) was a term used to loosely describe practitioners of a mystical form of Christianity in Spain during the 15th-16th centuries.The historianMarcelino Menéndez y Pelayofound the name as early as 1492 (in the form
aluminados
,1498), and traced the group to aGnosticorigin. He thought their views were
At a time, however, when there was no end of making game of and abusing secret societies, I planned tomake use of this human foible for a real and worthy goal, for the benefit of people. I wished to do whatthe heads of the ecclesiastical and secular authorities ought to have done by virtue of their offices … On