Western Philosophers Renaissance philosophy
Michel de Montaigne
Name	Michel Eyquem de Montaigne
Birth	February 28, 1533
Death	September 13, 1592
School/tradition	Decategorized
Notable ideas	The Essay
Influenced by	Sextus Empiricus, Plutarch, Cato
Influenced	René Descartes, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-François Lyotard, Ralph Waldo Emerson

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (French pronounced [miʃɛl ekɛm də mɔ̃tɛɲ]) (February 28, 1533–September 13, 1592) was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance. Montaigne is known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. He became famous for his effortless ability to merge serious intellectual speculation with casual anecdotes^[1] and autobiography — and his massive volume Essais (translated literally as "Attempts") contains, to this day, some of the most widely influential essays ever written. Montaigne had a direct influence on writers the world over, from William Shakespeare to René Descartes, from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Stephan Zweig, from Friedrich Nietzsche to Jean-Jacques Rousseau. He was a conservative and earnest Catholic but, as a result of his anti-dogmatic cast of mind, he is considered the father, alongside his contemporary and intimate friend Étienne de La Boétie, of the 'anti-conformist' tradition in French literature. Renaissance philosophy is the period of the history of philosophy in Europe that falls roughly during the between the Middle Ages and the Enlightenment. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 25 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne Boleyn, his second Queen consort. ... is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1592 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see Essay (disambiguation). ... Sextus Empiricus (fl. ... Mestrius Plutarchus (Greek: Πλούταρχος; 46 - 127), better known in English as Plutarch, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist. ... // Cato may refer to: Romans, in the family Porcii: Cato the Elder or the Censor (Marcus Porcius Cato 234BC–149BC), Roman statesman Marcus Porcius Cato Licinianus, son of Cato the Elder by his first wife Licinia, jurist Marcus Porcius Cato, son of Cato Licinianus, consul 118 BC, died in Africa... Descartes redirects here. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) (IPA: ) was a nineteenth-century German philologist and philosopher. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century. ... is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 25 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne Boleyn, his second Queen consort. ... is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1592 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ... For other uses, see Essay (disambiguation). ... Frontpage of the Essays Essays is the title of a book written by Michel de Montaigne that was first published in 1580. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Descartes redirects here. ... Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century. ... Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) (IPA: ) was a nineteenth-century German philologist and philosopher. ... Rousseau redirects here. ... Étienne de La Boétie (Sarlat, November 1st, 1530 - Germignan, August 18, 1563) was a French judge and writer, friend of Montaigne, author of the Discourse of Voluntary Servitude (Discours de la servitude volontaire). ...

In his own time, Montaigne was admired more as a statesman than as an author. The tendency in his essays to digress into anecdotes and personal ruminations was seen as detrimental to proper style rather than as an innovation, and his declaration that, 'I am myself the matter of my book', was viewed by his contemporaries as self-indulgent. In time, however, Montaigne would be recognized as embodying, perhaps better than any other author of his time, the spirit of freely entertaining doubt which began to emerge at that time. He is most famously known for his skeptical remark, 'Que sais-je?' ('What do I know?'). Remarkably modern even to readers today, Montaigne's attempt to examine the world through the lens of the only thing he can depend on implicitly — his own judgment — makes him more accessible to modern readers than any other author of the Renaissance. Much of modern literary non-fiction has found inspiration in Montaigne, and writers of all kinds continue to read him for his masterful balance of intellectual knowledge and personal story-telling.

Life

Montaigne was born in the Aquitaine region of France, on the family estate Château de Montaigne, in a town now called Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne, not far from Bordeaux. The family was very rich; his grandfather, Ramon Eyquem, had made a fortune as a herring merchant and had bought the estate in 1477. His father, Pierre Eyquem, was a French Roman Catholic soldier in Italy for a time, and developed some very progressive views on education there; he had also been the mayor of Bordeaux. His mother, Antoinette de Louppes, was, apparently, the daughter of a Spanish converso (converted Jewish) father of the Protestant religion, and a Spanish Roman Catholic mother, who had left Spain in 1597 to join kin who had already settled in Toulouse. Although she lived a great part of Montaigne's life near him, and even survived him, she is only mentioned twice in his work. Montaigne's relationship with his father, however, played a prominent role in his life and work. (Region flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Regional President Departments Dordogne Gironde Landes Lot-et-Garonne Pyrénées-Atlantiques Arrondissements 18 Cantons 235 Communes 2,296 Statistics Land area1 41,308 km² Population (Ranked 6th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ... Michel de Montaigne The Château de Montaigne is a castle situated on the borders of Périgord and Bordelais, near Bergerac and Saint-Emillon, in the small commune of Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne in the Dordogne département of France. ... Bordeaux (Bordèu in Gascon) is a France. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Converso (Spanish and Portuguese for a convert, from Latin conversus, converted, turned around) and its feminine form conversa referred to Jews or Muslims or the descendants of Jews or Muslims who had converted to Catholicism in Spain and Portugal, particularly during the 1300s and 1400s. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...

From the moment of his birth, Montaigne's education followed a pedagogical plan sketched out by his father and refined by the advice of the latter's humanist friends. Soon after his birth, Montaigne was brought to a small cottage, where he lived the first three years of life in the sole company of a peasant family, 'in order to', according to the elder Montaigne, 'draw the boy close to the people, and to the life conditions of the people, who need our help.'^{[citation needed]} After these first spartan years spent amongst the lowest social class, Montaigne was brought back to the Château. The objective was for Latin to become his first language. The intellectual education of Montaigne was assigned to a German tutor (a doctor named Horstanus who couldn't speak French). His father only hired servants who could speak Latin and they also were given strict orders to always speak to the boy in Latin, or when he was in their presence.The same rule applied to his mother, father and servants, who were obliged only to use Latin words he himself employed, and thus acquired a knowledge of the very language his tutor taught him. Montaigne's Latin education was accompanied by constant intellectual and spiritual stimulation. He was familiarized with Greek by a pedagogical method that employed games, conversation, exercises of solitary meditation, rather than books. Music was played from the moment of Montaigne's awakening. An épinettier (playing a zither original to the French region of Vosges) constantly accompanied Montaigne and his tutor, playing a tune any time the boy became bored or tired. When he wasn't in the mood for music, he could do whatever he wished: play games, sleep, be alone - most important of all was that the boy wouldn't be obliged to anything, but that, at the same time, he would have everything in order to take advantage of his freedom.^{[citation needed]} Pedagogy (IPA: ) , the art or science of being a teacher, generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction[1]. The word comes from the Ancient Greek (paidagōgeō; from (child) and (lead)): literally, to lead the child”. In Ancient Greece, was (usually) a slave who supervised the... Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities — particularly rationality. ... Look up Spartan, spartan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Concert zither The zither is a musical string instrument, mainly used in folk music, most commonly in German-speaking Alpine Europe. ... Vosges is a French department, named after the Vosges mountain range. ...

Around the year 1539, he was sent to study at a prestigious boarding school in Bordeaux, the Collège de Guyenne, where he mastered the whole curriculum by his thirteenth year. Afterwards he studied law in Toulouse and entered a career in the legal system. He was a counselor of the Court des Aides of Périgueux, and in 1557 he was appointed counselor of the Parlement in Bordeaux (a high court). From 1561 to 1563 he was at the court of Charles IX. He was awarded the highest honour of the French nobility, the collar of the order of St.Michael, something to which he aspired from his youth. While serving at the Bordeaux Parliament, he became very close friends with the humanist poet Étienne de la Boétie, whose death in 1563 deeply affected Montaigne. It has been argued that because of Montaigne's "imperious need to communicate," that, after losing Étienne, he began the Essais as his "means of communication;" and that "the reader takes the place of the dead friend." ^[2] A boarding school is a usually fee-charging school where some or all pupils not only study, but also live during term time, with their fellow students and possibly teachers. ... New city flag (Occitan cross) Traditional coat of arms Motto: (Occitan: For Toulouse, always more) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country Region Midi-Pyrénées Department Haute-Garonne (31) Intercommunality Community of Agglomeration of Greater Toulouse Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc  (UMP) (since 2004) City Statistics Land... Périgueux ( ) (in Occitan: Peireguers or Periguers ) is a commune of France, préfecture (capital) of the Dordogne département and the capital of the Périgord area in the Aquitaine région. ... This article is for the Ancien Régime institution. ... Charles IX (June 27, 1550 – May 30, 1574) born Charles-Maximilien, was a member of the Valois Dynasty, King of France from 1560 until his death. ... Étienne de La Boétie (Sarlat, November 1st, 1530 - Germignan, August 18, 1563) was a French judge and writer, friend of Montaigne, author of the Discourse of Voluntary Servitude (Discours de la servitude volontaire). ... Frontpage of the Essays Essays is the title of a book written by Michel de Montaigne that was first published in 1580. ...

At the age of 33, Montaigne married Françoise de la Cassaigne, in 1565, not quite of his own free will, and his wife bore him six daughters, but only the second-born survived childhood.

Following the petition of his father, Montaigne started to work on the first translation of the Spanish monk Raymond Sebond's Theologia naturalis, which he published a year after his father's death in 1568. After this he inherited the Château de Montaigne, to which he moved back in 1570. Another literary accomplishment of Montaigne, before the publication of his Essays, was the posthumous edition of his friend Boétie's works. Raymond of Sabunde (also Sabiende, Sabond, Sabonde, Sebon, or Sebeyde), was a Spanish scholar, teacher of medicine and philosophy and finally regius professor of theology at Toulouse. ...

In 1571, he retired from public life to the Tower of the Château, Montaigne's so-called 'citadel', where he almost totally isolated himself from every social and family affair. Locked up in his library, which boasted a collection of some 1,500 works, he began work on his Essays, first published in 1580. On the day of his 38th birthday, as he entered this almost ten-year period of self-imposed reclusion, he had the following inscription crown the bookshelves of his working chamber:

'In the year of Christ 1571, at the age of thirty-eight, on the last day of February, his birthday, Michael de Montaigne, long weary of the servitude of the court and of public employments, while still entire, retired to the bosom of the learned virgins, where in calm and freedom from all cares he will spend what little remains of his life, now more than half run out. If the fates permit, he will complete this abode, this sweet ancestral retreat; and he has consecrated it to his freedom, tranquillity, and leisure.’^[3]

Michel de Montaigne

During this time of the Wars of Religion in France, Montaigne, himself a Roman Catholic, acted as a moderating force, respected both by the Catholic King Henry III and the Protestant Henry of Navarre. Download high resolution version (616x672, 85 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (616x672, 85 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The French Wars of Religion were a series of conflicts fought between Catholics and Huguenots (Protestants) from the middle of the sixteenth century to the Edict of Nantes in 1598, including civil infighting as well as military operations. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Henry III of France (September 19, 1551 – August 2, 1589), also Henry of Poland (also called Henry of Valois, Henryk Walezy), born Alexandre-Édouard of France, was a member of the House of Valois. ... By Frans Pourbus the younger. ...

In 1578, Montaigne, whose health had always been excellent, started suffering from painful kidney stones, a sickness he had inherited from his father's family. From 1580 to 1581, Montaigne traveled in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, partly in search for a cure. He kept a detailed journal recording various episodes and regional differences. It was published much later, in 1774, under the title Travel Journal. “Bladder stone” redirects here. ... Chesma Column in Tsarskoe Selo, commemorating the end of the Russo-Turkish War. ...

While in Rome in 1581, he learned that he had been elected mayor of Bordeaux; he returned and served until 1585, again moderating between Catholics and Protestants. The plague broke out in Bordeaux toward the end of his term. For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... This article concerns the mid fourteenth century pandemic. ...

Montaigne continued to extend, revise and oversee the publication of his Essays. In 1588 he met the writer Marie de Gournay who admired his work and would later edit and publish it. King Henry III was assassinated in 1589, and Montaigne then helped to keep Bordeaux loyal to Henry of Navarre, who would go on to become King Henry IV. Marie de Gournay (1565 - 1645) was an admirer of Michel de Montaigne, who having read his works during her teens, went to meet him and eventually became his adopted daughter. After Montaignes death, de Gournay edited his works and it is for this that she is best known. ... Henry III of France (September 19, 1551 – August 2, 1589), also Henry of Poland (also called Henry of Valois, Henryk Walezy), born Alexandre-Édouard of France, was a member of the House of Valois. ... By Frans Pourbus the younger. ...

Michel de Montaigne

Montaigne died, at the age of 59, in 1592 at the Château de Montaigne and was buried nearby. Later his remains were moved to the church of Saint Antoine at Bordeaux. The church no longer exists: it became the Convent des Feuillants, which has also disappeared. The Bordeaux Tourist Office says that Montaigne is buried at the Musée Aquitaine, Faculté des Lettres, Université Bordeaux 3 Michel de Montaigne, Pessac. His heart is preserved in the parish church of Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne. Public domain image from http://www. ... Public domain image from http://www. ... For the architectural structure, see Church (building). ... For other uses, see Saint (disambiguation). ... Antoine is French given name (from Latin Antonius) Antoine (automobile), a Belgian automobile Antoine Arbogast, French mathematician Antoine Arnauld, French theologian, philosopher and mathematician Antoine, bastard of Burgundy Antoine Béchamp, French biologist Antoine Bibesco, Romanian prince, lawyer and writer Antoine Alexandre Barbier, French librarian Antoine Baumé, French chemist Antoine... Pessac is a commune of the Gironde département, in France. ...

The humanities branch of the University of Bordeaux is named after him: Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3. The University of Bordeaux is an organisation consisting of four autonomous universities: Université Bordeaux 1 [1] - natural science Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 [2] - medicine and life sciences Université Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3 [3] - the liberal arts Université Montesquieu Bordeaux IV [4] - political science and law Bordeaux 2 is...

Essays

See the main article: Essays (Montaigne).

The book is a collection of a large number of short subjective treatments of various topics published in 1580. Montaigne's stated goal is to describe man, and especially himself, with utter frankness. He finds the great variety and volatility of human nature to be its most basic features. He describes his own poor memory, his ability to solve problems and mediate conflicts without truly getting emotionally involved, his disdain for man's pursuit of lasting fame, and his attempts to detach himself from worldly things to prepare for his timely death. Essays is the title of a book written by Michel de Montaigne that was first published in 1580. ...

He writes about his disgust with the religious conflicts of his time, believing that humans are not able to attain true certainty (skepticism). The longest of his essays, Apology for Raymond Sebond contains his famous motto, "What do I know?" This article is about the psychological term. ... Raymond of Sabunde (also Sabiende, Sabond, Sabonde, Sebon, or Sebeyde), was a Spanish scholar, teacher of medicine and philosophy and finally regius professor of theology at Toulouse. ...

Montaigne considered marriage necessary for the raising of children, but disliked strong feelings of passionate love because he saw them as detrimental to freedom. In education, he favored concrete examples and experience over the teaching of abstract knowledge that has to be accepted uncritically. Matrimony redirects here. ...

Related writers and influence

Among the thinkers exploring similar ideas, one can mention Erasmus, Thomas More, and Guillaume Budé, all working about fifty years before Montaigne. Desiderius Erasmus in 1523 Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (also Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, probably 1466 – July 12, 1536) was a Dutch humanist and theologian. ... For the Elizabethan play, see Sir Thomas More (play). ... Guillaume Budé (Latin: Guglielmus Budaeus) (January 26, 1467 – August 23, 1540) was a French scholar. ...

Since Edward Capell first made the suggestion in 1780, scholars have been confident that Shakespeare was familiar with Montaigne's essays. ^[4] John Florio's translation of Montaigne's Essais was available for Shakespeare in English shortly before he completed King Lear in 1603.^[5] Edward Capell (June 11, 1713 - February 24, 1781), English Shakespearian critic, was born at Troston Hall in Suffolk. ... Giovanni Florio (1553 – ?1625), English writer, was born in London about 1553. ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is a play by William Shakespeare, considered one of his greatest tragedies, based on the legend of King Lear of Britain. ...

Much of Blaise Pascal's skepticism in his Pensées was a result of reading Montaigne, and his influence is also seen in the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Blaise Pascal (pronounced ), (June 20 [[1624 // ]] – August 19, 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher. ... The Pensées (literally, thoughts) represented an apology for the Christian religion by Blaise Pascal, the renowned 17th century philosopher and mathematician. ... Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, poet, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early nineteenth century. ...

Friedrich Nietzsche was moved to judge of Montaigne: "That such a man wrote has truly augmented the joy of living on this Earth." (from "Schopenhauer as Educator") Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) (IPA: ) was a nineteenth-century German philologist and philosopher. ... Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer (February 22, 1788 – September 21, 1860) was a German philosopher born in Gdańsk (Danzig), Poland. ...

The American philosopher Eric Hoffer employed Montaigne both stylistically and in thought. In Hoffer's memoir, Truth Imagined, he noted upon reading Montaigne, "I felt all the time he was writing about me. He knew my innermost thoughts." Eric Hoffer (July 25, 1898 – May 21, 1983) was an American social writer. ...

Judith N. Shklar introduces her book Ordinary Vices (1984), "It is only if we step outside the divinely ruled moral universe that we can really put our minds to the common ills we inflict upon one another each day. That is what Montaigne did and that is why he is the hero of this book, In spirit he is on every one of its pages..." Judith Nisse Shklar (September 24, 1928 - September 17, 1992) was a famous political theorist, the John Cowles Professor of Government at Harvard University. ...

Montaigne influenced Spanish Poet Azorin, as seen clearly in Azorin's essays "Times and Things". It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Azorín. ...

Quotation

• Everyone calls barbarity what he is not accustomed to.^[6]
• If you belittle yourself, you are believed; if you praise yourself, you are disbelieved.
• When I play with my cat, how do I know that she is not passing time with me rather than I with her?^[7]

Life in itself is neither good nor evil, it is the place of good and evil, according to what you make it." ~Montaigne Look up Barbarian in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

"The continuous work of our life is to build death." ~Montaigne

References

1. ^ His ancedotes however are 'casual' in appearance. Montagne writes that: 'Neither my anecdotes nor my quotations are always employed simply as examples, for authority, or for ornament . .They often carry, off the subject under discussion, the seed of a richer and more daring matter, and they resonate obliquely with a more delicate tone,' Michel de Montagne, Essais Pléiade, Paris (ed.A.Thibaudet) 1937, Bk.1,ch.40 p.252 (tr.Charles Rosen)
2. ^ Frame, Donald (translator). The Complete Essays of Montaigne. 1943. p.v.
3. ^ As cited by Richard L. Regosin, ‘Montaigne and His Readers', in Denis Hollier (ed.)A New History of French Literature, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London 1995, pp.248-252, p.249. The Latin original runs:'An. Christi 1571 aet. 38, pridie cal. mart., die suo natali, Mich. Montanus, servitii aulici et munerum publicorum jamdudum pertaesus, dum se integer in doctarum virginum recessit sinus, ubi quietus et omnium securus (quan)tillum in tandem superabit decursi multa jam plus parte spatii: si modo fata sinunt exigat istas sedes et dulces latebras, avitasque, libertati suae, tranquillitatique, et otio consecravit.'as cited in Helmut Pfeiffer, 'Das Ich als Haushalt:Montaignes ökonomische Politik’, in Rudolf Behrens,Roland Galle (eds.) Historische Anthropologie und Literatur:Romanistische Beträge zu einem neuen Paradigma der Literaturwissenschaft, Königshausen und Neumann, Würzburg, 1995 pp.69-90 p.75
4. ^ Olivier, T. Shakespeare and Montaigne: A Tendency of Thought. Theoria 54. May 1980, 43-59.
5. ^ Collington, Philip D. "Self-Discovery in Montaigne's "Of Solitarinesse" and King Lear. Comparative Drama Volume 35 Nos. 3,4. Fall/Winter 2001-2.
6. ^ Essais, I, 31. In French: "Chacun appelle barbarie ce qui n'est pas de son usage.".
7. ^ "An Apology for Raymond Sebond."

3. Screech M. A. , The Complete Essays 1987, 1991, 2003

Secondary Literature: Criticism

• The Cambridge companion to Montaigne / Ullrich Langer., 2005
• Montaigne and ethics / Patrick Henry., 2002
• Reading Montaigne / Dikka Berven., 1995
• Montaigne : a collection of essays : a five volume anthology of scholarly articles / Dikka Berven., 1995
• Approaches to teaching Montaigne's Essays / Patrick Henry., 1994
• Michel de Montaigne's essays (Modern Critical Interpretations) / Harold Bloom., 1987
• Michel de Montaigne (Modern Critical Views) / Harold Bloom., 1987
• Montaigne : essays in memory of Richard Sayce / I.D. McFarlane., 1982
• Montaigne and his age / Keith Cameron., 1981
• Columbia Montaigne Conference papers / Donald Frame., 1981
• Cosmopolis: The Hidden Agenda of Modernity/Stephen Toulmin ., 1990

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Michel de Montaigne

Wikisource has original works written by or about:

Michel de Montaigne

• Works by Michel de Montaigne at Project Gutenberg
• Essays by Montaigne at Quotidiana.org
• The Genius of Montaigne A review of Les Essais by Charles Rosen from The New York Review of Books
• A discussion of a Montaigne reference made in the comic strip Herb and Jamaal: The Comics Curmudgeon
• The Charles Cotton translation of some of Montaigne's essays:
  • plain text version by Project Gutenberg
  • HTML version at the University of Adelaide
  • searchable HTML version at Oregon State University
• The complete, searchable text of the Villey-Saulnier edition from the ARFTL project at the University of Chicago (French)
• Timeline and links
• The Montaigne Studies Journal at the University of Chicago
• Photos of his chateau, his personal belongings, and a memorial The photograph described as 'Montaigne's grave' is actually a memorial outside the parish church at St Michel de Montaigne, where his heart is preserved.
• A German resource: http://www.michel-montaigne.de
• Société des Amis de Montaigne (French)
• Tras los pasos de Montaigne (Spanish)
• Biographie et citations de Montaigne (French)
• Biography, Analysis (French)
• Background and digital facsimile of 1595 volume at the Gordon Collection of the University of Virginia
• French index of the Essays DOC
• "Montaigne on Self-esteem" - Documentary about Montaigne and his philosophy.