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Was Montaigne completely devoid of religious sentiment, as a certain critical doxa would have it? This is not the opinion of the author. Certainly, the Essays, the deliberately profane work in which Montaigne tests his judgment, are not intended to reveal his piety, but here and there are clues of a real fervour, gratitude for the divine gift of life. As for his commitment in the civil-war ridden society of the time, he remained faithful to the Catholic Church and the king of France, thus opposed to Protestants he considered doctrinaire and seditious, adversaries rather than enemies, but without referring to a principle of tolerance.