Christian Rosenkreuz (1378 "from the year of Our Lord 1378 (in which year our Christian Father was born)", in Confessio Fraternitatis - 1484 "in these one hundred and six years ^* of his life", Idem) is the possibly legendary founder of the Rosicrucian Order. The first anonymous public document on the Rosicrucian Order is the Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis which appeared in 1614 in Kassel (Germany) followed in 1615 by the Confessio Fraternitatis (issued with Fama (...)). In 1616 appears the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz in Strasbourg (annexed by France in 1861) which introduces for the first time the name Christian Rosenkreutz.

According to legend, Christian Rosenkreuz discovered and learned the Secret Wisdom as a pilgrim to the East, arguably in the 15th century (see section below on Symbolim); founded the "Fraternity of the Rose Cross" having him (Father C.R.C.) as the Head of the Order. Under his direction a Temple, called "The House of the Holy Spirit", was built. His body was discovered by a Brother of the Order, in a perfect state of conservation, 120 years after his death (which occurred in absolute secrecy) - as Rosenkreuz had predicted - in a chamber erected by himself as a compendium of the universe. It is described that on the Sarcophagus in the centre of the Crypt of Christian Rosenkreutz was written “JESUS MIHI OMNIA”.

According to Maurice Magre (1877–1941) in his book Magicians, Seers, and Mystics, Christian Rosenkreutz was the last descendant of the Germelschausen Probably derived from Gelnhausen (birthplace of the 17th century German author Grimmelshausen), state of Hesse., a German family which flourished in the 13th century. Their Castle stood in the Thuringian Forest on the Border of Hesse and they had embraced Albigense's doctrines, combining pagan superstitions and Christian beliefs. The whole family was put to death, by Landgrave Conrad of Thuringia, excepted the youngest son, who was only five years old. He was carried away secretly by a monk, who was an Albigensian adept from Languedoc. The child was placed in a monastery, that had already come under the influence of the Albigenses, where he was educated and made the acquaintance of the four others brothers later to be associated with him in the founding of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood. His account derives from oral tradition .

Some occult writers, including Max Heindel and Guy Ballard, have claimed that Rosenkreuz later reappeared as the Count of St Germain, a courtier, adventurer, and alchemist who reportedly died on February 27, 1784.

Symbolism of the numbers in the Manifestos

The Legend presented in the Manifestos has been interpreted through centuries as texts full of symbolism (as were all hermetic and alchemical texts of those times). They do not directly state Christian Rosenkreuz's years of birth and death, but in two ingenious sentences in the second Manifesto the year 1378 is presented as being the birth year of "our Christian Father", and it is stated that they could describe the 106 years of his life, which would imply the year 1484 for his death. The foundation of the Order can be deduced in similar terms as having occurred in the year 1407. However, these numbers (and deduced years) are not taken literally by many students of occultism, and are considered as allegorical and symbolic statements for the understanding of the initiated. The reasoning for this relies on the Manifestos themselves: on one hand, the Rosicrucians clearly adopted through the Manifestos the Pythagorean tradition of envisioning objects and ideas in terms of their numeric aspects, and, on the other hand, they directly state in the second Manifesto "We speak unto you by parables, but would willingly bring you to the right, simple, easy and ingenuous exposition, understanding, declaration, and knowledge of all secrets".

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