Age of Enlightenment
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The Age of Enlightenment was an eighteenth century cultural movement in Europe. It had its center in France and there it was led by philosophers like Voltaire and Denis Diderot. Diderot spread the enlightenment's ideas with the Encyclopédie, the first big public book of reference.
The most important idea of the Enlightenment was the belief in peoples' reason. All people are capable of thinking for themselves. Therefore, you shouldn't uncritically believe in things those in power and other authorities claim. You don't even have to believe what the church are teaching or what the priests are preaching. Another important thought was that the society is best developed by equal humans in cooperation. It was thought that the special rights and privilege of the nobility therefore should be abolished.
This were dangerous thoughts for those in power, and many enlightenment philosophers were at times in prison or were forced to go into exile. The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment also contributed to the French revolution 1789. But some regents took impression of the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment and carried reforms through in their countries, but they kept the power for themselves. Examples of these so called "enlightened absolutists" includes Catherine the Great of Russia, Frederick the Great of Prussia and Gustav III of Sweden.