He spent a great part of his childhood with the future king of France Louis XIII, until the assassination of the latter's father, Henry IV, in 1610.

He also maintained the confidence of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu and was an intimate of the Spanish-born queen, Anne of Austria.

He and his some of his descendants cultivated what became known as the esprit Mortemart,[1] a particular type of wit which allowed impossible things to be said.

He was popular at the royal court, although his brother Louis and his cousin François de Rochechouart had been banished for their involvement in the Day of the Dupes in November 1630, when the enemies of Cardinal Richelieu mistakenly believed that they had succeeded in persuading Louis XIII to dismiss Richelieu from power.

[2] During his infancy, till he succeeded his father, he was known as the Marquis de Vivonne, a subsidiary title which was raised to a duchy in 1668.