Having attempted to seize the Marquisate of Saluzzo which he had relinquished in hopes of attaining the governorship of Languedoc, he was granted the territory in a mediated settlement overseen by the duke of Savoy in October 1579.
The closeness of Henri and Bellegarde frustrated Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers who put out, returned to France, excusing himself on the grounds the weather was not to his liking.
Their departure was however indefinitely delayed due to the dire economic straights the kingdom was in, as Henri sought desperately to float his government financially.
The garrison repulsed several attempted assaults and despite a visit from Henri to the siege lines, the soldiers began deserting en masse, angry at the lack of pay.
[9] Pushed towards a new civil war by the Ligue dominated Estates General of 1576 Henri conducted frantic diplomacy to try to avoid another conflict, succeeding in peeling away the Politiques under Damville from their former Huguenot allies.
He declared that to do so successfully required the dismantling of garrisons and fortifications and the restitution of worship rights for communities of both faiths who had been denied them in war time.
Finally the chambre de l'édit must be allowed to operate free of interference with biconfessional commissioners with local commanders of each faith acting as enforcers for their various judgements.
Henri, frustrated at this blatant insubordination considered sending in an army to crush Bellegarde, but fearful this would cause a civil war, mediation by the duke of Savoy was chosen instead.