At the age of fifteen he joined the Canons Regular of Saint-Cheron, and was sent to the College of Navarre in Paris, where he received the degree of Doctor of Theology (1555).
On account of the erudition of his early works and the aptitude which he showed for controversy, he was called to the Conference of Poissy, held in 1561 between the Catholics and the Huguenots, at which Theodore of Beza and Diego Lainez, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, were present.
He published a work against their spoliation of Catholic churches and a vigorous declaration against the doctrines of John Calvin and Theodore of Beza; the latter replied and drew upon himself a new attack from Claude de Sainctes.
When the League became active he took sides with it and worked to gain partisans, but the royal troops took possession of Évreux and the bishop was forced to flee.
At the request of the Cardinal de Bourbon and of several bishops, Henry IV commuted his sentence to life imprisonment, and he was confined in the château of Crèvecoeur where he died two months later.