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Period: 1520 to
Absolute Monarchies Reigned
Since the beginning of the first civilizations, people were ruled by powerful kings who were often born into their position of power. Before the Enlightenment, Absolute Monarchs had total power and control over their subjects. However, the philosophers of the Enlightenment and the people began to challenge their authority. -
Period: 1543 to
Scientific Revolution
The beginnings of modern science and new discoveries about how our world works. These advancements and the creation of the Scientific Method threatened the authority of the Catholic Church. -
Galileo's Inquisition by the Church
Galileo was accused of heresy (speaking against the Church) because he claimed the earth traveled around the sun in a heliocentric model that challenged the geocentric model that the Church supported. This scientific discovery which he made using his telescope threatened the power of the church. -
King Louis XIV (14th) Reigns
King Louis XIV, the Sun King, ruled over France as an Absolute Monarch from 1643 to 1715. He famously said: “L'état, c'est moi” which translates to, “I am the state.” -
Period: to
Age of Enlightenment
Also known as the Age of Reason, this was a time period when people applied new ways of thinking and questioning the world to government systems and politics. Philosophers argued over what type of government would work best for people and how people should live together. Not all the Enlightenment thinkers agreed, Thomas Hobbes for example believed that Absolute Monarchies were better than democracies. Enlightenment ideas were hotly discussed in salons. -
John Locke's Natural Rights
John Locke wrote his Second Treatise of Government, in which he argued all men were born with Natural Rights: life, liberty, and property. He believed that democracy was the best form of government. He lived during the Glorious Revolution; his ideas influenced later Enlightenment thinkers and inspired both the French and American Revolutions. -
French Revolution Begins
The French Revolution saw the overthrow of King Louis XVI (16th) by the people of the 3rd Estate. By the end of the Revolution, the king and queen were beheaded and Napoleon had become a Dictator.
