François de Montmorency François , Duc de Montmorency ( 17 June 1530 – 6 May 1579 ) was the eldest son of the first Duc de Montmorency , Anne . He was Duke of Montmorency , Count of Dammartin , Baron of Chateaubriant and Lord of L ' Isle - Adam . Grand Master of France and Peer of France . Life . François was the eldest son of Anne de Montmorency , constable of France . He accompanied the King to the border of Germany and was present at the capture of Damvillers and of Ivoy in 1552 . He took part in the heroic resistance of the town of Thérouanne against the attacks of the troops of Charles V : finally , it had to fall and he was made prisoner on 30 May 1553 . On his return from captivity , he was made knight on Michaelmas and was provided with the Government of Paris and the Île - de - France ( 1556 ) . He was sent to the aid of the pope Paul IV and retoke with the Spanish the port of Ostia and some other places around Rome . He took part in the Battle of Saint - Quentin on 10 August 1557 , defended Picardy against the Spanish and helped in the siege of Calais , in 1558 . The King sent him with an embassy to Queen Elizabeth I of England , to get from her a commitment to observe the Peace treaty of Cateau - Cambrésis . With the death of the King Henri II , he had to yield the title of Grand Master , inherited from his father , to the Duke of Guise . The King then gave him the position of Marshal of France in 1559 . He married against his will in 1557 to Diane de France , natural daughter of Henry II . " Monsieur de Montmorency , known as Brantôme , was a valorous , wise captain and extremely political . For this , when the King went to make the tour of his kingdom , he was left as Governor of Paris . Having found people of Paris , mutinous , seditious and ebullient , he was flexible and handy like a glove of chevrotin of Vendôme , to which the King was greatly satisfied " . In 1560 , he attended the Estates - General , held in Orléans . The disorders of the Wars of Religion having occurred , he sided with the Catholics , participating in the battle of Dreux on 19 December 1562 , and with the capture of Le Havre . He also took part in the battle of Saint - Denis ( 10 November 1567 ) where his father died . Once he became Duke , François continued the house of Montmorency ' s rivalry with that of the Guise . This rivalry did not cease but increased . In 1570 , he had the very difficult task to make the Peace of Saint - Germain accepted in Paris . In 1572 , he was sent to Queen Elizabeth I of England to get her to sign an alliance with France . It was on this occasion that he was created an Honorary Knight of the Order of the Garter . In France , François was more unpopular than ever . His incapacity to control the Parisian mutineers finally meant he had to give up his post of governor of the city . He left the city a few days before the St . Bartholomew ' s Day massacre . It was he who discreetly took down the corpse of Gaspard de Coligny , his cousin , from the gallows of Montfaucon , where he was hanging . In 1574 , Charles IX appointed him to the court , but the hatred was so strong between him and the Duke of Guise meant he had to leave again . Not having anything more to lose , he takes part in the plot of Malcontents , the " Third Party " with the duke of Alençon , but he was stopped and locked up in the Bastille with the Marshal of Cossé - Brissac . He was released in April 1575 , and the King recognized his innocence by letters , recorded at the Parliament . He died in the Castle of Écouen on 6 May 1579 .