Enlightened Despots, Society and the Arts (1650–1800)
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Question
What is an enlightened despot?
Answer
An absolute ruler who applied Enlightenment ideas — reason, tolerance, legal reform — to governance, while retaining full personal power.
Question
Which two rulers are the prescribed case studies for enlightened despotism in HL Europe Section 7?
Answer
Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia (r. 1740–1786) and Catherine II (the Great) of Russia (r. 1762–1796). Louis XIV and Joseph II are NOT prescribed.
Question
What was Frederick the Great's most significant legal reform, and what was its limit?
Answer
He abolished torture in Prussian courts (1740) and rationalised the law under Cocceji — but left serfdom intact on noble estates, showing reform served the state rather than human freedom.
Question
What was the Nakaz (1767) and what was its outcome?
Answer
Catherine the Great's 'Instruction', drawn from Montesquieu and Beccaria, calling for humane law and toleration. The Legislative Commission it convened debated it for months but enacted nothing.
Question
How did the Pugachev Rebellion (1773–1775) affect Catherine's reforms?
Answer
The massive serf uprising alarmed Catherine; after it was crushed she strengthened noble power over serfs — moving Russia away from, not toward, Enlightenment ideals.
Question
Compare the extent of enlightened reform under Frederick and Catherine.
Answer
Both extended religious toleration and modernised administration; neither abolished serfdom on private estates or accepted constitutional limits. Both used Enlightenment rhetoric instrumentally to serve state power.
Question
What drove the growth of European cities in the Enlightenment era?
Answer
Agricultural enclosure pushed people off the land; expanding Atlantic trade pulled them into commercial centres. London grew to ~900,000 and Paris to ~650,000 by 1800.
Question
What was the four-field crop rotation and why did it matter?
Answer
A farming system alternating four crops (including a nitrogen-fixing crop like clover) to maintain soil fertility year-round, replacing the wasteful three-field fallow system and raising food output significantly.
Question
What was the Baroque movement and how did it serve absolutism?
Answer
An artistic style (c.1600–1750) characterised by grandeur, emotional drama and elaborate decoration. Monarchs used it to project divine authority and royal magnificence — Versailles being the supreme example.
Question
How did Versailles function as an instrument of political control?
Answer
By housing the nobility at court (~10,000 people), the monarch removed them from provincial power bases, kept them under observation, and turned competition for royal favour into their central activity.
Question
What was patronage in the context of 18th-century monarchy?
Answer
Monarchs and nobles funded artists, architects and composers in exchange for works that glorified them. This gave rulers direct control over cultural messages and concentrated prestige at court.
Question
What two-word verdict best summarises enlightened despotism for a Paper-3 essay?
Answer
'Selectively reformed': real changes to law, toleration and culture; no change to autocracy, serfdom or noble privilege. Reforms served the state; Enlightenment ideals of freedom required revolution.
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Topic 18.7 hub
Absolutism and Enlightenment (1650–1800)
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