he was hit by a cannonball and killed. Early life and family His family, one of the numerous branches of the House of Gontaut, took its title from the territory of Biron in Périgord, where on a hill between the Dropt and the Lide, the Château de Biron still stands, begun by the lords of Biron in the 11th century. Biron, born in 1524 served as a page of Queen Marguerite de Navarre. He was a man of considerable literary attainments, and used to carry a pocketbook, in which he noted everything that appeared remarkable. Some of his letters are preserved in the Bibliothèque nationale and in the British Museum; these include a treatise on the art of war. His son, Charles de Gontaut, duc de Biron (1562–1602), also became Marshal of France in 1594. A grandson of his second son, Henry, was Charles-Armand de Gontaut, another Marshal of France. Reign of Henri II Biron attracted the notice of the Marshal Brissac, with whom he saw active service in Italy. A wound he received in his early years made him lame for life, and gave him the nickname Armand Le Boiteux (the limper). He did not however withdraw from his military career, and he held a command in Guise's regiment of light horse in 1557. A short while later he became chief of a cavalry regiment. Reign of Francis II In 1560 Biron reported to the crown concerning the situation he faced in Guyenne with disaffected nobles turning to Protestantism. Reign of Charles IX First civil war During the fighting of the first civil war, he fought for the crown at the Battle of Dreux in December 1562. Long peace The Edict of Amboise brought an end to the first war of religion in March 1563. To ensure that its terms would be followed across France, commissioners were sent out to oversee its implementation and resolve disputes. Biron was sent to Provence, where there were reports of problems in implementing the peace. Upon arriving he reduced the hold out town of Sisteron which had not relinquished its Protestant garrison. He further reinstalled the governor Tende who had been chased out of Provence by his own son during the civil war. He reported back to the crown in April 1564 that both the commissioners and those who desired to lodge complaints about the enforcement were being intimidated by the local nobility.