Under King Charles IX he would be elevated to marshal and would serve the crown in the early religious wars, increasingly in the role of peacemaker and diplomat, though with scattered military service as with the recapture of Le Havre in 1563.

He was eldest to his sister named Françoise, and grandson of his namesake François de Scépeaux [fr], chamberlain of King Charles VIII.

Vielleville cautioned against this move, arguing that if they wished to gain the defections of more towns in Alsace peacefully, it would be best to leave the current council in charge.

[7] A year later, after the embarrassment at sack of Thérouanne had partially discredited Montmorency in the eyes of the king, Guise was successful in pushing for his client, Vielleville, to assume the governorship of Metz, replacing Cossé.

[2] Catherine, now regent for her son, was concerned about the possibility of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor using the chaos that had consumed France in the last year to seize back the three bishoprics.

Vielleville was responsible for the Lyonnais, Dauphiné, Provence and Languedoc, beginning his work in the major city of Lyon which had been a Huguenot stronghold during the civil war.

[14] When populations felt their commissioners were failing to produce justice, they would appeal to the Marshals, or the King, asking them to intervene, as happened with the Huguenot nobility of Maine to Vielleville.

He was sent on a diplomatic expedition with Bellièvre and the bishop of Limoges to Switzerland to promise payment for debts incurred to the cantons during the wars of Henri II.

[19] With Alva due to march north to crush a rebellion in the Spanish Netherlands the court of France was thrown into alarm at the prospect of this army being turned upon the kingdom.

To this end Vielleville was instructed to go back to his crucial post in the frontier city of Metz, to ensure the bishoprics would be ready to meet any challenge from Spain.

[20] The Huguenot nobility was also alarmed, seeing in Alva's movements a plot to destroy them in league with the extremists at court, thus entering into a plan to capture the king at Meaux and execute Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine.

They were met with a tirade against the Guise, and demands for all Italian financiers to be expelled, all taxes since Louis XI to be revoked and an Estates General to be called.

[22] With the second civil war concluded in 1568, Vielleville was among those pressuring the young king to demonstrate his commitment to the Peace of Longjumeau, through the enforcement of both the Catholic and Protestant populations of France.

[24] Alongside the other more politique marshals at court, he was alarmed by the growing influence of Lorraine and his proximity to the king's brother Anjou, who was looking to become Lieutenant-General of the kingdom.