1) The most famous salon was hosted by Madam Geoffrin in Paris, where women gathered intellectuals and artists to discuss ideas from the Enlightenment. 2) Two enlightened despots, Frederick II of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia, reformed laws and granted new rights to citizens while expanding their empires. 3) Joseph II, the Holy Roman Emperor, tried to modernize the Austrian empire by granting new freedoms to religious minorities and peasants, though many reforms were reversed after his death.