Montesquieu

**Charles-Louis de third, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu** (18 January 1689 – 10 February 1755), was commonly known as **Montesquieu**. was a French political thinker who lived during the Age Of Enlightenment. He is famous for his theory of the separation of powers in government. Many constitutions all over the world use it. He helped make the terms "feudalism" and "Byzantine Empire" popular.

## Political views

Before Montesquieu, the standard feudal system was called "the three estates":
- the entire clergy
- the aristocracy (the monarch was outside the system of "estates")
- the "third estate": the commoners

Montesquieu's work divided French people into three classes: three classes (or trias politica, a term he coined):
- the monarchy
- the aristocracy
- the commons

These should be balanced, so that no one power would be able to overcome the other two, either singly or in combination. This was a radical idea because it eliminated the three estates structure. Montesquieu's ideas are important because they ended the feudalistic structure. They also helped inspire the constitution of many countries, including the United States.

Some of Montesquieu's ideas are still controversial. He believed that women could be leaders in government. But he thought women could not lead a family. Montesquieu argued that hereditary aristocracy was suitable for monarchy, in the sense that it provided a link between the people and the monarch. However, he opposed a hereditary aristocracy under aristocracy, arguing that it would prevent the nobles from exhibiting the necessary moderation on which aristocracy relies.

Montesquieu describes an unusual idea in his essays _The Spirit of the Laws_ and _Persian Letters_. This idea is the climate theory. It says that climate, the weather of a place, influences the nature of man and his society. Montesquieu believed that some climates were better than others. He believed the mild climate of France is the best since it was the perfect temprature, making perfect individuals. He believed people from hot countries are "too hot-tempered". People in cold, northern countries are "icy" or "stiff." The climate in middle Europe therefore breeds the best people. (This view is possibly influenced by similar statements in _Germania_ by Tacitus, one of Montesquieu's favourite authors.)

Montesquieu's philosophy that "government should be set up so that no man need be afraid of another" prompted the creators of the Constitution to divide the U.S. government into three separate branches.

## List of works

- _Les causes de l'écho_ (_The Causes of an Echo_)
- _Les glandes rénales_ (_The Renal Glands_)
- _La cause de la pesanteur des corps_ (_The Cause of Gravity of Bodies_)
- _La damnation éternelle des païens_ (_The Eternal Damnation of the Pagans_, 1711)
- _Système des Idées_ (_System of Ideas_, 1716)
- _Lettres persanes_ (_Persian Letters_, 1721)
- _Le Temple de Gnide_ (_The Temple of Gnide_, a novel; 1724)
- _Arsace et Isménie_ (_(The True History of) Arsace and Isménie_, a novel; 1730)
- _Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence_ (_Considerations on the Causes of the Grandeur and Decadence of the Romans_, 1734)
- _De l'esprit des lois_ (_(On) The Spirit of the Laws_, 1748)
- _La défense de «L'Esprit des lois»_ (_In Defence of "The Spirit of the Laws"_, 1748)
- _Pensées suivies de Spicilège_ (_Thoughts after Spicilège_)
- Montesque was a French philosopher

## Related pages

- Liberalism
- Contributions to liberal theory
- French Government
- Napoleon

## Other websites

- Free full-text works online
- Montesquieu in The Catholic Encyclopedia.
- Montesquieu in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- Timeline of Montesquieu's Life