Enlightenment Vocabulary

3. a French word that means "philosopher" and was used by 18th century French Enlightenment thinkers to describe themselves
6. a monarch’s claim that the right to rule comes directly from God and not from the people
10. a systematic process for acquiring knowledge through observation, experimentation, and analysis
11. the power of the monarch (king or queen) is limited in some way, usually by a constitution or similar document
13. a cultural and art movement that characterized Europe from the early seventeenth to mid-eighteenth century
15. a form of government in which a small group of people hold most or all political power
17. the theory that humans formed societies by agreeing to give up some freedoms and accept authority in exchange for protection of their remaining rights and the social order
18. the changing or suppression or prohibition of speech or writing that is deemed subversive of the common good
19. a government that is guided by a constitution, which is a set of rules or principles that define the government's legal limits
20. individual rights that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are universal, fundamental and inalienable

1. a judicial procedure and institution that was established by the papacy and some secular governments to combat heresy, blasphemy, and witchcraft
2. a policy of minimum governmental interference in the economic affairs of individuals and society
4. a system of government where a single ruler (usually a king or queen) rules alone with complete authority over the state and government
5. in French social structure, represented the middle class, peasants, and wage workers, and made up the majority of the population
7. a model that divides the government into separate branches, each of which has separate and independent powers
8. in French social structure, the clergy, who were people, including priests, who ran both the Catholic church and some aspects of the country
9. the government's authority comes from the people
12. the idea that the Sun is at the center of the solar system and that the Earth and other planets revolve around it
14. also spelled tsar; the title of the supreme monarch of Russia from 1547 until 1917
16. a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country