Around this time he caught the attention of the king and entered into the circle of his favourites, he was made a Gentilhomme de la chambre (gentleman of the chamber) then a Chambellan (chamberlain).

Joyeuse led a royal army into Auvergne in summer 1586 against the Protestants and succeeded in capturing a number of small settlements before his campaign bogged down and he returned to court in failure.

[8][9] Anne had 6 younger brothers, among whom:[3] King Henri III began looking for advantageous marriages to cement the position of his chief favourites in court, choosing Marguerite de Lorraine for Joyeuse.

Surprisingly Joyeuse's own mother was also unkeen on the match, Marie being greatly fearful that her son would not be able to support the financial costs associated with providing for a princess and thus his ruination would follow.

[35] Despite this he expressed great longing when separated from his wife in his letters, calling for Marguerite to come join him at Niort as he prepared to conduct the siege of Fontenay which he feared might take a significant time to reduce.

In 1573 he and his brother Henri finished their educations at the Collège de Navarre in Paris, a prestigious institution which was attended by many of the leading nobles of France such as Admiral Coligny and the duke of Aumale.

After entering royal favour, Joyeuse desired his own hôtel and rented one known as the Cygne blanc on the rue Saint-Honoré from a merchant for the expensive sum of 1200 livres a month from 1580.

[2] By this time however he was ready to move beyond the boundaries of Languedoc, and joined the main royal army of the war which was under the nominal command of king Henri III's brother Alençon.

Some time between the capture of the city and the Peace of Bergerac which brought the civil war to a close he was introduced to the royal court and quickly entered the circle of favourites around Henri III.

[10] Le Roux speculates the king may have been drawn to him for two possible reasons, firstly to gain the fidelity of a powerful Languedoc house which he could employ against the Montmorency, second to deny his brother Alençon a potential favourite.

Henri was not initially concerned by the absence of his brother, however the favourites reminded him of the consequences of Alençon's last flight from court in 1575, when he had put himself at the head of the king's opponents and forced a humiliating peace upon the crown.

[22] As a part of the important position Henri had provided the men with, he expected them in return to act as intermediaries with the provincial nobility and form their own fidelity networks that would be loyal to the crown through the distribution of honours.

[37][95] The disgrace of D'O brought further benefit to the Joyeuse family, with Arques' brother Bouchage receiving the office of maître de la garde-robe (Master of the Wardrobe).

[125] On the same day that they received the honour of being made premier gentilhomme, both Joyeuse and Épernon were inducted into the Ordre du Saint-Esprit that they had borne witness to the creation of back in 1579.

A title of the importance of Admiral would require significant compensation be granted to Mayenne for relinquishing it, and it was agreed that he would be awarded 360,000 livres and receive the elevation of his cousin Elbeuf's marquisate into a duchy.

[22] Unlike the charge of Marshal, it was not supposed that a man made Admiral would have any specific naval experience and the post had a history of being granted to royal favourites going back to the start of the century.

His summary executions of many nobles aroused the fury of the French court, Catherine de Medici vowing to send a new expedition to avenge the prior, with the duke of Brissac at its head.

[143] In his capacity as Admiral, Joyeuse sought to oppose the designs of the duke of Guise and various allied lords for an invasion of England to liberate Mary, Queen of Scots.

Alençon responded by claiming the governate for himself, which according to Le Roux therefore made Joyeuse's appointment a deliberate attempt of the king to limit his brothers ambitions.

He wrote to Joyeuse to urge him that Rouen did not need to send more than one merchant to represent their interests to the crown, and that if every town in France cut down like this royal expenses would be significantly reduced.

[163] While efforts against Montmorency were unsuccessful, Joyeuse was able to convince the Pope to sanction a further alienation of church property, on the grounds that the money raised would be used for a new war against Protestantism.

Though not having achieved much of what he wanted, Joyeuse left Roma satisfied on 13 July, travelling back to France via all the major cities of northern Italia, in each of which he functioned as something akin to an ambassador.

Among them was the governor of Berry La Châtre who had in prior months enjoyed a friendly meeting with Joyeuse and Épernon at which the two men had promised that they would gain for him the title of Marshal.

[190] His very appointment as governor of Normandie previously, had alienated the noblesse seconde families of Moy and Le Veneur, making them less keen to join in the fight against the Norman ligue.

[191][152] Joyeuse would ultimately have little chance to battle with the Norman ligueurs, however he would pursue the duke of Elbeuf out of the province, succeeding in bringing him into a skirmish on 17 June near Beaugency at which the prince of Lorraine was bested.

He hoped to use the opportunity of being at court to conduct reorganisations of the navy, however he was frustrated in this by Aymar de Chaste, who held the authority of Admiral in the absence of Joyeuse while he was on campaign and was little interested in Lanssac's ambitions.

In the estimation of the Savoyard ambassador Lucinge, Joyeuse lacked the desire to truly win and form a faction of the nobility truly devoted to his person as Épernon, Guise and Navarre had accomplished.

Upon hearing this Joyeuse resolved to cut off Turenne and Soissons from the main Protestant force, taking the remnants of Lavardin's army and what troops Mercœur had been able to provide.

Navarre now abandoned Poitou back to Joyeuse, his prior plan to hold it having been based on the weak army in Lavardin's possession, not accounting for the possibility of further reinforcements.

[26] While the duke of Guise felt the governate of Normandie was his right in return for his victory against the German mercenaries, however Henri awarded it to the remaining arch favourite Épernon, provoking considerable outrage among much of the nobility.