Born on 15 June 1534, Henri was the son of Anne de Montmorency and Madeleine of Savoy. As governor of Languedoc, he led an army into Toulouse, campaigning for nine months in 1570, and was chastized by the
capitouls for letting Catholic property fall into the hands of a passing Protestant army without taking action. They accused Henri of being betraying the city and being in league with Protestants like his cousin Admiral Coligny. He responded by arresting four
bourgeois and sending them to Paris with charges of slander. Henri also placed a
procureur-général on the
Parlement of Toulouse who was suspected of Protestantism. In October 1574 he joined with the Protestants of lower Languedoc, was deprived of his office by the
Parlement of Toulouse, and arrests were made of his associates charged with conspiracy against the king. In the midst of these arrests, Henri hanged one of his own captains on a suspicion of poisoning, believing that Henry III of France was trying to kill him. Henri became
Duke of Montmorency on his brother François' death in 1579. As a leader of the party called the
Politiques he took a prominent part in the
French Wars of Religion. In 1593 Henri was made
constable of France, but
Henry IV kept him away from Languedoc, owing to his nickname "King of Languedoc". ==Issue==