During the first civil war Matignon would come into conflict with the governor, who occupied a third individual position between the crown and the rebels as he felt his authority eroded.

In 1579 he again had to subdue a Protestant rebellion, this time led by Condé Having lost out on his governorship, he was granted office in Guyenne as compensation, a role in which he enriched himself in the coming years.

[2] As towns fell to the rebels in early 1562, Claude, Duke of Aumale was granted a special commission as lieutenant-general of Normandy to restore royal authority.

[3] Money was in short supply, and Matignon as much as his Protestant adversaries in Rouen relied on melted down church plate to fund his troops.

[6] On the death of Charles IX in 1574, Montgomery took the opportunity to attempt to seize Alençon, departing Carentan with 650 horse hoping to surprise the city.

His operations were almost derailed by a threatened strike from his artillery officers due to lack of pay, however Catherine arranged for the sum to be forwarded to them from Paris.

Matignon in his role as governor of lower Normandy wrote to the king informing him of areas where there might be trouble, and further stepped in to stop a disturbance in Coutances.

[12] In 1579, Condé, frustrated about his failure to re-acquire the governorship of Picardie, seized the town of La Fère, initiating the seventh war of religion.

While the forces of the ligue set to work with zeal, Marshals Matignon and Biron in Guyenne half heartedly pressed against Navarre.

[20] Matignon conducted punitive expeditions for Navarre in 1594, his forces descending into the Dordogne, however much of the liguer nobility retreated to their château's, waited for the threat to pass, and then re-emerged.

[21] The continued ravages of the civil wars had left many peasants destitute by this point, and many turned to join the growing Croquant rebellions in the south west of France.

One package was prepared by the king's minister the baron de Rosny and proposed various quick expedients to secure a cash flow, the other was devised by Bellièvre, and was constituted of a wide scale austerity program, with large restructuring of France's finances.

To lead the discussions of the notables in considering these proposals matters were divided into three chambers which were led by Matignon, Marshal Retz and the duc de Montpensier respectively.

[24] In the end, the notables agreed to the establishment of a new tax, known as the pancarte which appropriated 1/20th of the revenue of goods, and a year long suspension of royal wages among other resolutions.