Montaigne and la boetie:

Abstract

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592) was a humanist and a jurist, whose mother tongue was Latin. The Essais he wrote (1570-1588) are basic conversational humanism, in French, when everything sacred or learned was in Latin. They are as well a quasi-professional polemic against efforts to change the government of France, occurring on the philosophical and legal levels of jurisprudence in teaching, treatises and commentaries, and on the political level by the Catholic League, and by the Protestants, who set up independent governments in the Midi. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the rhetorical effort of the Essais to defend the ancienne coustume, the public law of France, as the remedy to govern and preserve the Kingdom as a traditional Christian Monarchy, and to end the civil and religious strife. The Essais are metaphor in the tradition of tropical philosophy to focus thought, and to capture the attention of the audience to persuade them to consider truth or a truth. The purpose is to reorient their thinking so they will act for the purpose about which Montaigne wishes to persuade them. The effect depended in part upon the reader or hearer. The Essais are dialogues which are not dialogues. The texts dialogue with each other and with metatexts. The Essais set forth coustume in its meanings of habit, usage, custom and customary law (case law of judicial decisions) as the guardian of tradition, and relate it to law, justice and government (police), according to Montaigne's knowledge and experience.