The englightnement Flashcards
who was the most famous female patron of the Enlightnement
Marie-Thérèse Geoffrin
What is the name of the book and its author
THE ENCYCLOPEDUIA
Denis Diedrot
The purpose of the book is…?
created a
large set of books to which many leading scholars of Europe contributed articles
and essays.
Describe the royal and then the religious controversy of Denis Diedrot
and essays. He called it Encyclopedia
The Enlightenment views expressed in the articles soon angered both the
French government and the Catholic Church. Their censors banned the work.
They said it undermined royal authority, encouraged a spirit of revolt, and fostered
“moral corruption, irreligion, and unbelief.” Nonetheless, Diderot continued
publishing his Encyclopedia.
Describe the Enlightment in Paris
In Paris, people from all over Europe come to share their ideas. Ideas were intense in the mansions of wealthy women, salons. Salons were regular social gatheringS.
Enlgihtment and ARt
European art of the 1600s and early 1700s had been
dominated by the style called baroque, which was characterized by a grand, ornate
design. Baroque styles could be seen in elaborate palaces such as Versailles (see
page 600)
Artists and
architects worked in a simple and elegant style that borrowed ideas and themes
from classical Greece and Rome. The artistic style of the late 1700s is therefore
called neoclassical (“new classical”).
Describe Enlightment and Music
The music scene in Europe had been dominated by such
composers as Johann Sebastian Bach of Germany and George Friedrich Handel of
England. These artists wrote dramatic organ and choral music. During the
Enlightenment, a new, lighter, and more elegant style of music known as classical
emerged.
They were Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Describe the Literature and Enlightment
A
number of European authors began writing novels, which are lengthy works of prose
fiction. Their works had carefully crafted plots, used suspense, and explored characters’
thoughts and feelings. These books were popular with a wide middle-class audience,
who liked the entertaining stories written in everyday language. Writers,
including many women, turned out a flood of popular novels in the 1700s.
Describe the Enlightment and Royalty in General
The philosophes tried to convince monarchs to
rule justly. Some monarchs embraced the new ideas and made reforms that
reflected the Enlightenment spirit. They became known as enlightened despots.
Despot means “absolute ruler.”
The enlightened despots supported the philosophes’ ideas.
The changes they made were motivated by two
desires: they wanted to make their countries stronger and their own rule more effective.
Describe Fredrick the Great of Prussia
Frederick the Great Frederick II, the king of Prussia from 1740 to 1786, committed
himself to reforming Prussia. He granted many religious freedoms, reduced
censorship, and improved education. He also reformed the justice system and abolished
the use of torture. However, Frederick’s changes only went so far. For example,
he believed that serfdom was wrong, but he did nothing to end it since he
needed the support of wealthy landowners.
Perhaps Frederick’s most important contribution was his attitude toward
being king. He called himself “the first servant of the state.” From the beginning
of his reign, he made it clear that his goal was to serve and strengthen
his country.
Joseph II of Austria
Catherine the Great of Russia
Catherine the Great The ruler most admired by the philosophes was Catherine II,
known as Catherine the Great. She ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796. The welleducated
empress read the works of philosophes, and she exchanged many letters with
Voltaire. She ruled with absolute authority but also sought to reform Russia.
In 1767, Catherine formed a commission to review Russia’s laws. She presented
it with a brilliant proposal for reforms based on the ideas of Montesquieu and
Beccaria. Among other changes, she recommended allowing religious toleration
and abolishing torture and capital punishment. Her commission, however, accomplished
none of these lofty goals.
Catherine eventually put in place limited reforms, but she did little to improve the
life of the Russian peasants. Her views about enlightened ideas changed after a massive
uprising of serfs in 1773. With great brutality, Catherine’s army crushed the rebellion. Catherine had previously favored an end to serfdom.
However, the revolt convinced her that she needed the
nobles’ support to keep her throne. Therefore, she gave the
nobles absolute power over the serfs. As a result, Russian
serfs lost their last traces of freedo
Joseph
The most radical royal reformer was Joseph II of Austria. He introduced legal reforms and freedom of the press. He also supported freedom of worship, even for Protestants, Orthodox Christians, and Jews. In his most radical reform, Joseph abolished serfdom and ordered that peasants be paid for their labor with cash. Not surprisingly, the nobles firmly resisted this change. Like many of Joseph’s reforms, it was undone after his death.
