Étienne or Estienne de La Boétie (; oc, Esteve de La Boetiá; 1 November 1530 – 18 August 1563) was a French magistrate, classicist, writer, poet and political theorist, best remembered for his intense and intimate friendship with essayist Michel de Montaigne. His early political treatise '' Discourse on Voluntary Servitude'' was posthumously adopted by the Huguenot movement and is sometimes seen as an early influence on modern anti-statist,

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island socie ...

n and

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a stat ...

thought.

Life

La Boétie was born in Sarlat, in the Périgord region of southwest France, in 1530 to an aristocratic family. His father was a royal official of the Périgord region and his mother was the sister of the president of the

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

Parliament (assembly of lawyers). Orphaned at an early age, he was brought up by his uncle and namesake, the curate of Bouilbonnas, and received his law degree from the

University of Orléans The University of Orléans (french: Université d'Orléans) is a French university, in the Academy of Orléans and Tours. As of July 2015 it is a member of the regional university association Leonardo da Vinci consolidated University. History ...

in 1553. His great and precocious ability earned La Boétie a royal appointment to the Bordeaux Parliament the following year, despite his being under the minimum age. There he pursued a distinguished career as judge and diplomatic negotiator until his untimely death from illness in 1563 at the age of thirty-two. La Boétie was also a distinguished poet and humanist, translating

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies of ...

and

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ...

, and being closely connected with the leading young Pleiade group of poets, including

Pierre de Ronsard Pierre de Ronsard (; 11 September 1524 – 27 December 1585) was a French poet or, as his own generation in France called him, a " prince of poets". Early life Pierre de Ronsard was born at the Manoir de la Possonnière, in the village of ...

, Jean Daurat and Jean-Antoine de Baïf.

Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertaria ...

"Ending Tyranny Without Violence"
La Boétie was favorable to the conciliation of

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and

Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

; "warned of the dangerous and divisive consequences of permitting two religions, which could lead to two opposed states in the same country. The most he would have allowed the Protestants was the right to worship in private, and he pointed out their own intolerance of Catholics. His policy for religious peace was one of conciliation and concord through reforms in the church that would eventually persuade the Protestants to reunite with Catholicism". He served with Montaigne in the

parlement A ''parlement'' (), under the French Ancien Régime, was a provincial appellate court of the Kingdom of France. In 1789, France had 13 parlements, the oldest and most important of which was the Parlement of Paris. While both the modern Fr ...

'' and is immortalized in Montaigne's

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal ...

friendship Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept of ...

. Some historians have questioned whether the two were lovers or not, but each played influential roles in each other's lives regardless.

Writings

La Boétie's writings include a few

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's inventio ...

s, translations from the classics and an essay attacking

absolute monarchy Absolute monarchy (or Absolutism as a doctrine) is a form of monarchy in which the monarch rules in their own right or power. In an absolute monarchy, the king or queen is by no means limited and has absolute power, though a limited constituti ...

and tyranny in general, '' Discours de la servitude volontaire ou le Contr'un'' (''Discourse on Voluntary Servitude, or the Anti-Dictator''). The essay asserts that tyrants have power because the people give it to them.

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

has been abandoned once by society, which afterward stayed corrupted and prefers the slavery of the

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other ...

to the freedom of one who refuses to dominate as he refuses to obey. Thus, La Boétie linked obedience and domination, a relationship which would be later theorised by latter

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

thinkers. By advocating a solution of simply refusing to support the tyrant, he became one of the earliest advocates of

and nonviolent resistance.

Murray N. Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian m ...

summarizes La Boétie's political philosophy as follows:

To him, the great mystery of politics was obedience to rulers. Why in the world do people agree to be looted and otherwise oppressed by government overlords? It is not just fear, Boetie explains in the ''Discourse on Voluntary Servitude'', for our consent is required. And that consent can be non-violently withdrawn.

It was once thought following Montaigne's claims that La Boétie wrote the essay in 1549 at the age of eighteen, but recent authorities argue that it is "likely that the ''Discourse'' was written in 1552 or 1553, at the age of twenty-two, while La Boétie was at the university". Some Montaigne scholars have argued that the essay was in fact the work of Montaigne himself. The essay was circulated privately and not published until 1576 after La Boétie's death. He died in Germignan near

in 1563. His last days are described in a long letter from Montaigne to his own father.

Influence

In the 20th century, many European anarchists began to cite La Boétie as an influence, including Gustav Landauer, Bart de Ligt and Simone Weil.

Autonomist Marxist Autonomism, also known as autonomist Marxism is an anti-capitalist left-wing political and social movement and theory. As a theoretical system, it first emerged in Italy in the 1960s from workerism (). Later, post-Marxist and anarchist tendenci ...

thinker John Holloway also cites him in his book ''

Crack Capitalism ''Crack Capitalism'' (2010) is a book by sociologist John Holloway that carries on with the political ideas developed in his earlier ''Change the World Without Taking Power''. Holloway sees the problem of political activism, in terms of those str ...

'' in order to explain his idea of "breaking with capitalism".John Holloway. ''

''. Pluto Press (2010). p. 6. . Gene Sharp, the leading theorist of nonviolent struggle, cites his work frequently in both '' The Politics of Nonviolent Action'' and '' From Dictatorship to Democracy''.

Gallery

File:LaBoétie001.jpg, ''Discours de la servitude volontaire'' File:La Boétie - Œuvres complètes Bonnefon 1892.djvu, ''Œuvres complètes'' (''Complete Works''), 1892 File:Sarlat - Maison de la Boétie - PA00082964 - 002.jpg, La Boétie's home at Sarlat File:Sarlat-medieval-city-by-night-13.jpg, Birthplace of La Boétie

Bibliography

* ''Œuvres complètes'', Editions William Blake & Co., 1991. . * ''Discours de la servitude volontaire'', Editions Mille et une nuits, 1997. . * ''Discours de la servitude volontaire'', Editions Flammarion, 1993. . * ''The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude'', translated by Harry Kurz and with an introduction by

, Montrèal/New York/London: Black Rose Books, 1997. . * ''The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude'', translated by Harry Kurz and with an introduction by

, Free Life Editions, 1975. .

References

External links

*
The Politics of Obedience: The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude
', from The Ludwig von Mises Institute, Online Edition ( PDF). *
''Discours de la servitude volontaire'', translated and with an introduction about its reception
*
Text on Wikisource

*
Vertoog over de Vrijwillige Slavernij (pdf)

Etiennedelaboetie.net
– website dedicated to the works and life of Etienne de La Boétie *

Online-Exhibition (2012). * {{DEFAULTSORT:La Boetie, Etienne de 1530 births 1563 deaths People from Sarlat-la-Canéda Catholic philosophers French Roman Catholics Nonviolence advocates French political philosophers Renaissance philosophy 16th-century philosophers French philosophers French male writers Libertarian theorists Proto-anarchists 16th-century French poets French male poets College of Guienne alumni