Baron+de+Montesquieu

Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, also known as Baron de Montesquieu is also an influential figure in the enlightenment. He is well-known for his theory of separation of powers and is implemented into many constitutions around the world.

De Secondat was born on January 18, 1689 in Bordeaux, France to Jacques de Secondat and Marie Francoise de Pesnel. He came from a wealthy family, yet he was placed in the care to a poor family during his childhood. His mother died a year after he was born and another year after that he was sent with two orphan cousins to the Oratorian School at Tuilly, near Paris. Here he received a classical education. In 1705, he returned to Bordeaux to study law at the request of his uncle, the Baron de Montesquieu at the time. Then in 1713, his father died which made him the head of the family and also put him in the care of his uncle. De Secondat studied science and history in college and ultimately became a lawyer in the local government. The Baron then died in 1716, leaving him with the title and inheritance of Baron de Montesquieu. It also left De Secondat with the Baron’s office as president of the Bordeaux Parliament. Also, when he was 26, he married Jeanne de latrigue, a Protestant, which brought him a substantial dowry. Later on De Secondat became a member of the Bordeaux and French Academies of Science and studied laws, customs, and government of the countries of Europe.

De Secondat gained fame in 1721 for his first work, the Lettres persanes or the Persian Letters. He used the set-up of two Persians apparently traveling Western Europe and sending their impressions back home. This enabled him to criticize French constitutions, especially the Catholic Church and the French monarchy. While this piece brought him some fame, his most famous work was the De l'Esprit des Lois, or The Spirit of the Laws. This exposition was a comparative study of governments in which De Secondat attempted to apply the scientific method to the political and social arena to ascertain the ‘natural laws” governing the social relationship of human beings. De Secondat distinguished three basic kinds of governments: a republic, a monarchy, and despotism. He used England as example a republic. He believed that with its separate judicial, executive, and legislative branches, each helped to serve to limit and control each other. He thought that this provided the greatest amount of freedom and security for a state. When translated in English, The Spirit of the Laws principles were incorporated into the American constitution.

De Secondat was always troubled with poor eyesight and was completely blind by the time he died form a high fever in 1755. He was buried in L'église Saint-Sulpice in Paris, France.