I think it s important to keep in mind that the term enlightened despotism is a very well established term in scholarly historical literature which refers not to some general transhistorical universal idea about which we are free to speculate but rather denotes a set of very specific discourses namely the discourses on the art of governance by intellectuals bureaucrats and rulers of 18th century Europe I think that this article should keep as much as possible to a discussion of the relevant 18th century texts and modern history and historiography about that period I m not sure that making a list of enlightened monarchs is a very good idea for this article as there is no set criteria that would certify a monarch as enlightened