In “The Return of Martin Guerre”, Natalie Zemon Davis portrays Jean de Coras as a wise and impartial judge, fully capable of recognizing female intelligence and look beyond the status quo in his search for truth. Like any judge, Coras has the discretion to select or omit certain evidence, the power to shape the official and accepted version of the truth; however, Michel de Montaigne argues that Coras has a high probability of reaching a biased verdict. Montaigne's "Essays" state that knowledge is acquired through the process of questioning, but this questioning presupposes that knowledge begins with one's own perspectives and not with disciplines (such as medicine and law), which are linked to theoretical assumptions and formal logical systems. Montaigne's real concern is not with Coras's disciplinary knowledge, but with the relationship between different human beings and the conventions through which their experience is defined and identity contained. In “Essays,” Montaigne sprinkles implicative and digressive examples to assert that knowledge can only be found in a composite human being made up of independent thoughts and experiences. EXPLORATIVEOf Cannibals Montagines's “Of Cannibals” investigates neither cannibalism nor noble savages, but rather nature, methodology, and the power of reason. It is in this context that Montaigne examines the use of reason in making judgments. This is exemplified when Monatagine states, “we must judge with the eye of reason, and not by common account” (Cannibals, 1). How one should judge and deduce reasonable conclusions is illustrated by Montagine's own methodology in judging native savages. Montagine studied the native savages because they were the exotic cases and... mid-level... no cases of adultery. The case of Martin Guerre was a courageous attempt to challenge the social institution of marriage, an institution reinforced by laws, customs and rituals. However, for Coras, Arnaud du Tilh's wit and spectacular memory led a good peasant into a “tragicomedy” of imposture. This is exemplified when Coras states, “It was indeed a tragedy for this good farmer… the more so because the result was miserable, indeed fatal to him.” (Wars, 111). As Davis illustrates, Coras admired Tilh's deceptive skills, and the real tragedy lies in the unmasking of Tilh, "a kind of hero, a more real Martin Guerre" (Guerre, 110) than Beltrade de Rols's unsympathetic husband. Ultimately, Coras found Arnaud du Tilh more intelligent than his accusers, a man who seemed to know more about Martin Guerre's life than the real Martin Guerre.