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1691 CE

This year falls in the Early modern period (c. 1500–1800). European ships link the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia into one trading world, and the conquest of the Americas and the Atlantic slave trade follow. Large land empires, among them the Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal and Qing, rule much of Asia, while printing and the Scientific Revolution change how knowledge spreads in Europe.

Within fifteen years

Philosopher · Early modern period · FranceMontesquieu1689–1755French nobleman and judge whose Spirit of the Laws of 1748 taught that liberty survives only when power checks power. His separation of powers shaped the American Constitution. He lived 1689 to 1755.

Philosopher · Early modern period · FranceVoltaire1694–1778French writer, wit, and campaigner against religious persecution, the most famous voice of the Enlightenment. Exiled, imprisoned in the Bastille, and celebrated across Europe, he made toleration a cause. He lived 1694 to 1778.

Philosopher · Early modern period · IrelandGeorge Berkeley1685–1753Irish thinker and Anglican Bishop of Cloyne who argued that to be is to be perceived: matter does not exist apart from minds. His immaterialism was meant to defend religion against skepticism. He lived 1685 to 1753.