Real Secret Societies That Left Their Marks On History

Not every secret society is about the occult, magic, or the dark arts. The Knights of Malta — founded in the year 1048 — had noble aims from the start.

Nowadays, the Knights of Malta have a much different focus. Its 13,500 members across 120 countries focus on charitable causes in general.

So many rumors surround the Freemasons — possibly the least secret "secret society" in history. This makes sense, considering how old and storied the organization is. The Freemasons emerged in Europe in the midst of the Middle Ages, a time when craftspeople were arranged into regional guilds.

What started as a fraternity for craftsmen is now a bit more mysterious to non-members. The Freemasons are ostensibly about charity work and social networking. However, rumors swirl that the group is plagued with bullies, nepotism, and a refusal to change with the times.

An organization made up of Irish immigrants in 19th-century America might sound innocent enough. But the Molly Maguires had sinister aims that the all-male membership carried out while dressed as women — hence the name.

The Molly Maguires supposedly had their hand in arson and threat-making as well — but it was the two dozen murders that finished the organization off. A mole infiltrated the group, leading to the arrests of the 20 suspected members.

London in the late 16th century set the scene for some of humankind’s greatest writers to create their finest works. But they didn’t spend all of their time at their desks with pens in hand. Instead, some authors gathered in the School of Night.

Playwright Christopher Marlowe — the top tragedy writer of his time and an inspiration to William Shakespeare — was said to be a member of the School of Night. Other members supposedly included Sir Walter Raleigh, George Chapman, Matthew Roydon, and Thomas Harriot.

The Order of the Temple of the East — or Ordo Templi Orientis — used the Freemasons as its inspiration, but it operated on a completely different belief structure. Its eventual leader was occultist Aleister Crowley, who taught members the tenets of Thelema, an ideology he created himself.

Gnostic mass mimics Catholic mass, but attendees don extravagant get-ups to worship. And then there are the rituals, which range from conjuring spirits to tantric love-making and encouraging out-of-body experiences called astral projections.

To understand The Calves’ Head Club, you need to brush up on English history. Here's the basics: King Charles I married a Roman Catholic French princess in 1626, a union that angered his Protestant subjects. In response to rising opposition, he dissolved Parliament and eventually incited civil war in England.

The highly controversial Calves’ Head Club came to be after Charles I’s execution. On the anniversary of his slaying, the group gathered for a grotesque celebration of his demise. Members would first decapitate a calf — a representation of the former king — then prepare it and eat it.

The Bilderberg Meetings started in 1954 when 11 Americans traveled to the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek in the Netherlands. There, they met with 50 people from 11 Western European nations.

The latest Bilderberg Meeting took place in Lisbon, Portugal, in May 2023. The list of attendees was published on its website, and the topics discussed during the meeting included AI, banking systems, and the situation in Ukraine. But historically, the details of the meetings were kept secret from the public.

The Priory of Sion — or Prieuré de Sion — both is and is not a secret society. A man named Pierre Plantard founded the fraternal organization in France in 1956. The idea was that was forming a neo-chivalric order — meaning the Priory of Sion was an order of knighthood.

To back up that claim about a secret history, Plantard faked a bunch of documents and had them inserted into the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. He also had two encrypted medieval parchments created, complete with references to the Priory of Sion.

The abbreviated tale of the Rosicrucians goes something like this: legendary Founder Christian Rosenkreuz apparently traveled from his native Germany into the Middle East so that he — a mystical philosopher — could gain some esoteric wisdom.

It's possible, however, that Christian Rosenkreuz never existed and the story is just allegorical. Still, some people were taken in by the idea of a "universal reformation of mankind" via "esoteric truths of the ancient past." Yet rumors plagued the Rosicrucians since its foundation in the 15th century.

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn — often shortened to just the Golden Dawn — began gathering in 19th-century London. Group members shared an interest in the occult, magic, and mysticism.

The Golden Dawn was actually founded by three Freemasons: William Robert Woodman, William Wynn Westcott, and Samuel Liddell Mathers. But unlike other groups, the Golden Dawn also allowed women into their inner circle.

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World first cropped up on the scene in 1868. Then, just over three decades later, a pair of African-American men weren’t permitted entry into the club’s ranks — and decided to form a splinter group.

The founders of the Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World ended up creating a club that would become central within Black communities during segregation. It was, apparently, one of the only places where African Americans could gather.

History buffs may be familiar with the work of the Black Hand. In the early 20th century, this revolutionary group hoped to bring together the Slavic people into a single country.

The Black Hand decided to free Serbia from Austria-Hungary through military campaigns, but they didn’t plan for the conflict they would arguably create. Their plan was supposedly to assassinate Austria’s Archduke Franz Ferdinand — which Gavrilo Princip did in 1914.

Peter Droomgole, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student in the mid-19th century, inadvertently inspired the start of a very creepy on-campus society. He vanished from campus in 1833, and legend has it that he died after losing a duel.

In the student’s honor, this secret society was first called the Order of Droomgole, but changed the last part to Gimghoul "in accord with midnight and graves and weirdness." The group supposedly meets on campus at a very creepy, enshrouded castle.

It’s no secret that some of the brightest minds in the country end up studying at Ivy League institutions. And Yale University just so happens to be one of the most selective — with an acceptance rate of just 4.46 percent in 2022.

No one outside of Skull and Bones really knows the purpose of this society, but there are plenty of theories. Some say that the Bonesmen — who have gone on to become Supreme Court justices, CEOs, and presidents — might influence the CIA or strive for global control.

The Grand Orange Lodge drew its name from William of Orange, the Protestant king who defeated the Catholic King James II and took over as ruler of Scotland, England, and Ireland in 1689. Almost 200 years later, the Northern Irish Protestants still revered Orange’s leadership.

Had Lord Lieutenant of Ireland George William Frederick Villiers not thrown his support behind the group, the Grand Orange Lodge’s aims might have flown under the radar. Ireland had always been a Catholic stronghold, so having a leader support a Protestant society ruffled some serious feathers.

A long time ago, business executive and one-time Confederate soldier Charles Slayback had an idea. In 1878 he gathered fellow St. Louis businessmen to build his own secret society. He wanted his city to have a festival like New Orleans did with Mardi Gras.

In reality, the Veiled Prophet story was just meant to be an excuse to celebrate — and to mask negative social realities. At the time, laborers demanded socioeconomic equality and fair working conditions.

In the 13th century, a small group of Shia Muslims split from a larger group of their religion’s practitioners because they wanted to create a utopian state. Yet they didn’t have the manpower to make their vision a reality.

The Hashashin made a name for themselves by staging political assassinations as well as by sending spies over enemy lines. But these operatives had great discretion — enemies would wake up with daggers on their pillows and notes warning them of impending death.

Things started out well for the Knights Templar. They had a simple mission when founded in the 12th century — to protect Christians as they traveled to the Holy Land. Templar Enlistees had to vow to a chaste lifestyle, which meant they couldn’t swear, gamble, or drink.

Once the Crusades ended, the Knights Templar decided to set up in Paris and make their banking business the main focus of their operation. However, they made the mistake of denying King Philip IV of France a loan.

The Knights of the Golden Circle first formed in 1854 because they wanted the United States to take over the West Indies and Mexico. This would then make the slave states stronger against any threats from the North.

Interestingly enough, the Knights of the Golden Circle had a bigger impact in Union states, where people pointed the finger at anyone who seemed to sympathize with the South. Even President Franklin Pierce faced accusations of being a secret member of the organization.

The Illuminati formed on May 1, 1776, bringing together the era’s most forward-thinking politicians and intellectuals. Unlike many other secret societies on this list, though, the Illuminati didn’t require its members to believe in any sort of deity.

The Illuminati was eventually outlawed, and it subsequently crumbled internally when a new leader had to replace its founder, Adam Weishaupt. But some believe that the society didn’t actually collapse in the late 1700s.