The original 'Invisible College' was promoted by the German Rosicrucians as a body that would promote the most advanced 'enlightened' science and art. Rosicrucian exiles in the so called 'Christian Unions' re-established the idea
in Stuart Britain where it absorbed similar local trends to become the first Royal Society following Royal sanction.
This body originally included such 'sciences' as alchemy and astrology in its remit, and was influential on such luminaries as Newton, Boyle and Locke.