In 1582, he was further buoyed with an appointment as governor of Metz, a key border city with the Holy Roman Empire, he was compelled to resign the post next year to the king's favourite Épernon, but received generous compensation.

After the embarrassment of the Day of the Barricades, Henri was forced to flee Paris, and found a safe residence with Rambouillet before moving on to Chartres.

In revenge for that humiliation and many others, Henri held council with Rambouillet, his brother Maintenon and the future Marshal Ornano at which it was agreed to assassinate the duke of Guise.

In the civil war that followed the assassination Rambouillet stayed with the king at Tours where he was present at the opening of the Parlement of royalist exiles.

Rambouillet remained loyal to the royalist cause after Navarre promised to protect Catholicism, and fought in Maine for the new king, achieving some success.

[7] During his lifetime, his brother Louis d'Angennes, seigneur de Maintenon would secure the lieutenant-generalcy of Maine, and it would become a family possession, held for the next several generations.

[9] In January 1566, during the long peace between the first and second civil war, Charles IX sent him to England and Scotland with the insignia of the Order of Saint Michael.

[5] In England, Elizabeth I nominated the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Leicester to join the French Order in a ceremony at Whitehall Palace.

[11] A detailed contemporary account of the ceremony names the envoy as "Jacques d'Angennes", accompanied by the herald Saint Michael, a Monsieur d'Oze, who was given the robes worn by the new knights as a prerequisite.

[16] During the masque the queen's ladies, dressed in male costume, presented 8 Scottish dirks or daggers to the French guests, with black velvet scabbards embroidered with gold.

[17][18] A Scottish chronicle described the scene:And the sammin nycht at evin, our soveranis maid ane banket to the ambassatour foirsaid [Rambouillet], in the auld chappell of Halyrudhous, quhilk wes reapparrellit with fyne tapestrie, and hung magnificentlie, be the saidis lordis maid the maskery efter supper in ane honourable maner.

And upoun the ellevint day of the said moneth, the king and quene in lyikmanner bankettit the ambassatour; and at evin our soveranis maid the maskrie and mumschance, in the quhilk the quenis grace, and all hir Maries and ladies wer all cled in men's apperrell; and everie ane of thame presentit ane quhingar [dagger], bravelie and maist artificiallie made and embroiderit with gold, to the ambassatour and his gentilmen, everie one of thame according to his estate.

[19]Following Rambouillet's stay in Edinburgh, a number of local women were slandered as prostitutes and said to have visited the ambassador's lodging dressed in men's clothes.

She wrote to him from Chatsworth when he was again ambassador to London in 1578 as a negotiator for the Alençon marriage,[22][23] and he asked Queen Elizabeth for a new physician to join her household,[24] Mary mentioned his support in a letter of April 1583.

Rambouillet was sent with a letter, in which Anjou thanked the nobles and senate for electing him, and promised to govern in consultation with them, and defend their country from threats.

[31] During Anjou's time as king of the Commonwealth, Rambouillet would be among the oldest in his entourage, being older than 40, the vast majority of Henri's associates were young men that had entered royal service around the turn of the decade.

Retz and Rambouillet led negotiations with the local nobility to hammer out the specifics of the coronation ceremony, both energetically defending his prerogatives in the discussions.

[33] On 4 June, Charles IX having died, Rambouillet was dispatched back to the Commonwealth to inform Anjou of the news, alongside Antoine d'Estrées and Henri d'Albret-Miossens.

Catherine had initially sought to provide this post to one of her favourites, Lansac, however Henri placed Rambouillet in the role while he was in Turin on the way back to France.

Henri considered Rambouillet his eyes and ears in the city, urging him to daily send him dispatches and reports so that he could remain up to date with affairs, and to conceal secret information in separate letters hidden in the mailed packets.

[37] In spring 1575, Bussy, the chief favourite of the king's brother found himself in conflict with a gentleman named Saint-Phal over the affections of a woman, the dame d'Acigne.

The two came to blows with their seconds, and Bussy departed the scene, telling Saint-Phal to meet him on the Île de la Cité for a proper duel.

[40] By 1577, Rambouillet had returned from his seigneurie, and had been established as a gentilhomme de la chambre, affording him a privileged access to the king's person.

Rambouillet would not stay in the role for long however, only managing one short visit to his governate in September 1582, before being compelled to step aside in 1583 in favour of one of the king's paramount favourites Épernon in return for a gratuity of 100,000 livres.

This was sufficient for a segment of the Catholic nobility, among them Marshal Aumont and Biron; the lieutenant-general of Champagne Dinteville; the grand prévôt Richelieu; and Rambouillet.

[57] Mayenne, lieutenant-general of France for the ligue, found himself pressured by his Spanish allies to call an Estates General in 1593 for the election of a Catholic king.