NATANAILTOM DE SANTANA MORADOR

The present study aims to comprehend the political debate according to Michel Montaigne’s Essays. Nevertheless, in order to avoid talking about a “broad” Montaigne who is decoupled from history, I choose to place the political debate generated by the aforementioned insist on an accurate basis of space and time. First, I attempt to show the political issues frame which was built up between Machiavellianism and anti-Machiavellianism, identifying how the ideas of Machiavelli were received in France during the 16th Century. The political debate alone does not help to understand satisfactorily the political ideas of Montaigne. It is therefore required that the political thought of Montaigne be seen as a result of this contact with the Ancient Literature, especially the Roman one, as well as the experience of Montaigne as maire (mayor) of Bordeaux. In sum, this article deals with the input of Montaigne as a thinker and a public agent in a field where the turmoil happened due to civil and religious conflicts. In addition, it is considered in this text the dispute of the perspective between Machiavelli and Montaigne.