in force; their retinue clashing with that of the Montmorency in a bloody failure. Humiliated Lorraine and Guise retreated to their residence, where they were taunted even by Catholic Parisians. In early January 1566 Lorraine travelled to the court at Moulins to appeal for proceedings against Coligny, characterising himself as a defender of the princes against this house that was the son of a baron. The princes at court voted against Lorraine's motion, and the crown was able to compel Lorraine and Coligny to exchange the kiss of peace. This was confirmed in a declaration of Coligny's innocence established in edict on 29 January 1566. Peace Coligny took no part in the negotiations of the Edict of Amboise, and blamed Condé for failing to achieve a settlement that took advantage of what he felt was their advantageous position. He would remain largely uninvolved in the interpretative declarations that modified the peace over the next several years. He turned his attention to international enterprises, first concerning the colonial project in Florida, and then commercial activity in the North Sea. These enterprises would come to little. Having largely been absent from court over the prior years, Coligny began to appear there more frequently from 1566. In 1566 Francisque and André d'Albaigne submitted to Coligny projects for establishing relations with the Austral lands. Although he gave favourable consideration to these initiatives, they came to naught. Meaux Tensions between the leading Huguenots and the crown escalated in 1567 as a result of several key factors. Firstly the modifications to the edict of Amboise, which in 1567 included an expansion of the prohibition on Protestantism from Paris to the Île-de-France region. The main impetus would however be Spain. Rumours had been swirling in Huguenot circles that Alba's meeting with Catherine in 1566 during the royal tour, had not in fact been to discuss marriage proposals, but in fact, to plot the destruction of French Huguenots. When news reached the court that Alba was marching north along the Spanish Road to crush a Protestant uprising in the Spanish Netherlands Huguenots and Catholics alike were alarmed. The crown decided to hire 6000 Swiss to protect the country, in case Alba turned his army on the kingdom. However, the Protestant nobles claimed these Swiss were to be used in conjunction with Alba's forces for the genocidal operation. Coligny, having been passed over in favour of Filippo di Piero