---
id: kb-2026-00466
title: Enlightenment Era
schema_type: TechArticle
category: history
language: en
confidence: medium
last_verified: "2026-05-28"
created_date: "2026-05-22"
generation_method: ai_structured
ai_models:
  - claude-opus
derived_from_human_seed: true
conflict_of_interest: none_declared
is_live_document: false
data_period: static
atomic_facts:
  - id: fact-history-001
    statement: "Britannica describes the Enlightenment as a European intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th centuries centered on ideas of God, reason, nature, and humanity."
    source_title: "Enlightenment"
    source_url: "https://www.britannica.com/event/Enlightenment-European-history"
    confidence: medium
  - id: fact-history-002
    statement: "Britannica describes Montesquieu's The Spirit of Laws as a work first published in 1748 and associated with the principle of separation of powers."
    source_title: "The Spirit of Laws"
    source_url: "https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Spirit-of-Laws"
    confidence: medium
  - id: fact-history-003
    statement: "The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy describes Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopedia project as a central project of the French Enlightenment."
    source_title: "Enlightenment Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy"
    source_url: "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/enlightenment/"
    confidence: medium
completeness: 0.82
known_gaps:
  - Women's salons and non-European Enlightenment reception need additional source review
  - Links to the American and French Revolutions should be sourced separately
disputed_statements: []
primary_sources:
  - title: "Enlightenment"
    type: "reference"
    year: 2026
    url: "https://www.britannica.com/event/Enlightenment-European-history"
    institution: "Encyclopaedia Britannica"
  - title: "The Spirit of Laws"
    type: "reference"
    year: 2026
    url: "https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Spirit-of-Laws"
    institution: "Encyclopaedia Britannica"
  - title: "Enlightenment Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy"
    type: "reference"
    year: 2026
    url: "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/enlightenment/"
    institution: "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy"
secondary_sources:
  - title: "Baron de Montesquieu"
    type: "reference"
    year: 2018
    url: "https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2018/entries/montesquieu/"
    institution: "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy"
updated: "2026-05-28"
---

## TL;DR

The Enlightenment was a broad intellectual movement in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe that emphasized reason, criticism, science, and reform.

## Core Explanation

This repaired entry keeps three public claims: a general definition of the Enlightenment, Montesquieu's separation-of-powers contribution, and the Encyclopedie project associated with Diderot and d'Alembert.

## Detailed Analysis

The previous article bundled Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant, Smith, salons, and revolutionary influence into source-light facts. Those themes are important but should be restored only when each claim is mapped to direct evidence.

## Further Reading

- [Britannica: Enlightenment](https://www.britannica.com/event/Enlightenment-European-history)
- [Britannica: The Spirit of Laws](https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Spirit-of-Laws)
- [Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Enlightenment](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/enlightenment/)

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