n de Matignon, Prince de Mortagne, was the
representative of a family of Brittany which traced its descent from the
thirteenth century, and had been established in Normandy towards the
middle of the fifteenth. Born at Lonray in 1526, he was appointed
Lieutenant-General of Normandy in 1559, where he made himself
conspicuous by his persecution of the Huguenots. Henri III recompensed
his services, in 1579, by the _baton_ of a marechal, and the collar of
his Order. He subsequently became Commander-in-Chief of the army in
Picardy, then Lieutenant-General of Guienne, and finally, Governor of
that province. He died in 1597.

[23] Levi Alvares, p. 187.

[24] Governor of Auvergne.

[25] The fortress of Usson, which had been a state prison under Louis
XI, was demolished by Louis XIII, in 1634.

[26] Brantome, _Dames Illustres, Marguerite de France, Reine de
Navarre_, Dis. v. p. 275.

[27] "There are three things," Henri IV was wont to say, "that the world
will not believe, and yet they are certainly true: that the Queen of
England (Elizabeth) died a maid; that the Archduke (Albert, Cardinal and
Archduke of Austria) is a great captain; and that the King of France is
a very good Catholic."--L'Etoile, _Journ. de Henri IV_, vol. i. p. 233.

[28] Diane d'Andouins, Vicomtesse de Louvigni, dame de l'Escun, was the
only daughter of Paul, Vicomte de Louvigni, Seigneur de l'Escun, and of
Marguerite de Cauna. While yet a mere girl, she became the wife of
Philibert de Grammont, Comte de Guiche, Governor of Bayonne, and
Seneschal of Bearn. The passion of Henri IV for this lady was so great
that he declared his intention of obtaining a divorce from Marguerite de
Valois, for the purpose of making her his wife; a project from which he
was dissuaded by D'Aubigny, who represented that the contempt which
could not fail to be felt by the French for a monarch who had degraded
himself by an alliance with his mistress, would inevitably deprive him
of the throne in the event of the death of Henri III and the Duc
d'Alencon.

[29] Gabrielle d'Estrees was the daughter of Antoine d'Estrees, fourth
of the name, Governor, Seneschal, and first Baron of Boulonnois, Vicomte
de Soissons and Bersy, Marquis de Coeuvres, Knight of the Orders of the
King, Governor of La Fere, Paris, and the Isle of France; and of
Francoise Babou, second daughter of Jean, Seigneur de la Bourdaisiere,
and of Francoise Robertet. She married at an early age, by the desire of
her