Western Civilization - History Of European Society

The Culture of Old Regime Europe377

learned academies, scientific laboratories and observa-
tories, libraries, philosophic journals, books (especially
great reference works), and talking about all of them
(see map 20.2). Although the term the Enlightenmentwas
not used during the eighteenth century, synonymous
terms—particularly the German term, Aufklärung—
were used.

The history of the Enlightenment focuses on the

influential thinkers and writers of the age. They are

usually identified by a French name, the philosophes,

which is a broader term than philosophersin English. The

importance of the Enlightenment rests in the circula-

tion of the ideas of the philosophes among a small

Illustration 20.4

Ecclesiastical Rococo Architechure.Much of the finest ro-
coco architecture is found in the eighteenth-century churches of
Germanic central Europe. The Abbey Church at Ottobeuren,

shown here, uses colored stucco, marble, frescoes, and gilded

frames to achieve a spectacular image.