A Catholic, he remained loyal to the crown when the French Wars of Religion broke out in 1562, and was rewarded for his loyalty with elevation into the highest chivalric order and the governorship of Berry in 1568.

On the death of Charles IX he avoided involvement in the Malcontent conspiracy of 1574, and strongly resisted concessions to the King's brother Alençon to restore his loyalty, which would have meant yielding his town of Bourges.

It became increasingly apparent that tensions between Alençon and Henri in the city were explosive, and La Châtre proposed to the prince that he flee to Angers.

Defecting with his governorship from the crown, Henri was soon forced to capitulate to the ligue and La Châtre campaigned alongside the king's favourite Anne de Joyeuse against the Protestant Prince of Condé.

With the disaster that befell Montmorency and the main French army at the battle of Saint-Quentin he returned to France with Guise the following year and continued to serve with him in his newly ascendent position at Calais and Thionville.

This potentially explosive situation worried Catherine and the king, who quickly sought to re-secure the prince's loyalty through the offer of several security towns, among them Bourges.

La Châtre was however uninterested in supporting the crown in this bribery effort, and refused the order to hand over Bourges when Montmorency attempted to assume control of it.

[12] La Châtre, under royal pressure departed from Bourges, however he handed over the citadel of the town to members of the urban elite who he knew to be hostile to Alençon's cause before he left.

The radical Catholic's forced a resumption of war to revoke the peace, Alençon eager for glory decided to lead the crown's army against Protestant held cities.

In outlining his demands for a return to Paris, Alençon opined that he would need Bussy and La Châtre to receive a place on the conseil privé where they could represent his interests.

[18] Meanwhile, the attorney Le Riche attempted to look for methods to compromise Alençon's position through charging his favourites Bussy, La Châtre and Simiers for the fights they engaged in with other gentleman, however this came to nothing.

[27] Upon entering the country, the duke of Parma's army, ravaged by attrition, scattered from in front of Cambrai allowing Alençon to claim the city.

While Alençon was enjoying the adoration of the cities inhabitants, La Châtre was struggling to maintain his forces in villages nearby, many of whom were becoming mutinous due to the lack of water.

In November the States were persuaded to renegotiate their financial commitment to their king, expanding the revenues available to him to 4,000,000 livres a year for the prosecution of the war against Spain.

The prospect of a Protestant king was unacceptable to many Catholics, and a ligue was formed by the Duke of Guise in September 1584 to exclude Navarre from the succession in favour of Cardinal Bourbon.

Soon after Alençon's death, Épernon succeeded in usurping La Châtre's position as governor of the ancient Château de Loches, which he had held for the prince.

[32] La Châtre was initially courted by the king's favourite Joyeuse, who offered him patronage in lieu of Alençon, a need that had been made apparent by his loss of Loches.

[33] This courting ultimately failed, and La Châtre rallied to Guise in their effort, bringing over the towns of his governorship, primarily Bourges in April 1585.

[34][35] After the quick capitulation of the crown to the ligue demands, he was tasked with campaigning in Poitou against the Protestant Prince of Condé, working alongside the governor of Anjou Bouchage and his brother Joyeuse.

Taking charge in the capital, Guise instructed La Châtre to reach out to the great noble Nevers promising him a prominent place in a new government.

[39] He continued to play on this theme in letters to Nevers, writing in June that rumours the king had dismissed Épernon were false, and that only the ligue could solve the government.

La Chàtre meanwhile attempted to seize the town of Aubigny but was bested by a representative of the late king, Montigny, who forced him to lift the siege.

[46] In February 1594 he abandoned his allegiance to the ligue, bringing over the cities of Orléans and Bourges to the royal camp in his liguer capacity as governor of Berry and the Orléannais.