1734
Voltaire's Lettres philosophiques
Published in French after an illicit English edition, Voltaire's letters on English liberty, tolerance, Shakespeare, and Newtonian science offered a stinging contrast to France. The book was burned in Paris; Voltaire fled to Cirey. The Enlightenment had found its most dangerous pamphleteer, and its first martyred manifesto. Voltaire spent the next decade at Cirey with Emilie du Chatelet, writing histories and plays in comfortable exile.
Jonathan Edwards's Northampton Revival
In his Massachusetts parish, Jonathan Edwards preached on justification by faith and witnessed three hundred townsfolk converted in a winter. Word of the revival spread through the colonies and across the Atlantic. The First Great Awakening had begun, and with it a style of American religion still recognizable three centuries later.
Linnaeus Botanizes in Lapland
A poor Swedish medical student, Carl Linnaeus, set out on a six-month walking expedition across Lapland, collecting plants, observing reindeer, sketching Saami shamans. The journey would found his career and provide material for the taxonomy that, within a decade, would organize every living thing into a two-name Latin system used ever since.
Salzburg Protestants Arrive in Georgia
After the Archbishop of Salzburg expelled twenty thousand Lutherans from his lands, a party of them accepted Oglethorpe's invitation to Georgia and founded Ebenezer on the Savannah River. They kept their German hymnals, their plain coats, and their refusal to own slaves. The New World, for them, was a country of conscience.
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Frequently asked
What happened in the year 1734?
Saeculum lists 4 curated events from 1734. The most significant is Voltaire's Lettres philosophiques: Published in French after an illicit English edition, Voltaire's letters on English liberty, tolerance, Shakespeare, and Newtonian science offered a stinging…
What era was 1734 part of?
1734 falls within the Enlightenment (1651-1800). Reason, revolution, and the first global wars.
Which regions saw notable events in 1734?
The curated events from 1734 span Europe and North America.