Travel - Pilgrimage reading summary Philippe Desan - Montaigne: A Life (Montaigne in · The French embassy in Rome was in a tumultuous state in the 16th century as deaths, departures and rejections were common, in part due to the religious conflicts that occurred between Protestants and Catholics in France p. 357 - 358 · Montaigne had family friends within the region who had held positions in Rome and considered himself the perfect replacement for Chasteigner and become the interim ambassador in Rome p. 358 . Montaigne arrived in Rome on 30th November, 1580 and soon after, was met by the Pope (introduced by his predecessor, Chasteigner). A right he had via recommendations, something to make up for his lack of experience - the ceremony in itself shows us that Montainge expected to replace the ambassador p. 359 . The Pope commanded Montaigne to retain his devotion to the Church and the interests of the Christian King p. 359 · Montaigne intended to stay in Rome for several months (far longer than a traveller) and had a secretary (it would have been unusual for him to have a secretary travelling with him to note his travels - something Montaigne did himself) p. 360 . Montaigne reported on the size of Rome as smaller than Paris by a third and mentioned the ruins that had recently been discovered but the fascination he had with the Order of St Michael is not demonstrated as he likely did not see Michelangelo's Raffaello (his lack of comment upon it demonstrates this) p. 361 · Montaigne did not act like a tourist during his day as he had not tried to explore the inner workings of the city, but he also tried to maintain appearances by spending considerable amounts of his own money on rooms to rent, something he knew ambassadors often did in order to maintain their households p. 361 · Montaigne showed "diplomatic fever" in his first few months as was given a large amount of freedom within the city, being able to see rare books and sections of libraries that other ambassadors had not been allowed into - he enjoyed diplomatic favour in his first few weeks and aimed to gain royal approval in order to take over entirely form Chasteigner. Something to note on p. 366 is that Montaigne was given access to books Chasteigner was not. p. 362 . Catherine de Medici after Chasteigner to serve the king for one more year in January 1580 and promised all expenses to be covered at the end of his term but 14 months later, the return home he wanted had not materialised and expenses had not been paid p. 362 · There was a rival to Montaigne's mission, Paul de Foix who was supported by Catherine de Medici but opposed by the Pope - Catherine asked Chasteigner to help Foix and then he could return home meaning the Montaigne was likely viewed by the King as an interim between the two men