Enlightened despotism: brief definition

Throughout the 18th century there were numerous political movements that changed the world completely. One of these concepts is enlightened despotism, a form of government carried out by numerous monarchs throughout Europe. Due to its historical importance, today in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we are going to offer you a brief definition of enlightened despotism.

Enlightenment despotism is a political movement that has its origin in the 18th century, more specifically in the second half of this century. This form of government was used by many of the absolute monarchies that dominated the different countries of Europe. These monarchies united the concepts of absolutism with the ideas of the Illustration, creating enlightened absolutism.

Some of the characteristics that define enlightened despotism are the following:

• The absolute power of the monarchs.
• The adoption of the philosophical ideas characteristic of the Enlightenment.
• Search as a aim the happiness of his subjects.
• The attempt to improve culture and education Of the inhabitants.
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• Importance of human reason as an engine for the decisions of human beings.
• The importance of "Everything for the people, but without the people"In other words, the government takes measures to improve the lives of the people, but the people do not participate in decision-making.

The origin of enlightened despotism is given by the thinkers of the Enlightenment who believed that the society and politics of the time were very backward. The idea of ​​the intellectuals was educate citizens, trying to have a peaceful change and avoid a more resounding one that could break with the regime.

Image: Slideplayer

To continue with this definition of enlightened despotism we must talk about the monarchs who defended this enlightened way of governing, that is, the so-called "illustrated despots”.

• One of these monarchs was José I of Portugal, whose nickname was "The Reformer." His fame as a reforming king is due to the measures taken by his henchman, the Marquis of Pombal. The marquis was a great follower of enlightened ideas, and during his reign numerous reforms were carried out illustrated, such as those referring to education, one of them being that education came to be controlled by the Condition.
• Frederick II of Prussia he was another of the "enlightened despots", for some the greatest representative of enlightened despotism. Some of his illustrated measures were the modernization of the public administration in Prussia, reforming the judicial system to benefit the weakest or supporting culture.
• Another representative of the movement was the king Carlos III of Spain, that received the help of numerous enlightened intellectuals such as Esquilache. Some of the reforms were the reform of university education, the creation of associations to be able to improve agriculture and the disappearance of the monopoly of the guilds to promote the evolution of the industry.
• Finally, it is worth talking about Catherine II of Russia, a very interesting figure who exchanged messages with important French illustrated figures. During his reign, the first vocational training center and the first teaching center for women were created, the Academy of the Russian Language was born and public schools began to be created. But Catalina's reforms were not only educational and cultural, he also reviewed other areas, such as administrative or economic.

Image: Universal History

Enlightened despotism arose due to enlightened ideas and therefore it was thanks to the philosophers of this current that the society of the time began a transformation of such caliber. Some of these philosophers and thinkers illustrated are as follows:

• Thomas Hobbes: was an English philosopher author of the work "Leviathan", in which she tried the contractualism, a philosophical current without which enlightened despotism cannot be understood.
• Montesquieu: He was a French philosopher that we have already mentioned in previous lessons. His greatest contribution to history has been the essays on the separation of state powers.
• Voltaire: Considered by many the father of enlightened despotism. He exchanged letters with a large part of the intellectuals and enlightened monarchs, giving support to several of the monarchs that we have mentioned in the previous section.
• Rousseau: he was a Swiss philosopher whose ideas separated him from a large part of the enlightened intellectuals, although he is often defined as an enlightened one. He was a very important author, since many of his ideas served as basis for the French Revolution.