Nicolas d'Angennes
Nicolas d'Angennes, sieur de Rambouillet was a French noble, governor, diplomat and soldier during the French Wars of Religion. The son of Jacques d'Angennes and Isabelle Cottereau, Rambouillet rose fast during the civil wars. In 1568, he was made a chevalier de l'Ordre de Saint-Michel and governor of Maine. In this period he served as a diplomat for the French crown, being given a mission to travel to England. With Anjou, the brother of the king's, election as king of the Commonwealth in 1573, he was dispatched as Anjou's vice-roi to the Commonwealth court in Kraków to thank the senate for his election, and prepare the way for his lord. Upon Anjou's arrival, he would be selected as the main conduits between the French court in the country and the local aristocracy. Tiring of the court, he departed back to France, only to again find himself on a mission to the Commonwealth, to inform Anjou that he was now king of France.
The new king, now styling himself Henri, made Rambouillet captain of his guard. Rambouillet was however frustrated he had not received more honours, and spent much time in the next year away from court. He commanded an ordinance company during the fifth war of religion. By 1577, the king was showing greater favour to him, and he became first gentilhomme de la chambre and then Chambellan and commander of 100 gentleman in 1580. That year he was enrolled as a chevalier de l'Ordre du Saint-Esprit. In 1582, he was further buoyed with an appointment as governor of Metz, a key border city with the Holy Roman Empire, he was compelled to resign the post next year to the king's favourite Épernon, but received generous compensation. After the embarrassment of the Day of the Barricades, Henri was forced to flee Paris, and found a safe residence with Rambouillet before moving on to Chartres. In revenge for that humiliation and many others, Henri held council with Rambouillet, his brother Maintenon and the future Marshal Ornano at which it was agreed to assassinate the duke of Guise. In the civil war that followed the assassination Rambouillet stayed with the king at Tours where he was present at the opening of the Parlement of royalist exiles. On 1 August 1589, Henri was assassinated, and his Protestant cousin Navarre succeeded him. Rambouillet remained loyal to the royalist cause after Navarre promised to protect Catholicism, and fought in Maine for the new king, achieving some success. In 1593 he participated in the negotiations at Surasno which created a truce in the war between the royalists and the Catholic Ligue. He died in 1611.
Early life and family
Nicolas d'Angennes, seigneur de Rambouillet, de Vielle-Église, du Perray, des Essarts et des Bréviaires; was a son of Jacques d'Angennes and Isabelle Cottereau, who was the daughter of royal treasurer of France Jean Cottereau. Rambouillet's parents had nine sons together, with Nicolas inheriting his father's primary title. Jacques was the captain of François I's guards. He later served as governor of Metz, the crucial border city that had been taken by France in 1552, before dying in 1562.Nicolas married Julienne d'Arquenay, who brought with her the vidame du Mans. They had a son Charles, who in 1600 married Catherine de Vivonne.
During his lifetime, his brother Louis d'Angennes, seigneur de Maintenon would secure the lieutenant-generalcy of Maine, and it would become a family possession, held for the next several generations.
Rambouillet was denounced by his enemies in the Catholic ligue as Rambouillet le Huguenot for his perceived tolerance towards the Protestant faith.
Reign of Charles IX
Diplomat
In January 1566, during the long peace between the first and second civil war, Charles IX sent him to England and Scotland with the insignia of the Order of Saint Michael. In England, Elizabeth I nominated the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Leicester to join the French Order in a ceremony at Whitehall Palace. Rambouillet went to Windsor Castle for another ceremony to invest Charles IX in the Order of the Garter. A detailed contemporary account of the ceremony names the envoy as "Jacques d'Angennes", accompanied by the herald Saint Michael, a Monsieur d'Oze, who was given the robes worn by the new knights as a prerequisite.File:Mary Queen of Scots with her husband Henry Stuart Lord Darnley, engraved by Renold Elstracke in 1603.jpg|thumb|right|Nicolas d'Angennes brought the Order of Saint Michael to Lord Darnley, depicted wearing the collar in this 1603 engraving.
In Scotland, Rambouillet's mission was to present Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley with the Order. Rambouillet stayed near Holyroodhouse at the house of Henry Kinloch in Edinburgh's Canongate. There were entertainments in Edinburgh at the reception of Rambouillet and the investment of Lord Darnley in the Order, including banquets and masques. Mary, Darnley, and David Rizzio took part in a costly masque with seven other dancers in rich attire to welcome the ambassador. The tailor Jean de Compiègne made six costumes decorated with flames made of cloth of gold reused from old cushion covers. During the masque the queen's ladies, dressed in male costume, presented 8 Scottish dirks or daggers to the French guests, with black velvet scabbards embroidered with gold. A Scottish chronicle described the scene:
And the sammin nycht at evin, our soveranis maid ane banket to the ambassatour foirsaid , in the auld chappell of Halyrudhous, quhilk wes reapparrellit with fyne tapestrie, and hung magnificentlie, be the saidis lordis maid the maskery efter supper in ane honourable maner. And upoun the ellevint day of the said moneth, the king and quene in lyikmanner bankettit the ambassatour; and at evin our soveranis maid the maskrie and mumschance, in the quhilk the quenis grace, and all hir Maries and ladies wer all cled in men's apperrell; and everie ane of thame presentit ane quhingar , bravelie and maist artificiallie made and embroiderit with gold, to the ambassatour and his gentilmen, everie one of thame according to his estate.
Following Rambouillet's stay in Edinburgh, a number of local women were slandered as prostitutes and said to have visited the ambassador's lodging dressed in men's clothes. Rambouillet returned to France via London, where he was joined by a Scottish envoy, Robert Melville. They requested the release of Margaret Douglas, then a prisoner in the Tower of London. Rambouillet continued to show an interest in Mary's political affairs. She wrote to him from Chatsworth when he was again ambassador to London in 1578 as a negotiator for the Alençon marriage, and he asked Queen Elizabeth for a new physician to join her household, Mary mentioned his support in a letter of April 1583.
Knight of the Order
During the royal charm offensive of 1568, aimed at propping up the crown's support among the French nobility, a significant number of promotions were made to the dignity of chevalier de l'Ordre de Saint-Michel, among them was Rambouillet. In April 1568, Rambouillet received the further dignity of being made governor of Maine.Commonwealth
As the siege of La Rochelle dragged on, Anjou sought a way out of the impasse. A coup for his fortunes came when word arrived that he had been elected king of the Commonwealth. He prepared to depart from the siege when word arrived, to depart for his new kingdom. On 18 September, he announced to Karnowski the prymas Polski that he was dispatching Rambouillet as his vice-roi to the country. Rambouillet was sent with a letter, in which Anjou thanked the nobles and senate for electing him, and promised to govern in consultation with them, and defend their country from threats.Rambouillet established himself at Kraków as ambassador. On route to the country in January 1574, while travelling to his new kingdom, Anjou wrote to his ambassador to reassure him concerning his palace in the city. Anjou was keen to know whether he would be able to come and go from the palace without being seen as his mother liked to do. He instructed Rambouillet to deliver the necessary changes to the design of the palace to facilitate this arrangement, without alerting the procurer as to the reason for the modifications. During Anjou's time as king of the Commonwealth, Rambouillet would be among the oldest in his entourage, being older than 40, the vast majority of Henri's associates were young men that had entered royal service around the turn of the decade.
Rambouillet received, Retz one of the chief members of Anjou's entourage in Kraków prior to the king's arrival and the two men were tasked with overseeing the burial of the prior king of the Commonwealth Zygmunt II August. On 17 February Anjou made his formal entry into the city. Retz and Rambouillet led negotiations with the local nobility to hammer out the specifics of the coronation ceremony, both energetically defending his prerogatives in the discussions. On 21 February the coronation took place, shortly thereafter Rambouillet was among the notables Anjou brought with him for the first meeting with the assembled ambassador corps.
Throughout his brief reign in the Commonwealth, Rambouillet and Retz would hold the role of the king's prime interlocuter with the local nobility and ambassadors. However they would stay for an even shorter time in the country than their master, departing on 20 April to take the waters of Lucca, along with Mayenne and Nevers. Of the 36 gentleman who had accompanied Anjou, only 17 remained with him by the end of April, leaving the king increasingly isolated. On 4 June, Charles IX having died, Rambouillet was dispatched back to the Commonwealth to inform Anjou of the news, alongside Antoine d'Estrées and Henri d'Albret-Miossens. Anjou quickly decided to abandon his new kingdom, and return to take the crown of France as Henri III.