Pierre Bertrand (cardinal)

Fournier, in his "Officialitiés du moyen-âge" (Paris, 1880),[page needed] 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.).

He replied in a spirit of conciliation to all charges bearing on minor points, but strongly upheld what he considered the essential rights of the Church.

Following on the lines of the Bull Unam Sanctam of Boniface VIII, he summed up his plea in four statements:[1] His views are to be found in Libellus adversus Petrum de Cugneriis and De origine et usu jurisdictionum published in Paris in 1495 and 1584 respectively, and later inserted in volume XIV of the Magna Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum (Cologne, 1618).

[1] Other writings of Cardinal Bertrand (apologetical, canonical, pastoral) have not been published, and are reported to be in the Vatican Library.