theodor of Bavaria banned all secret societies.

就在光明會成員開始在政府和大學裡取得重要位置時，巴伐利亞的 Weishaupt 在 1784 年禁止所有秘密集會與社團。

While a public ban on something ostensibly secret might seem difficult to enforce, in this case it worked.

雖然要公開禁止表面上看起來祕密的組織在執行上似乎很困難，但在這個案例上它奏效了。

Only nine years after its founding, the group dissolved.

就在光明會成立的九年後，這個組織就解散了。

Their records were seized, and Weishaupt forced into exile.

他們的文件檔案被沒收，而 Weishaupt 也被迫逃亡。

The Illuminati would become more notorious in their afterlife than they had ever been in their brief existence.

光明會在解散之後，將會遠比第一次曇花一現的時期還惡名昭彰。

A decade later, in the aftermath of the French Revolution, conservative authors claimed the Illuminati had survived their banishment and orchestrated the overthrow of the monarchy.

十年後，在法國大革命的後期，保守派的作者宣稱光明會撐過了禁令的追殺，並且精心策畫了推翻獨裁的行動。

In the United States, preacher Jedidiah Morse promoted similar ideas of an Illuminati conspiracy against the government.

在美國，傳教士 Jedidiah Morse 也宣揚了有關光明會對抗政府的陰謀。

But though the idea of a secret group orchestrating political upheaval is still alive and well today, there is no evidence that the Illuminati survived, reformed, or went underground.

儘管關於秘密組織策畫政治動亂的猜測直至今日仍層出不窮，但其實並沒有證據顯示光明會仍然存在、經過改革或轉為地下化。

Their brief tenure is well-documented in Bavarian government records, the still-active Freemasons' records, and particularly the overlap between these two sources, without a whisper since.

巴伐利亞政府以及現今仍十分活躍的共濟會，仍完整保留著他們短暫存在的紀錄，尤其是兩者重疊的部分，但在那之後光明會便再無聲息。

In the spirit of rationalism the Illuminati embraced, one must conclude they no longer exist.

基於光明會所擁抱的理性主義精神，我們必須作出光明會的確已經不存在了的結論。

But the ideas that spurred Weishaupt to found the Illuminati still spread, becoming the basis for many Western governments today.

但是刺激 Weishaupt 創立光明會的概念仍到處流傳，也成為當今許多西方政府的基礎。

These ideas didn't start or end with the Illuminati.

這些概念並不會因為光明會存在的時間長短而開始或結束。

Instead, it was one community that represented a wave of change that was already underway when it was founded and continued long after it ended.

相反地，光明會只是一個代表改變新思潮的社群，而這些思潮在光明會存在前就已經有了，也在光明會解散後繼續存在著。