The Enlightenment Spreads

• Salons – social gatherings where philosophers, writers, artists, and other great intellects met to discuss ideas

Diderot’s Encyclopedia

• Marie-Therese Geoffrin• Denis Diderot’s

Encyclopedia (1751)– Large set of books of

articles written by leading scholars of Europe

– Banned by French government and the Catholic Church

New Artistic Style

• Old Style– Baroque – grand, ornate

design• Styles started to

change: – Artists and architects

used lighter and simple styles

– Borrowed ideas from classical Greece and Rome

New Artistic Style: Music

• Old Style: dramatic organ and choral music – Bach of Germany– Handel of England

• Enlightenment - lighter style of music known as classical emerged– Franz Joseph Haydn– Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart– Ludwig van Beethoven

New Artistic Styles: Literature

• First novels in the modern sense, lengthy works of prose fiction

• They have plots, use suspense, and explored character thoughts and feelings

• Samuel Richardson wrote Pamela, widely considered the first English novel

• Enlightened Despots – monarchs who embraced the new ideas and made reforms that reflected the Enlightenment spirit

Frederick the Great• King of Prussia (1740-1786)– Enlightenment changes:• “first servant of the state”• Granted religious freedoms• Reduced censorship• Improved education • Reformed the justice system;

abolished use of torture• But there were limits

– Serfdom remained

Joseph II• King of Austria (1780-1790)– Introduced legal reforms and

freedom of the press– Supported freedom of

worship– Abolished serfdom and

orders that peasants be paid for their labor with cash

– Unfortunately, most of these changes were undone after Joseph’s death

Catherine the Great• Ruled Russia from 1762 –

1796• 1767 - formed a

commission to review Russia’s laws – She presented a list of

reforms based on Montesquieu and Beccaria

– Unfortunately, none of these goals were implemented and she had to settle for limited reforms

• Russia wanted a port in the Black Sea– Won after two

wars with the Ottomans

• Expanded Russian control into Poland