Voltaire's Candide Published
1759
Anonymously, in Geneva, the old philosophe issued a short novel about an earnest youth beaten, enslaved, and earthquaked across three continents. It mocked Leibniz, optimism, the Jesuits, the Inquisition, and God. Banned everywhere, it outsold everything. 'Il faut cultiver notre jardin,' Candide concluded - perhaps the most famous shrug in literature.
In context
Also in 1759 (4 other events on record)
- Wolfe Takes Quebec on the Plains of Abraham · North America · War
- Quiberon Bay Destroys French Naval Power · Europe · War
- Minden - British Infantry Walks Into Cavalry · Europe · War
- British Museum Opens to the Public · Europe · Culture
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Culture
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources