Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (February 28, 1533 – September 13, 1592) was a French writer who popularized the essay as a literary form and became one of the most important Renaissance philosophers. He was born at the Chateau de Montaigne near Bordeaux to a rich, distinguished family. He lived in a peasant household for his first three years to learn the ways of the people, after which he was raised at home speaking only Latin and tutored according to a plan devised by his father.  He left for boarding school in Bordeaux at age 6 and entered the University of Toulouse to study law at 13. By age 28 he was a courtier at the court of Charles IX and accompanied the king at the siege of Rouen. He was awarded the collar of the order of St. Michael, the highest honor accorded the French nobility. During his lifetime he was known as a statesman, serving in the Bordeaux Parliament, mediating between the forces of the Catholic King Henry III and Protestant Henry of Navarre during the Wars of Religion, and serving two terms as Mayor of Bordeaux. In 1580 he set off on a journey throughout Europe in search of  a cure for kidney stones. During a stay at the Vatican his essays were reviewed by Sisto Fabri, Master of the Scared Palace under Pope Gregory XIII, and returned with the advice to “follow his own conscience in making emendations to the text”.  He died at home of quinsy in 1592. The town is now known as Saint-Michel-de-Montaigne and his heart is preserved in the parish church.