ALUMBRADOS (ILLUMINATI). - This term was used to designate those pseudo-mystics of Spain who in the 16th and 17th centuries boasted of acting constantly under the influence of a direct and immediate “illumination” of the Holy Spirit. The word *illuminados*, understood in this sense, appears for the first time in 1494, in a letter written by the Franciscan Antonio de Pastrana to Cardinal Ximenes de Cisneros, his provincial minister.
The doctrine of the *Alumbrados* taught that man can attain here below the vision of the very essence of God, i.e., the highest possible degree of perfection; and once this is reached, it can no longer be lost and renders all external means of sanctification vain, such as vocal prayer, the use of the Sacraments, the practice of charity toward one’s neighbor, any corporal sacrifice, etc. The perfect one is bound only to mental prayer and ecstatic contemplation of the divine essence, which unites him to God so intimately as to deprive him even of his own freedom and individuality. In this state of complete annihilation, he becomes impeccable in the sense that even venial faults are not imputed to him as culpable, whereas the same actions in the imperfect would be grave offenses against God. Fully consistent with this last principle, the *Alumbrados* often abandoned themselves to the most unbridled dissoluteness. The action taken by the Inquisition against such abuses was so rigorous that it condemned even those who led a retired and contemplative life: St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Borgia, St. Teresa, and St. Joseph Calasanz were accused of illuminism.
Supported by men of high standing, the *Alumbrados* spread rapidly, recruiting numerous followers not only among the lower classes but also among the cultured, the nobility, and the clergy. They reached their greatest expansion in the dioceses of Cadiz and Seville, where they managed to persist until the mid-17th century. Their errors then reappeared in Quietism, which spread in Italy through Michael Molinos (q.v.).