To secure his consent to this political arrangement François created for the couple the Duchy of Étampes and restored effective control of the County of Penthièvre to his family, it having been confiscated after their disgrace.

Catherine de Medici who had been sidelined during the reign of her husband used his death to banish Diane from the court, and as a result Étampes found himself restored to his duchy.

Opposition to the Guise government boiled over during the Conspiracy of Amboise, Étampes sought to suppress sedition in his governorship, passing on seditious material to the court.

[citation needed] In 1533, on François I's instruction he married Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly, the mistress of the king, and was shortly thereafter created Count, then Duke of Étampes.

this marriage also re-secured for his family the County of Penthièvre that had been seized from them following their involvement in the League of the Public Weal as a reward for facilitating the king access to his mistress.

In 1543 he was appointed governor of Brittany, to assist him in administering the province, his nephew Martigues was chosen as his lieutenant-general, handling many of the military affairs of the territory.

[6] In 1555 Étampes and his wife were dispossessed of the duchy of Chevreuse, compelled to sell it and the lands of Meudon to Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine in return for 50,000 écus.

[10] Due to the weakness of the central administration as the religious crisis deepened, the crown was compelled to ask Étampes to publicly offer his support to the regency, to demonstrate that leading magnates were still loyal.

[16] The crown urged him to seize church plate to help reduce the costs of the war, however Étampes was unenthused by the idea, noting that particularly in south Brittany this would be met by considerable resistance from the populace.

This practice had been very rare during the reign of François I, but was proliferating by that of Charles IX as governors successfully maintained their posts within their families at a far higher frequency.