Role Of Absolute Monarchs During The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. By the early 1700s, European thinkers believed that nothing was beyond the reach of the human mind. The Scientific Revolution of the 1500s and the 1600s had transformed the way people in Europe looked at the world. The Scientific Revolution caused reformers to begin studying human behaviors and try to solve the problems of society. This new surge of learning led to another revolution in thinking known as the Enlightenment.

Enlightened absolute monarch is a ruler who was inspired or influenced by the enlightenment era. An example of a ruler who would be in an absolute monarch is a King or Queen that rules an empire. Specifically they would be influenced by several famous philosophers. These would include: John Locke and Voltaire. They would be influenced by their way of thinking and their philosophies.

The Enlightenment was a period in history throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth century when the philosophes brought new ideas of science, philosophy, society, and politics. Philosophes were the intellectuals of the Enlightenment who gave reason to the study of many areas of learning. John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Mary Wollstonecraft all focused on one key concept, though - and that is freedom. More distinctly, these philosophes believed that society would change for the better if they reformed the government, religious toleration, and equality for all. Born in the United Kingdom and in France, both John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu believed that the government restricted the citizens from doing what they wanted.

Enlightenment philosophical concepts were mostly centered on moving away from absolute monarchies, were they held all the power but to a democracy where people were able to corporate their ideas in government and make decisions. From these teachings and new intellectual discoveries, The Enlightenment influenced the American and French revolution as well as the Latin Wars. John Locke 's Ideas were heavily utilized in both the American and French revolutions. In the American Revolution, his three rights for all were incorporated in their Declaration of Independence from the British monarchy. Similar clashes between the government and the governed occurred in Haiti.

“Real knowledge is to know the extent of one 's ignorance” (qtd. in “Brainyquote”). The period of enlightenment was a time when many French wanted to apply laws of science and logic to life, and began seeking even more answers to things in ways that no one had thought of before. One such inclusion of logic was when philosophers disagreed on the idea of an absolute monarch, and what position it should have in society. During this period, the idea of something drastic such as a revolution was blooming, and making its way into reality.

As an enlightened despot, I have appreciated with Voltaire’s and Denis’s enlightened ideas, to construct our Absolute Monarch system and allow more possibilities to make changes. I will continue to pursue legal, social and educational reforms inspired by the Enlightenment.  Inspired by Voltaire’s book “The Candide”, I approved his writings which consisted his own enlightenment ideas and beliefs that supported the freedom of speech as well as continental Monarchy. Such ideas that interested me, I decided to allow freedom of speech to take an event, and support it with my trust. I also support Voltaire’s philosophy based on his beliefs on natural laws and views.

The Enlightenment, the intellectual movement that stressed reason and individualism rather than tradition, sparked a change in the political systems of many Eastern and Central European rulers during the eighteenth century. Before the Enlightenment, the majority of rulers relied on absolutism and expected strict adherence to their laws. However, following the Enlightenment the philosophes, intellectuals involved in the movement, believed that it was crucial to educate the monarchs about the emergence of new ideals, which could be applied to their governments. Because the European monarchs were among the most educated in society, they were attracted to any ideas that could improve or reform society. The resulting ideal coined the term “enlightened

Shanti Gurung History 101 Final Exam Professor Montague 12/06/2015 1. As some 16th and 17th c. leaders sought to strengthen their control over both the legislative and administrative machinery of their respective kingdoms, others witnessed the destruction of absolutism as their principle governing philosophy. What obstacles did English royalty face in their effort to establish an absolute monarchy in the early decades of the 17th century? (Hint: Remember the tactics monarchs employed to achieve absolutism.)

Those who were considered as general leaders of the Enlightenment years were thought to be very intellectual and were held by most people in the highest regard throughout the colonial society. Some of the more common names spoken back then were of men such as “John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison” (Sage, 2013, para. 3). Jean-Jacques Rousseau was another prominent thinker as well. He believed that all “individuals had natural rights to life, liberty, and property, which even a king or pope could not deny” (Schultz, 2010, p. 69). Rousseau, along with countless others fought for the rights of the people while insisting that each person is afforded the lawful right to live their own life and to cast aside the authoritativeness of others if they saw fit in doing

Historian, Anna Plassart (2016 p280) states that the period of Enlightenment (c 1688-1815) changed the ideas of society in the Early Modern Europe and became associated with social, cultural and political changes particularly in the areas of knowledge, religion, politics and education. Plassart argues that Enlightenment was predominately an elite intellectual phenomena with supporting contingent drawn from the developing “middle sort”, which Plassart suggests accounted for approximately one third of Europe’s population (Maza 2012 in Plassart 2016p 280). Following after the scientific revolution of the 17th century the Enlightenment movement brought transformation by challenging traditional moral and intellectual authorities such as the church and government. Enlightened thinkers adopted a form of intellectual and scientific examination based on a theory of mans’ ability to observe, reason and apply logic, that tested traditional beliefs and practices relating to the social issues of the day. (Plassart 2016p.280)

The 16th and 17th century was a time for much change throughout Europe. Enlightenment was a major movement in the way the people of Europe thought, while the scientific revolution spurred new scientific ideas. Although both the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution each had limited impacts on certain classes of society, each greatly impacted European politics, economic, and culture. To start off, the Enlightenment, but not so much as the scientific revolution, affected European Politics. It was during this period of time, the term “enlightened absolutism” was coined (McKay 543).

The Age of Enlightenment was a period of time when a movement of intellectuals strove to create tolerance of religion, separation of state and church, as well as removing complete power of the monarch. The Glorious Revolution of 1688, followed many Enlightenment principles. The cause of this revolution was the people’s displeasure with the Catholic king, James II, in hopes of turning the country to Protestantism, William of Orange, the king of Holland, and his wife Mary II, James oldest child. This quick and almost bloodless revolution put William of Orange of the English throne, gaining Protestants religious freedom, but suppressed the freedoms of Catholics. Although the Glorious Revolution was fueled in part by religious intolerance, ultimately the Glorious Revolution was a direct outcome of the Age of Enlightenment.

The Enlightenment gave people power to make the changes they wanted for independence and politics using intellect and reason, their natural right. The norm of a society that is modelled today became reason over

• During the Enlightenment there was a Scientific Revolution • The enlightenment was also called the Age of Reason • The chaos of the Reformation and wars of religion had shaken a belief system that had been accepted by society in the Middle Ages • People began looking for natural law, the conditions that govern human behavior • Thinkers began to believe that the problems of society could be solved through reasoning • One of the first philosophers to search for the natural laws of government was England’s Thomas Hobbes. • He believed that people by nature were bad and needed strong government • He believed that people could avoid the nature of being bad by entering into a social contract • This was an agreement to give up individual freedom to live in an organized society

The Enlightenment was a period during the 1600 and 1700s where authority, power, government and law was questioned by philosophers. The causes of the Enlightenment was the Thirty Years’ War, centuries of mistreatment at the hands of monarchies and the church, greater exploration of the world, and European thinkers’ interest in the world (scientific study). A large part of the Enlightenment was natural law, which was the belief that people should live their lives and organize their society on the basis of rules and precepts laid down by nature or God; the principles of the Enlightenment in the 1600s through the 1700s influenced the development of the USA by advocating religious and social freedom, freeing the people from oppression, and providing