Charles de Secondat, Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu was born in 1689 to a French noble family. "His family tree could be traced 350 years, which in his view made its name neither good nor bad." (The Encyclopedia of Social Sciences, p. 68) Montesquieu's views started to be shaped at a very early age. A beggar was chosen to be his godfather to remind him of his obligations to the poor. Montesquieu's education started at the age of 11 when he was sent to Juilly, a school maintained by the Congregation of the Oratory. From 1705 to 1709 he studied law in Bordeaux. "From 1705 to 1709 he was a legal