was to be Birague, who had formerly employed the sommelier. No evidence of poisoning was found. In January 1576 Alençon repudiated the truce, linking up with forces under the Protestant Turenne. The king was forced into a favourable peace towards the Protestants to bring the civil war to a close on 6 May in the Peace of Monsieur. As a term of the peace Henri called an Estates General, this Estates was dominated by militant Catholics who wanted to overturn the recent peace and decisively crush Protestantism. Henri, having now secured the loyalty of his brother was open to doing away with the peace that he had felt forced to make, however he required funds to fight a war. To this end Birague was sent to the Estates to deliver an address, this took the form of a harangue in which he critiqued each estate for their lack of unity and expounded on how this had caused the crises that faced the kingdom in the past decade. He blamed the poverty of the crown on the irresponsibility of previous administrations, and informed the estates that it was their duty to provide money to allow the king to rebuild the royal army. His speech was the subject of mockery, due to his ineloquent presentation in comparison with the king. With civil war resumed, Birague was among those dispatched again to the estates in January 1577 to beg the estates to provide more funds. The king was unable to achieve notable success in this fundraising effort. Cardinal In 1578 Birague received appointment as Cardinal upon the recommendation of the king. That same year he lost his authority as Chancellor of France when the seals were transferred to Cheverny. As was often the case with the office, though he no longer held the authority of the office, Cheverny would not succeed him as Chancellor until his death. To compensate him Henri provided benefices of a value of 70,000 livres and another 30,000 livres to support his office of chancellor, despite no longer having its powers. Around the same time Catherine's influence on the court began to decline. Birague and Retz would continue to loyally represent her positions on court in her absence. When the king founded his new Ordre du Saint-Esprit, to replace the Order of Saint-Michel, Birague was among the early intakes as a commander. By 1582 he had determined to retire