French revolution Quote by Umberto Eco
““The Jesuits’ strategy became clear to us when we discovered Father Barruel. Between 1797 and 1798, in response to the French Revolution, he writes his Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire du jacobinisme, a real dime novel that begins, surprise surprise, with the Templars. After the burning of Molay, they transform themselves into a secret society to destroy monarchy and papacy and to create a world republic. In the eighteenth century they take over Freemasonry and make it their instrument. In 1763 they create a literary academy consisting of Voltaire, Turgot, Condorcet, Diderot, and d’Alembert, which meets in the house of Baron d’Holbach and in 1776, plot after plot, they bring about the birth of the Jacobins. But they are mere marionettes, their strings pulled by the real bosses, the Illuminati of Bavaria—regicides by vocation.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco, 1980
Claims Jesuits were manipulated by secret societies like the Illuminati, linking them to revolutionary plots and Freemasonry.
In simple terms: Suggests hidden elite control over revolutionary movements.
Key Takeaway
Question hidden influences in history.
Themes
conspiracy
history
power
religion
Mood
skeptical
inquisitive
Type
analytical
critical
When to use this quote
- political analysis
- historical research
- critical reading
- media literacy
- skepticism
Key Concepts
Illuminati
Jesuits
Freemasonry
French Revolution
Questions to Reflect On
- What primary sources support these claims?
- How do we distinguish conspiracy from legitimate critique?
A Different Perspective
Evidence is largely speculative and may oversimplify complex events.
![“They [the Templars] had read Avicenna, and they were not ignorant, like the Europeans. How could you live alongside a tolerant, mystical, libertine culture for two centuries without succumbing to its allure, particularly when you compared it to Western culture, which was crude, vulgar, barbaric…” quote by Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/080/umberto-eco-313_allure_they-the-templars-had-read-avicenna-and_1993593.jpg)
![“To the Jacobins of this epoch [the French Revolution], as well as to those of our times, this popular entity constitutes a superior personality possessing attributes peculiar to the gods of never having to answer for their actions and never making a mistake. Their wishes must be humbly acceded to…” quote by Gustave Le Bon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/eb6/gustave-le-bon-10163_character_to-the-jacobins-of-this-epoch-the-french_220492.jpg)
![“It [August 10th 1792] was the bloodiest day of the Revolution so far, but also one of the most decisive.” quote by William Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d89/william-doyle-68265_august_it-august-10th-1792-was-the-bloodiest-da_77206.jpg)
