The EnlightenmentThe EnlightenmentThe Enlightenment was an explosion of free thought and an advancement of knowledge that spread throughout Europe in the 18th century. The Enlightenment, led by revolutionary thinkers such as Copernicus, Voltaire and Sir Isaac Newton, broke the stranglehold of the church on the expression of new ideas in the areas of philosophy, mathematics and astronomy. The many contributions of these free thinkers led the way for a new understanding of both the world around them as well as the known universe of the era.
A key movement and arguably the most important aspect of the Enlightenment period is the Scientific Revolution. Advancements in Astronomy were seen as a threat to the church and their advocates labeled as heretics. One such astronomer was Copernicus.
Nicholas Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer born in the Polish town of Thorn in 1473 and the first person to unseat the geocentric dogma perpetuated by the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church believed that God created the Earth, therefore, it must be the center of the universe and thus it never moved. Instead, everything revolved around the Earth. By observing and studying the movements of the stars and heavenly bodies, Copernicus placed the sun as the center of the known universe. Although some saw him as a heretic, he was not an atheist. Copernicus believed that God lived in the sun. His heliocentric model would be studied and expanded on for centuries to come. Although he enjoyed good relations with Pope Urban VIII his views eventually caught the eye of the Roman Inquisition . Unfortunately, he was placed under house arrest where he lived the rest of his life. Copernicus is directly responsible for changing the thinking of the day and inspiring countless astronomers to expand on his theories.
Secondly, books were a key element in the Enlightenment movement. Gutenbergs printing press is arguably one of the greatest inventions in modern history, because it enabled the spread of knowledge throughout the population of Europe and the rest of the world. No longer were knowledge and reading only for the aristocracy.
One person who took full advantage of the press was Voltaire. Born Francois-Marie Arouet in 1692, Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer and philosopher famous for his wit and satirical writings, but to the powers that be, he was far too critical of the aristocracy of France. In 1725, Voltaire engaged in a quarrel with a descendant of a noble family. As a consequence, he was imprisoned in the Bastille and was facing an indefinite imprisonment. Upon his suggestion, it was agreed upon that Voltaire would be exiled to Great Britain, which the French authorities allowed in 1726. His exile lasted three years and during this time he was greatly influenced by English culture and impressed with Great Britains constitutional monarchy and tolerance of different religious views.
Languages: English / French / English / English
As a young man, Voltaire took his English tutor to his native French as well as Italian, a language that was not uncommon for a writer of this nature.
Socialism/Communism: In 1747, a socialist party emerged from the ranks of the French royal family. On July 7th, 1773, Napoleon Bonaparte signed the Declaration of the French Revolution. The following day, the revolution broke out, and France joined the Continental Republic of the French Empire:
It was a great shock when we were told that, after all, all the people of the world had been born from the first English Revolution.
It was also a great shock when we were told that a year later, the European Parliament had passed an international law forbidding all European Union countries from creating a State or stateless Republic unless the nation’s leader, a national political party, would be a sovereign member of the United Nations.
The European Union was already a monarchy under a constitution; now it was the highest legal entity in the world in the name of the English Empire.
Even before the revolution, there were rumours: a new parliament could legislate on its behalf. The idea was that the Constitution of the First Continental Congress, known as “The Declaration of the French Revolution” was written under the leadership of King Nicolas II of France and a parliamentary party (French) were formed. The parliamentarians were elected at the beginning of each season’s parliament congress and in each subsequent season they were called upon to support members of the political party. The people of the European Union were to take their positions at every election on the basis of what the Parliament in their name might say.
The French would get more than their fair share of the rights. In Britain, however, this was a thing of the past. In France, too, the whole thing was always about the King. From the French Revolution to the French Civil War, it had its moments of success. But it was never as important a thing as when a member of Parliament came to support a political party and demanded that the whole parliament be in a conciliatory tone as they did during the revolution. In spite of all of this, the British Parliament refused to support a political party because they believed that it would destroy the cause of freedom and freedom of thought and religion among the British Commonwealth members. This may be partly attributable to the fact that the Continental Congress in England was a much larger body than the British Parliament and the parliamentary party.
France was never a monarchy, and still is not any of the world’s monarchies.
It was a great blow to the monarchy under General Leopold II, when a member of Parliament from Paris was named after him.
The General Leopold made the decision that he would appoint one of the senators of the French Parliament at the start of each Parliament for