Jacques d'Humières

Humières served, both as lieutenant-general of Picardie at large, granting him the powers of governor during the governors absences, and simultaneously as de jure governor of the towns of Péronne, Montdidier and Roye. In the 1570s he found himself locked in a bitter dispute with Guillaume de Montmorency-Thoré and lacking the influence at court to prosecute it.[4]

The Peace of Monsieur which brought the fifth war of religion to a close provided the most generous terms of the period to the Protestants. This frustrated many radical Catholics who did not feel like they had lost a war. Opposition was most fierce in the northern regions of Normandie and Picardie, where local Protestantism had been most decimated by the Saint Bartholomews Day Massacre.[13] In opposition to the terms generally, and a clause that granted Henri, Prince of Condé the governorship of Picardie and the town of Péronne specifically, Humières, who governed Péronne refused to yield his post and begged the king not to allow his city to have a Protestant garrison at the urgings of his subordinates. To oppose Condé in any efforts to take the office, Humières formed a Ligue of Picard nobles in defence of his possession of the town, in total securing the support of around 150 in the province, several of whom were prominent Guise clients.[14] Most prominent among these were Michel d'Estourmel and Jacques d'Happlaincourt who were indeed the initial drivers of the ligue, with Humières a reluctant figurehead.[15] The ligue spread first to other Picard towns, finding support in Saint-Quentin, Beauvais and Corbie, alongside the other towns under Humiėres authority Montdidier and Roye.[16][17] Applaincourt had travelled to Abbeville to proselytise the ligue message, while the sieur de Sainte-Marie travelled to Amiens.[18] In the first month of its existence the ligue of Péronne imposed 240,000 livres in taxation and established an army of 3000.[19]

When Condé's garrison arrived, it was refused entry into the town, Henri wrote bitterly to Bellièvre on the situation, meanwhile money was flowing into Péronne from the towns that supported Humières' manifesto.[20] Faced with intransigence from Péronne, the king was forced to rescind his promise to Condé, offering him Saint-Jean-d'Angély or Cognac as replacement towns for him.[21] Concurrently he urged on the national level for all righteous Catholics to form a broader Christian union against heresy. As the ligue spread across France, modelled on the oath and declaration Humières' ligue had taken in June, king Henri denounced Humières, urging him to abide by the terms of the peace, highlighting Péronne's status as a border town, suggesting his actions might be taken advantage of by the Spanish.[22] He highlighted to Humières that he had selected a Catholic as the towns leading local authority and that the garrison would not pillage as they would be well paid. He went on to demand of Humières that he expel Applaincourt and Estourmel from the town, seeing them as the leading influences in this movement.[23] Humières ignored the king's pleas. Meanwhile the duke of Guise gravitated to the movement and set out what he believed were its principles.[24]

The king, seeking to control the dangerous movement that was spreading across France declared that no one was a better Catholic than himself, and thus put himself at the head of the ligue. As head of the ligue every provincial governor and lieutenant-general received a 'formula of association', the terms were a disappointment to the radicals. All other ligues except for the kings were outlawed and Protestantism was not banned.[19] In the following months after having called the ligue dominated Estates General of 1576, he was compelled to break off the Peace of Monsieur and resume the civil wars.[25] In February 1577 he wrote frustratedly to Humières again, complaining that he had altered the oath of the ligue to make it answerable to the estates general instead of the king.[26] Despite the king's theoretical leadership of the ligue its provincial leaders Jean de Moy and Humières corresponded in secret using ciphered letters. They bemoaned the failure to secure the loyalty of various towns, such as Amiens, the increasing prospect of peace and the difficulty with raising funds for an army. Indeed when Humières had tried to stage an entry into Amiens he had been refused entry and the king rewarded the town with a large bribe of 8000 livres.[27] In May they met to plan out a letter to the king, urging him against making peace.[28]

The Peace of Bergerac that brought this war to a close in September 1577 would be fairly similar to the Peace of Monsieur, however Protestant worship was limited to towns under their control and one town per baillage elsewhere, Humières Ligue, and all potential others in France were banned.[14] While elements of the ligue would limp on under the leadership of Maineville, the organisation was largely dormant until the death of the king's brother Alençon put the Protestant Navarre first in line for the succession.[29]

Hoping to buy his loyalty, Humières was included among the first intake for Henri's new Order of the Holy Spirit, to replace the diluted Order of Saint-Michel in 1579, he died the same year in March.[30]