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1791

8476

In July, in an enthusiastic Revolutionary ceremony, Voltaire’s remains are brought back to Paris and placed in the Panthéon. Inscribed on the catafalque are the words: “He taught us to be free.”

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Timeline of Voltaire's Letters Curtis Fletcher
Contents of this path:
1. 1740 Frederick ascends the throne of Prussia upon the death of his father Frederick William. He abandons peaceful pursuits to make his place in the geopolitical intrigue of 18th-century Europe. The Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI (1685-1740) dies leaving his daughter Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (1717-1780) as heir to both the Empire and the House of Hapsburg. Saxony, Prussia, Bavaria, and France all repudiate her claim as Holy Roman Empress. Frederick invades Silesia starting the War of the Austrian Succession. Emilie du Châtelet (1706-1749) publishes her Institutions de Physique. Her collaboration and romantic involvement with Voltaire is well-known and lasts for most of her adult life.
2. 1741 Prussia consists of scattered territories across central Europe with few significant allies save for Great Britain. Sensing weakness in the Austrian Empire, Frederick deceives Habsburg Queen Maria Theresa to allow his armies to occupy Lower Silesia in exchange for protection from France, Spain, and Bavaria. He proceeds to invade key areas, forcing Maria Theresa to cede almost all of Silesia to Prussia. First performance of Mahomet, a play about religious fanaticism.
3. 1742
4. 1743
5. 1744
6. 1745 Frederick defeats both Austrian and Saxon forces in three major battles to hold on to Silesia. Frederick commissions the architect Hans Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff (1699-1753) to build the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam. Jean-Philippe Rameau’s (1683-1764) opera-ballet La princesse de Navarre (text from Voltaire’s play) is performed in Versailles in the Théâtre du château. Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (1721-1764) is introduced to the royal court of Versailles and becomes the chief mistress of King Louis XV. She is henceforth known as Madame de Pompadour. At her urging, the king appoints Voltaire Royal Historiographer of France, a title bestowed upon him as a result of his histories of both Louis XIV and the Swedish King Charles II. Francis I, François Étienne, (1708-1765) becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
7. 1746
8. 1747
9. 1748
10. 1749 Denis Diderot publishes his Lettre sur les aveugles, a treatise arguing for the notion of "thinking matter" (following La Mettrie) and demonstrating that the “argument by design” is unconvincing. He is incarcerated in the Vincennes fortress, later to be released on Voltaire’s behest. Émilie du Châtelet completes her translation and commentary of Newton’s Principia Mathematica. It will be published posthumously in 1759. Voltaire returns to Paris when Mme du Châtelet dies this year.
11. 1750
12. 1750-1753
13. 1751-1765
14. 1752
15. 1753
16. 1755 Voltaire moves to Geneva, where he purchases Les Délices, accompanied by his niece Madame Denis, Marie Louise Mignot (1712–1790), who remains with him for the rest of his life. The Great Earthquake of Lisbon occurs on All Saints Day (November 1st). This historical event will have lasting philosophical influence for deism’s position on the problem of natural evil and the ontological unacceptability to the idea of an omnipotent God.
17. 1756
18. 1757 Voltaire acts as unofficial diplomatic intermediary between France and Prussia after the outbreak of the Seven Years War in 1756. Robert-François Damiens (1715-1757) attempts to assassinate King Louis XV. The Holy Roman Empire declares war on Prussia. In the Battle at Prague, Frederik beats the army of the Holy Roman Empire. However, at the Battle at Kolin in Bohemia, the Austrian army beats Prussia and three months later occupies Berlin for one night. The city is ransomed for 2000,000 thalers.
19. 1758
20. 1759
21. 1760
22. 1761 Russian troops occupy the Prussian port city of Kolberg. Paul-Henri Thiry known as the Baron d’ Holbach (1723-1789) publishes Christianisme dévoilé, an attack on Christianity and religion in general as an impediment to the moral advancement of humanity. Voltaire begins his campaign to rehabilitate Jean Calas, a Protestant merchant from Toulouse executed on dubious evidence for the murder of his son.
23. 1762 The death of Empress Elizabeth of Russia (1709-1762) places the pro-Prussian advocate Czar Peter III (1728-1762) on the throne. Russia withdraws from the war. Although Frederick does not gain additional territory, the ensuing treaty allows him to retain Silesia. The infamous Jean Calas case in Toulouse ignites Voltaire’s anger at religious intolerance. Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) publishes Emile and Du Social Contract which prompts royal orders for his arrest.
24. 1763
25. 1764
26. 1765
27. 1766
28. 1785
29. 1784-1789
30. 1783
31. 1781
32. 1778 Voltaire returns to Paris in February. He sits for the sculptor Houdon. He attends a meeting of the Académie Française. He is present at the Comédie Française for a triumphal performance of his tragedy Irène. Taken ill he dies on 30 May, one month after his initiation into Freemasonry. He cannot be buried in consecrated ground, and his body is smuggled out of Paris by night and interred at Scellières, in Champagne. Louis XVI declares war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.
33. 1774 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) publishes his novel Die Leiden des jungen Werthers. His play Götz von Berlichingen is premiered in Berlin. Both are definitive works of the Storm and Stress period of German literature. Louis XV dies and his grandson becomes Louis XVI. Publication of Voltaire’s Le Taureau blanc, loosely based on the Greek mythological tale of Europa and the bull. In Voltaire’s tale the Bible is put on the same level as the myths from Ovid and various biblical teachings are ridiculed.
34. 1772
35. 1770
36. 1767
37. 1775 Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799) stages his play Le Barbier de Séville at the Comédie-Française. Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) stages his opera Iphigénie en Aulide at the Salle du Palais-Royal in Paris The premiere sparks a huge controversy demonstrating the Enlightenment’s preference for classicism in music and the arts, with its emphasis on balance and clarity of form, over the ostentation and ornateness of baroque music and art. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and other writers associated with the Encyclopédie side with the aesthetic ideals of classicism.
38. 1791
39. 1789
40. 1788
41. 1786
42. Frederick to Voltaire - 1770 August 18
43. Frederick to Voltaire - 1770 February 17
44. Frederick to Voltaire - 1770 January 4
45. Frederick to Voltaire - 1770 July 7
46. Frederick to Voltaire - 1770 May 24
47. Frederick to Voltaire - 1742 February 3
48. Frederick to Voltaire - 1742 January 8
49. Frederick to Voltaire - 1742 March 23
50. Frederick to Voltaire - 1758 January 16
51. Frederick to Voltaire - 1766 August 13
52. Frederick to Voltaire - 1766 August 7
53. Frederick to Voltaire - 1766 November 3
54. Frederick to Voltaire - 1766 September 1
55. Frederick to Voltaire - 1766 September 13
56. Louis La Valliere to Voltaire - 1756 March 1
57. Sabina Von Bassewitz to Voltaire - 1762 June 27
58. Sabina Von Bassewitz to Voltaire - 1762 March 9
59. Voltaire to Cideville - 1762 May 24
60. Voltaire to Derrey de Rocqueville - 1777 (EE: 1769 July 12)
61. Voltaire to Frederick the Great - 1742 May 15
62. Voltaire to Frederick - 1742 August 29
63. Voltaire to Frederick the Great - 1770 June 8
64. Voltaire to Frederick the Great - 1770 March 9
65. Voltaire to Frederick the Great - 1769 December 9
66. Voltaire to Jean Le Rond d'Alembert - 1774 June 4
67. Voltaire to Jeanne Antoinette Pompadour - 1750 August 20