What ideas defined the Enlightenment, and how did they challenge absolute monarchies?

• A. Emphasis on reason, rights, and social contract; promoted constitutional governments and questions of divine right
• B. Emphasis on feudal loyalty to monarchs
• C. A return to medieval scholasticism
• D. A movement to isolate nations from trade

Answer: (A)

The main idea being tested is that Enlightenment thinking centered on reason, natural rights, and the social contract, and it challenged absolute monarchies by arguing that political authority should come from the people and be limited by laws. Thinkers like Voltaire defended civil liberties and religious tolerance, while Montesquieu proposed separating powers to prevent tyranny, and Rousseau argued that legitimate government rests on the consent of the governed. Together, these ideas promoted constitutional governments, checks and balances, and the notion that rulers rule by law rather than by divine decree.

This shift undermined the idea of the divine right of kings and the notion that monarchs possess unlimited, unquestioned authority. If authority is grounded in reason, rights, and the consent of the governed, binders on rulers—such as constitutions, legal rights, and representative institutions—become essential, not optional. That’s why the Enlightenment feeds into movements toward constitutionalism and limits on royal power, rather than endorsing unbounded royal rule.

The other options don’t fit because they describe loyalties to monarchs, a revival of medieval scholasticism, or isolationist trade policies, none of which reflect the Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason, rights, and social contract as challenges to absolute sovereignty.