With Persian Letters (1721) Montesquieu opens the Enlightenment era. In this fiction, more similar to the essay than to the novel but good-humored and ironic, the France as seen by Persian visitors satirizes the practices of an ossified society and desacralizes established values, in particular those related to religion and authority. Its key word is diversity: Ethics and metaphysics alternate with derision to affirm notions as fundamental as the primacy of reason or the unalienable right to happiness and freedom for all. For such daring touches the book was banned in France, but its success was as meteoric as it was durable and extended to all of Europe. A posthumous edition in 1758, enriched and corrected, shows that Montesquieu maintained his boldest positions as well as justifying his approach. A genuinely critical kind of thought was born that combined philosophy and fiction, amusement with reflection, and forthwith defined the field of Enlightenment.

The stakes in the final tug-of-war with the dying author and what most reliably transpired in the house where he died (1755).

The family and the château de La Brède, sketch of Montesquieu’s legend and reputation.

Montesquieu’s book inheritance and collection. Registers of fragments and thoughts for future elaboration: the Spicilège and Mes pensées. Book on the rise and fall of the Roman empire (1734). Shorter writings on heads of state and universal monarchy.

Paris and Bordeaux. Long and largely secret elaboration of political principles incorporated in The Spirit of Law (1748) and process of its publication in Geneva.

Social and cultural interests leading to project for extensive travel, first in central Europe and then extended stay in England. Initiation to art and recording of travels and observations of both art and architecture; also commentary on various political systems. Particular interest in theatre, opera, and the English Constitution. English exceptionalism.

Accession to full title of Baron de Montesquieu. The Bordeaux parlement. Negotiations for his marriage with Jeanne de Lartigue. The inherited position of président à mortier. Observance of legal matters and study of Romans and of the sciences. His secret composition and anonymous publication of Persian Letters (1721). The subject matter and the fame of this book.

Publication in Geneva of The Spirit of Law (1748); its distribution and reactions from religious (particularly Jesuit and Jansensist milieux) and governmental sources. Defense of The Spirit of Law. The struggle to avoid condemnation in Paris and Rome. Rereading of Persian Letters and The Spirit of Law in the early 1750s. Project of publication of complete works.

The years spent in Paris spanning the death of Louis XIV and the Regency of Philippe d’Orléans. Montesquieu’s social contacts and literary interests. Sale of his office and unexpected departure from parlement in 1726. Consolidation of his fortune and social position.

Birth (1689) Childhood of Montesquieu at La Brède; his education by the Oratorians in Juilly, when he went by the name of La Brède or Labrède; and what the documents show about his life there through 1705, his developing interests and literary inclinations.

Three years of legal studies and other experiences in Bordeaux and then Paris under the name of Secondat de Montesquieu, in Louis XIV’s twilight years. His pursuit of intellectual interests: literature, theatre, Asia; the kindling of a new spirit.