Ousted from government by the death of the young king in December 1560, the Guise retreated from court, conscious that they were unlikely to receive much office or favours under the new formal regency for
Charles IX. Accompanying them on their departure in January were Nemours and
Longueville.
Conspiracy To many Catholics the environment in which the young princes were being raised appeared far too Protestant. To this end a plot was devised to spirit the young
Anjou away from court so that he could be raised in properly Catholic environs such as
Savoy. Nemours was implicated as a leader in this attempted conspiracy. To encourage the young prince away from the court, Nemours had enlisted the young
Henri de Guise, to draw his playmate away. Having gained awareness of the plot, Catherine questioned her child as to who had tried to persuade him to leave court; the 10-year-old implicated Nemours on 29 October. Shortly thereafter Catherine ordered Nemours' arrest, and he fled court. However as she began to pursue a case against them, it became apparent that the only testimony in support would be from a 10-year-old child; as such the case against Nemours was dropped shortly thereafter and he was given permission to return to court. With the departure of the Guise and their allies from the court for the second time in October 1561, Nemours was among those who joined them on their exodus. The motive for the departure was not purely religious but also factional, with Longueville, a long-time associate of the Guise, departing also, despite his Protestantism. In total their retinue numbered 700 horse, a large section of the nobility gathered at court. Their departure, alongside that of
Anne de Montmorency left the regency government of
Catherine de Medici with a precariously thin base of support, propped up only by the Bourbon-Vendôme and the Châtillon.
First war of religion During the first civil war, Nemours attempted to reduce the city of
Lyon which had risen up in support of
the prince of Condé. He fought with
the baron des Adrets in Dauphiné, and in December was in the process of negotiating a favourable truce with the infamous commander which would have seen him secure the defection of the rebel army. However, Adrets' subordinates learned of the negotiations and had him arrested. In the major field battle of the war at
Dreux, the governor of the
Lyonnais,
Beaujolais and
Forez, Marshal
Saint-André was murdered on the field after having surrendered. This left a vacancy for his governate, which was to be filled by Nemours. In the wake of the
Edict of Amboise which brought the first civil war to a close with the provision of limited toleration to Protestants the crown desired to reconcile the factions to ensure internal peace. To this end they courted Condé, hoping to foster his loyalty.
Catherine de Medici informed Anne d'Este that she had successfully reconciled Condé with Nemours and
Cardinal Guise, brother of the late duke.
Feud During the final siege of the first war of religion, the duke of Guise had been assassinated. The family blamed
Gaspard II de Coligny for ordering the hit and were determined to pursue 'justice' against the Admiral. Coligny for his part came under the protection of his uncle Montmorency, who re-opened his rivalry with the Guise in defence of his nephew. In an attempt to gain the upper hand, the Guise arranged for a petition to court, from many leading nobles, arguing for the right to open a case against Coligny. Nemours was among the signatories, however the court proved uninterested, and formally suspended any investigation into the murder in early 1564.
Governor As governor of the
Lyonnais, Nemours was keen to patronise 'men of letters' and other centres of learning within his governate. As the crown increasingly loomed on the cusp of bankruptcy, the distribution of funds to its regional governors became more erratic and rare. By 1565 Nemours had accumulated 140,000
livres of debts for unpaid pensions and salaries during his tenure as governor. It was hoped by governors that these debts would be satisfied by the court when it had greater funds.
Second war of religion Frustrated at their declining influence in court, and the increasingly restrictive direction royal policy was moving in regarding Protestantism, the leading Protestants again plotted a coup. Their aim was to seize the king while he was staying at Meaux, and to kill
Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine. Their attempt was a failure and the king was able to retreat with the court to Paris after some debate. While Hôpital, the chancellor, had argued in favour of relying on the fortifications at Meaux, Nemours and Guise advocated a flight to Paris and convinced the court successfully. As they fled, they were pursued by the Protestant forces, who adapted their plan to a siege of Paris. To this end they began trying to invest the city, while
Anne de Montmorency assembled an army inside for a breakout. While Montmorency was busy building an army, Nemours was among those commanders trying to relieve pressure on the city. On 7 November he successfully captured a river crossing that was vital to a successful siege of Paris. Several days later Montmorency was ready and broke out of the city, besting the Protestant army at
Saint-Denis on 10 November. During the battle of Saint-Denis, Montmorency would be killed, leaving the office of
Constable of France and role as chief of the crown's military vacant. The crown had little desire to see another powerful noble family control this critical post; as such, to replace him, the king's brother
Anjou was selected to lead the crown's war effort. While closer to the family, Anjou was still a child, and as such to provide him military guidance, and to actually lead the army in the field, a selection of loyal nobles were chosen.
Artus de Cossé-Brissac the recently promoted Marshal, the king's cousin
Louis, Duke of Montpensier and Nemours were chosen for this important role, with Cossé in overall charge.
Third war of religion At the outset of the third war of religion, the Protestants had consolidated their movement in the south west as opposed to fighting in the north as they had previously. Nevertheless the crown was conscious that
Louis of Nassau was seeking to enter France with an army from the
Spanish Netherlands; to this end Charles instructed Nemours to assemble an army for the defence of Paris, however Nassau was bested at the border. In early 1569, it became clear that the
duke of Zweibrücken was intending to cross into France in support of the Protestant nobility that was gathered in the west. To this end the court, little desiring to see a conjunction between the two forces, assembled a second army. Aumale was tasked with leading the blocking force in Champagne, with forces from the Rhône valley under Nemours to support him in this effort. The two commanders did not get along, and their constant conflict enabled Zweibrücken to slip past them through the
Franche-Comté and establish contact with the Protestants under
Gaspard II de Coligny. The mutinous remains of their combined army linked with the main royal force under the king's brother
Anjou at
Limoges.
Withdrawal By 1571, Nemours wished to resign his governorship of the
Lyonnais. He chose to do so in favour of his lieutenant-general in the region, and former page
François de Mandelot. This arrangement had been very unusual in the early 16th century, with the choice of governors defaulting to the crown on the resignation or death of a sitting governor; however by the 1560s it was becoming increasingly common. Mandelot would govern the Lyonnais until his death in 1588. ==Reign of Henri III==