The son of the most minor cadet house of the children of Claude, Duke of Guise, Elbeuf initially lacked the prominence of his cousins, however his succession to the Rieux inheritance made him important.

Upon the prince's return as Henri III of France in 1574 Elbeuf would receive the honour of assuming the position of grand chamberlain during the coronation.

Elbeuf and Alençon would travel to the Spanish Netherlands where they would relieve the besieged town of Cambrai, to much acclaim from the citizenry.

This was unacceptable to much of Catholic France, and the Guise family who were already disgruntled by their alienation from royal favour exploited it in the formation of a second ligue.

Elbeuf for his part was frustrated by the granting of the governorship of Normandie, where all his estates were located to the royal favourite Joyeuse.

While the ligue and crown were now nominally allies, the accord was tenuous, and began to collapse in 1588 over the issue of Épernon, who the Guise despised.

Elbeuf began raising forces in Normandie once again, but open confrontation was avoided, and the king capitulated to the ligue while staying in Rouen in July 1588.

He maintained cordial relations with the royal governor of Poitou, Malicorne and during a truce that year, enjoyed leisure pursuits with the ligues enemy Navarre.

It thus followed that he was the first member of his family to defect to the royalist cause, doing so in 1594, in exchange for a large bribe, confirmation of his governorship of Poitiers and a sizable pension.

[2] At this time, he was a valuable child, the heir to part of the Rieux inheritance, and as such was kept under close wardship by Cardinal Lorraine, and Suzanne de Bourbon-Montpensier, his maternal grandmother.

[7] Marguerite soon moved to Normandie in 1584, and began working to bring the governor of Le Havre, a key port town, over to the ligueur cause.

[12] This attitude was partly pragmatism, in Normandie, unlike Champagne, there were many important Protestant noble families, that a man of Elbeuf's standing needed to form relationships with.

[13] In 1573, Anjou, was elected as king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the fourth war of a religion was brought to a close to facilitate his travel.

Having heard of his brothers death and the vacancy of the French throne he hurried to abandon the Commonwealth, fleeing in the night on horseback from the country.

[18] Henri was conscious that in years previous, the crown's chief knightly order, that of Saint-Michel had been debased by its continuous award.

In September 1580, negotiations took place between a delegation of the Dutch States-General and members of his council, among them the governor of Berry, La Châtre, brother of the duke of Montmorency, Méru and Elbeuf.

After initially collaborating with Alençon in the relief of Cambrai, which secured the important city for the new king, the two men fell into disagreement and parted ways, Elbeuf leaving under the pretext of an illness.

[29] During late 1584 each provincial leader began sounding out their clientele for support of the new ligue, which was declared in a manifesto at Reims in March 1585.

[32] In a secret treaty at Joinville on 31 December 1584, the Guise entered a formal agreement with Felip II, king of Spain promising various concession in return for financial subsidy.

[36] The king greatly resented the hold the ligueur aligned family held over much of France and initially sought to defy the ligue in favour of Navarre's succession.

To this end he instructed his favourite Anne de Joyeuse, to counteract Aumale, and Elbeuf in their attempts to dominate Normandie.

The capture of an Italian banker delighted the Parisian population which forged a Sorbonne decree celebrating Elbeuf's actions and implying he possessed Papal infallibility.

Elbeuf returned to recruiting in Normandie as he had in 1584, and by March was ready to raise his standard at Harcourt, boasting a force of around 7000 men.

The king for his part, seeing the hopelessness of his situation was compelled to capitulate again to the ligue in a new Edict of Union on 21 July, while staying in Rouen.

[47] Unable to tolerate the hold the Guise family had over the crown in the wake of the Day of the Barricades, Henri resolved to kill the duke.

He was encouraged towards this course of action by reports that the duke of Guise had alienated members of his familial network, including Elbeuf who were jealous of his power.

In the preceding evening before the attempt, on 22 December, Elbeuf warned his cousin that the king desired his death, however Guise could not believe Henri would defy him in such a way.

[54] Despite his ligueur appointment, Elbeuf did not engage in any military actions against Navarre, and enjoyed friendly relations with Malicorne the royalist governor of Poitou.

[55] Though Poitiers was formally in obedience to the crown, urban disorders climaxed against royal authority again in 1601 after the issuance of the 'pancarte' tax on merchandise.

[59] He further involved himself in disputes over the leadership of the city militia in July 1601, selecting his own candidate after the local military leaders failed to reach a decision.