The society did not last long. In , the Bavarian government, under Elector Karl Theodor, issued an edict banning secret societies.
: Modern theories were largely popularized in the 1960s by writers Robert Wilson and Kerry Thornley , who wrote fake letters to magazines to satirize the era's paranoia—a prank that backfired and fueled real belief in a hidden cabal. illiminate
Weishaupt was banished from Bavaria, and after 1785, no historical records exist of the group's continued activities. The society did not last long
Authorities discovered documents that defended , leading to the group's forced disbandment. the Bavarian government