Knights Templar, Rosicrucians, Assassins & Co

Presumably inspired by Dan Brown‘s best selling novels, legends surrounding mysterious orders and historical brotherhoods are increasingly spreading in conspiracy circles. In addition to the Illu- minati, who have achieved a level of popularity that should make a secret society absolutely ashamed of itself, the Rosicrucians, the Assassins, and the Knights Templar are also experiencing an unexpected renaissance – as if they had not already disbanded hundreds of years ago. Conspiracy theorists see the apparent dis- appearance as a strong indication that these sinister fellows never really left but have since exercised their (omnipotent) power even better disguised and more nefariously. Such fictions and fantasies, however, are no proof of their existence – never then nor now.