and that violence had only started after his restless troops were reunited with him, despite his desperate urgings that any man who attacked a citizen of the city would be hanged. La Châtre's exculpatory version of the events is however not taken seriously by historians, or be contemporaries, diverging as it does with every other account of the attempted coup. Alençon is generally seen as orchestrating the violence, with his young officers. In the wake of this debacle, Alençon's influence further waned in his kingdom. Fight for loyalty In 1584, the king's brother Alençon died, meaning that the Protestant Navarre was next in line of succession. The prospect of a Protestant king was unacceptable to many Catholics, and a ligue was formed by the Duke of Guise in September 1584 to exclude Navarre from the succession in favour of Cardinal Bourbon. Soon after Alençon's death, Épernon succeeded in usurping La Châtre's position as governor of the ancient Château de Loches, which he had held for the prince. La Châtre was initially courted by the king's favourite Joyeuse, who offered him patronage in lieu of Alençon, a need that had been made apparent by his loss of Loches. To buy his loyalty the king promised La Châtre that the next time there was a vacancy in the Marshalate he would be the first candidate the king would consider. This courting ultimately failed, and La Châtre rallied to Guise in their effort, bringing over the towns of his governorship, primarily Bourges in April 1585. After the quick capitulation of the crown to the ligue demands, he was tasked with campaigning in Poitou against the Protestant Prince of Condé, working alongside the governor of Anjou Bouchage and his brother Joyeuse. Together they drove Condé off after his capture of the 'château d'Angers' reconquering it for the crown. At the end of 1585, Entragues indicated that he was willing to give up his position in Orléans to a man of the king's choosing. This caused frantic efforts by Guise and La Châtre to avoid losing a strategic city to a royal loyalist. Entraguet was sent to Orléans to entreat with Entragues and by May 1586 his loyalty was secured for the king. War of the ligue Though the ligue and crown were now nominally allied against the Protestants, the king was unable to tolerate the hold the Guise had over him and the kingdom.