Montesquieu: Life, Education, and Enduring Influence

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu, a prominent figure of the Enlightenment, left an indelible mark on political theory. He is credited as being among the progenitors of anthropology. His most influential work, The Spirit of the Laws, explored the separation of powers and had a profound impact on the formation of constitutions worldwide. This article examines Montesquieu's life, education, key works, and lasting influence.

Early Life and Education

Born on January 18, 1689, at the Château de la Brède near Bordeaux, France, Montesquieu hailed from a noble and prosperous family. His father, Jacques de Secondat, was a soldier with a distinguished noble lineage. Montesquieu's early life was a strange mixture of luxury and scarcity. His family was of noble heritage, yet his parents wanted him to be sensitive to the needs of the poor. His godfather was a beggar, and his first three years were spent nursing with a peasant family. The family had Huguenot origins.

In 1700, after the death of his mother, Montesquieu was sent to the Catholic College of Juilly, a school favored by French nobility. Maintained by the Congregation of the Oratory, the school provided him with a solid classical education, where he remained until 1705. He was a good student who took a special interest in language. Drawn especially to Latin, Montesquieu acquired a special interest in Stoic philosophy.

In 1705, fulfilling the wish of his uncle, Montesquieu began to study law at the University of Bordeaux, obtaining his degree in 1708. He continued his legal studies in Paris.

Career and Public Life

Upon his father's death in 1713, Montesquieu returned to Bordeaux to manage the family estate and assume responsibilities as head of the family. In 1714, he became a counselor of the Bordeaux Parlement. In 1715, he married Jeanne de Lartigue, a Protestant woman from a wealthy, landed family, who brought him a respectable dowry of 100,000 livres and in due course presented him with two daughters and a son, Jean-Baptiste. Charles-Louis admired and exploited his wife’s business skill and readily left her in charge of the property on his visits to Paris. But he does not appear to have been either faithful or greatly devoted to her.

In 1716, his uncle bequeathed him the barony of Montesquieu and the office of deputy president in the Parlement of Bordeaux, a judicial and administrative body. At this point, he became Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu and Président à Mortier in the Parlement of Bordeaux. In the latter capacity, he served as the principle magistrate of one of the highest institutions of justice: the Parlement. He worked hard at his legal duties but did not enjoy them.

Montesquieu eventually withdrew from the practice of law to devote himself to study and writing. In 1726 he sold his office, bored with the parlement and turning more toward Paris.

Literary Success and Travel

Montesquieu achieved literary success with the anonymous publication of Persian Letters (Lettres persanes) in 1721. This satirical work presented society as seen through the eyes of two Persian visitors to Paris, cleverly criticizing absurdities of contemporary French society. The book focused on the corruption of humanity. The instant fame he received was accompanied by the French court’s displeasure.

In 1722, he went to Paris and entered social circles with the help of friends including the Duke of Berwick whom he had known when Berwick was military governor at Bordeaux. He also acquainted himself with the English politician Viscount Bolingbroke, some of whose political views were later reflected in Montesquieu's analysis of the English constitution.

In April 1728, with Berwick's nephew Lord Waldegrave as his traveling companion, Montesquieu embarked on a grand tour of Europe, during which he kept a journal. His travels included Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, a brief visit to Germany and a year in Italy. He went to England at the end of October 1729, in the company of Lord Chesterfield, where he was initiated into Freemasonry at the Horn Tavern Lodge in Westminster. He remained in England until the spring of 1731, when he returned to La Brède.

Scholarly Pursuits

Upon returning to France in 1731, Montesquieu settled into scholarly pursuits at his family estate in La Brède. Outwardly he seemed to be settling down as a squire: he altered his park in the English fashion, made inquiries into his own genealogy, and asserted his seignorial rights. But he was continuously at work in his study, a fertile ground for ideas containing a 3000 volume historic book collection.

In 1734, he published Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline, which developed his notion of historical causation.

The Spirit of the Laws

Montesquieu's masterpiece, The Spirit of the Laws (De l’éspirit des loix), was published in 1748. It quickly rose to influence political thought profoundly in Europe and America. This work examined the relationship between laws and various factors, including climate, customs, and the nature of government.

Key Concepts in The Spirit of the Laws

Separation of Powers: Montesquieu argued for the division of governmental power among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, each checking the others to prevent tyranny.
Forms of Government: He identified three main forms of government: republics (based on virtue), monarchies (based on honor), and despotisms (based on fear).
Influence of Climate and Geography: Montesquieu proposed that climate and geography significantly influence both the character of individuals and the formation of laws and political institutions.
Importance of Commerce: He believed that commerce is an important form of communication for modern societies and that it not only draws people together but also forges links between nations.

Reception and Criticism

In France, the book met with an enthusiastic reception by many, but was denounced by the Sorbonne and, in 1751, by the Catholic Church (Index of Prohibited Books).

Later Life and Death

Montesquieu was troubled by a cataract and feared going blind. At the end of 1754 he visited Paris and was soon taken ill. He died from a fever on February 10, 1755.

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Montesquieu's Philosophy of History

Montesquieu's philosophy of history minimized the role of individual persons and events. It is not chance that rules the world. Ask the Romans, who had a continuous sequence of successes when they were guided by a certain plan, and an uninterrupted sequence of reverses when they followed another. There are general causes, moral and physical, which act in every monarchy, elevating it, maintaining it, or hurling it to the ground. All accidents are controlled by these causes. And if the chance of one battle-that is, a particular cause-has brought a state to ruin, some general cause made it necessary for that state to perish from a single battle. In discussing the transition from the Republic to the Empire, he suggested that if Caesar and Pompey had not worked to usurp the government of the Republic, other men would have risen in their place.

Legacy

Montesquieu was highly regarded in the British colonies in North America as a champion of liberty. According to a survey of late eighteenth-century works by political scientist Donald Lutz, Montesquieu was the most frequently quoted authority on government and politics in colonial pre-revolutionary British America, cited more by the American founders than any source except for the Bible. Following the American Revolution, his work remained a powerful influence on many of the American founders, most notably James Madison of Virginia, the "Father of the Constitution".

Montesquieu's ideas, particularly the separation of powers, have been implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. His insights into the relationship between laws, society, and the environment continue to be relevant in contemporary political thought.

Montesquieu's Enduring Relevance

Montesquieu’s thoughts on commerce may help illustrate this point. He was the first theorist to consider commerce a topic deserving of serious consideration in a major political treatise. He believed that commerce is an important form of communication for modern societies and that it not only draws people together but also forges links between nations. Like separation of powers, commerce is another device that complicates social systems, which, to Montesquieu, is one of commerce’s great virtues. Montesquieu further argued that commerce is one of the main social forces that encourage the arts and sciences. Montesquieu believed that the industry created by commerce serves every aspect of life, mental as well as physical. This broad perspective is characteristic of Montesquieu’s prescient political thought.

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