Short answer
Rosicrucianism is an esoteric current that began with a set of anonymous German publications in the early seventeenth century, which described a secret brotherhood devoted to hidden wisdom and the reform of knowledge and society. The symbol of the movement is the rose and cross. Whether such a brotherhood existed at the time is uncertain, but the idea inspired many later groups.
The three manifestos
- Fama Fraternitatis (circulating in manuscript before it was printed in Kassel in 1614) announces the existence of a brotherhood and tells the story of its founder.
- Confessio Fraternitatis (1615) expands on its aims and invites learned readers to respond.
- The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz (1616, Strasbourg) is a symbolic and alchemical narrative told over seven days.
Together, they set off a wave of excitement in Europe. Many writers publicly asked to join the Brotherhood, and others attacked it. The manifestos’ language mixes Christian piety, alchemy, and calls for a general reform of learning.
The legend of Christian Rosenkreutz
According to the Fama, the order was founded by Christian Rosenkreutz, said to have been born in 1378, who traveled to the Middle East and learned secret wisdom, then returned to Europe and gathered a small group of followers. After his death his tomb was supposedly hidden for 120 years, then found by accident, with a lit vault and preserved body. The story is generally read by historians as a legend or allegory, not as biography.
Was there ever a real brotherhood?
Most scholars think not, at least in the form described. The Lutheran theologian Johann Valentin Andreae is widely believed to have written the Chymical Wedding, and he was probably connected with a circle in Tübingen that produced the Fama. Andreae later described the Rosicrucian affair as a kind of playful fiction. Nobody has identified a real organization behind the manifestos. The historian Frances Yates argued in the 1970s that the manifestos belonged to a broader movement of reform tied to Protestant politics, a view that has been debated since.
Teachings and themes
The manifestos stress several ideas:
- Reform of learning and society, often with millenarian tones.
- A Christian outlook, with hostility toward the papacy.
- Interest in alchemy, medicine and natural philosophy, in the style of Paracelsus.
- Healing the sick without charge.
The influence of Hermetic thought runs through the language, although the manifestos present their own program.
Rosicrucian influence on Freemasonry and the Golden Dawn
Rosicrucian imagery shaped later movements. Some higher degrees in Freemasonry use Rose Cross symbolism; see Freemasonry and esoteric knowledge. In 1865 the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia was founded for Master Masons, and several of its members later helped found the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, whose inner order took the name Rosae Rubeae et Aureae Crucis.
Modern Rosicrucian orders
Many organizations today use the name, including AMORC (the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, founded in the United States in 1915 by H. Spencer Lewis), the Rosicrucian Fellowship (founded by Max Heindel in 1909) and the Lectorium Rosicrucianum, based in the Netherlands. They differ in teachings and in how they present their history, and several claim a lineage reaching far back. Historians do not generally accept such claims of unbroken descent from a seventeenth-century order. For the larger picture, see Western esotericism.