 Bertrand defended the rights of the Church both by word of mouth and with his pen.Fournier, in his "Officialitiés du moyen-âge" (Paris, 1880), points out, at the beginning of the Valois dynasty, a strong tendency of the State towards curtailing the Church's traditional rights.In 1329 took place the famous Conférence de Vincennes, where Pierre de Cugnieres, speaking for Philippe de Valois, bitterly complained of undue extension of ecclesiastical privileges (e.g., ordaining clerics for the sole purpose of enjoying the "privilegium fori"; causes des veuves, or widow's causes drawn to ecclesiastical courts; the free use of censures to enforce the Church's privileges; appeals to the Church from the decision of civil courts, etc.