Transcript Enlightenment Ideas Spread Ch.1 Sec.2

Enlightenment Ideas
Spread
Ch.1 Sec.2
Bell Work #2
We is having a party saturday at
my house you coming.
Achieving a just society
As Enlightenment ideas spread, people
began to challenge the old ways. More
and more, they saw the need for reform to
achieve a just society.
 During the middle Ages, most Europeans
had accepted without question a society
based on divine-right rule, a strict class
system, and a belief in heavenly reward
for earthly suffering.
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Censorship
Government and Church authorities felt
they had a sacred duty to defend the old
order. They believed the old order had
been set up by God. To protect against the
attacks of the Enlightenment, they waged
a war of censorship, banning and burning
books and imprisoning writers.
 Writers like Montesquieu, Voltaire, and
Rousseau sometimes disguised their
ideas in works of fiction.
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Salons
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Salons- were informal social gatherings at
which writers, artists, philosophers, and
others exchanged ideas. The salon
originated in the 1600s, when a group of
noblewomen in Paris began inviting a few
friends to their homes for poetry readings.
Only the most witty, intelligent, and wellread people were invited to the salons.
Madame Geoffrin
This young woman heard the polished
conversation of learned men and women.
This opened a door to a new world.
 By 1750, Madame Geoffrin was a leading
saloniere. In her home, she brought
together the brightest and most talented
people of her day.
 Why do you think she did this?
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Frederick the Great
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Enlightened despots- absolute rulers who used
their power to bring about political and social
change.
Frederick exerted extremely tight control over his
subjects.
His reforms were directed mainly at making the
Prussian governments more efficient. He
reorganized the civil service and simplified laws.
But rationalized bureaucracy also meant a
stronger monarchy and more power for himself.
Catherine the Great
Catherine II of Russia read the works of
the philosophes and exchanged letter with
Voltaire and Diderot.
 She became empress in 1762, and
experimented with Enlightenment ideas.
 In the end of her reign she expanded the
her empire by using certain ideas.
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Joseph II
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The most radical enlightened despot was the
Hapsburg emperor Joseph II, son and successor
of Maria Theressa. An eager student of the
Enlightenment, Joseph traveled in disguise
among his subjects to learn of their problems.
His efforts to improve their lives won him the
nickname the peasant emperor.
He ended censorship and attempted to bring the
Catholic Church under royal control.
The Arts and Literature
In the 1600s and 1700s, the arts evolved
to meet changing tastes
 Baroque- complex type of painting
 Baroque were huge, colorful, and full of
excitement. They glorified historic battles
or the lives of saints.
 Rococo- art was personal, refined,
elegant, and charming.
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Trends in Music
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Johann Sebastian Bach. Was a devout German
Lutheran, Bach wrote complex and beautiful
religious works for organ and choirs.
In 1762, a six year old prodigy, Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart, burst onto the European
scene to gain instant celebrity as a composer
and performer. In his brief life, the young man
form Salzburg composed an amazing variety of
music with remarkable speed. His brilliant
operas, graceful symphonies, and moving
religious music helped define the new style of
classical composition. At age 35, Mozart died in
poverty, leaving a musical legacy that thrives
today.
By the 1800s, war and political upheaval as well
as changing economic conditions would
transform peasant life in Europe.