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Secret societies and orders

Skull and Bones, the Freemasons, the Templars, the Knights of Malta, the Jesuits, the Assassins of Alamut and closed religious communities, and what became of their property.

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What do the secret societies and orders estate cases show?

Whoever holds title to the building controls the society; the alumni trust, not the members, could lock the door. A bequest to an unincorporated order invites a fight over which group is the order; the court decided ownership by deciding identity.

Stories
24
Years
1124 to 2021
Main regions
Europe, North America, Middle East
Legal traditions
Royal and church law, Common law
Updated
30 October 2026

Every case in secret societies and orders, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

Yale Skull and Bones Tomb: The Skull & Bones Tomb, circa 2006.1991 · The Tomb, 64 High Street, New Haven, Connecticut, USA; Deer Skull and Bones' alumni trust changed the locks on the Tomb in 1991 when the seniors tapped seven women, and William F. Buckley went to court to stop the initiationSkull and Bones was founded at Yale in 1832 by William Huntington Russell and Alphonso Taft.Deseret News and 6 moreAleister Crowley: Aleister Crowley, thinker1947 · Netherwood, Hastings, England; California, USAAleister Crowley died with £430 and left his writings to his order, and a federal court decided in 1985 which of the rival orders owned themAleister Crowley headed the Ordo Templi Orientis from about 1921 and died at a Hastings boarding house on 1 December 1947. His solicitors reported about £430 in cash and saw no point in proving the will until the assets were clear.aleistercrowleytimeline.com and 3 moreSabbathday Lake Shaker Village: Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, 707 Shaker Rd, New Gloucester, ME Maine (l-r) Herb House, Boys' Shop (Museum Reception Center), Spinhouse1992 · Canterbury, New Hampshire, USA; New Gloucester, Maine, USAThe Canterbury Shakers closed membership in 1957, refused to recognize the converts at Sabbathday Lake, and the last Shaker community has three members in 2025The Shakers, followers of Ann Lee, came to America in 1774 and held all property in common under a signed covenant. Members were celibate, so the communities grew only by converts.archive.boston.com and 3 moreLicio Gelli: Licio Gelli in paramenti2015 · Villa Wanda, Arezzo, Italy; Castiglion Fibocchi, ItalyPolice found the P2 lodge's 962 names in Licio Gelli's factory in 1981, and after he died prosecutors asked a court to confiscate his villa from a dead manLicio Gelli led Propaganda 2, a covert lodge of the Grande Oriente d'Italia.Il Post and 3 moreGeronimo: Geronimo (Goyathlay), a Chiricahua Apache; full-length, kneeling with rifle1909 · Fort Sill, Oklahoma, USA; the Tomb, 64 High Street, New HaveGeronimo's descendants sued Skull and Bones in 2009 for the skull a member's 1918 letter says was taken from his grave, and a federal judge dismissed the caseGeronimo, a Chiricahua Apache leader, surrendered in 1886 and died a prisoner of war at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in February 1909. He was buried in the Apache cemetery there.historynewsnetwork.org and 5 moreRappHouseOldEconomyPA: The Rapp house in Old Economy Village, Pennsylvania.1905 · Economy (Ambridge), Beaver County, Pennsylvania, USAThe celibate Harmony Society dwindled to eight members, the US Supreme Court refused the heirs a share in 1902, and the last trustees split the fortune with PennsylvaniaJohann Georg Rapp founded the Harmony Society in Pennsylvania on 15 February 1805, with all property held in common. In 1807 the members adopted celibacy.Cornell Law School, LII and 2 moreThe Flag of Malta and the Flag of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta - Fort St. Angelo: The flag on the left is the Maltese National Flag, the flag on the right is the Flag of t2021 · Rome, Italy; Geneva, SwitzerlandThe Order of Malta's Grand Master fired his chancellor in 2016, the Pope forced the Grand Master out, and a 30-million-franc gift from a Geneva trust sat behind the fightIn December 2016 Grand Master Fra' Matthew Festing dismissed the Order's Grand Chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, after reports that the Order's charity had distributed condoms in Myanmar.NBC News and 2 moreHôtel du Grand Orient [de France], rue Cadet [9e arrondissement] : [photographie de presse] / [Agence Rol]: Sujet : Hôtels particuliers -- Paris (France) Paris (France) -- Arrondis1940 · Paris, France; Berlin, Germany; Česká Lípa, Czech Republic; German units emptied the French Masonic headquarters in June 1940, the Red Army took the archives to Moscow, and France got them back in 2001On 13 June 1940 German special units raided the Paris headquarters of the Grand Orient de France and the Grande Loge de France and shipped tons of archives and rare books to Berlin.gadlu.info and 3 moreTemplo masónico histórico, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, España, 2012-12-15, DD 01: Historic masonic temple, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain1936 · Calle San Lucas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, SpaFranco's forces seized the Masonic temple of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on 19 July 1936, used it for interrogations, and Spain moved to declare it a memorial in 2025The Añaza lodge was founded in Santa Cruz de Tenerife on 8 August 1895. Between 1899 and 1902 it built a temple on Calle San Lucas; the Spanish state's 2025 notice calls it the first Masonic building made expressly to be a temple.Boletín Oficial del Estado and 2 moreSamuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers in Egyptian getup: Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, in Egyptian getup, performs a ritual in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Picture from be1900 · 36 Blythe Road, Hammersmith, London, EnglandThe Golden Dawn expelled its founder in 1900, his envoy Aleister Crowley tried to seize the London vault in a mask, and Yeats and the landlord threw him outWilliam Westcott, William Woodman and Samuel MacGregor Mathers founded the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn in 1888. Mathers wrote the rituals of its inner order and became its chief. He lived in Paris.holythornpress.com and 2 moreThomas F. Mulledy signature 1838 articles of agreement p7: Signature of Thomas F. Mulledy, the Jesuit provincial superior for the Maryland province, on page 7 of the articles of ag1838 · Washington, DC, USA; Iberville and Ascension parishes, LouisThe Maryland Jesuits sold 272 people for $115,000 in 1838 to pay Georgetown's debts, and in 2021 the order pledged $100 million to their descendantsThe Jesuits of the Maryland Province owned plantations and the people enslaved on them. The province ran Georgetown College, which was in debt. On 19 June 1838 Thomas F.slaveryarchive.georgetown.edu and 2 moreMap of New York, marked on the globe1826 · Canandaigua and Batavia, New York, USA; Fort Niagara, New YoMasons took William Morgan from a New York jail in 1826 to stop his exposé, and a stranger's body was buried in his nameWilliam Morgan of Batavia, New York, planned a book revealing the rituals of Freemasonry with publisher David C. Miller. On 11 September 1826 he was in the Canandaigua jail over a small tavern bill.history.nycourts.gov and 3 moreJohann Adam Weishaupt: Portrait of Adam Weishaupt (1748-1830)1804 · Munich, Germany; Gotha, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Berlin, Bavaria banned the Illuminati in 1785 and published their seized papers, and a duke's will sent the rest to Sweden to keep them secretAdam Weishaupt founded the Order of the Illuminati at Ingolstadt on 1 May 1776.bitterwinter.org and 4 moreNapoleon: The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries label QS:Len,"The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries"labe1798 · Valletta, Malta; Aboukir Bay, Egypt; Fort St Angelo, Birgu, Napoleon took Malta from the Knights in three days in 1798, his flagship blew up with the island's treasure by legend, and Malta gave the Order part of its old fort back in 2001The Knights of St John ruled Malta from 1530. On 9 June 1798 Napoleon's fleet, bound for Egypt, gathered off the island. Troops landed in the night of 10 June.Project Gutenberg and 4 moreLRicci: Lorenzo Ricci, S.J.1775 · Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome, ItalyThe Pope suppressed the Jesuits in 1773 and their Superior General died a prisoner in Castel Sant'Angelo, declaring the Society innocentLorenzo Ricci was elected Superior General of the Society of Jesus on 21 May 1758. Portugal, France and Spain expelled the Jesuits in the following decade.newadvent.org and 3 moreExpulsion of the Jesuits from Spain, 1767: Depiction of the embarkation of the Jesuits in Cartagena (Spain), bound for the Papal States in compliance with the expulsion order issue1767 · Madrid and over 120 Spanish towns; Civitavecchia, Italy; CorSpain opened sealed orders in every Jesuit town on one night in 1767, seized the order's property, and the Pope's cannon turned the exiles' ships awayA small council approved the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain on 29 January 1767, and Charles III ratified it on 20 February.newadvent.org and 2 morePolish: Hołd pruski The Prussian Homagelabel QS:Lde,"Die Preußische Huldigung"label QS:Lfr,"L’hommage prussien"label QS:: Polish: Hołd pruski The Prussian Homagelabel QS:Lde,"Die P1568 · Kraków, Poland; Königsberg and Tapiau, Prussia (now KaliningOn Luther's advice the last Grand Master in Prussia dropped his vows in 1525, made the Order's state his hereditary duchy, and marriedAlbrecht of Brandenburg-Ansbach, a Hohenzollern, was elected Grand Master of the Teutonic Order in December 1510 and invested on 13 February 1511. In 1523 he asked Martin Luther for advice on the Order's statutes.deutsche-biographie.de and 2 moreOttomanJanissariesAndDefendingKnightsOfStJohnSiegeOfRhodes1522: Ottoman Janissaries and the defending Knights of St. John, Siege of Rhodes (1522)1523 · Rhodes, Greece; Viterbo, Italy; Birgu, MaltaThe Knights of St John surrendered Rhodes in 1522, sailed away with 4,000 islanders, and rented Malta from the Emperor for a falcon a yearIn June 1522 an Ottoman fleet of about 700 ships landed some 20,000 troops, later reinforced many times over. Grand Master Philippe Villiers de L'Isle-Adam had about 500 knights and 1,500 mercenaries.Project Gutenberg and 2 moreWorld headquarter of the Bektashis: This picture is captured in the World headquarters of the Bektashis which is located in the capital of Albania (Tirana).1826 · Istanbul, Turkey; Hacıbektaş, Turkey; Tirana, AlbaniaThe Sultan abolished the Bektashi order in 1826 and gave its lodges away, Atatürk closed the rest in 1925, and in 2024 Albania proposed a sovereign state for its leaderThe Bektashi order was the Sufi order of the Janissaries. In 1826 Sultan Mahmud II destroyed the Janissary corps and banned the Bektashis throughout the empire. Many dervishes were exiled and some executed.sarakuehn.com and 2 moreVilla Bethania Rennes-le-Château: Die Villa Bethania in Rennes-le-ChâteauLegend · 1917 · Rennes-le-Château, Aude, FranceThe priest of Rennes-le-Château put his buildings in his servant's name, a restaurant owner spread a treasure story in 1956, and Pierre Plantard tied it to an invented secret orderBérenger Saunière, from a poor family, became parish priest of Rennes-le-Château in 1885. He built the Villa Bethania and the Tour Magdala around his church.cesnur.org and 2 moreHasan-i Sabbah: Asabah21124 · Alamut Castle, Qazvin province, IranHasan-i Sabbah had both his sons executed and left Alamut to a lieutenant from another castleHasan-i Sabbah took the fortress of Alamut in 1090 by infiltration. He had entered it under another name, and he gave its castellan a draft for 3,000 dinars payable by the governor of Damghan.iis.ac.uk and 2 morePanorama of Malbork Castle, part 4: Picture taken in Malbork after Wikimania 2010 conference. Panorama of Malbork Castle, Żuławy region, Poland.1467 · Marienburg (Malbork), Poland; Königsberg (Kaliningrad), RussThe Teutonic Knights could not pay their mercenaries, so the mercenaries sold the Order's capital, Marienburg, to the King of Poland in 1457Marienburg on the Nogat became the seat of the Teutonic Order on 14 September 1309, when Grand Master Siegfried von Feuchtwangen moved there. Ludwig von Erlichshausen was elected Grand Master on 21 March 1450.deutsche-biographie.de and 2 moreAlamut Castle, Qazvin - 1: Alamut Castle, Qazvin Province1256 · Alamut and Maymun-Diz, Qazvin province, Iran; MongoliaThe last lord of Alamut surrendered to the Mongols in 1256, the Persian historian Juvayni burned the castle's library, and the imam was killed on his way home from the KhanRukn al-Din Khurshah succeeded his murdered father as Nizari imam in 1255. In 1256 Hulegu's army reached his castles. Khurshah began taking down towers to show submission.iis.ac.uk and 3 moreTemplars being burned at the stake.label QS:Len,"Templars being burned at the stake."label QS:Lde,"Verbrennung von Templ: Illustration, anonyme Chronik, „Von der Schöpfung der WeltLegend · 1308 · Poitiers, France; Paris, FranceOne Templar said under torture in 1308 that he saw a brother leading 50 horses and heard of 18 galleys, and that is the only medieval source for a Templar treasure fleetAfter Philip IV arrested the Templars in France in October 1307, Pope Clement V heard Templar witnesses at Poitiers. In June 1308 a brother named Jean de Châlons testified after torture.jasoncolavito.com and 2 more