Philibert de la Guiche.

About Philibert de la Guiche

Philibert de La Guiche, seigneur de Chaumont was a French noble, courtier, governor and military officer during the French Wars of Religion. The son of a prominent noble in Mâcon, La Guiche inherited his father's position in the city in 1555. He served under the command of the duke of Montmorency during the early wars of religion, during which he was awarded the highest chivalric honour, that of l'Ordre de Saint-Michel. Keeping his governorships out of involvement in the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre, he was with the brother of the king the duke of Anjou for the prosecution of the siege of La Rochelle. He made an impression upon the prince and was appointed to a position in his household, and was granted the governorship of the Bourbonnais. Upon Anjou's election as king of the Commonwealth he travelled to the country with the now king, serving in his household. Anjou soon returned to France to assume the kingship, styling himself Henri III. The new king was confronted with a civil war, which La Guiche served in, first as commander of an ordinance company, and then as maître de camp for the light horse, an appointment designed to erode the influence over the cavalry of the duke of Guise.