Michel de Montaigne: the man who invented the essay by writing about himself

In 1571, at the age of 38, the French nobleman Michel de Montaigne decided to withdraw from public life. He shut himself in the tower of the family château near Bordeaux, where he kept his library. On the ceiling beams he had carved sayings from Greek and Latin authors. There he began to write.

"Trials" of thought

The French word essai means "trial" or "attempt". Montaigne called his texts Essais because in them he tested his judgement on very different subjects: friendship, fear, the cannibals of the New World, thumbs, the education of children, death. The first two books were published in 1580; an expanded edition with a third book appeared in 1588.

What was new was the voice. Montaigne did not write as an authority but as a man thinking aloud, who changes his mind, who admits his own weaknesses and contradictions. He wrote that he himself was the matter of his book.

"What do I know?"

In 1576 Montaigne had a medal made with the question Que sais-je?, "What do I know?", and a pair of scales in balance. He had been influenced by ancient scepticism: the idea that we should be careful with our certainty, because the senses and reason can deceive us. This led him not to despair but to humility and curiosity.

Of his friendship with the writer Étienne de La Boétie, who died young, Montaigne wrote that he had loved him "because it was he, because it was I".

Death and ordinary life

In an early essay Montaigne repeats the ancient idea that to philosophise is to learn to die. Later, having seen ordinary people face illness and death calmly, his emphasis shifted: what matters most is learning to live well. He believed that every person, even the most ordinary, bears within himself the whole form of the human condition.

Montaigne was not only a recluse. Between 1581 and 1585 he served as mayor of Bordeaux, at a time of religious wars in France.

What we can learn

1. Write in order to think. A page written about a question that troubles you clears the mind.
2. Accept that you may be wrong. "What do I know?" is a healthy question before any debate.
3. Observe yourself without harsh judgement. Montaigne noted his habits and weaknesses with curiosity, not shame.
4. Read the ancients, but think for yourself. He quoted many authors, but always to answer with his own thought.