0 A revolution of Thought 1500s-late 1700s. Causes of the Enlightenment The Renaissance ideas of thinking for oneself, and questioning authority people.

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A revolution of Thought

1500’s-late 1700’s

Causes of the Enlightenment

• The Renaissance ideas of thinking for oneself, and questioning authority people began to realize the following:

• They had unfair governments– Absolute Monarchs

• There was inequality in social classes• There was little to no RIGHTS for the Common

People

Absolute Monarchs

• Rulers who have unlimited power and seek to control all aspects of society.

Absolute Monarchs

• As Feudalism declined, absolute rulers of the kingdoms of Europe claimed Divine Right (the idea that god had chosen them to rule or he wouldn’t have put them in power; therefore everything they did was gods will) – Spain – Phillip II– France – Louis XIV– Russia - Peter the Great

Absolute Monarchs• Unfortunately some rulers abused their absolute

power by:– Wasteful spending and expecting subjects to pay hefty

taxes– Regulating religion and society– Building ridiculously large palaces and other buildings as a

sign of their power– Taking away the governmental power of nobility and

legislatures – Taking away the rights of the lower and middle classes.– Making laws to please themselves, regardless of previous

custom or historic liberties.

Spending of Phillip II of Spending of Phillip II of SpainSpain

El Escorial StatisticsEl Escorial Statistics( 15 cloisters( 16 courts( 14 entrance halls ( 13 oratory ( 300 cells ( 86 stairways ( 9 towers ( 9 pipe organs ( 232 chorus books ( 73 statues ( More than 1,600

scenes ( 11 cisterns ( 88 fountains ( 2,673 windows ( 1,200 doors

Spending of Louis XIV of

France• CLOTHING in

excess

Louis XIV’s CarriageLouis XIV’s Carriage

Versailles TodayVersailles Today

Chateau de Versailles

Chateau de Versailles

The OrangeryThe Orangery

Hall of

Mirrors

Hall of

Mirrors

Louis XIV’s Chapel

Louis XIV’s Chapel

Louis XIV’s Opera Stage

Louis XIV’s Opera Stage

Your Turn…

• List 3 ways that Absolute Monarchs abused their power

Peter the Great’s REFORMS

• Government control of the Eastern Orthodox Church

• Reducing the power of landowners and giving land to lower-ranking families

• Modernizing the army

Peter the Great’s REFORMS

• Westernizing Russia– Introduced potatoes– Started Russia’s first Newspaper– Ordered nobles to dress in western European

fashion– Advanced education, arts, and sciences

• Established the capital of St. Petersburg so Russia was no longer landlocked (in ice to the north)

Your Turn…

• Doodle 2 ways Peter the Great Reformed Russia.

Everyday people of Europe

most people in Europe were what they had always been - poor peasants in rural villages working VERY hard just to survive.

End of Absolute Monarch in England

• Magna Carta (1215)– A document drafted in England which gave rights

to the people and took away some of the power of the king (no longer has absolute power)

• Constitutional / Limited Monarchy (1295)– Limits to power of monarchy! – Parliamentary Government. Parliament (a body or

representatives that makes laws for a nation) is a PARTNER with the monarchy in governing the nation.

Freedoms in England during the 1600’s

• English Bill of Rights (1689)– No suspending laws that Parliament passes– No taxes without Parliament agreeing– Freedom of speech in Parliament– No excessive bail– No penalty for going to King with complaints

Beginning of freedoms in England during the 1600’s

• Habeas Corpus (1679)– Provides Rights of Accused

• Right to hear charges against you• Must be brought before a judge• Can’t be held indefinitely without a trial

Your Turn…

• List three rights that English people had as a result of reforms in the government.

Please take out yesterday’s homework

• 1) What is the Enlightenment? – An intellectual movement that stressed reason

and thought the power of individuals to solve problems.

2) What is a social contract?

• the agreement by which people define and limit their individual rights, creating an organized society or government.

3) Who were the philosophes?

• Philosophers; people who believed that one could apply reason to all aspects of life.

4) What were the 5 main ideas of the philosophes?

1. Reason

2. Nature

3. Happiness

4. Progress

5. Liberty

5) What is Mary Wollstonecraft’s argument w/ Rousseau’s ideas?

• Women’s education should not be secondary to men; women need education to be useful. Women should enter fields of medicine and politics too.

What type of Revolution is the Enlightenment?

• Revolution of thought.

What long term ideas are being overthrown during the

enlightenment? • Church and state influence each other • Divine Right of Kings • People don’t naturally have rights • inequality between social classes

What caused people to make radical change in thinking?

• Renaissance ideas – Importance of education– Thinking for oneself– Questioning Authority– Using Classical methods from Ancient Greece

and Rome

What are the results of these changes in thinking?

• Many reforms • Inspiration for American and French

Revolution • Belief in progress • More secular (non religious) outlook • Importance of individual.