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François-Marie Arouet is Born
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Enrolled in the Jesuit Louis-le-Grand school in Paris
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Sent to Holland as secretary to Marquis de Châteauneuf, French ambassador
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Death of Louis XIV of France
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Period: to
Imprisoned in the Bastille
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Debut play, Oedipe, is a theatrical success
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Adopts the name of Voltaire
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Published La Henriade
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Beaten by Chevalier de Rohan-Chabot after insult
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Second imprisonment in the Bastille
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Exiled to England
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Return to France
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Meets Émilie du Châtelet
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Publication of Zaire
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Publication of Lettres philosophiques
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Correspondence with Frederick the Great
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Moves to Holland
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Period: to
Living in Brussels
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Meets Frederick II, now King
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War of Austrian Succession
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Sent by French government to spy in Frederick's court
Placed in Frederick the Great's court in 1743, Voltaire would act as an envoy and secretly, spy, to determine Frederick's intentions in the War of Austrian Succession -
Death of Émilie du Châtelet
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Moves to Prussia, chamberlain at Frederick's court
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Leaves court after argument with Frederick
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Louis XV bans Voltaire from Paris, moves to Geneva
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Seven Years War
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Buys estate in Ferney, France
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Publication of Candide
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Champion for Huguenot Jean Calas
Tortured to death after an unjust persecution, Jean Calas was accused of murdering his eldest son for converting to Catholicism -
Publication of Dictionnaire philosophique
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Overturned conviction for Jean Calas
Voltaire was able to argue religious persecution for Jean Calas and posthumously overturn the conviction -
Death of Louis XV
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Return to Paris
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Initiated into Freemasonry
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Voltaire dies in Paris following illness
