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Montesquieu Facts & Worksheets

Montesquieu was a French lawyer, writer, and one of the most influential political philosophers of the Enlightenment period.

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Baron de Montesquieu, commonly known as Montesquieu, was a French lawyer, writer, and one of the most influential political philosophers of the Enlightenment period. The framers of the U.S constitution were influenced by his political theories.

See the fact file below for more information on Montesquieu, or you can download our 25-page Montesquieu worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE 

  • Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu or commonly known as Baron de Montesquieu, was born on January 18, 1689, in the region of Bordeaux, France.
  • Jacques de Secondat, his father (1654–1713), was a soldier with a long noble ancestry. His mother, Marie Françoise de Pesnel (1665–1696), was an heiress who brought the title of Barony of La Brède to the Secondat family. 
  • Despite being born to a wealthy family, Charles-Louis was placed in the care of a poor family during his childhood.
  • His mother died when he was seven years old. With this, he was sent to the Oratorian Collège de Juilly near Paris to study the sciences, literature, and other precepts of a classical education. Later on, he decided to take up law at the University of Bordeaux and, after graduation, began working in Paris. After four years, he returned to Bordeaux in 1713 when his father died. He married Jeanne de Lartigue in 1715, who eventually bore him three children – two daughters and a son. 

CAREER AND CONTRIBUTIONS

  • A year after marrying his wife, in 1716, he inherited the title Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu and the office of Président à Mortier in the Parlement of Bordeaux from his uncle. The mentioned position was at the time chiefly a judicial and administrative body.
  • For the next eleven years since he inherited the position,  he presided over the Tournelle, the Parlement’s criminal division. He heard supervised prisons, legal proceedings, and administered various punishments, including torture.
  • At the age of 27, the young Montesquieu was now financially and socially secure. He was confident in exercising his judicial function (engaging to this end in the minute study of Roman law), to administer his properties, and to take further studies in order to advance his knowledge of the sciences — especially of biology, physics, and geology — which he studied in the newly formed Academy of Bordeaux. During this time, he was also active in the Academy of Bordeaux, where he gave papers that would lead us to pursue the sciences and keep abreast of scientific developments.
  • The two most important literary works of Montesquieu are the Persian Letters and The Spirit of the Laws. Both works share certain themes — fascination with non-European societies and horror of despotism.

Persian Letters

  • In 1721, Montesquieu published his first work – the Lettres Persanes (Persian Letters, 1722). In his work, he gave a satirical portrait of the French seen through the eyes of two Persian travelers – Usbek and Rica, who traveled to Europe in 1711 and remain there until 1720.
  • This exceedingly successful work depicts all social classes; discusses, in its allegorical story of the Troglodytes, the theories of Thomas Hobbes, and mocks the reign of Louis XIV. 
  • It also makes an original contribution to the new study of demography; reflects the controversy about the papal bull Unigenitus; satirizes Catholic doctrine; and compares with Islam.
  • Usbek shares Montesquieu’s own preoccupations on the pros and cons of different systems of government, political authority, and the proper role of law, with the contrast between European and non-European societies.

The Spirit of the Laws

  • The aim of the book is to explain human laws and social institutions. Unlike physical laws, this might be like an impossible project. Unlike physical laws, which are, according to Montesquieu, sustained and instituted by God, social institutions and positive laws are created by fallible human beings who are “subject to ignorance and error, hurried away by impetuous passions.” 
  • According to Montesquieu, the key to understanding social systems and different laws is to recognize that they should be adapted to a variety of different factors and cannot be properly understood unless one considers them in this light.
  • He defines three main political systems: monarchical, despotic, and republican. As he defines them, in a monarchy, a single person governs by absolute and established laws; in a despotic government, a single person directs everything by his own will, and there are no limitations to safeguard the individual and check the power of the prince. In an aristocratic government, though it is considered a moderate government, the executive and legislative authority are in the same hands. 
  • Also, he gave a distinction between monarchy and despotism, which hinges on whether or not a fixed set of laws exists that can restrain the authority of the ruler. If so, the regime is considered a monarchy. If not, it counts as despotism. A republican government can be subdivided into democracy and aristocracy. Democracy wherein the supreme power is in the hands of the people, while in aristocracy, the supreme power relies on the hands of the upper class of people.

Separation of Powers and Appropriate Laws

  • Montesquieu saw the need to build and revise a discussion in John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government.
  • He argued that the so-called tripartite system/branches of the government should be assigned to different bodies, this is to prevent infringement on political liberty that might be restrained by the other branches – concept of checks and balances. Montesquieu based this model on the Constitution of the British and Roman Republic constitutional system.
  • For him, liberty cannot be secure if there is no separation of powers, even in a republic.
  • He also intends what modern legal scholars might call the rights to “robust procedural due process,” including the proportionality in the severity of punishment, the presumption of innocence, and the right to a fair trial.
  • Pursuant to this requirement to frame criminal and civil appropriately to ensure political liberty, Montesquieu also opposed slavery and believed in the freedom of speech, thought, and assembly.

LATER LIFE

  • Montesquieu was problematic because of his cataract and feared going blind. He visited Paris at the end of 1754. He intended to get rid of the lease of his house there and finally retire to La Brède. However, he got ill during this period and died from high fever on February 10, 1755. He was buried in Paris, and the Revolution destroyed all traces of his remains.

Montesquieu Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Montesquieu across 25 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Montesquieu, who was a French lawyer, writer, and one of the most influential political philosophers of the Enlightenment period.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

  1. Montesquieu Facts
  2. Getting to Know Me
  3. What is the Truth?
  4. Pick the Right One
  5. Let’s Analyze
  6. Wanna Know Your Thoughts
  7. Draw your Idea
  8. What is my Power?
  9. D.E.A.R (Drop everything and Read time)
  10. Share your Reflection
  11. Internal Monologue

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Montesquieu best known for?

Montesquieu was a French political philosopher who is best remembered for The Spirit of Laws (1748), one of the greatest works in the history of political theory and jurisprudence.

What were Montesquieu’s main ideas?

Montesquieu found that the best form of government is one in which there are separate branches for the legislative executive and judicial powers. He felt that if each branch acted independently of the others, it would prevent anyone from becoming too powerful. If these powers were united, as seen in Louis XIV’s monarchy, it would lead to despotism instead.

What are Montesquieu’s biggest accomplishments?

Montesquieu is responsible for the introduction of the three-branch government model which consists of individuals who make laws, enforce laws, and interpret them. This idea was later adopted by the United States Constitution as the separation of powers.

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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