Pressured by his subordinates Humières put himself at the head of a Ligue in opposition to this policy, a group of Picard nobles and urban elites swearing an oath and terms to oppose the appointment.

Humières who had by now converted from a reluctant leader to a committed one oversaw the refusal of entry to Condé's garrison, forcing the king to back down and offer him an alternate surety town.

[7] In 1561 the recently freed from jail Louis, Prince of Condé of the Bourbon-Vendôme, with whom Humières had considerable disagreement was granted the governorship of Picardie.

[8][9] Anjou, brother to king Charles IX wrote to Humières in his capacity as lieutenant-general of Picardie, shortly after the resumption of hostilities in September 1568.

Opposition was most fierce in the northern regions of Normandie and Picardie, where local Protestantism had been most decimated by the Saint Bartholomews Day Massacre.

To oppose Condé in any efforts to take the office, Humières formed a Ligue of Picard nobles in defence of his possession of the town, in total securing the support of around 150 in the province, several of whom were prominent Guise clients.

[20] Faced with intransigence from Péronne, the king was forced to rescind his promise to Condé, offering him Saint-Jean-d'Angély or Cognac as replacement towns for him.

[19] In the following months after having called the ligue dominated Estates General of 1576, he was compelled to break off the Peace of Monsieur and resume the civil wars.

[25] In February 1577 he wrote frustratedly to Humières again, complaining that he had altered the oath of the ligue to make it answerable to the estates general instead of the king.

[26] Despite the king's theoretical leadership of the ligue its provincial leaders Jean de Moy and Humières corresponded in secret using ciphered letters.

They bemoaned the failure to secure the loyalty of various towns, such as Amiens, the increasing prospect of peace and the difficulty with raising funds for an army.

[14] While elements of the ligue would limp on under the leadership of Maineville, the organisation was largely dormant until the death of the king's brother Alençon put the Protestant Navarre first in line for the succession.