Montaigne: A Life

833 Pages·2017·26.322 MB·English

by  Philippe Desan, Steven Rendall, Lisa Neal

MONTAIGNE

MONTAIGNE
A Life
PHILIPPE DESAN
Translated by Steven Rendall and Lisa Neal
www.centrenationaldulivre.fr
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Princeton & Oxford
First published in French under the title Montaigne: Une biographie
politique by Philippe Desan. © Odile Jacob, 2014
Copyright © 2017 by Princeton University Press
Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be
sent to Permissions, Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton,
New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street,
Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TR
press.princeton.edu
Jacket art: Portrait of Montaigne, c. 1590, School of Fontainebleau,
anonymous. Private collection. Oil on copper plate. 8.8 cm. diam.
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Desan, Philippe, author. | Rendall, Steven, translator. | Neal, Lisa
(Lisa Dow), translator.
Title: Montaigne : a life / Philippe Desan ; translated by Steven Rendall
and Lisa Neal.
Other titles: Montaigne: Une biographie politique. English
Description: Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2017] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016012378 | ISBN 9780691167879 (hardback :
acid-free paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Montaigne, Michel de, 1533-1592. | Montaigne, Michel
de, 1533-1592—Political and social views. | Authors, French—16th
century—Biography. | BISAC: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY
/ Political. | BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Literary. |
PHILOSOPHY / Political. | LITERARY CRITICISM / Renaissance. |
LITERARY CRITICISM / European / French.
Classification: LCC PQ1643 .D39513 2017 | DDC 844/.3 [B] —dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/201601237British Library
Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Garamond Premier Pro and Stancia
Printed on acid- free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
C o n t e n t s
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue xi
Introduction xvii
Questions of Method and the Politics of a Book xix
Part One—Ambitions
Chapter 1 The Eyquems’ Social Ascension 3
A Family Matter 7
“Nobilibus parentibus” 13
Living Nobly 20
“We Latinized Ourselves” 28
The Balance Sheet of a Humanist Education 37
Chapter 2 A First Career as a Magistrate (1556–1570) 48
Parlementary Habitus 55
From the Cour des Aides in Périgueux to the Parlement in Bordeaux 67
Michel de Montaigne, Royal Councillor 84
The Religious Question 101
Chapter 3 La Boétie and Montaigne: Discourse on
Servitude and Essay of Allegiance 112
The Letter about La Boétie’s Death 117
La Boétie’s Political Treatises: The Memorandum and the Discourse 123
Voluntary Servitude and Allegiance 133
The Politics of a Friendship 143
Chapter 4 “Witness My Cannibals”: The Encounter
with the Indians of the New World 155
Tupinambas and Tabajaras 159
From Rouen to Bordeaux 167
“Their Warfare Is Wholly Noble and Generous” 175
A “Simulacrum of the Truth” 179
Chapter 5 The Making of a Gentleman (1570–1580) 183
The Break with the Parlement 185
Montaigne as Editor of La Boétie’s Works 199
v
contents
Dedicatees Influential at the Court 207
An Inconvenient Publication 217
An Influential Neighbor: The Marquis of Trans 222
Honorific Rewards and Clientelism 232
Montaigne at Work 246
Chapter 6 The Essais of 1580: Moral, Political,
and Military Discourses 254
“A Discourse on My Life and Actions” 256
The First Reader of the Essais 269
“Of the Battle of Gods” 277
An Apology for Sebond or a Justification of Montaigne? 285
A Skeleton in the Closet 299
A Royal Audience and a Military Siege 307
Part Two—Practices
Chapter 7 The Call of Rome, or How Montaigne
Never Became an Ambassador (1580–1581) 319
On Territory “Subject to the Emperor” 321
The Ambassador’s Trade 326
A Montaigne in Spain 351
Montaigne in Rome 357
Paul de Foix and the Suspicion of Heresy 371
Roman Citizen 377
The Essais “Castigated and Brought into Harmony with the
Opinions of the Monkish Doctors” 386
The Sociability of the Baths 392
The Travel Journal and the Secretary 401
Chapter 8 “Messieurs of Bordeaux Elected Me
Mayor of Their City” (1581–1585) 408
The Mayor’s Book 412
Bordeaux and Its Administration 422
The Public Welfare 436
A Contested Reelection 444
Manager of the City and “Tender Negotiator” 455
An “Administration . . . without a Mark or a Trace”? 473
Chapter 9 “Benignity of the Great” and “Public
Ruin” (1585–1588) 482
“Through an Extraordinarily Ticklish Part of the Country” 487
Secret Mission 501
vi
contents
“I Buy Printers in Guienne, Elsewhere They Buy Me” 508
Imprisoned in the Bastille 523
“A Girl in Picardy” 530
Observer at the Estates General of Blois 539
“Actum est de Gallia” 545
Chapter 10 The Marginalization of Montaigne
(1588–1592) 549
A Tranquil Life 551
“The Only Book in the World of Its Kind” 566
From History to the Essay: Commynes and Tacitus 580
Socrates or Political Suicide 589
Montaigne’s Death 603
Part Three—Post Mortem
Chapter 11 Montaigne’s Political Posterity 613
Political Appropriations 614
Censure and Morality 621
Epilogue 631
Abbreviations 635
Notes 637
Bibliography 723
Translations Cited 765
Index 767
vii

A c k n ow l e d g m e n t s
Some books take a long time to write. That is the case for this biography of
Montaigne, which draws on many investigations I have published in various
books and journals over more than twenty- five years. But a book is also a con-
versation with specialists. There is no lack of specialists on Montaigne, and un-
fortunately I cannot mention them all here. However, I want to thank those
who have allowed me to present the various stages of my research at colloquia
and in lectures and seminars in France and abroad, and also those who have of-
fered valuable suggestions and criticisms, notably Katherine Almquist†, Jean-
Robert Armogathe, Celso Martins Azar Filho, Anna Bettoni, Telma Birchal,
Claude Blum, Concetta Cavallini, Anne- Marie Cocula, Denis Crouzet, Jean-
Charles Darmon, Emiliano Ferrari, Véronique Ferrer, Philip Ford†, Thierry
Gontier, Rosanna Gorris, Olivier Guerrier, Dorothea Heitsch, George Hoff-
mann, Neil Kenny, Ullrich Langer, Chiara Lastraioli, Alain Legros, Frank
Lestringant, Juan Lluís Llinàs Begon, Peter Mack, Hassan Melehy, Jan Mier-
nowski, John O’Brien, Gianni Paganini, Nicola Panichi, Loris Petris, Michel
Simonin†, Paul J. Smith, José Alexandrino de Souza Filho, Richard Strier, and
especially Jean Balsamo, a learned expert on Montaigne and a long- standing
friend, whose enlightened advice enabled me, from the beginning of this proj-
ect, to avoid many a slipup. In addition, I thank my editors at Princeton Univer-
sity Press, Ben Tate, Sara Lerner, and Dawn Hall, for their attentive readings of
the manuscript and their judicious editorial suggestions. The English transla-
tion of this book by Steven Rendall and Lisa Neal surpasses my best expecta-
tions and in many ways renders the reading more fluid. Thanks to their careful
reading and editing, many blunders and ambiguous passages present in the
French edition have been corrected. Any remaining errors are, of course, en-
tirely my own. I am grateful for the University of Chicago’s Humanities Visit-
ing Committee, which subsidized in part the translation of this book. I am also
indebted to my students (graduate and undergraduate) who, over the last three
decades, have participated in my seminars on Montaigne at the University of
Chicago. They often served as a testing ground for new approaches and inter-
pretations, and I have greatly benefited from their comments and reactions.
Finally, there are the faithful friends: François, Giovanni, Nicole, Pierre,
Francine, and Pessel. Their generosity and goodwill have eased the completion
of this work. Not to forget Eriko, who continues to put up with my deficient
sociability and who has long since accepted Montaigne as a member of the fam-
ily. I dedicate this book to her.
ix