Alexander Horn (or

Dom Dom or DOM may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dom (given name), including fictional characters * Dom (surname) * Dom La Nena (born 1989), stage name of Brazilian-born cellist, singer and songwriter Dominique Pinto * Dom people, an et ...

Maurus Horn, OSB; 28 June 1762 – 1820), was a Scottish

Benedictine monk The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict ( la, Ordo Sancti Benedicti, abbreviated as OSB), are a Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), religious order of the Catholic Church following the Rule of Saint Benedic ...

who became a

secret agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

and diplomat. His work contributed to the birth of the conspiracy theory of the

illuminati The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...

.Mark Dilworth, ‘Horn, Alexander (1762–1820)’,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, Oxford University Press, 2004

Biography

Horn was born in the village of

Oyne Oyne is a small village in rural Aberdeenshire at the bottom of Bennachie in Scotland. Locality The village has limited local resources. It once had a railway station which closed 6 May 1968, and now has a daily bus service to Inverurie away ...

, Aberdeenshire. In 1772, at the age of ten, he was accepted as an oblate by the Scots Monastery in Regensburg, Germany, an

imperial abbey Princely abbeys (german: Fürstabtei, ''Fürststift'') and Imperial abbeys (german: Reichsabtei, ''Reichskloster'', ''Reichsstift'', ''Reichsgotthaus'') were religious establishments within the Holy Roman Empire which enjoyed the status of impe ...

in the capital which was then the seat of the Imperial Diet of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. About 1782, when he had come of age, he was admitted to the monastic community as a monk and given the religious name of Maurus and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

around 1785. He was an esteemed librarian at the monastery by 1790, while at the same time working as the Regensburg agent for the British ambassador in Munich. He cultivated close ties with the

Thurn und Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (german: link=no, Fürstenhaus Thurn und Taxis ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the en ...

family and other influential people in the region. Despite being a monk, his social life led to him being described as a "wild young fellow". Horn wrote anonymously, condemning France's activities in undermining the

. He supplied the material that formed the core of John Robison's 1797 allegation of an international conspiracy of freemasons,

, and

Jacobins , logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg , logo_size = 180px , logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794) , motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir) , successor = P ...

. In 1799 he travelled to England, meeting with members of William Pitt's government including Earl Spencer. He subsequently used his bibliographical expertise to acquire rare books and manuscripts for Spencer's library. When in 1802 the

Eternal Diet of Regensburg The Perpetual Diet of Regensburg or the Eternal Diet of Regensburg, (german: Immerwährender Reichstag) also commonly called in English the perpetual Diet of Ratisbon,Jean Berenger, C.A. Simpson, ''The Habsburg Empire 1700-1918'' (2014), p. 134 fr ...

, under pressure from

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

, determined to secularize all property of the Catholic Church within the Empire, the Scots Monastery was uniquely successful in avoiding this fate. Horn and his abbot,

Charles Arbuthnot Charles Arbuthnot (14 March 1767 – 18 August 1850) was a British diplomat and Tory politician. He was Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire between 1804 and 1807 and held a number of political offices. He was a good friend of the Duke of Welling ...

, OSB, (the last abbot of the monastery) lobbied

Jacques MacDonald Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

and

Jacques Lauriston Jacques Alexandre Bernard Law, marquis de Lauriston (1 February 1768 – 12 June 1828) was a French soldier and diplomat of Scottish descent, and a general officer in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars. He was born in Pondicherry in Fren ...

, Scottish Catholic generals in the French army. He was by now the official British agent in Regensburg and further appealed to the British government. The Scots Monastery was exempt from German church authorities coming under the sole authority of

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

and the two monks successfully obtained the support of the Cardinal Protector of Scotland in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. An express exemption was made in favour of the Scots Abbey, although it was not allowed to take any new

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

s. In 1804 Horn became the official Chargé d'affaires following the expulsion of the British ambassador in Munich at the insistence of Napoleon.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horn, Alexander 1762 births 1820 deaths People from Aberdeenshire Scottish expatriates in Germany Scottish Benedictines 18th-century Austrian Roman Catholic priests 19th-century Scottish Roman Catholic priests Illuminati conspiracy theorists British conspiracy theorists Anti-Masonry Scottish spies Scottish diplomats