this end a plot was devised to spirit the young Anjou away from court so that he could be raised in properly Catholic environs such as Savoy. Nemours was implicated as a leader in this attempted conspiracy. To encourage the young prince away from the court, Nemours had enlisted the young Henri de Guise, to draw his playmate away. Having gained awareness of the plot, Catherine questioned her child as to who had tried to persuade him to leave court; the 10-year-old implicated Nemours on 29 October. Shortly thereafter Catherine ordered Nemours' arrest, and he fled court. However as she began to pursue a case against them, it became apparent that the only testimony in support would be from a 10-year-old child; as such the case against Nemours was dropped shortly thereafter and he was given permission to return to court. With the departure of the Guise and their allies from the court for the second time in October 1561, Nemours was among those who joined them on their exodus. The motive for the departure was not purely religious but also factional, with Longueville, a long-time associate of the Guise, departing also, despite his Protestantism. In total their retinue numbered 700 horse, a large section of the nobility gathered at court. Their departure, alongside that of Anne de Montmorency left the regency government of Catherine de Medici with a precariously thin base of support, propped up only by the Bourbon-Vendôme and the Châtillon. First war of religion During the first civil war, Nemours attempted to reduce the city of Lyon which had risen up in support of the prince of Condé. He fought with the baron des Adrets in Dauphiné, and in December was in the process of negotiating a favourable truce with the infamous commander which would have seen him secure the defection of the rebel army. However, Adrets' subordinates learned of the negotiations and had him arrested. In the major field battle of the war at Dreux, the governor of the Lyonnais, Beaujolais and Forez, Marshal Saint-André was murdered on the field after having surrendered. This left a vacancy for his governate, which was to be filled by Nemours. In the wake of the Edict of Amboise which brought the first civil war to a close with the provision of limited toleration to Protestants the crown desired to reconcile the factions to ensure internal peace. To this end