The Enlightenment in Europe

Pre Enlightenment Period

Only one absolute religion The Roman Catholic

Martin Luther founded the Protestants which protested the wrong doings of church in 1517. This resulted chaos and blood shed for many years. For church aside of monarchs is the one who runs the monarchy.

The image depicts the massacre happened on August 24, 1572, saint bartholomew's day. Many Huguenots were in Paris to celebrate the wedding of Henry Bourbon of Navarre with Marguerite de Valois (daughter of French king Henry II) - an opportunity for the Catholics to slaughter thouands of unarmed Protestants, both in Paris and around the countryside over the next few days.

Henry IV of Navarre (Ruled France 1589-1610)

He is a Protestant turned moderately Catholic to bring peace and unity. Founder of bourbon dynasty of France he also signed the edict of nantes.

He granted the Calvinist Protestants also known as hughuenotssubstancial rights in the nation. Treated them as heretic rather than opposition to the church.

Enlightenment

known in French as the Siècle des Lumières (Century of Enlightenment), and in German as the Aufklärung, was a philosophical movement which dominated the world of ideas in Europe in the 18th century. The principal goals of Enlightenment thinkers were liberty, progress, reason, tolerance, and ending the abuses of the church and state.

religious difference turned to social and political difference.

Philosophers

Thomas Hobbes

Beliefs:1.Humans are selfish/wicked, create chaos2.Social Contract(agreement between society and its government):•People need to give up rights to a strong ruler.•Strong ruler creates order.

An English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy. His 1651 book Leviathan established social contract theory, the foundation of most later Western political philosophy.

“The condition of man… is a condition of war of everyone against everyone.”

John LockeAn English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and known as the "Father of Classical Liberalism".

Classical liberalism is a political ideology and a branch of liberalism which advocates civil liberties and political freedom with representative democracy under the rule of law and emphasizes economic freedom.

Beliefs:

1. People can learn from experience and improve.

2. People are born with natural rights: Life Liberty Property

3. It’s the government’s job to protect the rights.

4. When the government fails, the people have the right to overthrow it.

“No man’s knowledge here can go beyond his experience.”

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu

a French lawyer, man of letters, and political philiosopher.  He is famous for his articulation of the theory of separation of powers,

which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world.

Beliefs:1.Checks and Balance in the government.2.No man should have too much power (corruption).

“When the law have ceased to be executed, as this can only come from the corruption of the republic,

the state is already lost.”

Jean-Jacques Rousseau a philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th century. His

political philosophy influenced the Enlightenment in France and across Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the overall development of modern political and educational thought.

Beliefs:1.Supported direct democracy2.Individual freedoms and equality3.Social Contract: agreement by free individuals to create society/government.

“No man has any natural authority over his fellow men.”

François-Marie Arouet Pen name: Voltaire  a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous

for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state.

Beliefs:1.Tolerance, reason and freedom of thoughts/speech2.Expression of religious beliefs3.Fought against prejudice(opinion before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case.) and superstitions ( belief in supernatural causality).

“I do not agree with the word you say but will depend to the death your right to say.”

Literature Authors French and English societies were hierarchical. Literature was produced

by small cultural elite intended to address limited audiences mostly author's social peers that did not necessarily notice the values served as the basis of proper and actions.

Moliere, Swift, Pope, and Voltaire are authors who called the attention to the deceptions of well- defined codes and behaviors such as in France, women controlled the intellectual life of literary salons; in England, women were allowed no such commanding positions.

Moliere - Jean-Baptiste Poquelin wrote The Misanthrope, The School for Wives, Tartuffe, The Miser, The Imaginary Invalid, and The Bourgeois Gentleman.

Swift - Jonathan Swift, his most famous work is ' Gulliver's Travel ' started by addressing this power hungry mindset of Great Britain through Gulliver’s encounter with the Struldbruggs. He also questions their lust of immortality, the belief that all ailments could eventually be healed was a very popular view of the early enlightenment.

Literature Authors

Alexandeer Pope - . He is best known for his satirical verse, as well as for his translation of Homer. Famous for his use of the heroic couplet, he is the second-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare. His works are an Essay of Criticism, Rape of the Lock, Dunciad and Moral Essays, Essay on Man, and Later life and works.

Jean Racine - Jean-Baptiste Racine, tragedian his works are Phèdre, Andromaque, and Athalie, although he did write one comedy, Les Plaideurs, and a muted tragedy, Esther, for the young.