Insufficient reward On 30 May 1574, Charles IX died. Catherine wrote to her next eldest son, Anjou encouraging him to return to France. Upon returning, Anjou assumed the throne as Henry III. Catherine had advised him at the time of his departure from the Commonwealth, not to show particular favour and graces to those who had gone with him for his brief reign abroad, however upon his return Henry set to work rewarding his loyal supporters. This would be at the expense of Lanssac's father Louis, who was decidedly a client of Catherine's. Despite this general effort to reward those who had served him, Lanssac did not receive recognition from Henry for his role in aiding the election of the prince as king of the Commonwealth in the year prior. In particular he did not receive the office of
grand écuyer (grand squire) that his father had requested to be his reward. Lanssac was left embittered by this. Henry considered Lanssac a man too close to the queen mother. Though embittered Lanssac was not devoid of any royal compensation. Henry established him as a
gentilhomme de la chambre du roi and allowed him to farm the proceeds of a couple of offices he could sell. By now his pension had risen to a value of 5,000
livres. In October 1575, Lanssac became the
vice-amiral (vice-admiral) of Guyenne, Poitou and
Aunis. Having inherited an unfavourable civil war in the kingdom, Henry came to terms with the rebels in the
Edict of Beaulieu in May 1576 by which large concessions were granted to the Protestants. This generous peace aroused the indignation of many Catholics who formed a league in the 'defence of the Catholic religion'. Lanssac affiliated himself with the movement, frustrated at Henry for the lack of recognition he had been granted. To this end he received the duc de Guise (who had also aligned himself with the movement) at his governate of Bourg-sur-Gironde. The
Estates General of 1576 was dominated by representatives from this Catholic
ligue, the king was urged to bring about the destruction of Protestantism. Henry was thus committed to break off the peace established at Beaulieu and resume the war with the Protestants. During this brief war the royal favourite
the sieur de Saint-Mégrin fought a losing battle in the Angoumois against the forces of the Protestant
king of Navarre. Seeking to gain entry to Bordeaux he was refused, the city suspicious of his true loyalties due to the support of his elder brother for the king of Navarre. However, irrespective of the prohibition put on Saint-Mégrin by the
parlement of Bordeaux, Lanssac trusted him, and opened his governate of Blaye to the royal favourite.
Sixth war of religion and Brouage co-leader of the siege against Protestant held
Brouage Having been without a ''compagnie d'ordonnance
since his first was disbanded, in February 1577 Lanssac received a new command, and his new compagnie'' would serve under the
marquis de Villars in Bordeaux. In May 1577 he was made the lieutenant-général (lieutenant-general) of the Guyenne fleet. He thus armed a flotilla at Bordeaux for war against the Protestants. He placed the majority of his force outside La Rochelle then made a doomed attempt to seize the
Île de Ré. During the
sixth French War of Religion in 1577 the town of
Brouage near
La Rochelle became a subject of the campaign. Brouage combined a most significant tactical position and was also the regional capital for salt production making it a rich target. The town was held by the Protestant rebels, with
the prince de Condé inspecting the town and its surrounds in early June so as to assess their defences. On 22 June it was put to siege from land by the royal army under the
duc de Mayenne and from sea by the seigneur de Lanssac who was in command of eighteen ships. Those inside Brouage looked to La Rochelle and the
Île d'Oléron for support, but found none forthcoming. Four days after the siege had begun, the prince de Condé attempted to force his ships into the harbour of Brouage, but a storm threw him back. He then made a new attempt on 9 July, but this time it was forces under the seigneur de Lanssac that frustrated his designs. A new attack was made to break into the harbour on 11 July which was similarly unsuccessful. Not long thereafter (on 16 July), the
maréchal de Monluc brought five galleys to reinforce the royalist stranglehold on Brouage. This force successfully unified with the ships under Lanssac's command at the harbour. Though the besieged would hold out for some more weeks, they capitulated to the royalists on 16 or 18 August. After the Protestants had departed from Brouage on 28 August, Lanssac was established as the governor of the strategic town. Though Brouage was very small it enjoyed a port with fairly deep waters, the ability to control the coast between La Rochelle and Bordeaux and rich saltworks. Alongside this posting he was made governor of the Île de Ré, the
Île d'Oléron and
Marennes in recognition of his naval service. The victorious royalists seized the salt reserves of Brouage, and with the consent of the king the profit of 200,000
écus (or 600,000
livres) was divided between Lanssac, Mayenne and Strozzi. On 17 September 1577 France returned to internal peace with the establishment of the
Peace of Bergerac. The edict that brought the conflict to a close prohibited the boarding of vessels. Nevertheless, Lanssac boarded Rochelais (those belonging to the people of La Rochelle) and English vessels. This severely damaged his prospects of royal recognition. The king disavowed his actions, and his father was forced to apologise for him to the English ambassador.
Naval fantasies With the successful conclusion of the 1577 campaign, Lanssac's sights turned to the prospect of a campaign against the Spanish
Capitanía General de Santo Domingo (Captaincy General of Santo-Domingo) in the Caribbean. Alongside him for the organising of this were Strozzi (with whom he had been involved in the aborted Peruvian mission of 1572) and a Breton named La Roche (likely in fact
the marquis de La Roche who served as governor of
Morlaix and many years later the
lieutenant-général au Canada). Lanssac was a particular cause of concern to the Spanish, so they embarked upon efforts to win him over to their side. During the summer of 1578 his attentions turned to
Cyprus on the grounds it had previously been held by the Lusignan family (from whom he claimed descent). He began to undertake preparations at
Le Havre for the launching of an attack against this island. He declared he was willing to devote 4,000 men and 50,000
écus to the operation. Via his younger brother the abbot of Saint-Lô he got in touch with the
Papal nunzio (Papal ambassador) to present the case for the attack. The Venetians however had just made peace with the Ottoman Empire, and were not ready to rekindle the conflict at the present time. The project went nowhere. A reconciliation in the Autumn of 1578 between the duc de Guise,
don Juan (governor of the Spanish Netherlands) and the Spanish ambassador
Vargas was facilitated by Lanssac. After this time, Lanssac became an informer to the Spanish ambassador Vargas. With his relief from command of Brouage, Lanssac would share his bitter feelings on the matter with the Spanish ambassador. The historian Le Roux characterises this treasonous turn as a product of his royal disgrace.
Disgrace who succeeded Lanssac as the governor of
Brouage In December 1578, the governate of Brouage was purchased from Lanssac by the royal favourite
the seigneur de Saint-Luc for 20,000
écus or 65,740
livres. Le Roux speculates that he was compelled to discharge himself from the office by the king. On 10 February 1579 Lanssac accompanied the new governor into Brouage. Though he was theoretically due to receive a large sum of money in return for his relief, by April 1579 Lanssac had only received 6,900
livres. The replacement of Lanssac by Saint-Luc was viewed as a dark omen by the Protestants of La Rochelle, who looked upon Saint-Luc even more dimly than they had Lanssac. No sooner had he been installed in February, than Saint-Luc wrote bitterly to the
duc de Nevers complaining of the disorder in Brouaqe, which he attributed to the length of Lanssac's administration. Though he had facilitated a Spanish design in 1578, Lanssac continued to intrigue against Spanish colonial possessions. Planning out of Le Havre where there was less exposure to Spanish agents he sent out two ships into the 'Indies' in March 1579. The ships were troubled by poor weather, and a month later they were still on the coast of France (around Blaye). At this time Le Roux argues he was in theory well entrenched in royal service. With an on paper annual incomes of 14,500
livres and further profit from the ship toll of Blaye. This presented a more perfect picture than the reality. The campaign to seize Brouage had cost Lanssac a great deal due to the need to take the costs to arm his ships and supply his troops, in addition to the fact some were lost at sea. The historian puts the costs at around 113,853
livres for the former costs. It would only be in the summer of 1579 that he and his fiscal partner André du Broca would be reimbursed through the
trésorier général (general treasurer) of Bordeaux. Further his regular incomes were paid sporadically, and other payments he sought as related to the 1577 campaign were still under discussion at the ''conseil d'État'' in 1580. Going forward from 1577 he struggled to receive payment for his royal pension. As a result of these fiscal troubles, Lanssac frequently had to borrow money both from bourgeois and also great nobles such as
La Châtre or
the comte de Maulévrier. Despite having this cash at his disposal, he proved unable to provide the sums for the purchases he made.
Treason , king of Spain, with whom Lanssac would intrigue Lanssac involved himself in a conspiracy to seize the Moroccan port city of
Al Araish in August 1579. Emissaries were sent by him to the Spanish king
Philip II to propose taking the city. On the pretext of meeting with a nephew he himself met with Philip, meanwhile a ship under his authority travelled to Al Araish on a commercial mission. Unfortunately for him his scheme was quickly uncovered by the French ambassador in Spain
the baron de Saint-Gouard. Le Roux states that it was Philip himself who revealed the scheme to the French ambassador. Saint-Gouard tasked his
sécretaire the sieur de Longlée with digging further into the affair. The Spanish ambassador in Paris complained to Philip later that month that it was necessary to keep a close eye on Saint-Gouard as the depths of details he knew about Lanssac's scheme implied he was in contact with those who were greatly in the know. Upon knowledge of Lanssac's actions reaching the French court Catherine urged her son the king to get an explanation out of Lanssac. Lanssac's own father confessed to Catherine he would prefer his son to die to this betrayal.
Portuguese succession crisis On 31 January 1580, the
king of Portugal died. He was without heir and there were two claimants to the throne. Firstly the Spanish king Philip II, and secondly the
prior do Crato (prior of Crato). Catherine championed the cause of the prior do Crato and all the principal members of the Saint-Gelais family had a part to play in this mission. Lanssac's father liaised with the English ambassador on the situation, Lanssac's half brother
the bishop of Comminges undertook an extraordinary diplomatic mission to Spain. In April, it was alleged that Lanssac himself, alongside his old compatriot Strozzi, and under the authority of the king's brother
Alençon was planning an expedition to Portugal. In the spring of 1580, an agent of Lanssac's who was about to depart for Spain was arrested in
Bayonne. At this time Lanssac was again planning an expedition either to the Indies or to effect the earlier Moroccan scheme he had concocted. The arrest of his agent was a product of the fact that it was alleged he was actually intending to ally himself with Philip again for an operation on the
Barbary Coast. Even though his agent had been arrested, Lanssac was declared innocent by the king. This demonstrated that he still enjoyed some confidence from the king.
Invasion of the Azores at which the French mission was crushed Governing Blaye proved to be a very expensive posting due to the requirements of financing the towns defence during a time of military preparations. After the defeat of the prior do Crato and his flight from Portugal in August 1580 (later arriving in France), the attention of Catherine and Lanssac's compatriot Strozzi turned towards the capture of the
Azores. The maritime specialists of the court: Lanssac, Strozzi,
the grand prévôt Richelieu (grand provost) and the baron de La Garde all began devising plans with the
constable of Portugal. It was dreamed that the capture of the Azores would serve as a staging ground for anti-Spanish operations and further expansion into Brasil. By the spring of 1581 Lanssac had been tapped for involvement in this expedition. In August 1581 Lanssac and the leader of the expedition to the Azores, Strozzi rendezvoused at the residence of Lanssac's father, the château de La Mothe-Saint-Héray. Relations between Strozzi and Lanssac would collapse in the winter of 1581 after Lanssac was snubbed for the role of colonel of the troops by Strozzi (in favour of the sieur de Sainte-Souline). Le Roux argues that Strozzi had a lot riding on the expedition, and did not fancy the competition Lanssac would have offered. He further argues that Strozzi had a habit of being unfaithful to his friends, noting the similar alienation he induced with Brantôme. Lanssac complained to the lieutenant-général of Guyenne,
the maréchal de Matignon. Lanssac further challenged Strozzi to a duel though this would not transpire, and would later defect from the expedition with his two
compagnies of 600
gentilhomme. Survivance of the governorship of Blaye for his son was promised to Lanssac in January 1579. Nevertheless, by the end of the year he had surrendered both the governorship of Blaye and the position of
vice-amiral to
the baron d'Hervault for an estimated sum of 80,000
livres. On 11 January 1580, Lanssac signs a statement declaring that henceforth he takes no responsibility for developments at Blaye. On 23 April his resignations from Blaye and Brouage were ratified by the king on the grounds of his indisposition due to the needs of war. Hervault would not be permitted to go through with the transaction as the king believed him too young (he was nineteen) and suspectable to influence. Thus it would not be until October 1581 that Lanssac actually sold the governorship of Blaye, this time to
the seigneur de Lussan, a trusted man of the king. In return Lanssac received 10,000
écus directly from the king. Lussan inherited Blaye in a pathetic state, Lanssac having done little to maintain it during his hold of the governate. In an inventory drawn up in 1583 after the handover it was assessed that the fortress town contained one cannon, six arquebuses and twenty seven halberds. After surrendering these responsibilities under royal pressure, Lanssac was left with only the family government of Bourg-sur-Gironde. The king's frustration at Lanssac had been furthered by the fact the noble had again raised soldiers on his own initiative with an aim to seizing
Saint-Jean-d'Angély by surprise, campaigning in the area around the city. He had gone as far as to establish lines of communication with the Catholics of the city. Under pressure from the prince de Condé, Henri had disavowed Lanssac's actions in December 1581. This episode may have combined in the king's mind with the fact Lanssac had not ceased his treasonous schemes as regarded Spain. Having fled from court, the disgraced royal favourite, the seigneur de Saint-Luc established himself at his governate of Brouage and wrote to the royal court begging for forgiveness and promising to serve the king well. In addition to this he endeavoured to form connections in the south-west and reached out to Lanssac (according to a letter from the latter to the maréchal de Matignon in January 1582). Saint-Luc also endeavoured to employ his military experience for the service of the king's brother the
duc d'Alençon. Dealing with the king's brother only enraged Henri further. Concurrent to this Catherine worked to smooth over relations between Strozzi and Lanssac. In January 1582 she had tasked the
bishop of Dax with calming things between the two men. Nevertheless, it was reported in May 1582 that Lanssac had exchanged bitter words with the commander and was in a state of disgrace at court. Henri settled the matter in favour of Strozzi, with Lanssac not receiving the commission he desired as colonel. In May 1582, the
baron d'Arques (future duc de Joyeuse) received the appointment of
amiral de France (the most senior naval post). In June Arques established his cousin
de Chaste as commander of the
armée de mer (army of the sea). The appointment of de Chaste to this office was a considerable frustration for Lanssac, who, in his capacity as
vice-amiral de Guyenne fancied the posting for himself. His embitterment at this snub was one of the factors that would drive him towards the
Catholic ligue. Lanssac's frustrated appeal to Matignon to deliver him justice as regarded the Azores expedition yielded him nothing. In the appeal, he noted that he had 'served and loved' Strozzi for eighteen years. He further cited his need to fulfil an action appropriate of his status in society and secure royal favour. Matignon was unmoved by all of Lanssac's arguments. Indeed, he had the soldiers Lanssac had raised dismissed. By June the invasion fleet was finally assembled at Belle-Île under the command of the comte de Brissac. The force would seize Madeira, and then Brissac would head to Cape Verde while Strozzi made an attack against Brasil. The expedition was a disaster, crushed by the Spanish at
Ponta Delgada, Strozzi was taken by the Spanish commander the
marqués de Santa Cruz (marquis of Santa-Cruz) and executed. With the destruction of the expedition, came the death of the prospects of the prior do Crato to assume a place on the Portuguese throne. Alongside the arrival of news of the defeat of the expedition came word that Henri intended for de Chaste to take charge of the planned counter-stroke against the Spanish, rather than Lanssac.
Turn to Alençon , brother to Henry III, who rebuffed Lanssac's advances in early 1584, and whose death triggered a succession crisis Staring down the barrel of royal disgrace, Lanssac retired to his wife's seigneurie of Puycalvary. Lanssac turned to the king's brother, the duc d'Alençon as an alternative path towards advancement. He had in fact entered the duc d'Alençon's household in 1575 as a
chambellan with an income of 600
livres and a pension of a further 2,000. He was decidedly a secondary figure in the ducs household behind figures such as
the seigneur de Fervaques or
La Châtre however. Relations between the two were disrupted for several years, and Le Roux speculates this might be due to Lanssac's relations with the
duc de Nevers, who was charged with arresting Alençon in 1575. Contact between Alençon and Lanssac was renewed in 1581 at the start of the princes Dutch campaigns, with Lanssac tapped to take a leadership role in the 1581 expedition. However Lanssac was too busy with his naval exploits to involve himself in future Dutch affairs. In November 1583 he made his approach to the duc d'Alençon through
the maréchal de Biron who had led the ducs army in the Netherlands. He set out a long proposal to the latter figure. In this document he first outlined the ruin that had befallen him as a result of the Azores expedition and his time in charge of the government of Blaye. He then expounded upon his proposals for the prince. They would seize
Cape Verde, the
Canary Islands,
Cuba and Santo-Domingo from the Spanish. These would then be exchanged with the Spanish crown for control of Spanish the Netherlands. This project would require 20 500 tonne ships and a further 20 smaller vessels. The larger ships would be crewed by 200 soldiers and 100 sailors, while the smaller ships by 30 sailors. The vessels would be armed in the Netherlands and then depart in January 1584, to be back by July. They would seize the wealth of the islands and the treasure feet, the latter of which alone would be worth 12,000,000 in gold. The first target would be the Canary Islands, which after being looted would be abandoned due to their proximity to Spain. Cape Verde would be seized and fortified. Santo Domingo would be won through an alliance with escaped slaves known as the 'chamarrons' whose number he put at around 1,000. This alliance would be bought by the provision of land for them to grow sugar on. From Santo Domingo,
Puerto Rico would easily fall. Finally
Havana in Cuba would be taken (in Lanssac's estimation this would be easy due to the poor quality of the defences) with a garrison left in the city before the fleet returned to its home, passing the Azores to the north. By specifying the passage well north of the Azores on the grounds of their superior defences he differentiated his plan from Strozzi's disastrous expedition in the hopes of making it more credible. He laid out no specific place in the mission for himself, offering command to the
maréchal de Biron's son
the seigneur de Saint-Blancard. Lanssac had never crossed the Atlantic, but he was immersed in the naval world to the point where he had a fairly accurate understanding of Spanish colonial defences acquired from sailors. Lanssac had picked his moment very poorly to deliver this plan to Alençon. The prince had lost the confidence of the Dutch after his
attempt to seize Antwerp in January 1583, and was facing a financial ruin of his own. Lanssac ceased to appear on the roles of members of the ducal household by March 1584. In addition to the poor confidence Alençon had with the Dutch, the prince was gravely ill, and having retired to Château-Thierry, the duc died on 10 June.
Ligue crisis Lanssac was at this time consumed by crushing debts. His relationship with the crown continued to be dismal. Henri even sent a scathing letter to him, warning him not to partake in a local quarrel between the Catholic
vicomte de Duras and the Protestant
vicomte de Turenne. As a result of all this Lanssac turned to the Catholic
ligue. The Catholic
ligue had come back to the fore as with the death of Alençon, the heir to the French throne (due to Henri's childlessness) was now the Protestant king of Navarre. This was seized on as unacceptable by segments of the Catholic nobility who re-founded the
Catholic ligue (league) in opposition to this succession (seeking instead to put Navarre's Catholic uncle
the cardinal de Bourbon on the throne) under the leadership of the duc de Guise.
Joinville leader of the
Catholic Ligue On 17 January 1585, the
ligueur duc de Guise, his brother the duc de Mayenne and their cousins the
duc d'Aumale and
duc d'Elbeuf entered into a secret agreement with the king of Spain. The formation of this international agreement was facilitated both by Lanssac and his illegitimate half-brother the bishop of Comminges who enjoyed strong contacts with the Spanish agents that operated in the south of the kingdom. The Saint-Gelais brothers facilitated the passage of the Spanish agent
Juan de Moreo (a commander of the Order of Malta) through the
Val d'Aran and
Comminges. They received Moreo for a meeting in Bourg-sur-Gironde at which the planned
ligueur uprising in Guyenne was formulated before sending him on north to Joinville. The terms of the
Treaty of Joinville were firstly that the Spanish king would recognise the cardinal de Bourbon as heir to the French throne. Philip promised to support the Lorraine-Guise party in France to the tune of 600,000
écus of which 400,000 would be advanced via the
duc de Lorraine. In return for receipt of these subsidies Guise would make a number of commitments. He would see Protestantism annihilated in France, he would see the
Tridentine Decrees adopted in the French kingdom, he would see Philip restored to possession of
Cambrai. French support against the Protestant rebels in the Spanish Netherlands was also expected, as was the severing of the
Franco-Ottoman alliance and the cessation of hostile French naval activity in the Spanish colonies. By special articles even more concessions were made to Spain: the ceding of French Navarre and Béarn to the Spanish and the delivery of the pretender to the Portuguese throne, the prior do Crato, who currently held up in France. While getting Henry III to concede to all these objectives would be challenging, Philip saw benefit in the arrangement regardless. Many great seigneurs were drawn towards the Catholic
ligue. The
duc de Nevers felt that Henri maintained him at a distance. The former royal favourites (who had since been disgraced)
D'O and the seigneur de Saint-Luc joined the cause. For Lanssac and
the comte de Brissac both men were the sons of fixtures of the French court who felt that their efforts to gain Henri had poured cold water on their attempts to build a relationship with him. In late March 1585, the seigneur de La Rochette, a
ligueur agent in the service of
the cardinal de Guise was arrested by the crown. He had chartered a ship loaded with weapons which was making its way to
Châlons when it was intercepted on 12 March. He was subsequently arrested and then interrogated as to the nature of his affairs. According to the dispatch of the English ambassador on 29 March La Rochette provided a broad breakdown of the
ligue parties military organisation. The duc de Nevers was supposedly to lead a force out of Italy to surprise Lyon. The Spanish king Philip was to be raising troops in the Empire that would invade France. The duc de Guise would command the French cavalry, his brother the duc de Mayenne would serve as ''colonel-général de l'infantrie
(colonel-general of the infantry), Lanssac, Saint-Luc and the comte de Brissac would serve as maréchaux de camp
(camp marshals) while Saint-Florian, Beauvais Nangis and La Rochette himself would enjoy the position of maître de camp
in the ligueur'' army.
War with the crown Now out in the open, Guise issued the
Péronne manifesto on 31 March, which urged the Catholic's of France to stand firm against attempts to subvert the kingdoms religion and state by the
duc d'Épernon and the king of Navarre. It was further demanded that the Estates General be called tri-annually and that extraordinary subsidies and applications of the
taille imposed during the reign of Henri be abolished. The location was chosen to call-back to the earlier Catholic
ligue which had been established in Péronne in 1576. Among the great nobles for the
ligue, Saint-Luc held Brouage, d'O was governor of Caen and
the seigneur d'Entragues held the same office in Orléans. Lanssac whose stormy reputation had inspired the distaste of both Catherine and the king joined with the rebellion, as did the younger son of the
maréchal de Tavannes,
the vicomte de Tavannes and several great Provençal seigneurs (
the sieur de Vins and
the comte de Suze). Lanssac enjoyed the position of leader of the
ligue in the Bordelais. A diplomatic mission to Spain conducted by a
ligueur agent in the service of the vicomte de Duras transpired in April. According to the French ambassador this agent argued that the
ligue position in Guyenne was very strong, and that the duc de Guise could count on more allies in the province than could the Protestant king of Navarre. This agent sought financial and military assistance from Philip, the former of which was soon received with a shipment of money to the border. The
French ambassador further alleged the complicity of Lanssac and the
seigneur de Vaillac (governor of the château Trompette in Bordeaux) in this subversive effort in his diplomatic despatch to Henri. It is possible, though not a certainty that either Lanssac himself or an agent of his travelled to
Hondarribia in April to receive part of the money promised to the
ligue by Philip. Going forward he would be one of the chief suspects of the French ambassador. The king of Navarre's wife,
Marguerite aligned herself with the
ligueur cause in Guyenne alongside Lanssac, his half-brother the bishop of Comminges, the seigneur de Lussan, the seigneur de Saint-Luc and Lanssac's brother in law
the comte de Luxe (who had married Lanssac's sister Claude in 1564). While they would hope for military support from Spain it would only be financial support that was provided. Further frustration was found in the fact this financial aid arrived too late to aid Marguerite who had to flee to Auvergne. Before her flight, Lanssac played a role in securing Agen for Marguerite. From the south-west of the kingdom, Lanssac, alongside his half-brother the bishop of Comminges looked to bring about the conquest of Montauban, Castres and other Protestant held towns by driving the Catholic nobility into arms. He met with Saint-Luc, Lussan and the vicomte d'Aubeterre in Bourg where the plans for the uprising were drawn up. Lanssac rendezvoused with Saint-Luc in Brouage in April and May, and acted as a go-between connecting Saint-Luc with the royal lieutenant-general of Guyenne the
maréchal de Matignon. The two went on campaign with the aim of creating a blockade against Protestant held
La Rochelle. Lanssac then prepared naval vessels for combat and attempted to relieve the siege of Bourg before instead blockading Bordeaux. The two
ligueurs saw to the building of a fort at
Bec d'Ambès which held a strategic position on the rivers at the confluence of the Dordogne and Garonne. However, at the end of June this fort was seized and then immediately destroyed by the royalist commander the
maréchal de Matignon. In the summer Lanssac and Saint-Luc with a squadron of around 30 ships attempted to besiege La Rochelle and harass the coast of Saintonge. Other operations at Alet, Castres and in Basse-Navarre were also undertaken. Ultimately however, the
ligue failed to gain a secure footing in Guyenne. By the Autumn, Saint-Luc was back in Brouage, where he fought off an attempted siege by the prince de Condé in September. The new governor of Saintonge,
the baron de Bellegarde (who had succeeded to the charge in January 1585) found his efforts to instil royal authority in his province challenged by the nearby presence of Lanssac in Blaye and Saint-Luc in Brouage.
Naval pirate Internal peace between the crown and the Catholic
ligue was re-established by the means of the Treaty of Nemours in July 1585. The next month, on 12 August, Henri wrote to the
maréchal de Matignon to forward the complaints of the English queen concerning Lanssac. Henri explained that Elizabeth had informed him that Lanssac had pursued English vessels to La Rochelle, with some seized and pillaged. The king had been asked to explain these actions by the English ambassador in light of the friendship between the two kingdoms. Lanssac was to return his 'prizes' and Matignon was to ensure this came to pass. Matignon was also to aid in the termination of a tax of 20
sol (solidus) Lanssac had instituted in Blaye on every tonne of English goods. The seigneur de Lussan would take the lead on resolving this indiscretion of Lanssac's. As such the king also wrote to Lussan and Lanssac himself. To the latter Henri stressed the need to return what he had taken and noted that Elizabeth was asked to do the same with her subjects. In the spring of 1586, several of Lanssac's agents were reported to be in Hondarribia and funds reached Lanssac from the Spanish crown. In May 1586, Henri made efforts to bring Lanssac back in from the cold of his disgrace. A naval reorganisation was under way under the leadership of Joyeuse and
the comte de Retz, however to Lanssac's immense frustration he was subordinated to de Chaste in this project. That same month, May 1586, the English government reported on a scheme of Lanssac's to rob naval vessels. Acting on this design Lanssac had entered the Garonne with six ships and set about robbing both Catholic and Protestant vessels indiscriminately, solely working towards his own aggrandisement. He blockaded Bordeaux and it was observed by the Parisian memoirist L'Estoile that he took the side of 'neither the king, nor Guise, nor Navarre'. Though he proclaimed he was operating in service of the king, the
maréchal de Matignon set to work combatting this act of rebellion. L'Estoile reports in December that in frustration of the impediment to the trade of Bordeaux that he represented, the
parlement of the city had decreed that he might be freely attacked. To the amazement of the Savoyard ambassador
René de Lucinge, Henri succeeded in re-opening lines of communication with Lanssac at the start of 1588. Henri was working towards the project of breaking away great
seigneurs from the
ligue, and in this effort he succeeded in somewhat detaching Lanssac from the duc de Guise. Until Spring 1588, Guise's strategy revolved around the application of military pressure on the king to induce capitulations to his demands. At this time however, he began to take on a broader European perspective, affiliating himself with the
Spanish plan to invade England. To this end he liaised with the Spanish ambassador in France -
Mendoza - and Juan de Moreo. Moreo's intrigues were so vexing to Henri that the latter asked Lanssac to have him murdered. By early 1588, the royal favourite the duc d'Épernon was greatly despised by many. As a result of this at some indeterminate point a plot was hatched to ambush him at the
fair of Saint-Germain. The
Papal nunzio Morosini and Tuscan
Filippo Cavriana placed the incident in February 1588 and both describe Lanssac as the ring leader. Rather than avoiding Saint-Germain, after learning of the plot Épernon went to Saint-Germain to see if the rumour that had reached him was true. He was surrounded by his would be killers, but had already taken measures to avoid the situation escalating to bloodshed. In March 1588, according to the despatches of the French ambassador in Spain, an agent of Lanssac's from Bordeaux, Masparant visited Spain to conduct negotiations between the Catholic
ligue and Spanish crown. This agent would return again to Spain in June for further negotiations.
War with the crown Facing the complete collapse of his authority after the
ligueur Day of the Barricades in which he was driven from Paris, Henri resolved to
have the duc de Guise assassinated in December 1588. This accomplished, the
ligue entered rebellion against the crown in reaction and began seizing cities. In February 1589, the city of
Le Mans was won for the
ligue. Lanssac was established as the
ligueur governor of the city. The rebellious noble offered his half-brother, the bishop of Comminges the bishopric of Le Mans, however Comminges declined the offer, explaining to the Spanish king that he could better serve him in the south. Starting in March 1589, Lanssac no longer declared his allegiance to Henry III when describing his position as ''capitaine de cinquante hommes d'armes
, rather than being the ordonnances du roi
these gentilhomme
soldiers he commanded were the ordonnances de France'' for the 'service of god and the Catholic's of the kingdom'. Alongside the role of ''conseiller d'État
this was the extent of the offices he held for the ligue''.
Maine Serving the
ligue in Maine (where his wife possessed the seigneurie de Ballon to the north of Le Mans), Lanssac oversaw the capture of the château de Touvoie, the seigneurie de l'Épichelière and the town of
La Flèche. Having done this he demanded the city council of Le Mans compensate him for the expenditure of the effort to the sum of 40,000
écus, something which they agreed to do. In August 1589, Henry III was in turn assassinated. For the royalists he was succeeded by his Protestant heir, the king of Navarre who took the name Henry IV. For the
ligue the king was the cardinal de Bourbon under the name Charles X, though he was in royalist captivity. ==Reign of Henry IV==