Ensayos escogidos

Michel Eyquem de Montaigne

May 2006 · EDAF

About this ebook

Este copioso, denso y variadísimo libro inauguró un nuevo género literario: el ensayo. En sus páginas, la sabiduría de Montaigne es sobre todo inteligente discreción. Su perspicacia llega a nosotros por un camino estremecido, como vacilante. La mezcla de esa aparente incertidumbre y del rigor con que Montaigne plantea adivinaciones importantísimas, hace que lo natural del tejido literario nos atrape con esa fuerza con que sólo cautivan en la literatura y en la vida las experiencias que nos elevan. El autor nos convence, paso a paso, de que lo que normalmente suele llamarse «complicado» no es sino la consecuencia del desconocimiento personal. Las formas y el tono confesional con que están escritos los ensayos sirven para combatir lo complicado, y demostrar que la riqueza del hombre, en la medida en que esta exista, no permite nunca la presunción, sino cierta y muy definida seguridad: el hombre es rico por diverso, por posible.

About the author

Michel de Montaigne was born in Chateau de Montaigne, near Bordeaux, France. He received his early education at the College de Guyenne in Bordeaux and studied law at Bordeaux and Toulouse, becoming a counselor of the Court des Aides of Perigueaux, the Bordeaux Parliament and, in 1561, at the court of Charles IX. In 1565, Montaigne married Francoise de la Chassaigne. They raised one daughter, with four other children dying in infancy. He lived the life as a country gentleman and traveled extensively through Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. Montaigne was a moderate Roman Catholic and an advocate of toleration, acting as an intermediary between Henry of Navarre and the court party. As a result, in 1588, he was arrested by members of the Protestant League and thrown into the Bastille for several hours. His work Essais established the essay as a new literary form and influenced both French and English writers; it was quoted by William Shakespeare and imitated by Francis Bacon. Michel de Montaigne died on September 13, 1592 at his chateau in France.