by the time of the prince's return to court in 1578. Maugiron, keen to represent his patron took the opportunity of Alençon's presence at a ball for the wedding of one of the king's favourites, Saint-Luc, to insult his former protector. Maugiron and Saint-Luc had previously pursued legal proceedings against one of Alençon's favourites, La Châtre as a way of attacking the king's brother. The following day Alençon decided to flee court, and while this plan was at first frustrated, he escaped on 14 February. 'Duel of the Mignons' Rid of their enemy, the remaining favourites in the capital turned their attentions on the duke of Guise, persuading the king to remove the honour of grand maître from him, in favour of Caylus. The two sides, led by Gilles de Souvré and La Valette, first almost came to blows in a dispute over the love of a woman on 2 April, however the king was able to intervene and calm the two sides down. However, at 5am on 27 April a duel took place between Caylus for the king and Entraguet for the duke of Guise, with Maugiron and Livarot as seconds for the former and Ribérac and Schomberg as seconds for the latter. The two parties met at the horse market near Porte Saint-Antoine. To avoid further royal interference, great discretion was taken in ensuring the preparations were undertaken in secret. Unusually for duels at the time the seconds were involved in the fighting. During the combat that followed Maugiron was killed in a sudden thrust from Ribérac's sword however as he fell backwards Ribérac unable to stop himself landed on the dead Maugiron's sword. Maugiron's death was quick, unlike that of his first, Caylus who lingered for a month. Livarot took a blow to the head and convalesced for six weeks before recovering. Schomberg was also killed instantly during the combat, while Ribérac died the following day. Only Entraguet walked away with a simple scratch to the arm. Brantôme wrote that the duel was ultimately about the love of women as opposed to the grand maître title. The king was distraught at the loss of Maugiron and Caylus. This loss was compounded a little while later with the assassination of another of his favourites, Saint-Mégrin. He commissioned the poet Pierre de Ronsard to write verse for the men. At court he treated the deaths as those of a