Montaigne - Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

Japanese: モンテーニュ - もんてーにゅ（英語表記）Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

A leading thinker and moralist of the French Renaissance, and author of the "Essays". Born on February 28th at the Château de Montaigne in the Périgord region of southwestern France (now Saint-Michel de Montaigne in the Dordogne department). The Eyquem family, who had amassed wealth through commerce, purchased the land of Montaigne near Bordeaux during the time of his great-grandfather Ramon Eyquem (1402-1478), and became nobles (gentilhommes). During the time of his grandfather Grimon Eyquem de Montaigne (c. 1450-1519) and father Pierre Eyquem de Montaigne (1495-1588), they became involved in Bordeaux city government. His father was a capable and fair man who participated in Francis I's Italian campaign and served as mayor of Bordeaux, but he also had an understanding of the arts and sciences and is thought to have taken great care in the upbringing of his eldest son, Michel. His mother, Antoinette de Louppes de Villanueva (1511-1601), is said to have been of Jewish descent, having fled persecution in Spain.

Montaigne received special Latin education from an early age, which became the foundation for his later classical education. At the age of six, he entered the Collège de Guienne in Bordeaux, where he met good teachers and grew up with ample attention. He then studied law at the University of Toulouse, or spent a period studying abroad in Paris. After returning home, he entered the Court of Appeals in Périgueux, and in 1557 moved to the Parlement de Bordeaux. He formed a deep friendship with his colleague there, Étienne de La Boétie (1530-1563), and was influenced by La Boétie's humanist and Stoic spirit. However, La Boétie died young, and Montaigne held the memory of their friendship for the rest of his life. Around this time, the conflict between Protestants and Catholics intensified, leading to the outbreak of religious wars, but Montaigne took an oath of Catholic faith in Paris and also participated in the siege of Rouen. In 1565, he married Françoise de La Chassaigne (c. 1545-c. 1602), a member of a family of Bordeaux justices, and received a large dowry. In 1568, he became Lord of Montaigne after his father's death. The following year, in 1569, he published a translation of Natural Theology by the 15th century Spanish theologian Raymond Sebond (?-1436), which he had been working on at his father's urging. This book is intended to explain the truth of Christian faith based on human reason. In 1570, at the age of 37, he resigned from his position as counselor at the Bordeaux Parlementary and decided to retire. He set up a "Librairie" (reading room) in the tower of his house and devoted himself to a life of reading and contemplation, but he was not completely free from public life even after that. In 1571, he published a collection of posthumous manuscripts of La Boëtie. In the same year, he received the Order of Saint Michel and the title of Royal Military Officer from King Henry III, honouring him as a member of the royal court.

[Yasuaki Okubo June 17, 2015]

"Mizairoku" and its influence

He began writing the draft of "Museums" around 1572, and although he was interrupted by religious wars and other events, he published it in two volumes in Bordeaux in 1580. In the same year, he traveled to Italy via Switzerland and Germany to treat his chronic condition of kidney stones. The trip lasted a year and a half, and is thought to have had political and diplomatic purposes as well. " Journal du voyage en Italie" (1774, published posthumously) was written on this occasion. He stayed in Italy for a year, during which he learned that he had been elected mayor of Bordeaux, and returned to France at the end of 1581. He served in this position for two terms of four years, but the latter half of that term was particularly difficult due to religious civil wars and the plague. He later added a third volume to "Museums" and published it in three volumes in Paris in 1588. In his later years, he firmly refused Henry IV's request to return to politics, and spent his free time completing his "Essays," until he died at his own home on September 13, 1592. His "daughter-in-law," Marie Le Jars de Gournay (1566-1645), published a new edition based on this in 1595 after the author's death.

Montaigne's life is not only limited to his literary activities, but is also filled with political and diplomatic activities, mainly as a mediator, and is difficult to define. His actions show his rejection of oppression and his desire to reconcile different positions. In religion, he was a follower of the Catholic Church, but he was also close to the Protestant Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV), and sought to be free from the constraints of the times. His pagan classical education throughout his life probably influenced his attitude. His only book, "Essays," is permeated with a gentle skeptical spirit, and he considers human reason, which cannot reach the essence of things, and depicts the changes in himself and the world. He does not completely identify with his ideas in the philosophical works of antiquity and modernity, which he often uses, and ultimately respects himself as the subject of judgment. With this work, Montaigne not only laid the foundation for French moralist literature, but also had a profound influence on later French and European literature.

[Yasuaki Okubo June 17, 2015]

"The Complete Works of Montaigne, translated by Hideo Sekine, 9 volumes (1982-1983, Hakusuisha)" ▽ "Montaigne and His Times, by Hideo Sekine (1976, Hakusuisha)" ▽ "The Intellectual Heritage of Mankind 29: Montaigne, by Shotaro Araki (1985, Kodansha)"

[References] | Essays | Moralist

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

フランス・ルネサンス期の代表的思想家、モラリスト。『随想録』の著者。南西フランス、ペリゴール地方のモンテーニュの城館（現、ドルドーニュ県サン・ミシェル・ド・モンテーニュ）で2月28日に生まれる。商業で蓄財したエーケム家は、曽祖父(そうそふ)ラモンRamon Eyquem（1402―1478）の代にボルドー近郊のモンテーニュの地を買い取り、貴族（ジャンティヨム）となった。祖父グリモンGrimon Eyquem de Montaigne（1450ころ―1519）、父ピエールPierre Eyquem de Montaigne（1495―1588）の代にボルドー市政にかかわりをもつようになる。父はフランソア1世のイタリア遠征に参加し、ボルドー市長も務めた有為・公正な人物であったが、学芸についても理解があり、長男ミシェルの養育にもさまざまに配慮したとみられる。母アントアネットAntoinette de Louppes de Villanueva（1511―1601）は、スペインでの迫害を逃れてきたユダヤ人の血を引くといわれる。

　モンテーニュは幼時からラテン語の特殊教育を受け、それが後年の古典の教養の下地となった。6歳でボルドーのコレージュ・ド・ギエンヌに入り、良師に巡り会い、十分な配慮を得て成長した。その後トゥールーズの大学で法学を修めたか、あるいはパリで遊学の期間を過ごしたらしい。帰郷後ペリグーの御用金裁判所に入り、さらに1557年そのままボルドー高等法院に移った。そこでの同僚エチエンヌ・ド・ラ・ボエシーÉtienne de La Boétie（1530―1563）と深い友情を結び、その人文主義的・ストア的精神に影響を受けたが、ラ・ボエシーは早世し、モンテーニュは友情の記憶を生涯抱き続ける。この前後、新教・旧教両派の争いが激化し、宗教戦争が起こったが、モンテーニュはパリで旧教信仰の宣誓に加わり、またルーアン包囲戦などに赴いた。1565年ボルドーの法官一族のフランソアーズ・ド・ラ・シャセーニュFrançoise de La Chassaigne（1545ころ―1602ころ）と結婚、多額の持参金を得た。1568年父の死によりモンテーニュの領主となった。翌1569年、父の勧めでかねて進めていた15世紀スペインの神学者レーモン・スボンRaymond Sebond（?―1436）の『自然神学』の翻訳を出版した。これは人間理性に基づいてキリスト教信仰の真実性を説く趣旨の書物である。1570年37歳でボルドー高等法院参事を辞し、引退を決意する。「読書室（リブレリー）」を自邸の塔にしつらえ、読書と思索の生活に入るが、その後も完全に公生活から解放されたわけではない。1571年ラ・ボエシーの遺稿集を出版した。同年アンリ3世からサン・ミシェル勲章と王室伺候武官の称号を受け、宮廷人としての栄誉を得た。

［大久保康明　2015年6月17日］

『随想録』とその影響

1572年ごろ『随想録』の草稿を書き始め、宗教戦争などによる中断はあったものの、1580年二巻本としてボルドーで出版した。同年持病の腎石(じんせき)症治療のため、スイス・ドイツ経由でイタリアへの旅にたった。この旅行は1年半に及ぶが、政治上外交上の目的もあったとみられる。『イタリア旅行記』Journal du voyage en Italie（1774年、没後刊）はこのおりに書かれた。イタリアには1年間滞在したが、その間にボルドー市長に選ばれたことを知り、1581年末帰国した。在任は2期4年にわたったが、とくにその後半は宗教内乱やペスト流行により多難であった。その後『随想録』に第3巻を加え、1588年三巻本としてパリで出版した。晩年はアンリ4世の政界復帰の懇請も固辞し、『随想録』の補筆に暇をあてていたが、1592年9月13日、自邸で没した。これをもとに「義理の娘（フィーユ・ダリヤンス）」グルネ嬢Marie Le Jars de Gournay（1566―1645）は著者の死後1595年に新版を出した。

　モンテーニュの生涯は文人としての活動ばかりでなく、おもに調停者としての政治的・外交的活動にもあてられ、規定しがたい広がりをもつ。その行動には、圧制を排し、異なった立場の融和を目ざす姿勢がうかがえる。宗教的にもいちおうの旧教帰依(きえ)の立場はとったが、新教派のアンリ・ド・ナバール（後のアンリ4世）とも親しく、時代の束縛から自由であろうとした。生涯親しんだ古典古代の異教的教養も、そうした姿勢に影響したであろう。唯一の著書ともいうべき『随想録』には穏和な懐疑精神が通い、事象の本質に達しえない人間理性を思いみて、自己と世界の移り行きを描く態度がある。多く援用される古今の思想的著作も、完全に彼の考えと同一化することはなく、最終的に自己が判断の主体として尊重される。モンテーニュはこの著作によってフランス・モラリスト文学の礎(いしずえ)を築いたばかりでなく、後代のフランス文学、ヨーロッパ文学に深い影響を及ぼした。

［大久保康明　2015年6月17日］

『関根秀雄訳『モンテーニュ全集』全9冊(1982～1983・白水社)』▽『関根秀雄著『モンテーニュとその時代』(1976・白水社)』▽『荒木昭太郎著『人類の知的遺産29 モンテーニュ』(1985・講談社)』

[参照項目] | 随想録 | モラリスト

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