The Cathari
Few people were more misunderstood or more persecuted than were the so-called "First Scientists" known as the Cathari ("the pure").
The Cathari were unique at the time. They completely rejected all forms of magic, regarding it as not only a source of weakness in society but also arguing that it was the very use of magic that was continuing to draw Wild Folk into Europa.
Originating in Aquitaine, Cathari faithful went out all across western Europa to persuade others to their point of view, for of course magic had to be eliminated utterly, lest some door be left open through which the Wild might slip. Cathari cells began appearing all over Gaul and into Burgundy, Bavaria, Lombardy, and elsewhere.
It was natural for others, especially Elves and Humans, who were perhaps most wedded to magic, to suspect the Cathari of undermining the battle against the Wild. As the Cathari formed into secret societies, it was even easier for rumors about them to spread and for them to come to be regarded as an actual threat. In the 20th century, the first of the persecutions began that would end in the infamous Cathar March of 1.972.
As a result of the great March against them, the Cathari went into hiding. When they emerge in the 21st century, they appear in a modified form. They were no longer arguing that the use of magic was actively attracting the Wild; rather, they argued for the inherent superiority of Science over Magic. The Pure would abandon Magic as a heavy weight keeping back the exploration of new knowledge. In this incarnation, the Cathari were no longer threatening. They retreated to their strongholds in Provence, Lombardy, and Tuscany, where for a long time they were hardly more than a band of local eccentrics. This all changed with the Great Rebirth, of course.