Voltaire In La Bastille

In spite of claiming to be the enemy of repression, censure, intolerance, bigotry and tyranny, Voltaire was not a champion for the poor. He did not really care much about them. He would prefer to work indeed harder for his money than his reputation, so he managed to amass enough wealth on his own with his writings and his travels around Europe, where despite whether on exile, he was often the guest of honor of many nobles, aristocrats, and kings. Because of his often libelous writings, he spent a year in La Bastille from 1717 to 1718, and then again for a few moths in 1726. Shortly after he is temporarily exiled to England, where he is presented to the English court and begin a very prolific time in his writings.

In his Lettres Philosophiques