 Bernard felt threatened by the rising power of the House of Marseilles and by the exercise of archiepiscopal power over the abbey of Montmajour, which the counts had "de facto" appropriated as part of their demesne, to act as a dynastic necropolis.In the wider politico-ecclesiastical context of the time, in which Pope and Emperor fought the Investiture Controversy for power over the dioceses of the Church, Aicard was a partisan of emperor against pope and the count, being a vassal of the emperor, was a natural ally of the pope.However that may have been, it is unlikely that the controversy played a great role in the particular events which led to Aicard's expulsion from office.