Absolutism and Enlightenment (1650–1800)

That human reason — applied through observation and mathematics — could discover the laws governing the universe. This gave philosophes confidence that reason could also reveal the laws of good government and society.

That a single set of universal mathematical laws (gravity) governed both terrestrial objects and the motion of planets. The universe operated like a rational machine that human reason could understand.

1. Reason over tradition. 2. Religious tolerance. 3. Government reformed through consent of the governed. 4. Belief in human progress through education and science.

That rulers derived authority from the consent of the governed; that people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property; and that citizens could legitimately resist rulers who violated those rights.

That liberty required separating legislative, executive, and judicial power into different institutions (separation of powers). He drew on the English constitutional model as evidence this was workable.

England had constitutional monarchy, parliamentary control of taxation, relative religious tolerance (Toleration Act 1689), and a Bill of Rights — all things Voltaire thought France lacked and needed.

A 28-volume collection of all human knowledge (1751–72), organised by reason rather than religion. It normalised the idea that all institutions could be judged by rational and human welfare standards. Banned twice in France, it still circulated widely.

France: absolute monarchy and Catholic censorship made ideas explosive; impact came mainly in 1789. England: Glorious Revolution (1688) had already produced a constitutional settlement; Enlightenment ideas were absorbed into existing institutions — evolutionary, not revolutionary.

The replacement of James II with William III and Mary II, establishing constitutional monarchy. It produced a Bill of Rights and Toleration Act, demonstrating that Enlightenment principles (consent, tolerance, limited power) were practically achievable — and giving Locke's theories a real-world example.

Louis XIV, Joseph II, and the music of Mozart. They will not be named in exam questions and should not form the basis of Paper 3 answers on Absolutism and Enlightenment.

The collective desire of a community for its common good — distinct from the sum of individual wishes. Rousseau argued in the Social Contract (1762) that true political freedom came from living under laws that expressed the general will, making sovereignty belong to 'the people', not a monarch.

He applied Enlightenment reasoning to economics, arguing that free markets — guided by the 'invisible hand' of competition — allocate resources more efficiently than mercantilist state control. This challenged the economic assumptions behind absolutist government.

An absolute ruler who applied Enlightenment ideas — reason, tolerance, legal reform — to governance, while retaining full personal power.

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.

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.

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.

The massive serf uprising alarmed Catherine; after it was crushed she strengthened noble power over serfs — moving Russia away from, not toward, Enlightenment ideals.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

'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.