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Montesquieu's Birth
Montesquieu was born on La Brède near Bordeaux -
Montesquieu became baron de la Brède
Montesquieu's mother died when he was seven years old, and he inherited from her the title baron de la Brède. -
Montesquieu obtained law degree
Montesquieu received a law degree from the University of Bordeaux and went to Paris to continue his legal studies. -
Montesquieu's father died
Montesquieu's father passed away and he became a ward of his uncle, the Baron de Montesquieu. -
Montesquieu's uncle died
Montesquieu inherits his uncle's entire fortune, of the barony of Montesquieu and the office of speaker in Parliament. -
Montesquieu wrote Lettres persanes
Montesquieu wrote the Persian Letters, a literary work recounting the experiences of two fictional Persian noblemen, Usbek and Rica, who spend several years in France under Louis XIV and the Regency. -
Montesquieu wrote the Considérations sur les causes de la grandeur des Romains et de leur décadence
The Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline was published -
Montesquieu wrote De l'esprit des loix
Montesquieu's greatest work, The Spirit of Law was published. It is a comparative study of three types of government: republic, monarchy, and despotism -
Montesquieu's Death
Montesquieu died of a fever in Paris at the age of 66, leaving an unfinished essay on taste for Diderot and d'Alembert's encyclopedia.