That brought him into conflict with those around the dauphin, Henri II, and led to his famous duel with La Châtaignerie at the advent of the new king's reign.

As a result, after assisting a coup during the first War of Religion, he found himself forced into exile from the town out of fear of assassination.

Once more of utility to the court, Jarnac was called to offer his services again in 1568 and attempted bring La Rochelle into order.

[1] His uncle Philippe was a childhood friend of François I, who became Admiral of France, governor of Burgundy and was afforded a marriage to Françoise de Longwy, a relation of the king.

[3] The relations between the dauphin Henri and François were tested by the latent feud between Jarnac and La Châtaigneraie, both of whom represented one of the court's key factions.

[5] Seeking to end the rumours, Jarnac filed a suit in the Parlement of Bourdeaux on grounds of defamation and challenged the king's childhood friend La Châtaigneraie to a duel to settle the matter.

Eventually, at the urgings of Montmorency and his sister, he recognised Jarnac as the victor of the duel and freed him from the obligation to kill La Châtaigneraie.

La Châtaigneraie meanwhile, who was being tended to by a physician, tore off his bandages and allowed himself to bleed out, preferring death to dishonour.

[8] He could not revenge on Jarnac without appearing vindictive, but when the échevins of La Rochelle caught wind of the changing political climate, Henri was petitioned to abolish the perpetual mayoralty of the city that Charles enjoyed and to restore the town council, which he promptly did in 1548.

François III La Rochefoucauld, who was in correspondence with elements inside the town, plotted a coup to seize control of the strategic centre, but the plan was foiled.

[13] Despite his loyalty to the crown, he struggled to enforce the orders that he received from court and protested that 'enforcing changing policies is very difficult to do here.

'[14] Louis, Duke of Montpensier, who was in charge of securing Guyenne for the crown, made common cause with Jarnac in the wake of La Rochefoucauld's aborted coup and agreed with Jarnac that he would smuggle troops into the town and assert the supremacy of the crown over the troublesome town authorities.

[18] When Charles embarked upon his royal tour of France to investigate deviations from the Edict of Amboise and to enforce his authority on the troubled kingdom, Jarnac urged him to conduct an inspection of La Rochelle.

Jarnac remained in the town for a time, the threats against his life having increased to the point that he rarely left his house without twenty bodyguards.

[20] In 1566, conscious of economic pressures, Charles ordered Jarnac to disband his bodyguard, the crown no longer willing to pay for the security of La Rochelle's unpopular governor.