Fludd was not a member of the Rosicrucians, as often alleged, but he defended their

thoughts as expressed in numerous manifestos and pamphlets.[10] He produced a quick

work, the Apologia Compendiaria, against the claims of Libavius that the Rosicrucians
indulged in heresy, diabolical magic and sedition, made in his Analysis confessionis Fraternitatis
de Rosea Cruce (Analysis of the Confession of the Rosy Cross) of 1615. Fludd returned to
the subject at greater length, the following year. [11]

Apologia Compendiaria, Fraternitatem de Rosea Cruce suspicionis maculis aspersam,

veritatis quasi Fluctibus abluens, &c., Leyden, 1616. Against Libavius.

Tractatus Apologeticus integritatem Societatis de Rosea Cruce defendens, &c., Leyden,

1617.

Tractatus Theologo-philosophicus, &c., Oppenheim, 1617. The date is given in

a chronogram. This treatise "a Rudolfo Otreb Britanno" (where Rudolf Otreb is an anagram of
Robert Floud) is dedicated to the Rosicrucian Fraternity. It consists of three books, De
Vita, De Morte, and De Resurrectione. In the third book Fludd contends that those filled
with the spirit of Christ may rise before his second coming.[9]
It is now seriously doubted that any formal organisation identifiable as the "Brothers of the
Rose Cross" (Rosicrucians) actually existed in any extant form. The theological and
philosophical claims circulating under this name appear to have been more an intellectual
fashion that swept Europe at the time of the Counter Reformation. This was in the early years
of the scientific revolution and the claim to be part of a secret cult gave some scholars
of alchemy, the occult, and Hermetic mysticism additional prestige by being able to promote
their views while claiming exclusive adherence to some revolutionary pan-European secret
society.
Between 1607 and 1616, two anonymous Rosicrucian manifestos were published by some
anonymous person or group, first in Germany and later throughout Europe. These were
the Fama Fraternitatis, (The Fame of the Brotherhood of RC), and the Confessio Fraternitatis, (The
Confession of the Brotherhood of RC). The first manifesto was influenced by the work of
the respected hermetic philosopher Heinrich Khunrath, of Hamburg, author of
the Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae (1609) who himself had borrowed generously
from the work of John Dee. It referred favourably to the role played by the Illuminati and it
featured a convoluted manufactured history dating back to archaic mysteries of the Middle
East, with references to the Kabala and the Persian Magi.
The second manifesto had decidedly anti-Catholic views which were popular at the time of
the Counter Reformation. These manifestos were re-issued several times, and were both
supported and countered by numerous pamphlets from anonymous authors: about 400
manuscripts and books were published on the subject between 1614 and 1620.. The peak
of the "Rosicrucianism furore" came in 1622 with mysterious posters appearing on the walls of
Paris, and occult philosophers such as Michael Maier, Robert Fludd and Thomas
Vaughan interested themselves in the Rosicrucian world view. Others intellectuals and
authors later claimed to have published Rosicrucian documents in order to ridicule their
views. The furore faded out and the Rosicrucians disappeared from public life until 1710
when the secret cult appears to have been revived as a formal organisation.
It is claimed that the work of John Amos Comenius and Samuel Hartlib on early education in
England were strongly influenced by Rosicrucian ideas, but this has not been proven, and
it appears unlikely except in the similarity in their anti-Catholic views and emphasis on
science education. Rosicrucianism is also said to have been influential at the time when
operative Masonry (a guild of artisans) was being transformed to speculative masonry

Freemasonrywhich was a social fraternity, which also originally promoted the scientific and
educative view of Comenius, Hartlib, Isaac Newton and Francis Bacon.
Rosicrucian literature became the sandbox of theosophists, and charlatans, who claimed to
be connected with the mysterious Brotherhood. Robert Fludd led the battle. It is said by
some that he was "the great English mystical philosopher of the seventeenth century, a
man of immense erudition, of exalted mind, and, to judge by his writings, of extreme
personal sanctity."[12]
It has also been said that what Fludd did was to detach occultism, both from
traditional Aristotelian philosophy, and from the coming (Cartesian) philosophy of his time.[13]