Charles Louis de Montesquieu (1689-1755)
French philosopher from the late 17th & early 18th centuries
Born at the Château de la Brède, south of Bordeaux, Montesquieu was a French philosopher, social commentator and political thinker of some renown. He wrote works commenting on some of the strange habits of common society and most significantly wrote about the importance of political liberty.
Montesquieu recommended that there should be a separation of powers in governments i.e. that the executive, legislative, and judicial functions should be governed by different entities, something which is taken as given today. He also argued for the legal concepts of the right to innocence until proven guilty, the right to a fair trial and for proportionality of punishment. These important works, named The Spirit of the Laws, were prohibited by the Catholic Church, though celebrated internationally. His anthropological works, which in particular discuss the influence of the environment on society, are considered to have been at the forefront of this discipline.
What to visit
Château de la Brede dates back to the 14th century, and in 1689 it was the birthplace of the philosopher Charles Louis de Montesquieu. The library contains thousands of books from Montesquieu's era and its furnished rooms maintain the décor you would expect from the 17th century.
