The Life and Careers of Michel de Montaigne of France during most of the Sixteenth-Century
             Michel de Montaigne. Michel de Montaigne was born in France in the year 1533 and died in 1592; he was fifty-nine years of age when he died (Frame xiv). Michel de Montaigne lived throughout the mid-fifteen hundreds, as Donald M. Frame wrote:
             He lived through the religious wars and died before Henry IV had even conquered his own kingdom. (xv)
             Michel de Montaigne had taken the name of the property [de Montaigne] for his title as a nobleman, for that which he was, after his father's death in 1568 that left Michel with his father's estate and the château (xv-xvii).
             Pierre Eyquem, Montaigne's Father, paid a tutor to school Montaigne during his [Montaigne's] early years of life (Gale 183). Montaigne's father felt that diversity in learning would benefit Montaigne at some point, or throughout, his life. For this reason, Montaigne's tutor was a German who spoke no French (183). For the first six years of Michel's life, he never spoke nor even heard his native language (183). The first time that Michel was exposed to his native language was when he enrolled in the Collège de Guienne in Bordeaux (183).
             While at the Collège de Guienne, Montaigne befriended a fellow councilor. This person's name was Étienne de La Boétie. Montaigne and Boétie would stick together until Étienne's untimely death caused by a common ailment of today. This person, Étienne, is the subject of one of Montaigne's most famous and moving essays (Gale 183). Later in his life, Montaigne made another friendship with Marie de Jars de Gournay, to which he called his 'fille d'alliance,' or, adopted daughter. After graduation from the Collége de Guienne, Montaigne became active in politics and courts for many ye...