Soubise, Benjamin de Rohan, seigneur de, 1583-1642, French Protestant general. He fought under Maurice of Nassau in the Netherlands and subsequently shared the leadership of the Huguenots with his brother, Henri, duc de Rohan. He directed the defense of La Rochelle (1627-28) against Cardinal Richelieu's forces and after that city's fall retired to England.

Retz or Rais, Gilles de Laval, seigneur de, 1404-40, marshal of France, a lord of the Breton marches. A noted soldier, he was at Orléans with Joan of Arc. He was a liberal patron of music, literature, and the arts. After his retirement, rumors spread of satanic and vicious doings in his castle. He was tried in an ecclesiastical court, and he confessed to kidnaping more than 100 children, mostly boys, and to murdering them after maltreating them. He was handed over by the Church to the civil authorities and was executed. There is no reason to doubt his confession. He has been supposed, probably wrongly, to be the original of Bluebeard.

Rais, Gilles de Laval, seigneur de: see Retz, Gilles de Laval, seigneur de.

Racan, Honorat de Bueil, seigneur de, 1589-1670, French poet. A disciple of Malherbe, he wrote some lyric poetry and a charming pastoral drama, Arthénice (performed in 1619), published as Les Bergeries (1625).

Mornay, Philippe de, seigneur du Plessis-Marly, 1549-1623, diplomat and publicist for the French Protestants, or Huguenots, during the French Wars of Religion (1562-98; see Religion, Wars of); also known as Philippe Du Plessis-Mornay. After narrowly escaping the massacre of French Protestants in 1572 (see St. Bartholomew's Day, Massacre of), Mornay became the chief diplomatic agent for the Huguenot leader Henry of Navarre, retaining that position after Henry was made (1589) king of France (see Henry IV, king of France). For his service he was made governor of the Huguenot stronghold Saumur, where he built the greatest of the Huguenot academies. His power waned after Henry's conversion to Catholicism (1593), but Mornay continued to exert a moderating influence on turbulent Huguenot affairs. Mornay was instrumental in the drafting of the Edict of Nantes (1598; see Nantes, Edict of), which established political rights and some religious freedom for the Huguenots. Louis XIII ousted Mornay from Saumur (1621). Mornay wrote many religious and political works, and is credited with writing the Vindiciae contra tyrannos (1579), an early tract advocating the people's right to resist an evil king.

Montluc or Monluc, Blaise de Lasseran-Massencôme, seigneur de, c.1502-1577, marshal of France. A Gascon soldier of fortune, he fought in the Italian Wars and the Wars of Religion. His famous Commentaires (1592), which King Henry IV called "the soldier's bible," are admirable military history.

Montgomery, Gabriel, seigneur de Lorges, comte de, c.1530-1574, French soldier. Captain of the Scottish guards of King Henry II of France, he accidentally killed the king in a tournament in 1559. Disgraced at court, he retired first to Normandy, then to England, where he was converted to Protestantism. He returned to France and there fought (1562-70) with distinction on the Protestant side in the Wars of Religion. He returned again in 1574, but was captured and put to death. The name is also spelled Montgommery.

Montaigne, Michel Eyquem, seigneur de, 1533-92, French essayist. Montaigne was one of the greatest masters of the essay as a literary form. Born at the Château of Montaigne in Périgord, he was the son of a rich Catholic landowner and a mother of Spanish Jewish descent. Montaigne's father, ambitious for his son's education, permitted him to hear and speak only Latin until he was six. After seven years at the Collège de Guyenne in Bordeaux, he studied for the law, held a magistracy until 1570, and was (1581-85) mayor of Bordeaux. From 1571 to 1580, in retirement and ostensibly aloof from the political and religious quarrels of France, he wrote the first two books of his Essais (1st ed. 1580). The third book of Essais and extensive revisions and additions to the first two was published in 1588 and again, with more revisions, in 1595. The essays, which were trials or tests of his own judgment on a diversity of subjects, show the change in Montaigne's thinking as his examination of himself developed into a study of humankind and nature. The early essays reflect Montaigne's concern with pain and death. To this group belongs the essay "On Friendship," which commemorates Montaigne's association with Étienne de La Boétie. A middle period, characterized by Montaigne's motto "Que sais-je?" [what do I know?], which sums up his skeptical attitude toward all knowledge, is represented by the "Apologie de Raimond Sebond." This essay purportedly defends a Catalan theologian whose work Montaigne had translated (1569), but it is actually an exposition on human fallibility. Montaigne's last essays reflect his acceptance of life as good and his conviction that humankind must discover their own nature in order to live with others in peace and dignity. The style of his essays is usually familiar, full of concrete images and lively or humorous digressions. Montaigne's works have been widely read abroad and have greatly influenced English literature. The old standard translation of his Essais was that of John Florio (1603); other translations include those of Jacob Zeitlin (1934-36) and Donald Frame (1957).

Brantôme, Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de, 1540?-1614, French courtier, soldier, and author of memoirs. He accompanied Mary Stuart to Scotland, served in the Spanish army in Africa, and joined the expedition of the Knights of St. John against the sultan. His Vies des hommes illustres et des grands capitaines and his Livre des dames (tr., Lives of Fair and Gallant Ladies, 1933) give a racy and vivid account of his time.

Bayard, Pierre Terrail, seigneur de, c.1474-1524, French military hero, called le chevalier sans peur et sans reproche [the knight without fear or reproach]. He exhibited bravery and genius as a commander in all the important battles of the Italian Wars, from Fornovo (1495) to the Sesia, in which he was killed. His defense of Mézières (1521) saved central France from an imperial invasion.

Barbazan, Arnaud Guillaume, seigneur de, c.1360-1431, French general in the Hundred Years War. He was called le chevalier sans reproche [the knight without reproach]. A leader of the Armagnacs (see Armagnacs and Burgundians) and a staunch supporter of the dauphin, the future King Charles VII, Barbazan defended (1420) Melun against the English and was held prisoner by them from 1420 to 1430. After his release he fought successfully against the English and Burgundians and was made governor of Champagne and Brie. He died fighting in Lorraine.