AHC: Earlier Enlightenment

With a POD in the middle ages, how can we speed up the arrival of the Enlightenment and associated liberal ideas like religious tolerance, abolition and mass democracy?
 
With a POD in the middle ages, how can we speed up the arrival of the Enlightenment and associated liberal ideas like religious tolerance, abolition and mass democracy?

Popular government and Democracy resulted from the Enlightenment, they were themselves not things espused by it originally.

Anyways as to the question itself, I don't think you could really get it to happen to terribly much earlier, maybe 1600.
 
But, there already been one, in the classical era, both in the Med and India. They had the most important part of the scientific method, that evidence is more important than faith. It was suppressed and died both places, sadly. And, there already was new enlightments in the Early Middle Ages, btoh the Caliphate and Norse before they went Christian.
 
The Norse had a good oligarchic democracy for choosing their rulers that the UK copied until Billy the Bastard wiped it out to their cost. They were also ahead in sailing and swords. That let them have a vast region of dominance at their height, from American Vinland to, yes, a big swatch of Russia, nearish rivers, Kievan Rus.
 
Let us not idealise the greek and norse experiences, gentlemen... the former we spoke of a lot, the later was quite indeed oligarchic in Island - no nobles maybe, but big bosses reigned actually in reality...

There is also a frisian tradition I heard, no serfdom I think...
 

PhilippeO

Banned
making "nobles democracy" more widespread and successful ? polish-lithuanian commonwealth and hungary are multy-religious and multi-ethnic. mass democracy could be gained later by lowering definition of "nobles".
 
To encourage enlightenment you will need near universal education and the ability for those with an enquiring mind to have the time / money to presue the science.

So....
Edward VI founded more schools in England and education became a right of all children to the age of 10.
Edward also expanded the number of Unviersities, opening one in each major city.
The clergy where responsible for identifying bright children (although in reality boys) to be sent on the grammer school / university.

This will lead to a more educated population, then we just need to get right of some wars!
 
An earlier "Renaissance" or analog is needed, follow that upp with an reformation, not nessesaraly need for schisim.
 
Weird turn - out of Europe, something similar happens in Asia?

Maybe if Islam's core was not hit both so hard, or recovered from a certain 'stagnation' and the mongol hordes?

Maybe from Indian or Chinese intelectuals in a time fractionous states?

There was cultures who could have ended in our places, ya know..
 
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