He was counsellor to the
parlement de Paris,
maître des requêtes (1562), and assisted at the battles of
Jarnac and
Moncontour.
Henri III made him
garde des sceaux in 1578 and lieutenant general of the
Orléanais and the
pays Chartrain in 1582. After the
Day of the Barricades in 1588, he was disgraced by his liaisons with the
Catholic League and left court.
Henri IV recalled him in August 1590 and again made him garde des sceaux, a post he then held until his death. He was the son of Raoul Hurault,
controller of finances to king
Francis I of France. He married Anne de Thou but had a relationship with Isabeau Babou de la Bourdaisière, lady of
Sourdis, daughter of
Jean Babou and the influential aunt of Henry IV's mistress
Gabrielle d'Estrées. The Hurault had owned the
château de Cheverny for several generations but, after it was seized by the king, Philippe Hurault was forced to buy it back from
Diane de Poitiers. He had the estate raised to a
viscountcy then a
comté (in 1582), and also had a house to the east of Paris, on the
Roquette estate. His
Mémoires from 1567 to 1599 survive. ==Sources==