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| Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1593) Montaigne was born in Périgord, on the family estate Château de Montaigne near Bordeaux. The family was rich as a result of commercial activity; his father was also active in public service and had been the mayor of Bordeaux. Until his sixth year, Michel was raised exclusively in Latin, the language of the educated class. He studied law in Toulouse and entered a career in the legal system. Serving at the parlement of Bordeaux (a high court) in 1557, he became close friends with the humanist writer Étienne de la Boétie, who died in 1563. Montaigne married in 1565; he had six daughters, but only one survived childhood. In 1568 his father died and he inherited the Château de Montaigne. He started to write in 1569, first a translation of the Spanish monk Raymond Sebond's Theologia naturalis, then a posthumous edition of Boétie's works. In 1571 he retired to the Château where in his library he began work on his Essais, first published in 1580. During this time of the Wars of Religion in France, Montaigne, himself a Roman Catholic, acted as a moderating force, respected both by the Catholic King Henry III and the Protestant Henry of Navarre. Beginning in 1578, Montaigne suffered from painful kidney stones. From 1580 to 1581, Montaigne travelled in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, partly in search for a cure. He kept a detailed journal recording various episodes and regional differences. It was published much later, in 1774, under the title Travel Journal. While in Rome in 1581, he learned that he was elected mayor of Bordeaux; he returned and served until 1585, again moderating between Catholics and Protestants. The plague broke out in Bordeaux toward the end of his term. Montaigne continued to extend, revise and oversee the publication of his Essais. In 1588 he met the writer Marie de Gournay who admired his work and would later edit and publish it. King Henry III was assassinated in 1589, and Montaigne then helped to keep Bordeaux loyal to Henry of Navarre, who would go on to become King Henry IV. Montaigne died in 1592 at the Château de Montaigne and was buried nearby. Later his remains were moved to the church of a Commandery of St. Antoine at Bordeaux. |