Order of the Dragon, The: A sinister, 15th century elite society founded by Sigismund, King of Hungary and primarily intended for members of the Balkan nobility. All initiates, or Draconists, took the public stance of protecting the innocent. However, their true calling was to ‘crush’ the enemies of Christianity – in particular the Ottoman Turks, under fear that they would expand their empire.
In 1408 the foundations were laid for what is known as the Order of the Dragon, taking the legendary dragon-slayer St. George as their patron saint, as well as the red cross and the ouroboros (ancient serpent/dragon) as their symbols.
All members were Sigismund’s allies and strongest supporters, required to swear loyalty to the king, queen and all royal endeavours. Vlad Dracul, duke of Wallachia, was eventually inducted in order to protect his domain from the invading Ottoman Empire and gain favour with the Catholic Church. After his death in 1447, his son Vlad Tepesch - better known as Vlad the Impaler – took up the defence of Wallachia. While never a true Draconist, many members of the order saw him as very much his father’s son, christening him as the ‘son of the dragon’; Dracula, in Romanian.
Mordred: A notorious figure of Arthurian legends. Known in some cases as King Arthur’s illegitimate son, he proved himself to be traitorous by fighting Arthur at the Battle of Camlann, where Mordred was slain by Arthur, but which also left the legendary king fatally wounded.
Laidly Wyrm, The: Also known as The Laidly Worm of Bamborough. As legend suggests, a king’s daughter is turned into a wyrm (dragon) by her stepmother, a foul and black-hearted witch. Only a kiss from the prince, Child Wynde, can break the spell and free the wyrm from her dreaded curse.
Inquisitor: From the 12th century, officials of the Roman Catholic Church were appointed to seek-out and suppress heresy, witchcraft and perceived vices.
Pope Innocent III’s anti-Cathar, Albigensian Crusade, the bloodthirsty genocide beginning in 1208 in the Languedoc of France, where up to 1,000,000 Cathars were massacred, was an event which consolidated the Churches resolve and helped establish the Medieval Inquisition.
From the 13th centaury, the Inquisition was made the responsibility of the Dominican Order of monks, (or the Black Friars, from their black robes). These feared Inquisitors were dispatched across Europe and had supreme authority, being cruel and ruthless sadists finding any justification to implement torture and executions, particularly by burning.
Illuminati: An Enlightenment-era secret society, founded in 18th century Bavaria by the German philosopher Adam Weishaupt. Tied to the dark underworld of the Freemasons and believed to be populated by free thinkers who revelled in the ideals of the Enlightenment – accusing the government of the most heinous heresy and treachery and pushing towards the ultimate New World Order; a conspiracy theory that promotes the subversion of political powers.
In the late 18th century, theorists and physicists speculated that the Illuminati conspired to overthrow European governments and even claimed to be the catalysts behind the French Revolution, though no real proof of any accusations has ever been found. By 1784, Bavarian ruler Karl Theodor banned all secret societies, and the Illuminati closed their doors; however, reimaginings of their ideals and the appearance of shadow organisations have surfaced in recent decades.
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