Baron de montesquieu philosophy biography for kids

This page is about the French philosopher. For other uses, see Montesquieu (disambiguation).

Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (; French: [mɔ̃tɛskjø]; 18 January 1689 – 10 February 1755), generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French judge, man of letters, historian, and political philosopher.

He is the principal source of the theory of separation of powers, which is implemented in many constitutions throughout the world. He is also known for doing more than any other author to secure the place of the word despotism in the political lexicon. His anonymously published The Spirit of Law (1748), which was received well in both Great Britain and the American colonies, influenced the Founding Fathers of the United States in drafting the U.S. Constitution.

Biography

Montesquieu was born at the Château de la Brède in southwest France, 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Bordeaux. His father, Jacques de Secondat (1654–1713), was a soldier with a long noble ancestry, including descent from Richard de la Pole, Yorkist claimant to the English crown. His mother, Marie Françoise de Pesnel (1665–1696), who died when Charles was seven, was an heiress who brought the title of Barony of La Brède to the Secondat family. His family was of Huguenot origin. After the death of his mother he was sent to the Catholic College of Juilly, a prominent school for the children of French nobility, where he remained from 1700 to 1711. His father died in 1713 and he became a ward of his uncle, the Baron de Montesquieu. He became a counselor of the Bordeaux Parlement in 1714. He showed preference for Protestantism and in 1715 he married the Protestant Jeanne de Lartigue, who eventually bore him three children. The Baron died in 1716, leaving him his fortune as well as his title, and the office of président à mortier in the Bordeaux Parlement, a post that he would hold for twelve years.

Montesquieu's early life was a

Baron de Montesquieu, commonly known as Montesquieu, was a French lawyer, writer, and one of the most influential political philosophers of the Enlightenment period. The framers of the U.S constitution were influenced by his political theories.

See the fact file below for more information on Montesquieu, or you can download our 25-page Montesquieu worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE 

• Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu or commonly known as Baron de Montesquieu, was born on January 18, 1689, in the region of Bordeaux, France.
• Jacques de Secondat, his father (1654–1713), was a soldier with a long noble ancestry. His mother, Marie Françoise de Pesnel (1665–1696), was an heiress who brought the title of Barony of La Brède to the Secondat family. 
• Despite being born to a wealthy family, Charles-Louis was placed in the care of a poor family during his childhood.
• His mother died when he was seven years old. With this, he was sent to the Oratorian Collège de Juilly near Paris to study the sciences, literature, and other precepts of a classical education. Later on, he decided to take up law at the University of Bordeaux and, after graduation, began working in Paris. After four years, he returned to Bordeaux in 1713 when his father died. He married Jeanne de Lartigue in 1715, who eventually bore him three children – two daughters and a son. 

CAREER AND CONTRIBUTIONS

• A year after marrying his wife, in 1716, h

1. Life

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, was born on January 19th, 1689 at La Brède, near Bordeaux, to a noble and prosperous family. He was educated at the Oratorian Collège de Juilly, received a law degree from the University of Bordeaux in 1708, and went to Paris to continue his legal studies. On the death of his father in 1713 he returned to La Brède to manage the estates he inherited, and in 1715 he married Jeanne de Lartigue, a practicing Protestant, with whom he had a son and two daughters. In 1716 he inherited from his uncle the title Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu and the office of Président à Mortier in the Parlement of Bordeaux, which was at the time chiefly a judicial and administrative body. For the next eleven years he presided over the Tournelle, the Parlement's criminal division, in which capacity he heard legal proceedings, supervised prisons, and administered various punishments including torture. During this time he was also active in the Academy of Bordeaux, where he kept abreast of scientific developments, and gave papers on topics ranging from the causes of echoes to the motives that should lead us to pursue the sciences.

In 1721 Montesquieu published the Persian Letters, which was an instant success and made Montesquieu a literary celebrity. (He published the Persian Letters anonymously, but his authorship was an open secret.) He began to spend more time in Paris, where he frequented salons and acted on behalf of the Parlement and the Academy of Bordeaux. During this period he wrote several minor works: Dialogue de Sylla et d'Eucrate (1724), Réflexions sur la Monarchie Universelle (1724), and Le Temple de Gnide (1725). In 1725 he sold his life interest in his office and resigned from the Parlement. In 1728 he was elected to the Académie Française, despite some religious oppo

(1689-1755)

Who Was Charles-Louis de Secondat?

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède and de Montesquieu (often known as Montesquieu) was born during the Age of Enlightenment. Through his education and travels, he became a sharp social commentator and political thinker who gained the respect of his fellow philosophers with his masterwork The Spirit of Laws, which went on to have a major influence on English and American government.

Early Life

Montesquieu was born in the region of Bordeaux, France, on January 18, 1689, to a wealthy family, with maternal connections to the barony. His soldier father also had noble lineage. Even so, Charles-Louis was placed in the care of a poor family during his childhood.

His mother died when he was 7 years old, and at age 11, he was sent to the Oratorian Collège de Juilly near Paris to study literature, the sciences and other precepts of a classical education. He went on to take up law at the University of Bordeaux and began working in Paris after graduation.

But the next four years brought a quick succession of changes: He returned to Bordeaux in 1713 when his father died; in 1714 he became councilor to the Bordeaux parliament; in 1715 he married Jeanne de Lartigue (who came with a large dowry); and in 1716 his uncle died, leaving him lands and titles as the Baron de La Brède and de Montesquieu.

As such, he became deputy president of the Bordeaux Parliament. Now socially and financially secure, he devoted himself to his passions, including Roman law, history, biology, geography and physics.

Fame as Political Thinker

In 1721, Montesquieu gained fame with the publication of the Persian Letters, a politically biting satire of religions, monarchies and the rich French under the guise of an epistolary novel, although he disdained calling it that. He moved to Paris, traveled extensively, and continued to publish, switching to political treatises such as a consideration of the fall of R