Michel de Montaigne

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592) was one of the most influential philosophers of the French Renaissance, known for popularizing the essay as a literary genre. He became famous for his effortless ability to merge serious intellectual exercises with casual anecdotes and autobiography—and his massive volume Essais (translated literally as "Attempts" or "Trials") contains, to this day, some of the most influential essays ever written. Montaigne had a direct influence on writers all over the world, including René Descartes, Blaise Pascal, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Albert Hirschman, William Hazlitt, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Stefan Zweig, Eric Hoffer, Isaac Asimov, and possibly on the later works of William Shakespeare.
== Tossup Questions ==
# In one work, this author compared his knowledge of his dead father to his knowledge of the ancient Romans; that work ends with a quote from the oracle of Delphi including "everything studies itself first." This man's works are usually split into the A, B, and C passages based on their date of composition. He famously stated "I myself am the matter of my book." In one work, he criticized Europeans for calling New World natives barbaric while ignoring their own faults. In another work, he applied the principles of skepticism to defend a previous thinker's Theologia Naturalis. The death of his friend Étienne de la Boétie inspired him to write a work including sections like "Of Vanity," "Of Cannibals," and "An Apology for Raymond Sebond." For 10 points, name this French writer known for his Essays.
# This author described how Turkish armies are cheaper to maintain than European armies since they can feed themselves on the blood and flesh of their horses. One work by this author was written after his encounter with a native taken back to Europe by the explorer Villegagnon. That work opens by describing (*) Pyrrhus's encounter with a Roman army and notes how humans will label any culture different than their own as barbaric. He defended Raymond Sebond's Theologia Naturalis and wrote "Of Cannibals," which is found in a collection which is French for "trial" or "attempt." For 10 points, name this French author of the Essays.
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