Enlightenment was an intellectual（智力的） movement originating（发源） in France, which attracted widespread（普遍的） support among the ruling and intellectual class of Europe and North America in the second half of the 18th century. It characterizes（以……为特点） the efforts by certain European writers to use critical reason to free minds from prejudice（偏见）, unexamined authority（权威） and oppression（压抑） by Church or State. Therefore the Enlightenment is sometimes called the Age of Reason.