French Encyclopédistes

The 18th century writers in France who compiled the French Encyclopédie (Encyclopedia), most prominently Diderot, were known as the Encyclopédistes. Like Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), who created the first French dictionary, most of the Encyclopédistes were members of a group known as the philosophes who promoted the advancement of science and secular thought and supported the new tolerance and open-mindedness of The Enlightenment.