ÿþ<html> <head> <title> WHKMLA : Historical Dictionaries : Enlightenment </title> <!-- copyright Alexander Ganse, 2005-2007 --> </head> <body bgcolor="lightblue" text="black" link="blue" vlink="red" alink="brown"> <style> <!-- A{ font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-face: arial; } --> </style> <DIV align ="center"> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../index.html"> <img src = "../../whkmla2.jpg" border = "0"></a></TD></TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "150" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Timeline </b></font></TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/nhb/tlenl.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowleft.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/nhb.html"> <img src = "../banhistdic.jpg" border = "0"> </TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <img src = "../../region/arrowright.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD width = "100" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> </b></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <font size = "3" face = "arial"><B><i>First posted on April 16th 2005, last revised on August 28th 2007 </i></b></font><BR><BR><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center" width = "900"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "5"><B> Historical Dictionaries : Enlightenment </B></font> <BR> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"><i> http://www.zum.de/whkmla/histdic/nhb/hdenl.html </i></font> </B></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "serfdom"><B>Abolition of Serfdom</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Voltaire and other enlightenment philosophers argued for the abolition of serfdom, pointing out that free individuals were more productive. Enlightened monarchs attempted to abolish serfdom (f. ex. Catherine the Great in <A HREF = "../../region/russia/xrussia.html">Russia</A>), but met the resitance of the nobility. In 1779, Louis XVI. (<A HREF = "../../region/france/xfrance.html">France</A>) freed the serfs living on royal land. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "torture"><B>Abolition of Torture</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Proposed by the enlightenment philosophers. Frederick the Great abolished torture in <A HREF = "../../region/germany/xprussia.html">Prussia</A> in 1747, Gustavus III. ( <A HREF = "../../region/scandinavia/xsweden.html">Sweden</A>) in 1772, Louis XVI. (<A HREF = "../../region/france/xfrance.html">France</A>) did so in 1780. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Atheism</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Philosophy which denies the existence of God and afterlife. Philippe d'Orleans, Regent of France 1715-1724, declared himself to be an atheist. Click <A HREF = "../../period/absolut/atheism.html">here</A> for more information. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>British Museum</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Created by an act of Parliament in 1753. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Candide</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> The most famous book written by Voltaire; the title translates to frankness. Published in 1759. A novel which sees a hero enjoy and lose the protection of a nobleman, travels through Europe, experienced life in the army and is killed by the inquisition. A satire criticizing manifold aspects of 18th century society. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "censorship"><B>Censorship</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> In most 18th century Catholic countries, the <A HREF = "#jesuitorder">Jesuit Order</A> was in charge of higher education and censorship. In <A HREF = "../../region/france/xfrance.html">France</A>, the proclamation of the Gallican Liberties in 1682 had begun a process of undermining the authority of the censorship. 1717-1718 Voltaire was imprisoned; from the 1720es onward, censorship was still existant, but a spirit of liberty of the press had emerged; the philosophes had learned how to write without giving the censors the opportunity to interfere. Still, Diderot and the Encyclopedistes had to fight for their right to publish the Encyclopedie. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "constitutionalmonarchy"><B>Constitutional Monarchy</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> A term phrased by Montesquieu, after observing the (unwritten) British political constitution. Montesquieu favoured a constitutional monarchy for <A HREF = "../../region/france/xfrance.html">France</A>. France, in the early stage of the French Revolution, would adopt this model (1789-1792). </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Deism</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> A philosophical view of religion, recognizing that God created earth, and since did no longer interfere. Held by persons such as Voltaire, Kant and others. Click <A HREF = "../../period/absolut/deism.html">here</A> for more information </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "education"><B>Education Reform</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Until into the 18th century, higher education in Europe focussed on classical languages (Latin, Greek, Hebrew), as students attending these institutiona aimed at a career in the clergy, in law or as teachers. The progress of science made in those days was widely ignored in the system of education. Some pedagogians like August Hermann Francke in Halle (<A HREF = "../../region/germany/prusindex.html">Prussia</A>) founded more modern institutions (1698); in protestant countries private men were free to do so. In most Catholic countries the <A HREF = "#jesuitorder">Jesuit Order</A> had control of higher education, education reform, as suggested by the philosophes, thus bing connected with the suppression of the <A HREF = "#jesuitorder">Jesuit Order</A>; Jesuit schools and colleges in the 1760es/1770es were converted into modern schools/colleges/universities. With this act, the states took over the management of higher education; the sciences and modern languages were introduced into the curriculum. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Emile</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Novel by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, on education, published in 1762 </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "encyclopedia"><B>Encyclopedie</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> In French <i>l'Encyclopedie</i>, published by Denis Diderot and others; intended to collect the knowledge of her times, it focussed on natural sciences, technical knowledge and disregarded anything remotely political or historical. A large number of subscribers signed up, but the publication suffered from problems to get permission to publish, as well as from financial difficulty. Published 1751-1772. <BR> A compilation of what the editors regarded absolute truth (most noteworthy scientific findings and methods, technologies) and ostentatiously avoided topics such as politics, history, the feudal order of contemporary society, and religion. Published in French, under the scrutiny of censorship, the encyclopedie was subscribed by readers in all Europe, even by some readers in Russia and the future United States. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Encyclopedia Britannica</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Began publication in 1768. While inspired by Diderot's Encyclopedia, the Britannica did/does include many articles on history, geography, politics, biography - areas the French Encyclopedistes avoided. The best-known encyclopedia ever published. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Encyclopedistes</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> French philosophers and scientists which contributed to the Encyclopedie most notably include Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Enlightened Absolutism </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> see under <A HREF = "hdabs.html#eabs">Absolutism</A> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Enlightenment</A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> English translation of the German term <i>die Aufkl&auml;rung"</i>, coined by Immanuel Kant in 1784, and generally used to describe the intellectual spirit of the 18th century. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Freemasonry </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> see under <A HREF = "hdabs.html#freemasonry">Absolutism</A> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "jesuitorder"><B>Jesuit Order</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Founded by Ignatius of Loyola and approved by the pope in the early 16th century, it became a major instrument of the Catholic Counterreformation, being charged with control of higher education and censorship in most Catholic countries of Europe. In the 18th century it came under increasing pressure, and was suppressed by Pope Clement XIV. in 1773 (under Bourbon pressure; the Jesuits had been expelled from <A HREF = "../../region/spain/xportugal.html">Portugal</A> in 1759, from <A HREF = "../../region/france/xfrance.html">France</A> in 1764, from <A HREF = "../../region/spain/xspain.html">Spain</A> in 1767). </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Lettres Persanes</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Published by Montesquieu in 1721, an account allegedly written by a Persian visiting France; this construction permitted Montesquieu to criticize the sociopolitical reality in <A HREF = "../../region/france/xfrance.html">France</A>. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "naturallaw"><B>Natural Law</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> In 1672, Samuel von Pufendorf published "De Jure Naturae et Gentium" at the University of Lund (<A HREF = "../../region/scandinavia/xsweden.html">Sweden</A>). Pufendorf is regarded the most reknown proponent of the theory of natural law, which Enlightenment philosophers chose as a foundation when criticizing the socio-political reality of their age. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "newspapers"><B>Newspapers</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Newspapers emerged shortly after Gutenberg's invention of the single-letter-type printing press in 1454. In the 18th century, with potential readership widening due to improved education, and (in <A HREF = "../../region/france/xfrance.html">France</A>) censorship slackening, they enjoyed an increasing popularity and played an important role in the formation of public opinion. Click <A HREF = "../../period/absolut/newspapers.html">here</A> for more information </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>On Crime and Punishment</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Essay by Cesare Beccaria, published in Milan in 1764; he advocated the abolition of the death penalty. The first enlightenment ruler to abolish it was Pietro Leopoldo Grand Duke of <A HREF = "../../region/italy/xtuscany.html">Tuscany</A>, in 1786. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "philosophes"><B>Philosophes</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> French term for the Enlightenment philosophers </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "religioustoleration"><B>Religious Toleration</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Voltaire criticized organized religon for everything which was wrong with 18th century society; he and the other philosophes advocated Religious Toleration, long practiced by the <A HREF = "../../region/lowcountries/xnederland.html">Dutch Republic</A>, introduced - for economic reasons - by <A HREF = "../../region/scandinavia/xdenmark.html">Denmark</A> in 1671-1685, by Brandenburg (<A HREF = "../../region/germany/prusindex.html">Prussia</A>) practiced since the days of the Great Elector (1640-1688); by <A HREF = "../../region/france/xfrance.html">France</A> in 1787, by <A HREF = "../../region/scandinavia/xsweden.html">Sweden</A> in 1781, in <A HREF = "../../region/germany/ahindex.html">Austria</A> by Joseph II. (1780-1790). </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Salons</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Hosted by wealthy, educated women, Salons were social occasions in a private environment. The hostess would invite the leading figures of politics and the economy, noble ladies, artists, intellectuals, persons hoping to make a career; she would provide entertainment (a novelist reading from his works, chamber music being played etc.), food, the opportunity to chat. In the presence of ladies, politics and business were not to be discussed (for that purpose men withdrew to another room). Hostesses could become influential by arranging persons to contact each other. Click <A HREF = "../../period/absolut/salon.html">here</A> for more information. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "socialcontract"><B>Social Contract</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> in French <i>Contrat Sociale</i>, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, published in 1762; a paper proposing a republican constitution. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <B>Spirit of the Laws</B> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> in French <i>l'Esprit des Lois</i>, by Montesquieu, published anonymously in 1748. The main work of Montesquieu, who admired the way England was governed (constitutional monarchy). </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width="200" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> <A NAME = "witchhunts"><B>Witch Hunts</B></A> </font></TD> <TD width="480" valign="top" align="left"> <font size = "2"> Perceived witches had been prosecuted and burnt in the middle ages, a practice which intensified in the later 15th century and reached a climax during the <A HREF = "../../military/17cen/xxxywar.html">Thirty Years War</A>. Already in the 16th and 17th century, some voices spoke out against witch hunts; in the time of Enlightenment witch hunts served as an example for the superstition which the philosophes held organized religion responsible for. In the early 18th century, witch trials were discontinued (<A HREF = "../../region/britain/xuk.html">England</A> 1722, <A HREF = "../../region/germany/prusindex.html">Prussia</A> 1714); in the late 18th century witch trials only were held in backward regions (Kempten 1775, Glarus/<A HREF = "../../region/italy/xswitzerland.html">Switzerland</A> 1784, <A HREF = "../../region/eceurope/xposen.html">Posen</A> 1793). Click <A HREF = "../../period/absolut/witchhunt.html">here</A> for more information. </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <BR><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "700"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> PRINTED REFERENCE : <BR> Peter Hanns Reill and Ellen Judy Wilson, Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment, NY : Facts on File 2004 [G] <BR> Robert Macoy, A Dictionary of Freemasonry, (1895 or earlier) NY : Gramercy 1989; attached George Oliver, A Diictionary of Symbolical Masonry (1868 or earlier) [G] <BR> </font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> </DIV> </DIV> <DIV align="center"> <A href="mailto:aganse@hotmail.com"> <IMG src="../../email.gif" border="0"></a><BR> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <!-- Start of CH Counter --> <script type="text/javascript"> //<!-- // chCounter v2.0.0 // settings: cstatus = "active"; visible = "0"; path_to_counterfile = "http://www.zum.de/whkmla/counter/counter.php"; urlhp = "http://www.zum.de"; //////////////// url = unescape(location.href); file = url.substring(url.lastIndexOf(urlhp) + urlhp.length, url.length); file = (file.charAt(0) != "/") ? 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