Knowra Voltaire Voltaire Voltaire was the pen name of François-Marie Arouet, a French Enlightenment writer and philosopher. His satire and essays attacked religious intolerance, arbitrary power, and restrictions on expression.
Candide : A 1759 satirical novella by Voltaire that follows the misfortunes of an optimistic young man. Its comic disasters expose the optimism Voltaire attacked in his philosophical satire.
Émilie du Châtelet : A French mathematician, physicist, and writer whose translation of Newton’s Principia helped introduce Newtonian science in France. She was Voltaire’s longtime intellectual companion and collaborator at Cirey.
Censorship in France : State and religious controls over printed works in France, especially under the monarchy before the Revolution. Voltaire’s books faced bans, requiring clandestine publication and circulation.
French Revolution : A period of political and social upheaval in France beginning in 1789 that ended the monarchy and transformed European politics. Revolutionaries invoked Enlightenment criticism, though Voltaire did not advocate their full political program.
Treatise on Tolerance : A 1763 work by Voltaire arguing against religious intolerance, prompted by the Jean Calas affair. It makes Voltaire’s campaign against judicial and religious persecution explicit.
Jean Calas : A Protestant merchant from Toulouse executed in 1762 after being wrongly convicted of murdering his son. Voltaire’s campaign to clear Calas’s name produced his Treatise on Tolerance.
Jean Calas affair : The 1761–1762 prosecution and execution of Jean Calas, which Voltaire publicized as a miscarriage of justice. This case shows how his polemics could mobilize public pressure for legal redress.
Laïcité : The French principle of state secularism, separating public institutions from religious authority. Voltaire’s attacks on clerical power helped shape a tradition later associated with French secularism.
Letters Concerning the English Nation : A 1733 collection of essays by Voltaire comparing English institutions, religion, science, and philosophy with France. Its praise of English pluralism helped Voltaire criticize French institutions.
Denis Diderot : A French philosopher and writer who co-edited the Encyclopédie, a major reference work of the Enlightenment. Diderot shared Voltaire’s criticism of intolerance, though they pursued different projects.
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