Philippe de Mornay

His career as Huguenot apologist began in 1571 with the work Dissertation sur l'Église visible, and, as a diplomat in 1572, he undertook a confidential mission for Admiral de Coligny to William the Silent, Prince of Orange.

He was taken prisoner by the Duke of Guise on 10 October 1575 was but ransomed for a small sum, which was paid by Charlotte Arbaleste, whom he married shortly afterwards at Sedan.

During his time in England, both he and his wife befriended English Protestants like Francis Walsingham, Mary Sidney, and her brother Philip Sydney.

He was bitterly disappointed by Henry IV's abjuration of Protestantism in 1593 and gradually withdrew from the court, devoting himself to the Academy of Saumur, which had a distinguished history until its suppression by Louis XIV in 1683.

Jacques Davy Du Perron, bishop of Évreux (who later became cardinal and archbishop of Sens), accused Mornay of misquoting at least 500, and a public disputation was held at Fontainebleau on 4 May 1600.