Showing results for "Voltaire" in Europe

The Age of Voltaire, the ninth volume of The Story of Civilization, is an in-depth examination of France and England in the first half of the 18th century.

One of France's greatest writers, Voltaire was frequently persecuted for his ideas and as a result, spent time in the famed Bastille. He fled his native land for England in 1726, at which time he witnessed the differences between the two countries. His celebrated Letters on England was first published in that nation in 1733 and contained 24 succinct letters on subjects ranging from religion and politics, to trade, the arts, philosophy, and science.

The editors of the Encyclopaedia Britannica are pleased to present the world of Marie-Antoinette and the French Revolution - from the grandeur and opulence of the French régime to its chaotic downfall and the new order that rose from its ashes. Here you will learn about the extravagant history of the royal Palace of Versailles with its Hall of Mirrors and extensive gardens, and the lavish court style of Louis XVI.

The seventeenth century was one of the most fascinating and seminal periods in European history, particularly with regard to France. For it was here in France that the fruits of the earlier Renaissance were to be most brilliantly realized. Although the path of "greatness" for Louis XIV was prepared for him by men like Richelieu, Mazarin, Colbert, Turenne, and Louvois, it was during his reign that French preeminence in all facets of civilization emerged.