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THE ENLIGHTENMENT - Coggle Diagram
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
7. Charles III, an enlightened monarch
King Charles III (r. 1759-1788) ruled as and absolutist king.The best known of these are the Count of Aranda and the Count of Floridablanca.
Some reforms introduced during Charles III’s reign were examples of Enlightened Despotism in Spain:
Increase of power of the king over the Church.
Creation of primary schools and reforming universities.
Limitation of the privileges of the Mesta farmers.
Freedom of pricing for wheat.
Creation of the Economic Societies of Friends of the Country which set out to make improvements in agriculture, crafts and trade.
Trade with America from all Spanish ports was permitted. Catalans had been forbidden to trade with American colonies.
1. The Enlightenment
An intellectual movement that was born in the 17th century. Enlightenment thinkers believed that reason is the only way to understand and explain the world.
They believed in:
-Religious tolerance.
-They believed in God, but through reason and the observation of nature.
-They also believed that no religion was superior to other.
-They supported freedom of thought, as a necessary feature of a more tolerant society.
-An optimistic view of nature.
-They also had a strong confidence in progress.
-They believed that reason could transform society.
The main Enlightenment thinkers were men/ womens like:
Descartes, Diderot,
Hume, Kant,
Voltaire,
Montesquieu,
Adam Smith,
Locke,
Rousseau
Madame Geoffrin,
Olympe de Gouges.
Often gathered in cafés or had meetings in salons. The Enlightenment it is the basis of liberalism.
European rulers:
Social Chages
Economic Changes
Political Changes
6. Enlightened despotism in Spain
Some enlightened thinkers realised that if they cooperated with the king, some reforms could be advanced.
The most important figures of the Enlightenment were Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, the Count of Floridablanca, the Count of Campomanes, Pablo de Olavide, the Marquis of Ensenada and the Count of Aranda.
They were worried about the decline of Spain as an international power and laid out as objectives economic growth, improved education and the modernisation of culture.
In Spain there was no strong bourgeoisie. Furthermore, the power of the Church held back any reform.
In Spain there were also enlightened thinkers concerned with education, science and progress.
4. New political ideas
Rousseau wrote The Social Contract, a book that establishes that legitimate authority is based on a contract between the rulers and the ruled people, called Constitution. He defined the concept of popular sovereignty.
Power comes from the consent of all citizens expressed through voting.
Several Enlightenment thinkers set the basis of modern politics: Montesquieu proposed the division of powers: legislative, executive and judicial.
Voltaire proposed the existence of parliaments that represented people, which limit the power of monarchs, control the budget, and supervise justice.
They opposed absolutism. It was considered arbitrary and subject to error. They thought that despotism was also against the happiness of a majority.
2. Social Changes
Enlightenment writers were against Feudal Society, particularly against the idea of the Three Estates of the Realm. They argued that all individuals (men) were created equal. No one should inherit prestige or privileges or be untitled to them because of their ancestors.
There has to be social mobility: merit should be the only key parameter to obtain prestige (meritocracy). They also believed that there is natural goodness of the pure human. At birth, all men are created good and equal and it's society that corrupts them. The idea of progress was very important to them.
5. Enlightened despotism (also Enlightened absolutism)
Some European monarchs were influenced by the Enlightenment.
They were mostly ideas about economic progress:
Education reforms.
Modernisation of economy.
Rationalisation of the administration.
The motto of Enlightened Despotism: “All for the people, nothing by the people”.
Some enlightened monarchs were Frederick the Great of Prussia, Catherine the Great of Russia, Gustav III of Sweden, and Charles III of Spain.
3. New economic ideas
It was based on the accumulation of precious metals as the main source of wealth of a country.
Mostly French thinkers believed instead in physiocracy.
They opposed mercantilism, the economic system that was favoured by absolutism.
Physiocrats think that the wealth of a country comes from agriculture and productive work.
They also defined economic liberalism, which was formulated by Adam Smith in his book The Wealth of Nations, influenced by French physiocrats.
Liberal economists and political theorists emphasize the importance of private property, consider that governments should not interfere in the economy with regulations and assume that the sum of all self-interests will benefit the whole state.
8. Scientific and technological progress
Science progress was considered key for society progress. Medicine, transport, fortifications, roads, bridges, power systems,...were developed thanks to new advances.
Science was not something that was hidden in a lab, but something that was used to improve people’s lives.
his also means that technology also advanced significantly, since it applied all the new scientific discoveries.
Based on experiments on the force of steam, Newcomen and later Watt, developed the steam machine, which triggered the industrial revolution.
The Enlightenment era also brought huge advances in science thanks to the interest of monarchs and cultural elites.
9. Spread of knowledge
Literacy improved.
Newspapers were created.
People travelled to exchange and debate ideas. Universities were created.
More books were being printed.
Correspondence between Enlightenment thinkers and scientists stimulated the spread of knowledge.
Writing was more popular than ever.
Coffee houses and private salons, where educated people met, became more widespread.
Science was prestigious.
The enlightened bourgeoisie had their own scientific cabinets.
10. The Encyclopédie
The Encyclopédie’s purpose: Bringing together all the knowledge available at the time. Sharing all this knowledge to anyone who could read. Presenting critical ideas from Enlightenment thinkers (in a subtle way, to avoid Royal censorship).
It appeared in the second half of the 18th century. The editors were Diderot and D’Alembert and it was published between 1751 and 1772 in 20 volumes. It was a best seller. It had many subscribers in France and Europe.