the ligue and La Châtre campaigned alongside the king's favourite Anne de Joyeuse against the Protestant Prince of Condé. As time went on however the king increasingly resented his capitulation to the ligue, culminating in his assassination of the duke of Guise in December 1588. In the wake of this declaration of war against the ligue, much of France defected from loyalty to the crown. La Châtre soon followed, bringing his governorship with him. During the next several years he campaigned against Navarre, but was increasingly concerned with infighting against the ligueur governor Boisdauphin. In 1594, upon receiving promise from the now Catholic Navarre, styled as Henri IV, that he could maintain his ligueur granted governorships of Berry and the Orléannais and Marshal title, gain the survivance of Berry for his son and receive a large cash bribe of 900,000 livres, he brought over his territories to the crown. Now a Marshal, he would die in 1614, his son selling his governorship of Berry several years later, and receiving a marshal title of his own. Early life and family Claude de La Châtre was born in 1536. He was raised in the household of Anne de Montmorency as a page. He married Jeanne de Chabot, with whom he would have a son Louis de La Châtre. Reign of Henri II In 1557 he abandoned his patron Montmorency, becoming a client of the Guise family. As an illustration of his new loyalties he accompanied the duke of Guise on his campaign into Italy in 1557. With the disaster that befell Montmorency and the main French army at the battle of Saint-Quentin he returned to France with Guise the following year and continued to serve with him in his newly ascendent position at Calais and Thionville. He wrote a memoir detailing Guise's exploits in these various campaigns soon after. Reign of Charles IX During the following decades he would balance his clientship to the Guise alongside loyalties to the Duke of Nevers and Alençon. Elevation La Châtre received several honours in 1568, first the governorship of Touraine in April, before being made governor of Berry in July. Around this time La Châtre was inducted as a chevalier de l'Ordre du Saint-Michel and also received a large sum of money from the crown. In September 1568 the Protestant leadership fled south from court as the crown revoked toleration. La Châtre in his capacity